AUTOMOBILE WEB CAM AND COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM INCORPORATING A NETWORK OF AUTOMOBILE WEB CAMS
First Claim
1. A communications system comprising:
- a plurality of mobile web cams;
means for transmitting information from said web cams;
means for searching said transmitted information to find video information corresponding to desired parameters, wherein optical searching is performed on said transmitted information to locate video information containing desired information; and
means for displaying said video information.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A communications system incorporating a plurality of vehicle mounted web cams that collect video information and transmit the video information together with other local information via a wireless network to a server. The video streams from the web cams and associated information are available to users on a internet web page. Each camera has a specific identifier to permit users to access the video of specific individual cameras. Optimization software permits users to take virtual trips along predetermined routes. The system also permits sequential access to multiple video feeds from desired locations. Multiple alternative one way and two way video communication methods taking advantage of the network of mobile web cams are described.
108 Citations
11 Claims
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1. A communications system comprising:
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a plurality of mobile web cams;
means for transmitting information from said web cams;
means for searching said transmitted information to find video information corresponding to desired parameters, wherein optical searching is performed on said transmitted information to locate video information containing desired information; and
means for displaying said video information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A communications system, comprising:
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a plurality of vehicles, a plurality of web cameras, each of said cameras being disposed in one of said vehicles and being active when the vehicle is running wherein said plurality of web cameras are directed toward areas outside said vehicle;
means for transmitting information from said vehicles via a wireless network, said transmitted information including video information from said web cameras and an identifier for each of said web cams; and
a server for receiving the video information and providing a plurality of images for viewing by a plurality of communication system users. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of estimating traffic conditions comprising the steps of:
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providing a plurality of vehicles, each vehicle including at least one web cam;
providing means for transmitting information from said vehicles via a wireless network, said transmitted information including video information from said web cameras and the location of said vehicles;
providing a server for receiving the video information and providing a plurality of images for viewing by a plurality of communication system users; and
sorting images corresponding to a prescribed geographic area from the plurality of images, the sorted images representing an area of traffic interest. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10)
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11. A method of creating a virtual trip comprising the steps of:
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providing a plurality of vehicles, each vehicle including at least one web cam;
providing means for transmitting information from said vehicles via a wireless network, said transmitted information including video information from said web cameras and the location of said vehicles;
providing a server for receiving the video information and providing a plurality of images for viewing by a plurality of communication system users; and
sorting images corresponding to a prescribed geographic areas from the plurality of images to create a visual trip from a first point of interest to a second point of interest.
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Specification