System and Method for Providing a Virtual Environment with Shared Video on Demand

• US 20090287790A1
• Filed: 05/14/2009
• Published: 11/19/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RPX Corporation
• Original Assignee: NxtGen TV LLC
• Inventors: Tata, Christopher, Upton, Kevin S., Wiener, Brian
• Granted Patent: US 8,112,490 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/208
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8082 Virtual reality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1827 Network arrangements for conference optimisation or adaptation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/10 Multimedia information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

A system and methodology for creating, compiling, managing and distributing works of multimedia within a virtual space (environment) or virtual meeting space. The system consists of a server and client architecture. Within this architecture, the server or controller plays a “master” role, pulling, storing, and delivering media content from a plurality of client sources. The master server or controller manipulates the storage and delivery of these streams through an intelligent database and programming architecture. These streams are encoded to a specific format and delivered through a server to single or multiple recipients as a vital component of a complete virtual meeting experience. The result is a complete and organized virtual meeting room experience from attendee invitation though follow-up and record meeting dispersal.

Claims

1. A system for providing virtual environments in which multiple participants may view video, comprising:

a master remote device usable by a first participant, the master remote device allowing the first participant to initiate creation of a virtual environment;

a secondary remote device usable by a second participant;

a media server networked to the master remote device and the secondary device, the media server providing access to at least one video file;

an operations server networked to the master remote device, the secondary remote device and the media server;

the operations server creating a shared object in response to the first participant initiating creation of the virtual environment at the master remote device, the shared object being associated with the virtual environment, the operations server providing the first participant access to the shared object and allowing the first participant to control playback of the at least one video file on the master remote device, the operations server allowing the second participant to view the at least one video file through the shared object, simultaneously with, and as controlled by, the first participant.

2. A system, as set forth in claim 1, the shared object for allowing the first participant to play, pause, fast forward, and rewind the video.

3. A system, as set forth in claim 1, the operations server for allowing control of the shared object to be shared between first and second participants.

4. A system, as set forth in claim 1, the operations server for allowing control of the shared object to be passed from the first participant to the second participant.

5. A system, as set forth claim 1, wherein the at least one video file is stored on the media server.

6. A system, as set forth in claim 1, wherein the at least one video file is a live video stream, the media server for buffering the live video stream prior to playing back through the shared object.

7. A system, as set forth in claim 1, the operations server providing a video chat feature viewable on the first and second remote devices and usable by the first and second participants.

8. A system, as set forth in claim 1, the operations server providing a text chat feature viewable on the first and second remote devices and usable by the first and second participants.

9. A system, as set forth in claim 1, the operations server providing a white board function in the first and second remote devices and usable by the first and second participants, the white board function overlying the video on the first and second remote devices.

10. A system for providing virtual meeting environments in which multiple participants may view video and participate in discussions, comprising:

a master remote device usable by a first participant, the master remote device allowing the first participant to initiate creation of a virtual meeting environment

a secondary remote device usable by a second participant;

a media server networked to the master remote device and the secondary device, the media server providing access to at least one video file;

an operations server networked to the master remote device, the secondary remote device and the media server;

the operations server for creating a shared object in response to the first participant initiating creation of the virtual meeting environment at the master remote device, the shared object being associated with the virtual environment, the operations server providing the first participant access to the shared object and allowing the first participant to control playback of the at least one video file on the master remote device, the operations server allowing the second participant to view the at least one video file through the shared object, simultaneously with, and as controlled by, the first participant, the operations server for providing first and second video conferencing windows, the first video conferencing window being associated with the first participant for displaying a live video stream of the first participant on the second remote device, the second video conferencing window being associated with the second participant for displaying a live video stream of the second participant on the first remote device.

11. A system, as set forth in claim 10, further comprising additional secondary remote devices, each additional secondary remote device being usable by a respective additional participant, the operations server providing the additional participants access to the shared object, the operations server allowing the additional participants to view the at least one video file through the shared object, simultaneously with, and as controlled by, the first participant, the operations server for providing additional video conferencing windows, each additional video conferencing window being associated with one of the additional participants for displaying a live video stream of the associated one of the additional participants on the other remote devices.

12. A system, as set forth in claim 11, the operations server for selecting a subset of video conferencing windows based on participant input.

13. A system, as set forth in claim 11, the operations server for randomly selecting a subset of video conferencing windows to display.

14. A system, as set forth in claim 10, the shared object for allowing the first participant to play, pause, fast forward, and rewind the video.

15. A system, as set forth in claim 10, the operations server for allowing control of the shared object to be shared between first and second participants.

16. A system, as set forth in claim 10, the operations server for allowing control of the shared object to be passed from the first participant to the second participant.

17. A system, as set forth claim 10, wherein the at least one video file is stored on the media server.

18. A system, as set forth in claim 10, wherein the at least one video file is a live video stream, the media server for buffering the live video stream prior to playing back through the shared object.

19. A system, as set forth in claim 10, the operations server providing a video chat feature viewable on the first and second remote devices and usable by the first and second participants.

20. A system, as set forth in claim 10, the operations server providing a text chat feature viewable on the first and second remote devices and usable by the first and second participants.

21. A system, as set forth in claim 10, the operations server providing a white board function in the first and second remote devices and usable by the first and second participants, the white board function overlying the video on the first and second remote devices.

22. A system for providing virtual meeting environments in which multiple participants may view video and participate in discussions, comprising:

a master remote device usable by a first participant, the master remote device allowing the first participant to initiate creation of a virtual meeting environment

a plurality of secondary remote devices usable by a plurality of secondary participants;

a media server networked to the master remote device and the secondary devices, the media server providing access to at least one video file;

an operations server networked to the master remote device, the secondary remote devices and the media server;

the operations server for creating a shared object in response to the first participant initiating creation of the virtual meeting environment at the master remote device, the shared object being associated with the virtual environment, the operations server providing the first participant access to the shared object and allowing the first participant to play, pause, fast forward and playback of the at least one video file on the master remote device, the operations server allowing the second participants to view the at least one video file through the shared object, simultaneously with, and as controlled by, the first participant, the operations server allowing control of the shared object to be passed to one of the secondary participants, the operations server for providing a plurality of video conferencing windows each being associated with one of the participants for displaying a live video stream of the respective participant, the video conferencing window of one of the participants being displayed on on at least one of the remote devices the operations, the operations server providing at least one of a video chat feature, a text chat feature, and a white board feature on the remote devices.