TWO-WAY VIDEO CONFERENCING SYSTEM

• US 20140198172A1
• Filed: 03/17/2014
• Published: 07/17/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Wessling, Cynthia
• Granted Patent: US 9,426,419 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/14.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/142 Constructional details of the terminal equipment, e.g. arrangements of the camera and the display
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/15 Conference systems

Abstract

A video conferencing device that includes a camera and display system captures video of local participants and displays incoming video feeds from remote locations. For example, incoming video feeds of the remote participants may be displayed on an outward-facing circular screen mounted on a central pedestal. One or more cameras are also mounted on the pedestal in order to capture video of the local participants. The incoming video feed can be arranged or organized in various ways on the display based in part on the quantity of incoming feeds and/or the needs of the conference-room participants.

Claims

1. An apparatus for video conferencing, comprising:

a camera for capturing video frames of local participants in a video conference; and

a cylindrical display that is physically coupled to the camera for displaying incoming video feeds one after another on a surface of the cylindrical display, the incoming video feeds being received from one or more remote cameras capturing video frames of one or more remote participants.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein one or more of the incoming video feeds are displayed on the surface of the cylindrical display according to a first configuration, wherein one or more of the incoming video feeds are displayed on the surface of the cylindrical display according to a second configuration.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first configuration includes a display of an incoming feed associated with an active speaker in an expanded size relative to a display of one or more incoming feeds associated with one or more non-active speakers.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cylindrical display is a rotatable cylindrical display that may be automatically rotated at a predetermined rate to allow a viewing user to view all video feeds displayed on the surface of the cylindrical display as the cylindrical display is rotated.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the rotatable cylindrical display may be manually rotated at a desired rate to allow a viewing user to rotate the cylindrical display to a desired video feed displayed on a portion of the surface of the cylindrical display.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the camera may be held in a static position for capturing frames of a given participant while the cylindrical display rotates to allow the given participant to view incoming video feeds displayed on the surface of the cylindrical display.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the camera is integrated with the display surface of the cylindrical display to allow the camera and display surface to be at approximately a same level relative to a participant that is viewing the display surface and for which video frames are being captured by the camera simultaneously.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the camera is mounted within the surface of the cylindrical display.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the camera is mounted behind the surface of the cylindrical display.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a combination of the camera and the cylindrical display may be configured as a table top videoconferencing device for placing on a table for capturing video frames of one or more participants arranged around the table and for displaying video frames of one or more participants remotely located from the one or more participants arranged around the table.

11. A system for video conferencing, comprising:

a computing device having a processor and associated memory, the computing device operative to

receive video images of local participants captured by a camera;

receive one or more incoming video feeds from one or more remote cameras capturing video images of one or more remote participants; and

display the one or more incoming video feeds in a sequential manner on a surface of a cylindrical display.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the computing device is further operative to determine a video feed associated with an active speaker and to distinguish a display of the video feed associated with an active speaker from a display of other incoming video feeds on the cylindrical display.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the computing device is further operative to animate a display of the incoming video feeds on the cylindrical display.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the computing device is further operative to animate a display of the incoming video feeds on the cylindrical display by rotating the display of the incoming video feeds around the cylindrical display.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the camera is integrated with the display surface of the cylindrical display to allow the camera and display surface to be at approximately a same level relative to a participant that is viewing the display surface and for which video images are being captured by the camera.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the camera is mounted within the surface of the cylindrical display.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the camera is mounted behind the surface of the cylindrical display.

18. A method for interacting with a video conferencing device that includes a cylindrical display and a camera, comprising:

receiving video frames from the camera;

receiving incoming video feeds from one or more external locations;

displaying each of the incoming video feeds received from the one or more external locations one after another on the cylindrical display of the video conferencing device; and

rotating the cylindrical display to allow a viewing user to view all video feeds displayed on the surface of the cylindrical display as the cylindrical display is rotated.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising while rotating the cylindrical display, holding the camera in a static position for capturing frames of the viewing user while the cylindrical display rotates to allow the viewing user to view incoming video feeds displayed on the surface of the cylindrical display.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein rotating the cylindrical display to allow a viewing user to view all video feeds displayed on the surface of the cylindrical display as the cylindrical display is rotated includes animating a display of the video feeds around the cylindrical display to allow the viewing user to view all the video feeds.