System and method for realtime messaging having image sharing feature
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented messaging system, comprising:
- a messaging client for presenting a dialog interface to a plurality of users;
a media viewer, communicating with the messaging client, the media viewer selectively presenting a set of shared media objects selected by at least one user with control of an image-sharing session to at least one user without control of the image-sharing session, wherein the media viewer is configured to assign two or more control objects to two or more users of the plurality of users, wherein each of the two or more control objects is at least one of a certificate, cookie, or token and is transmissible to another user of the plurality of users such that, upon receipt of one of the two or more objects, a receiving user is permitted to;
(1) control the display of each of the media objects in the set of shared media objects, and(2) manipulate remote interface elements on one or more media viewers presented to one or more users without one of the two or more control objects;
a presentation engine component in the media viewer for presenting all of the media objects within the set of shared media objects to the at least one user without control by parallel execution of independent image-processing operations to;
(1) convert at least one media object into a thumbnail-sized representation of the at least one media object for viewing by the at least one user without control,(2) transfer all of the media objects within the set of shared media objects and the thumbnail-sized representation to the at least one user without control, and(3) load all of the media objects within the set of shared media objects and the thumbnail-sized representation to be viewed by the at least one user without control.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and related methods permit a group of two or more users to initiate a realtime message session online, and invite participants to transmit and share digital images and other media to a common viewer tool seen by all. The messaging session may be conducted via a message server which mediates the exchange of typed, spoken or other messages back and forth amongst participants. One or more users may assume control of the commonly displayed images, for instance in a slideshow or other viewer tool. Users can discuss the displayed images or other media in realtime. The participants may each view, save, store, print or otherwise use or manipulate the copy of the image or images as presented to them. Session control of the set of displayed images may be passed from one user to another on a voluntary basis, using for example a control token or other mechanism. In embodiments shared control may be used. Out-of-order rendering and other optimizations may enhance the response time to participating viewers.
61 Citations
38 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented messaging system, comprising:
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a messaging client for presenting a dialog interface to a plurality of users; a media viewer, communicating with the messaging client, the media viewer selectively presenting a set of shared media objects selected by at least one user with control of an image-sharing session to at least one user without control of the image-sharing session, wherein the media viewer is configured to assign two or more control objects to two or more users of the plurality of users, wherein each of the two or more control objects is at least one of a certificate, cookie, or token and is transmissible to another user of the plurality of users such that, upon receipt of one of the two or more objects, a receiving user is permitted to; (1) control the display of each of the media objects in the set of shared media objects, and (2) manipulate remote interface elements on one or more media viewers presented to one or more users without one of the two or more control objects; a presentation engine component in the media viewer for presenting all of the media objects within the set of shared media objects to the at least one user without control by parallel execution of independent image-processing operations to; (1) convert at least one media object into a thumbnail-sized representation of the at least one media object for viewing by the at least one user without control, (2) transfer all of the media objects within the set of shared media objects and the thumbnail-sized representation to the at least one user without control, and (3) load all of the media objects within the set of shared media objects and the thumbnail-sized representation to be viewed by the at least one user without control. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A communications method, comprising:
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presenting a dialog interface to a plurality of users via a messaging client; selectively presenting, in peer-to-peer fashion, a set of shared media objects selected by at least one user with control of an image-sharing session to at least one user without control of the image-sharing session by parallel execution of independent image-processing operations to; (1) convert at least one media object into a thumbnail-sized representation of the at least one media object for viewing by the at least one user without control, transfer all of the media objects within the set of shared media objects and the thumbnail-sized representation to the at least one user without control, and (2) load all of the media objects within the set of shared media objects and the thumbnail-sized representation to be viewed by the at least one user without control; and assigning two or more control objects to two or more users of the plurality of users, wherein each of the two or more control objects is at least one of a certificate, cookie, or token and is transmissible to another user of the plurality of users such that, upon receipt of one of the two or more objects, a receiving user is permitted to; (1) control the display of each of the media objects in the set of shared media objects, and (2) manipulate remote interface elements on one or more media viewers presented to one or more users without one of the two or more control objects; and on the media viewer being presented to a user who transmitted any of the two or more control objects, graying-out one or more media-viewer controls. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A method for sharing media objects, the method comprising:
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presenting a dialog interface to at least two users via a messaging client; executing a selector tool, the selector tool selecting a set of media objects specified by at least one user with control of an image-sharing session to share with at least one user without control of the image-sharing session; and presenting all of the media objects within the set of media objects to the at least one user without control by executing independent image-processing operations in parallel to; (1) convert at least one media object into a thumbnail-sized representation of the at least one media object for viewing by the at least one user without control, (2) transfer all of the media objects within the set of shared media objects and the thumbnail-sized representation to the at least one user without control, and ((3) load all of the media objects within the set of shared media objects and the thumbnail-sized representation to be viewed by the at least one user without control; and transmitting a control object from the at least one user with control to the at least one user without control, and after the transmission; (1) allowing the user that received the control object to manipulate remote interface elements presented to the user that transmitted the control object, and (2) graying-out one of more controls presented to the user that transmitted the control object. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification