System and method for archiving collaborative electronic meetings

• US 8,667,401 B1
• Filed: 05/26/2004
• Issued: 03/04/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/26/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Adobe Inc.
• Original Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated (Adobe Inc.)
• Inventors: Lozben, Slavik
• Primary Examiner(s): SONG, DAEHO D
• Application Number:
  US10/854,762
• Time in Patent Office: 3,569 Days
• Field of Search: 715/719, 715/725, 715/723, 715/716, 715/751, 715/753, 715/764, 715/756, 715/758
• US Class Current: 715/753
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/101 Collaborative creation, e.g. joint development of products or services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1831 Tracking arrangements for later retrieval, e.g. recording contents, participants activities or behavior, network status

Abstract

An electronic meeting application is disclosed which allows electronic meetings to be recorded and archived. The electronic meeting is driven by a plurality of input sources synchronized according to each one'"'"'s order of play in the meeting. This synchronization is maintained by a main meeting timeline. The disclosed electronic meeting application records each of the input sources into separately accessible data files. The data files may be converted into metadata files that can used for searching purposes. Metadata description files are also generated that describe the appearance of each of the objects displaying the information from the input sources. On replay of the recorded meeting, the meeting application uses the metadata files to re-render the meeting interface and display the recordings of the selected input sources. Therefore, a user may select the specific content from the meeting to replay.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method comprising:

creating a main timeline defining an organization of an electronic meeting;

recording each of a plurality of input sources of different media types into a corresponding one of a plurality of separate recording files, the input sources causing display of different media types within an interface, wherein one or more meeting objects present information from each of said plurality of input sources during said electronic meeting;

providing a separately accessible memory address of a computer storage device for each of said plurality of separate recording files; and

generating metadata identifying when a meeting object of said one or more meeting objects was created or deleted during said electronic meeting, said metadata used with the main timeline to allow replay of a selected portion of said electronic meeting with less than all of the one or more meeting objects.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said metadata further describes visual aspects of said one or more meeting objects.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

storing said generated metadata in another separately accessible memory address associated with said electronic meeting.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

associating said separately accessible memory address with said main timeline, wherein a user may independently replay one or more of;

said electronic meeting; and

one or more of said plurality of separate recording files.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

inserting synchronization data into said main timeline to define said organization.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising:

replaying one or more selected ones of said plurality of separate recording files according to said synchronization data.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

converting said plurality of separate recording files into a metadata description of said plurality of separate recording files.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

receiving from a user a command to replay selected portions of said electronic meeting;

responsive to said command, assembling a meeting replay using said metadata description of said selected portions of said electronic meeting.

9. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

receiving from a user a search request for specific content of said electronic meeting;

searching said metadata description for said specific content; and

displaying to said user results of said searching.

10. A computer implemented method comprising:

monitoring a plurality of meeting objects displaying content relating to an electronic meeting, at least two of the meeting objects having different media formats;

recording one or more inputs for each of said plurality of meeting objects into a corresponding one of a plurality of separate files;

generating metadata describing visual elements of said plurality of meeting objects during said electronic meeting, the visual elements including the location of the object on a display screen and movement of the object on the display screen, wherein said metadata further identifies when a meeting object of said plurality of meeting objects was created or deleted during said electronic meeting, said metadata used to allow replay of a selected portion of said electronic meeting with less than all of said plurality of meeting objects; and

storing said generated metadata to said corresponding one of a plurality of separate files.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

associating each of said plurality of separate files with said electronic meeting; and

replaying, responsive to a user selection, one or more of;

said electronic meeting;

one or more of said plurality of separate files; and

a portion of said one or more of said plurality of separate files.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

creating a timeline defining an organization of said electronic meeting; and

inserting synchronization data into said timeline.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein said replaying replays according to said synchronization data.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein said replaying comprises:

rendering visual elements of said plurality of meeting objects using said generated metadata to re-create an interface appearance on the display screen; and

providing information to be displayed within said plurality of meeting objects using said recorded inputs.

15. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

converting said recorded inputs into a metadata description of said recorded inputs.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein said replaying comprises:

rendering visual elements of said plurality of meeting objects using said generated metadata; and

providing information to be displayed within said plurality of meeting objects using said metadata description.

17. The method of claim 15 further comprising:

receiving from a user a search request for specific content of said electronic meeting;

searching one or more of said metadata description and said generated metadata for said specific content; and

displaying to said user results of said searching.

18. A computer program product having a computer readable medium with computer program logic recorded thereon, said computer program product comprising:

code for monitoring a plurality of pods displaying information relating to an electronic meeting, at least two of the pods supporting different media types;

code for recording an input source for each of said plurality of pods into a corresponding one of a plurality of separate files;

code for generating metadata describing visual aspects of an overall interface of said plurality of pods during said electronic meeting, wherein said metadata further identifies when a pod of said plurality of pods was created or deleted during said electronic meeting, said metadata used to allow replay of a selected portion of said electronic meeting with less than all of said plurality of pods; and

code for storing said generated metadata to said corresponding one of a plurality of separate files.

19. The computer program product of claim 18 further comprising:

code for associating said plurality of separate files with said electronic meeting; and

code, responsive to a user selection, for replaying one or more of;

said electronic meeting;

one or more of said plurality of separate files; and

a portion of said one or more of said plurality of separate files.

20. The computer program product of claim 19 further comprising:

code for creating a timeline defining an organization of said electronic meeting; and

code for inserting synchronization data into said timeline.

21. The computer program product of claim 20 wherein said code for replaying replays according to said synchronization data.

22. The computer program product of claim 19 wherein said code for replaying comprises:

code for rendering visual aspects of said plurality of pods using said generated metadata; and

code for providing information to be displayed within said plurality of pods using said recorded input source.

23. The computer program product of claim 18 further comprising:

code for converting said recorded input source into a metadata description of said recorded input source.

24. The computer program product of claim 23 wherein said code for replaying comprises:

code for rendering visual aspects of said plurality of pods using said generated metadata; and

code for providing information to be displayed within said plurality of pods using said metadata description.

25. The computer program product of claim 23 further comprising:

code for receiving from a user a search request for specific content of said electronic meeting;

code for searching one or more of said metadata description and said generated metadata for said specific content; and

code for displaying to said user results of said code for searching.

26. A system comprising:

memory coupled to a processor;

a display device coupled to said processor;

an electronic meeting application stored in said memory, wherein, when executed by said processor, creates an electronic meeting, said electronic meeting comprising;

one or more meeting objects arranged in an interface rendered on said display device, wherein said one or more meeting objects support a plurality of different media types; and

an archiver configured to monitor said one or more meeting objects and further configured to record a data source for each of said one or more meeting objects into a corresponding one of one or more separate recording files, wherein said archiver is further configured to generate a metadata description of visual aspects of said one or more meeting objects, said visual aspects including a location, movement, and appearance of a corresponding object of said one or more meeting objects, wherein said metadata description further identifies when a meeting object of the one or more meeting objects was created or deleted during said electronic meeting, said metadata description allows replay of a selected portion of said electronic meeting with less than all of said one or more meeting objects, and wherein said archiver is further configured to store each of said metadata description and said corresponding one of said one or more separate recording files in an independently accessible memory address.

27. The system of claim 26 wherein said archiver is further configured to maintain an order of presentation for each of said one or more meeting objects in a timeline.

28. The system of claim 26 further comprising:

a meeting player stored in said memory, wherein, when executed by said processor, said meeting player re-generates said interface with said one or more meeting objects using said one or more separate recording files and said corresponding metadata description responsive to a replay request received from a user to replay selected information from said electronic meeting, and wherein said meeting player is further configured to populate said re-generated one or more meeting objects with said selected information from said data source related to said electronic meeting.

29. The system of claim 28 wherein said meeting player is further configured to access a run-time library of interface components for said means for re-generating, wherein said one or more separate recording files and said corresponding metadata description are used for said accessing.

30. A computer implemented method comprising:

creating a main timeline defining an organization of an electronic meeting;

recording each of a plurality of input sources of different media types into a corresponding one of a plurality of separate recording files, the input sources causing display of different media types within an interface, wherein one or more meeting objects present information from each of said plurality of input sources during said electronic meeting;

providing a separately accessible memory address of a computer storage device for each of said plurality of separate recording files; and

identifying in the main timeline synchronization data for said one or more meeting objects;

generating metadata in metadata files, wherein metadata of each metadata file describes a meeting object of said one or more meeting objects as it appeared in said electronic meeting and comprises an individual timeline identifying when the meeting object was created or deleted during said electronic meeting, wherein said metadata is used with the main timeline to allow replay of a selected portion of said electronic meeting with less than all of the one or more meeting objects, wherein when the meeting object is replayed, the metadata is used to display the meeting object by populating a display canvas of the meeting object with recorded content and the individual timeline and main timeline are used to synchronize display of said one or more meeting objects.