Television – Two-way video and voice communication – Display arrangement
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-14
2002-10-29
Ramakrishnaiah, Melur. (Department: 2643)
Television
Two-way video and voice communication
Display arrangement
C348S014090, C348S014080, C345S215000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06473114
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to communication systems employing at least two interconnected terminals supporting videoconferencing processes in which multiple parties communicate continuously and in which, at any given time, only one person is normally speaking. The invention further relates to such an environment where the terminals display images of at least one of the most recent speakers and which indicate a change in a most recent one of the speakers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Various multi-user communication systems, for example, groupware applications, distance learning systems, whiteboard applications, and videoconferencing systems permit a group, sometimes very large groups, to collaborate in real time. Distance learning systems are used for enabling students and teachers to attend and give lectures without the requirement of physically being in the same room or even the same building. Probably most widespread are videoconferencing systems. They allow people to have meetings without being restricted by the conference location. An example of such a conference system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,675,374, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. This system aims at establishing a videoconference which closely resembles a face-to-face conference held at a single location. The following invention may be used in this In such systems, each participant, or subgroup of participants, may have a terminal with a camera and at least one display. Communication can be oral or by typing, augmented by other mechanisms such as document scanning, handwriting recognition or direct image transfer, etc. One of the most important elements of such systems, however, is the visage of active participants.
To allow users to see each other, camera images are selectively displayed on each display. A typical display may show the field of view one or more cameras. If the conference includes many participants, the display of all the participants at all times becomes impossible so such systems select some subset of the participants based on criteria. One of the criteria typically used to identify the most worthy of the group to display is how recently the speaker has spoken. For example, the displays may show the last three speakers that spoke. When one of these has been dormant for a while, his/her image will be replaced by another who has spoken more recently.
The ongoing maintenance of the select group of participants results in sudden changes in the faces of the individual participants that spoke most recently. There are at least two problems. First, the sudden change from one face to another may not be very conspicuous so it might not be noticed. Second,.the transition can be abrupt and may therefore be disconcerting. An improved system for making the changes in the displayed subgroup more clear and natural is desirable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly, a typical display used in videoconferencing environment shows a subset of a larger group of participants, the subset being characterized by some selection criterion. For example, the three that have spoken the most up until the present moment may be maintained on the screen. Alternatively, the three that have spoken most recently may be maintained on the screen. Of course, the subset can be any practicable size and the number three is simply an example. When a change in the subset is required, one speaker is replaced by another in the following fashion. An animation is instantiated in which the image of the speaker that is to be replaced is scrolled off the screen and the new one is scrolled on as if pushing the old image off the screen. Various other alternative animations can be employed, the common theme of them being that there is a gradual transition and the transition is conspicuous.
To insure the animation is prominent and noticeable, a fade would not be ideal, even though such an effect is gradual and not terribly disconcerting. Another example of a suitable effect is a peel-away effect where the old image curls up from one edge to reveal the new image below it. Still another is a fade into the distance followed by a foreshortening effect or slide-in effect. The basic requirement is that the effect result in a gradual replacement of the image of the old speaker by a new speaker but in such a fashion as to be noticeable but visually agreeable.
A wide range of video animation effects can be produced using digital technology. These include shape changes such as gradually wrapping a planar image onto a cylinder or sphere, paper peel away effect, image breaking up into small bits and scattering, etc. Such effects are often used in football broadcasts. The idea in the invention is not to dazzle but to provide a visual cue and metaphor for the change of a member of group, like someone coming in a room and another leaving.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5675374 (1997-10-01), Kohda
patent: 5953050 (1999-09-01), Kamata et al.
patent: 6346963 (2002-02-01), Katsumi
patent: 2776457 (1999-09-01), None
Koninklijke Philips Electronics , N.V.
Ramakrishnaiah Melur.
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