Video conference system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11095467-B2
Application number	US-201916543411-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 16, 2019
Priority date	Aug 16, 2019
Publication date	Aug 17, 2021
Grant date	Aug 17, 2021

Abstract

Embodiments of the disclosure provided herein can be used to improve the control, selection and transmission of data to a remote video conferencing environment, by use of a plurality of wired or wirelessly connected electronic devices. In one example, the transmission of data from a local environment can be improved by switching the source of visual inputs (e.g., cameras or display of an electronic device, such as laptop) and/or audio inputs (e.g., microphones) to the one or more appropriate visual and audio sources available within the local environment. The most appropriate visual and audio sources can be the sources that provide the participants in the remote environment the most relevant data giving the remote users the best understanding of the current activities in the local environment.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer implemented method of selecting a source of content data from a plurality of peripheral devices that are positioned in a first environment, the plurality of peripheral devices in communication with a conference hub and the plurality of peripheral devices including a first peripheral device, a second peripheral device, and a third peripheral device, the method comprising:
transmitting scene data from one or more of the plurality of peripheral devices to one or more of the plurality of peripheral devices via a first communication link during a first time period, wherein the scene data consists of one or more of content data, reduced quality content data, and metadata, and the scene data transmitted from the one or more of the plurality of peripheral devices is only transmitted to the one or more of the plurality of peripheral devices;
transmitting content data from the third peripheral device to the conference hub via a second communication link during the first time period, wherein the second communication link and the first communication link are different communication links;
determining, during the first time period, that the first peripheral device has a better view of a key participant relative to the second peripheral device based on comparing scene data from the first peripheral device and the second peripheral device;
determining to provide content data of the key participant to a remote video conferencing location during a second time period, the second time period occurring after the first time period;
transmitting content data from the first peripheral device to the conference hub via the second communication link during the second time period based on the determination that the first peripheral device has the better view of the key participant during the first time period and the determining to provide content data of the key participant during the second time period; and
transmitting, by the conference hub, the content data of the key participant from the first peripheral device to the remote video conferencing location during the second time period.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein comparing the scene data from the first peripheral device and the second peripheral device is performed by a primary peripheral device of the plurality of peripheral devices.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the primary peripheral device is the first peripheral device or the second peripheral device.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining the first peripheral device has a better view of the key participant comprises determining the content data from the first peripheral device includes more of (1) a view of the key participant, (2) a view of the face of the key participant, and (3) a view of an eye gaze of the key participant than content data from the second peripheral device.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , determining the first peripheral device has a better view of the key participant comprises determining the content data from first peripheral device includes a view of the key participant and the content data from the second peripheral device includes a view of the key participant with an interfering signal.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting, by the conference hub, the content data from the third peripheral device to a remote video conferencing location during the first time period.

7. A computer implemented method of selecting a source of content data from a plurality of peripheral devices that are positioned in a first environment, the plurality of peripheral devices in communication with a conference hub and the plurality of peripheral devices including a first peripheral device, a second peripheral device, and a third peripheral device, the method comprising:
transmitting scene data from one or more of the plurality of peripheral devices to one or more of the plurality of peripheral devices via a first communication link during a first time period, wherein the scene data transmitted from the one or more of the plurality of peripheral devices is only transmitted to the one or more of the plurality of peripheral devices, and the scene data consists of one or more of content data, reduced quality content data, and metadata;
transmitting content data from the third peripheral device to the conference hub via a second communication link during the first time period, wherein the second communication link and the first communication link are different communication links;
determining, during the first time period, that the first peripheral device has a better view of a first region relative to the second peripheral device based on comparing scene data from the first peripheral device and the second peripheral device;
determining to provide content data of the first region to a remote video conferencing location during a second time period, the second time period occurring after the first time period;
transmitting content data from the first peripheral device to the conference hub via the second communication link during the second time period based on the determination that the first peripheral device has the better view of the first region during the first time period and the determining to provide content data of the first region during the second time period; and
transmitting, by the conference hub, the content data of the first region from the first peripheral device to the remote video conferencing location during the second time period.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 7 , wherein comparing the scene data from the first peripheral device and the second peripheral device is performed by a primary peripheral device of the plurality of peripheral devices.

9. The computer implemented method of claim 8 , wherein the primary peripheral device is the first peripheral device or the second peripheral device.

10. The computer implemented method of claim 7 , wherein determining the first peripheral device has a better view of the first region comprises determining the content data from the first peripheral device includes more of (1) a view of a key object in the first region, (2) a view of the face of a first participant positioned in the first region, and (3) a view of an eye gaze of the first participant than content data from the second peripheral device.

11. The computer implemented method of claim 7 , wherein determining the first peripheral device has a better view of the first region comprises determining the content data from first peripheral device includes a view of the first region and the content data from the second peripheral device includes a view of the first region with an interfering signal.

12. The computer implemented method of claim 7 , further comprising transmitting, by the conference hub, the content data from the third peripheral device to a remote video conferencing location during the first time period.

13. A computer implemented method of selecting a source of content data from a plurality of peripheral devices that are positioned in a first environment, the plurality of peripheral devices in communication with a conference hub and the plurality of peripheral devices including a first peripheral device, a second peripheral device, and a third peripheral device, the method comprising:
transmitting scene data from one or more of the first peripheral device and the second peripheral device via a first communication link during a first time period, wherein the scene data transmitted from the first peripheral device and/or the second peripheral device is only transmitted to

Assignees

• Logitech Europe Sa

Inventors

• Atkins Andreas Franz William
• Chu Joseph Yao-Hua
• Levak Henry
• Mclintock Kevin

Classifications

• G06V40/161

  Detection; Localisation; Normalisation · CPC title

• G06V40/166

  using acquisition arrangements · CPC title

• H04N7/147 Primary

  Communication arrangements, e.g. identifying the communication as a video-communication, intermediate storage of the signals (selecting H04Q) · CPC title

• G06F3/013

  Eye tracking input arrangements (G06F3/015 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04L65/403

  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 title