Methods and System for Simulated 3D Videoconferencing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018131902-A1
Application number	US-201715708690-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 19, 2017
Priority date	Mar 14, 2011
Publication date	May 10, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

A system and method for manipulating images in a videoconferencing session provides users with a 3-D-like view of one or more presented sites, without the need for 3-D equipment. A plurality of cameras may record a room at a transmitting endpoint, and the receiving endpoint may select one of the received video streams based upon a point of view of a conferee at the receiving endpoint. The conferee at the receiving endpoint will thus experience a 3-D-like view of the presented site.

First claim

1 - 16 . (canceled)

17 . A continuous presence videoconferencing apparatus, comprising:
a plurality of cameras, arranged in an arc located in a horizontal plane above a video display so as to capture image data corresponding to at least one conferee during a video conference, each configured to create a video stream; and an endpoint configured to compress the video streams created by the plurality of cameras and generate an output compressed video stream, wherein the endpoint comprises an encoder configured to compress the video streams created by the plurality of cameras into a single multi-view video stream.

18 . The continuous presence videoconferencing apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the plurality of cameras comprises at least three video cameras.

19 . The continuous presence videoconferencing apparatus of claim 17 , further comprising:
a point-of-view detector configured to determine a gaze of the at least one conferee relative to the video display based on image data captured by one or more of the plurality of cameras; and an editor, communicatively coupled to the point-of-view detector, the editor configured to build an image responsive to the gaze of the at least one conferee and cause the video display to display the image.

20 . The continuous presence videoconferencing apparatus of claim 19 , further comprising a control module coupled to the point-of-view detector, the control module configured to design a layout and to provide information to the point-of-view detector on each segment of the layout.

21 . The continuous presence videoconferencing apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the point-of-view detector is further configured to:
detect the gaze of the at least one conferee toward the displayed image; determine a portion of the displayed image to which the at least one conferee looks; and make a selection based, at least in part, on the determined portion.

22 . The continuous presence videoconferencing apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the point-of-view detector is further configured to determine a gaze of the at least one conferee as an angle relative to a line perpendicular to the display.

23 . The continuous presence videoconferencing apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the point-of-view detector is further configured to determine a gaze of the at least one conferee as a two-dimensional pixel count relative to a pixel at a predetermined position within the displayed image.

24 . The continuous presence videoconferencing apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the plurality of cameras includes at least one camera configured to respond to near infra-red light, and wherein the point-of-view detector is further configured to respond to near infra-red information received from the at least one camera to determine a gaze of the at least one conferee.

25 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions executable by one or more processors, the instructions comprising instructions to:
determine a gaze of a user relative to a display of a communication device associated with the user; make a selection responsive to the gaze of the user; and build an image for presentation to the user on the display from the selection.

26 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 25 , wherein the instructions to determine a gaze of a user relative to the display further comprise instructions to:
receive one or more images from one or more cameras positioned adjacent the display; and determine the gaze of the user based at least in part on the one or more received images.

27 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 26 , wherein the instructions to determine a gaze of a user relative to the display further comprise instructions to determine which of a plurality of segments of a layout is looked at by the user.

28 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 27 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions to:
detect a change in the gaze of the user; make a different selection responsive to the change in the gaze of the user; and build a new image for presentation to the user on the display based on the different selection.

29 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 28 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions to periodically check for a change in the gaze of the user.

30 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 28 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions to:
determine whether the change in gaze of the user exceeds a predetermined threshold; and maintain the selection when the change in gaze of the user does not exceed the predetermined.

31 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 28 , wherein the instructions to build a new image for presentation to the user on the display comprise instructions to smooth a transition between the image for presentation to the user on the display and the new image for presentation to the user on the display.

32 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 31 , wherein the instructions smooth the transition between the image for presentation to the user on the display and the new image for presentation to the user on the display comprise instructions to morph the images.

Assignees

• Polycom Inc

Inventors

• Rosenberg Yaakov Moshe

Classifications

• H04N7/15 Primary

  Conference systems · CPC title

• G02B30/00

  Optical systems or apparatus for producing three-dimensional [3D] effects, e.g. stereoscopic images (in microscopes G02B21/22) · CPC title

• G06F3/013

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

• H04N2213/006

  Pseudo-stereoscopic systems, i.e. systems wherein a stereoscopic effect is obtained without sending different images to the viewer's eyes · CPC title

• H04N13/383

  for tracking with gaze detection, i.e. detecting the lines of sight of the viewer's eyes · CPC title