Smart selection of video feeds during an online meeting

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9456181-B2
Application number	US-201514613750-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 4, 2015
Priority date	Feb 4, 2015
Publication date	Sep 27, 2016
Grant date	Sep 27, 2016

Abstract

A technique smartly displays video feeds during an online meeting. The technique involves receiving, by processing circuitry, a plurality of video feeds during the online meeting. The technique further involves selecting, by the processing circuitry, a group of video feeds from the plurality of video feeds during the online meeting. The number of video feeds in the group of video feeds is less than the number of video feeds in the plurality of video feeds. Additionally, the number of video feeds in the group is at least two. The technique further involves outputting, by the processing circuitry, the group of video feeds to an online meeting participant during the online meeting. Such a technique enables the number of participants of the online meeting to be essentially unlimited, where only the video feeds deemed most significant (e.g., based on scoring) are shared during the online meeting.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of displaying video feeds during an online meeting, the method comprising:
receiving, by processing circuitry, a plurality of video feeds during the online meeting;
selecting, by the processing circuitry, a group of video feeds from the plurality of video feeds during the online meeting, the number of video feeds in the group of video feeds being less than the number of video feeds in the plurality of video feeds, and the number of video feeds in the group being at least two; and
outputting, by the processing circuitry, the group of video feeds to an online meeting participant during the online meeting;

wherein selecting the group of video feeds from the plurality of video feeds during the online meeting includes:
forming multiple ranked lists of video feeds based on different sets of scoring criteria;
identifying, for display on a first location of a display screen, a first set of video feeds from a first ranked list of video feeds; and
identifying, for display on a second location of the display screen, a second set of video feeds from a second ranked list of video feeds.

2. A method as in claim 1 wherein forming the multiple ranked lists of video feeds includes:
electronically generating a plurality of overall scores for the plurality of video feeds based on a set of scoring criteria, a respective overall score being electronically generated for each video feed of the plurality of video feeds and indicating a measure of significance for that video feed;
ranking the plurality of video feeds based on the plurality of overall scores to form a ranked list of video feeds, and
identifying a portion of the group of video feeds from the ranked list of video feeds.

3. A method as in claim 2 wherein identifying the portion of the group of video feeds from the ranked list of video feeds includes:
choosing, as the group of video feeds, N video feeds from the ranked list of video feeds, the N video feeds having the N highest overall scores on the ranked list of video feeds.

4. A method as in claim 3 wherein the set of scoring criteria includes an out-of-session factor which is preset prior to commencement of the online meeting; and wherein electronically generating the plurality of overall scores for the plurality of video feeds based on the set of scoring criteria includes:
calculating the respective overall score for each video feed of the plurality of video feeds based on an assessment of that video feed in view of the out-of-session factor which is preset prior to commencement of the online meeting.

5. A method as in claim 4 wherein the set of scoring criteria includes, as the out-of-session factor, attendee role;
wherein calculating the respective overall score for each video feed includes:
providing, as a portion of an overall score for a particular video feed, a first attendee role sub-score when the particular video feed is from a presenter-type participant of the online meeting, a second attendee role sub-score when the particular video feed is from a panelist-type participant of the online meeting, a third attendee role sub-score when the particular video feed is from an organizer-type participant of the online meeting, and a fourth attendee role sub-score when the particular video feed is from a viewer-type participant of the online meeting; and
wherein the first attendee role sub-score, the second attendee role sub-score, the third attendee role sub-score, and the fourth attendee role sub-score are different from each other.

6. A method as in claim 4 wherein the set of scoring criteria includes, as the out-of-session factor, attendee significance;
wherein calculating the respective overall score for each video feed includes:
providing, as a portion of an overall score for a particular video feed, a first attendee significance sub-score when the particular video feed is identified as being from a required participant of the online meeting, and a second attendee significance sub-score when the particular video feed is identified as being from an optional participant of the online meeting; and

wherein the first attendee significance sub-score and the second attendee significance sub-score are different from each other.

7. A method as in claim 3 wherein the set of scoring criteria includes an in-session factor which is derived during the online meeting; and wherein electronically generating the plurality of overall scores for the plurality of video feeds based on the set of scoring criteria includes:
calculating the respective overall score for each video feed of the plurality of video feeds based on an assessment of that video feed in view of the in-session factor which is derived during the online meeting.

8. A method as in claim 7 wherein the set of scoring criteria includes, as the in-session factor, a trying-to-speak measure;
wherein calculating the respective overall score for each video feed includes:
providing, as a portion of an overall score for a particular video feed, a first trying-to-speak sub-score when the particular video feed is identified as being from a participant of the online meeting who is trying to speak, and a second trying-to-speak sub-score when the particular video feed is identified as being from a participant of the online meeting who is not trying to speak; and

wherein the first trying-to-speak sub-score and the second trying-to-speak sub-score are different from each other.

9. A method as in claim 7 wherein the set of scoring criteria includes, as the in-session factor, a postural-change measure;
wherein calculating the respective overall score for each video feed includes:
providing, as a portion of an overall score for a particular video feed, a first postural-change sub-score when the particular video feed is identified as being from a participant of the online meeting whose posture is changing, and a second postural-change sub-score when the particular video feed is identified as being from a participant of the online meeting whose posture is not changing; and

wherein the first postural-change sub-score and the second postural-change sub-score are different from each other.

10. A method as in claim 7 wherein the set of scoring criteria includes, as the in-session factor, an unmute-transition measure;
wherein calculating the respective overall score for each video feed includes:
providing, as a portion of an overall score for a particular video feed, a first unmute-transition sub-score when the particular video feed is identified as being from a participant of the online meeting who is unmuting, and a second unmute-transition sub-score when the particular video feed is identified as being from a participant of the online meeting who is not unmuting; and

wherein the first unmute-transition sub-score and the second unmute-transition sub-score are different from each other.

11. A method as in claim 7 wherein the set of scoring criteria includes, as the in-session factor, a number-of-people-in-view measure;
wherein calculating the respective overall score for each video feed includes:
providing, as a portion of an overall score for a particular video feed, a first number-of-people-in-view sub-score when the particular video feed includes a first number of people in view, and a second number-of-people-in-view sub-score when the particular video feed includes a second number of people in view; and

wherein the first number-of-people-in-view sub-score and the second number-of-people-in-view sub-score are different from each other.

12. A method as in claim 7 wherein the set of scoring criteria includes, as the in-session factor, a quality-of-video-feed meas

Assignees

• Citrix Systems Inc

Inventors

• Moorjani Yogesh
• Thapliyal Ashish V

Classifications

• H04N7/15 Primary

  Conference systems · CPC title

• G06F17/3082

  Physics · mapped topic

• H04L65/4038

  with floor control · CPC title

• G06F16/7867

  using information manually generated, e.g. tags, keywords, comments, title and artist information, manually generated time, location and usage information, user ratings · 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