Patent Application
20120265815
Room control systems allow each of the devices at a location (e.g., a classroom, conference room, legislative hall, and so forth) to be controlled from one place. For example, room control systems are often used to dim lights, close drapes, lower a projector screen, and so on. Room control systems often include a touch screen and a control unit that coordinates control of various devices. An operator (e.g., a speaker or conference presenter), uses the touch screen to control the devices at the location. For example, to show a video to a room of people the operator may turn on a projector, dim the lights, lower the projector screen, and select a VCR as the input source for the projector from the control unit. The control unit carries out the instructions received from the touch screen by actuating relays, flipping electronic switches, and so forth. The main purpose is usually to have a single unified user interface for all kinds of hardware that are quite often manufactured by many different, incompatible vendors.
Room control systems are generally simple systems that map a set of existing mechanical functions onto a unified interface. For example, a typical room control system user interface provides a variety of function groups along the bottom of the screen. For example, a source select button allows the operator to change the source that provides input for a projector; a room button allows the operator to control lighting, temperature, and other characteristics of the room; a VCR control button allows the operator to remotely control a VCR; a slide control button allows the operator to move through a slide presentation; and a system off button shuts down the room control system. When the user selects one of the buttons at the bottom, the upper portion of the user interface displays options that are more detailed. For example, if the operator selects the source select button, the top of the screen may contain various input sources that an operator can use with a projector. For example, the operator may be able to select a lectern computer, VCR, document camera, slide presentation, lectern laptop computer, or table laptop computer as input sources and each has an associated button in the user interface of the room control system.
Unfortunately, the controls provided by existing room control systems do not provide many types of information that a presenter or conference attendees may want to access. These systems are generally limited to grouping existing room controls in one place. For example, rather than walking over to the light switch the presenter can manipulate the lights through the touch screen of the room control system. However, the ability to manipulate the lights existed before installing the room control system, and the room control system only adds additional convenience by co-locating the light controls with other room controls. Room control systems usually work in conjunction with a projector, but not all rooms are suitable for a projector. For example, legislative halls are often large so that a projector would be hard for everyone to see, and it is often undesirable to dim the lights so that a projector would be hard to see. In addition, the room control system is generally only accessible to the conference presenter, and thus is not useful to the conference attendees.
There is a need for a system that overcomes the above problems, as well as one that provides additional benefits.
A distributed conference system is presented herein for providing information to multiple conference attendees. Conference attendees often use a wide variety of information that may not be easily accessible during a conference. For example, legislators often refer to an agenda, review proposed legislative bills, receive/respond to email, monitor activity in other committees, and stay abreast of news that affects their constituents. Each legislator may have a limited amount of space in the legislative hall (e.g., a table) that is not suitable for accessing all of these types of information. For example, the legislator's space may not contain room for a laptop, television, stacks of paper, voting hardware (e.g., buttons), and other resources that are useful for the legislator to perform his/her job. Additionally, attempting to access all the various sources of information may prove excessively distracting from the actual meeting, even if most or all of the data is collocated on a laptop or other personal computer.
The distributed conference system includes one or more distributed consoles used by conference attendees. The system may also include a main or administrative console used by the conference presenter. For example, an installer of the distributed conference system may place the main console at the front of a conference room and a distributed console at each conference attendee's seat for a particular customer's installation. The installer can customize each installation to fit the specific needs of the customer, both in terms of capabilities and aesthetics. The main console provides a touch screen or other user interface and contains functions that the conference presenter can use to control each of the distributed consoles as well as providing standard room control functions. For example, the main console may allow the conference presenter to open a document, navigate to a particular page of the document, and display that page of the document on each of the distributed consoles.
In addition, the distributed consoles may provide access to additional information for conference attendees, such as a web browser through which the conference attendees can access the Internet. For example, the distributed conference system can provide quick and easy access to agendas and calendars, common documents and files, local video (both closed circuit TV, such as from another conference/committee room, and the local presentation feed), live television feeds, messaging, voting/polling, and a host of other features. The distributed conference system presents this information in a set of one or more views, each providing access to a particular type of information. Thus, the distributed conference system provides a unified location for conference attendees to access a variety of information, and allows conference attendees to access information they choose, as well as get a local/close-up copy of what is on the projector through a video/presentation feed.
An example environment where the distributed conference system can be used is a legislative hall, such as federal or state congressional chambers or committee rooms. Members may each have a distributed console at their desk through which they can access information related to bills or other business. For example, during floor debate on a bill a clerk can place documents in the system related to the bill for each representative to view. The documents may include videos, word processing documents, spreadsheets, audio files, and other forms of information related to the bill. Documents may also be restricted to certain groups or individual attendees. For example, one political party may distribute a document to its members that members of another political party cannot view, or a staff member may upload a document for a single user. In some embodiments, representatives can retrieve additional information from the Internet, and can receive messages from other members of their party, pages, the clerk, and so forth. The representatives can also view a video feed of the local presentation (e.g., a video feed copied from the projector or in-room monitors). The system can also be connected to a console outside the room that provides some subset of the same information to observers (e.g., agenda, CCTV, and so on).
The central server 110 includes a data store 112 and one or more view definitions 115. The data store 112 stores documents, agendas, configuration, and other information accessed by the system. The view definitions 115 describe the layout of one or more views that the system can provide for the presenter console 130 and each of the attendee consoles 140 to display. For example, the central server 110 may be a web server that provides views as web pages. The presenter console 130 and attendee consoles 140 may include computer systems with a web browser application for viewing the web pages provided by the web server.
The presenter console 130 is a console used by the conference presenter. An administrator can access an administrative interface 120 from the presenter console 130, one of the attendee consoles 140, or a separate PC (e.g., via a web page). The administrative interface 120 provides a way for staff or an administrator to load content into the system, such as agenda items, documents, and so forth. In some installations, there may not be a distinction between presenter and attendee consoles, and all consoles may provide similar access to information. However, when a presenter console 130 is used, the presenter console 130 may have additional features and access to more information than the attendee consoles 140. For example, only the presenter console 130 may be able to change the content displayed by a projector or other main screen in the conference location.
Conference attendees use the attendee consoles 140 to display views provided by the system 100. The attendee consoles 140 may be distributed throughout one or more conference rooms, and on a desk of each of multiple legislators in a legislative chamber. The consoles provide access to internal information, such as documents stored in the data store 112, as well as external information, such as information from the Internet 170. The manufacturer of the system 100 can extend the system by adding additional views and providing a menu for accessing the views on the attendee consoles 140.
The computing device on which the system is implemented may include a central processing unit, memory, input devices (e.g., keyboard and pointing devices), output devices (e.g., display devices), and storage devices (e.g., disk drives). The memory and storage devices are computer-readable media that may be encoded with computer-executable instructions that implement the system, which means a computer-readable medium that contains the instructions. In addition, the data structures and message structures may be stored or transmitted via a data transmission medium, such as a signal on a communication link. Various communication links may be used, such as the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network, a point-to-point dial-up connection, a cell phone network, and so on. These communication links can be used to connect the server to the consoles and to connect the server to outside sources of information.
Embodiments of the system may be implemented in various operating environments that include personal computers, server computers, handheld or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, programmable consumer electronics, digital cameras, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, distributed computing environments that include any of the above systems or devices, and so on. The computer systems may be cell phones, personal digital assistants, smart phones, personal computers, programmable consumer electronics, digital cameras, and so on.
The system may be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, executed by one or more computers or other devices. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, and so on that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Typically, the functionality of the program modules may be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments.
In block 250, the console requests from the server a second view definition for viewing conference-related information from the selected source. In block 260, the console receives from the server the requested second view definition, wherein the view definition includes layout information for displaying conference-related information from the selected source. For example, the second view definition may provide an agenda of bills to be discussed to a legislator in a government body. The received second view definition may include conference-related information to which the conference attendee has access and exclude some information stored on the server to which the conference attendee does not have access. For example, the server may store one or more security groups whose members are one or more conference attendees. When providing information or view definitions to the attendee console, the server may determine the group or groups to which the conference attendee belongs and provide information to which that group has access. The system may also allow an administrator to customize the second view definition to include custom information, such as a logo related to a particular type of conference or a closed-circuit video feed related to the conference. In block 270, the console displays to the conference attendee the received second view definition, such that the conference attendee has control of at least some information displayed.
In decision block 280, the console waits for a new selection from the user or other interaction with the displayed user interface. If the user selects a new source of conference-related information, then the console loops to block 240 to receive and process the selection, else the console loops to block 280 to wait for further selections. After block 280, these steps conclude.
The distributed conference system can present various views to enable the conference presenter and conference attendees to access features of the system. Some example views are described in this section. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize other types of views that the system can provide in a manner similar to those described.
In some embodiments, the distributed conference system authenticates conference attendees before allowing access to some functions by presenting a login view. For example, the system may request that a conference attendee provide a username and password before granting access to a mailbox provided by the distributed conference system. Authentication can include simply providing a name, or more sophisticated systems such as placing a finger on a bio-reader, inserting a smartcard into the distributed console, and so forth. Installers can install the distributed conference in a variety of different environments, and the system provides different levels of security based on the requirements of the environment. For example, in secure facilities, access to a room is restricted and a conference attendee's access to the room is sufficient for the distributed conference system to presume that the conference attendee is authorized to access the features of the system. In other environments, such as a public facility, the system may request provide additional information to verify a user's identity before providing access to some or all of the features provided by the distributed conference system.
In one embodiment, the distributed conference system receives configuration settings that specify a login mode. For example, the system may operate in one of three login modes based on the configuration settings: 1) no login, 2) login by name (no password required), and 3) login with password. The no login mode allows a user to access the system from a console without logging in. This implies that there are no security concerns and anyone who has physical access to the console is able to access any available, unrestricted information in the system. Identity-specific features such as voting and personalized messaging may not be available, although non-specific features, such as system-wide messages may be available.
The login by name mode is for situations where security is still not a concern but identity-specific features such as personalized messaging or voting are desired. Users can identify themselves by logging in with their real name or a system username. The system can be configured to allow “guest” access for users that have not identified themselves. Users login either by using an on-screen virtual keyboard or by selecting their name from a drop-down list. In the login with password mode, users provide a username and password for secure authentication. For many systems, a standard login with name/username and password is desired. This option provides not only for more secure messaging and voting, but also enables information access control for users and groups of users. An example of this type of login is presented in
In some embodiments, the distributed conference system provides an agenda or calendar view. An installer can configure the agenda view to integrate smoothly into a customer's current procedures. The system receives agenda items manually entered by the customer's staff and/or automatically from the system using a central web server or database. The agenda format can be plain text, HTML, or a document format such as Adobe PDF. The agenda view provides information about the day's topics to all conference attendees, and may include private items specific to each conference attendee. For example, an attendee may receive an agenda view with a scheduled vote during the day and a private lunch meeting specific to the attendee.
In some embodiments, the distributed conference system provides access to web content through a web browser view. An installer can customize the web browser view to provide access to the Internet, the customer's intranet, or both, Although the web browser view can provide complete and unrestricted Internet access, the distributed conference system may also act as a web filter to restrict access and capabilities for security and/or stability reasons. Since using a virtual keyboard is not second nature for most users, the system may provide a home page of frequently used or approved links to web pages that the user can visit. The system may provide different web content access privileges to different users and groups defined by the system. For example, a legislative assistant may not have the same access as a legislator.
In some embodiments, the distributed conference system provides access to documents. For example, the system may allow attendee consoles to display Microsoft Office documents, Adobe Acrobat PDF documents, videos, and so on. The system can restrict document access to certain users or user groups on a document-by-document basis or based on categories of documents. The distributed conference system allows conference attendees to view documents in various popular formats with a consistent user interface. The distributed conference system may invoke an application associated with the document to view the document. For example, the distributed conference system may invoke Microsoft Word to view a Microsoft Word document. When the system invokes the application, the system may instruct the application to appear in an embedded form, so that the application hides toolbars, status bars, menus, and other user interface elements typically displayed by the application. In this way, the distributed conference system can present a variety of types of documents in a similar format, and users of the system have a unified way of viewing documents of many types.
In addition, the distributed conference system may present its own controls, such as page up and page down, for navigating through documents. The distributed conference system may map these controls to different controls for each application in order to produce similar behavior in each application. For example, if the zoom functions in Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat use different keyboard or mouse sequences, the distributed conference system may send those application-specific sequences to the application when a user selects the zoom in control of the distributed conference system.
The system may initially present a tree or other control in the document display area 630 that displays a list of documents organized by category (or user or group, such as Democrat/Republican), from which the user can select a document. Only documents available to the user show up in the list of documents. After the user has selected a document, the system displays the document in the document display area 630.
In some embodiments, the distributed conference system provides a mailbox for each conference attendee. The conference attendees can access their mailbox through one of the distributed consoles. Depending on how the system is configured, messages can come from outside the system or inside the system. For example, the conference presenter or other conference attendees may send a message to a particular conference attendee via the administrative interface. Alternatively, an external email system may provide messages from an email server directed to a particular conference attendee, groups of attendees, or the conference presenter.
In some embodiments, the distributed conference system provides access to streaming video from one or more video sources. For example, an overhead projector, document scanner, VCR, video-conferencing system, or closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras may provide video that the system can display through the distributed conference system. For example, a conference attendee may be able to view a camera directed at the conference presenter, a camera directed at a conference attendee that asked a question, and so forth. The distributed conference system may receive an analog or digital video feed from the local video system (CCTV cameras, video conferencing system, video switching device, and so on), prepare the video for distribution (e.g., encoding, mixing, or other video processing), and provide a stream of video to each of the distributed consoles over the communication network. The distributed conference system may also provide controls for switching between cameras or viewing multiple cameras at once on the display of the distributed console.
In some embodiments, the distributed conference system provides access to television. For example, the distributed conference system may allow conference attendees to view cable television (CATV) during the conference presentation. In some environments, such as legislative halls, access to news and reporting of current events may be useful during debate on a bill. Alternatively, the conference attendees may simply watch CATV for a diversion during breaks or parts of the presentation that are not relevant to them. An operator of the distributed conference system may limit the channels available to each conference attendee or for selected conference attendees. For example, for an installation of the distributed conference system in a legislative hail, the operator may limit the channels to news channels such as MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, CSPAN, and so forth.
In some embodiments, the distributed conference system provides a picture-in-picture mode in which attendees can view a video or CATV stream while viewing other views. For example, if an attendee is viewing the CATV view and switches to another view, the system may continue to display the CATV content in an unused area of the new view. For example, the system may display the CATV content over the logo in the lower right of the illustrated views. The system may provide other features for viewing video and CATV, such as a multi-picture/channel view that allows a conference attendee to see more than one channel at a time on the attendee console screen. For example, the multi-picture/channel view can show CATV channels and an in-room presentation feed. The distributed conference system may also provide a full-screen viewing option. For example, if an attendee double-taps (e.g., clicks) on the main view the system may display video in full screen, and if the attendee double-taps again the system may return to the normal view.
Some of the views that the distributed conference system can provide have been described. Now the backend and administrative interface of the distributed will be described.
In some embodiments, the distributed conference system uses a central web server and each of the consoles is a terminal running a web browser. For example, each console may run a Rich Internet Application (RIA) in a custom web browser to provide the features described herein. RIAs are web applications that have features and functionality similar to traditional desktop applications and typically transfer the processing for the user interface to a web client but keep the bulk of the data (e.g., the state of the program, the data, and so on) on an application server. The features available through the distributed conference system can be determined through the administrative interface, a web site hosted by the central web server to which each distributed console connects. This allows targeting the distributed conference system to a variety of different audiences, such that an installer can customize the system for each installation. Different installations may select varying themes, such as logos, control layouts, colors, textures, and so forth. In addition, an administrator may add or lock out features. For example, a location may not want conference attendees to be able to view CATV, but may want to provide access to additional resources specific to that location. An administrator can support each of these situations by modifying the configuration of the underlying application hosted by the central web server.
In block 1030, the interface receives from the administrator a new item of conference information to add to the selected category. In the example of an agenda, the interface may receive a word processing document or calendar item that describes the events that are part of the agenda. In block 1040, the interface stores on a server accessible to one or more attendee consoles the received new item of conference information. For example, the system may include a web server with a repository of documents that the system can display to conference attendees. In block 1050, the interface receives from the administrator a selection of one or more users to grant or deny permission to access the new item of conference information and stores the user information on the server. For example, the system may include groups of users such as legislators of one party or another, and when the administrator adds new information to the system, the administrator may select which party's members can access the information.
In some embodiments, the distributed conference system provides an administrative user interface for staff members or other administrators to manage and configure the system. For example, the distributed conference system may provide a web or touch screen interface for management, configuration, and sending administrative messages. The administrative interface may also be available either from any connected PC with a browser or from a dedicated management PC (depending on security and other considerations). Using the administrative interface, staff members can, for example: add and delete users, add and delete staff members, add and delete documents, logout specific users or all users, configure CATV access, send messages, archive messages, update the agenda or calendar, restart the system, and so forth. An administrator may grant different staff members access to specific management features. For example, a conference presenter may not have access to view archived messages or to delete users.
The following paragraphs describe some of the views provided by the administrative interface of the system for managing various aspects of the system.
In some embodiments, the distributed conference system provides a message management view. The message management view allows an administrator or other authorized user to send messages from the system to one or more users. The view may allow the administrator to select a recipient of the message, type text for the subject and/or body of the message, and indicate whether the recipient can reply to the message. Because the message may be viewed in an environment with a touch screen where typing can be difficult, the system may provide an option for the message sender to include response buttons with which the recipient can indicate one of several replies with a single selection of the button.
In some embodiments, the distributed conference system provides a system settings view. The system settings view may provide operations that do not fall under other categories, such as restarting the system, logging off users, enabling and disabling various system features, and so forth. The system settings view may also allow an administrator to set the system time and configure a network time protocol (NTP) server for automatically updating the system time.
The system may provide several other administrative views in addition to those described herein. For example, the system may provide an agenda management view for uploading agenda displayed by the attendee console agenda view, a video management view for configuring and selecting video sources that an attendee can view, an administrative inbox view for an administrator to view and respond to messages directed to the administrator, or a screens view for defining the views provided by the system and which users can access them. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize numerous options that the system can provide through these and other views.
From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that specific embodiments of the distributed conference system have been described herein for purposes of illustration, but that various modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, although several examples have been given, such as classrooms and legislative halls, where the distributed conference system might be use, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the system can be used in a variety of locations including meeting rooms and hearing rooms, and in a variety of settings including corporate, educational, and government settings. In addition, although some types of documents and information available through the system have been described, many additional types of information can be added to the system such as agendas, calendars, common documents and files, local video, live television feeds, messaging, voting/polling, and so on. Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by the appended claims.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/975,434 (Attorney Docket No. 29671-8017.US00) entitled “DISTRIBUTED CONFERENCE AND INFORMATION SYSTEM,” and filed on Sep. 26, 2007, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60975434 | Sep 2007 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 12239561 | Sep 2008 | US |
| Child | 13451472 | US |
