Patent Grant
11151796
The present subject matter relates generally to a teleconferencing system. More specifically, the present invention relates to teleconferencing system that simulates the mutual physical presence of users in a virtual interaction featuring augmented reality elements.
A teleconference or video interaction over almost any distance is an inherently impersonal experience. Many developments in recent technology have aimed to solve the issue of people missing the aspects of human interactions hearing someone's voice alone does not provide. From teleconferencing, to Facetime and Snapchat, the use of video calling and messages has greatly enhanced communicating over great distances, but these innovations are not without their shortcomings. Companies such as Snapchat and Facebook have developed augmented reality facial filters, lenses, etc. to create another more interesting dimension to a standard video message, chat, or call.
Existing video call technology does not allow a user to feel as though they are in close proximity to the person being called. While users may be able to see and speak with a colleague or loved one over Facetime, etc. it is readily apparent both users of such technology are in separate locations. Additionally, current video calls and chats do not incorporate augmented reality into such calls or chats, missing an opportunity for fun and excitement.
Accordingly, there is a need for a video communication system that simulates the mutual physical presence of users in virtual interactions featuring augmented reality elements.
To meet the needs described above and others, in one embodiment, the subject matter provided herein is embodied in a video call application that provides users the illusion of both being present in a single physical location. Specifically, the embodiment presents the users the visual experience of being able to reach out and touch the person with whom they are speaking. The experience is provided through an application that allows users to make a video call with the additional benefit of being able to superimpose the video from other user(s) devices' cameras onto the video displayed on each of the user devices' screens. This can be used to provide a real-time video image of all callers on the same screen, simulating that everyone involved in the call are physically in each other's presence.
The primary embodiments used herein to describe the invention identify and combine human elements in a video using the rear and/or front facing camera(s) of a mobile device (a front facing camera being a camera facing the user while the user is viewing the device's display and a rear facing camera being a camera facing away from the user while the user is viewing the device's display). However, it is understood that those skilled in the art will recognize that the user device does not need to be a mobile device, it may be an alternative such as a laptop or PC computer (or similar) equipped with both forward and rear facing cameras. In instances in which alternative devices are being used, an external peripheral camera device must be used as the rear camera to prevent the user from having to awkwardly reach around to the back side of the device (for example, it may be difficult for a user to reach to the back side of an alternative device while still viewing the display screen at the front of the device). The rear facing camera is intended to be used to capture a real-time video feed of human element(s), such as hands, hands and arms or intimate body parts, such as genitalia, etc. The mobile device uses a detection/recognition algorithm to identify these human elements captured in the viewing field of a rear and/or front facing camera(s) of an end user device (e.g. smartphones, tablets, personal computers, etc.).
In one example, a first user may reach behind a mobile device during a video call, whilst still being able to look at the front display screen of their mobile device. The front display screen of their mobile device would show a superimposed real-time video containing a human element, superimposed with real time video from a second user's device. The resulting superimposed video, containing overlapping human elements from each user gives a visual impression of physical interaction between the users.
The application which enables this functionality may be standalone or integrated into other video calling applications. The application may run on mobile devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets, etc.) and personal computers (e.g., desktop computers, laptops, etc.).
Another way in which the application may achieve the superimposed video effect is by use of the multiple cameras of a smartphone or tablet. Most mobile devices have two cameras, one on the front face of the device and one on the back. Some newer devices (e.g., the iPhone 7) include multiple cameras on the back of the device in addition to one or more front facing cameras. In a second example, the application may allow multiple cameras on a user device to be active at the same time, with the system superimposing the human elements (e.g., face, body, hands, etc.) of the video captured by device cameras to give an illusion of physical interaction.
In a third example, the application may utilize a first user's rear facing camera and a second user's front facing camera to enable the first user to physically reach around to the back of the first user device such that the first user's hand (a human element of a video) appears on the second user's screen when the first user's hand is in view of their device's back camera. This arrangement enables the users to both view the video call on their given device's while simultaneously creating a visual representation of physical touching. This effect is achieved by the first user reaching behind their mobile device into the field of view their rear facing camera which is capturing video. The combination of superimposing a live video of a hand (or other human element) taken from a rear facing camera of a mobile device; with a human element (e.g., a face, neck, and torso) from a second users second users live video creates the visual representation of physical interaction/touch between the callers. It should be noted the first user's hand could be superimposed over the face, body, or any other human (or non-human) element(s) captured by the second user's camera. This allows users of the system to carry out the illusion of physical interactions such as shaking hands, high-flying, etc. depending on which device cameras are utilized by end users.
Many of the various embodiments and examples described herein include a composite video in which two separate video sources, each including a human element, are combined. To more realistically combine human elements from multiple video sources, it may be useful to employ an auto-scaling function in which the size of the human element in each video source is scaled to more appropriately match the human element in the other video source. This may be especially important in examples in which contact is simulated between the human elements from each video source. For example, when combining a first user's hand and arm from a first video source with a second user's head and chest from a second video source, it may be advantageous to scale the video elements such that the proportions of the first user's hand and arm look natural in light of the proportions of the second user's head and chest. Such autoscaling may be accomplished by first recognizing which types of human elements are being combined in the composite video and referencing a data set including physiological parameters such as the standard proportions of body parts compared to each other. In this manner, the system may recognize that a male hand is one of the first human elements from a first video source that is being combined with a female head as one of the second human elements from a second video source and use statistical norms to scale the video including the male hand and/or the video including the female head such that the composite video appears to be a more natural combination.
Such automatic scaling may be accomplished in a scaling of the video feed or it may be accomplished by automatically adjusting a zoom setting of the image capturing device. Accordingly, the scaling may occur as part of the capture process, in the process of combining the video feeds, or in some cases in both stages.
The video from all cameras utilized by system users at a given time may be fed into a central server, which in turn transmits the video(s) to other user(s) involved in a given video call. The transmission and reception of the video calls may be carried out via the internet or any other functionally capable communications network with the superimposition of video carried out by user devices, the central server, or both depending on what is most functionally advantageous. Those skilled in the art with further recognize that any of the features and functions described herein as being carried out by a central server may instead be accomplished in a peer-to-peer system in which the devices communicate directly to each other without any intervention by a central server. In such instances, the any of the features and functions described herein as being performed by the server would instead be performed by the user devices.
In all examples/arrangements of the invention a detection/recognition algorithm may be used to identify and extract the human elements from a real-time video feed. One or more of the following detection/recognition methods may be used (in whole or in part) to identify and extract the human element(s) from a live video feed: foreground and background separation, proximity recognition, Chroma keying, hand-arm/body detection, background subtraction, and a Kalman filter. Furthermore, once a human element is captured within the field of vision of an active camera of a user's device, the detection/recognition algorithm will continuously identify and extract the identified human element(s) in real time throughout the duration of the video call. The remainder of the video footage (that has not been identified or extracted as a human element from at least one of the video feeds) may be removed and not shown on the display screen of either user's device. As will be recognized by those skilled in the art, the detection/recognition methods may be based on or aided by the type or types of cameras being employed. For example, a three-dimensional, or depth-sensing, camera may be used to assist in identifying and extracting the human elements.
As noted, the systems and processes employed in the identification and extraction of the human elements in the videos may be completed using a depth-sensing camera, e.g., a time-of-flight camera. The depth-sensing camera may work in collaboration with other video cameras and other elements of the system to identify and extract a human element. The extracted human elements may be given three-dimensional properties using the three-dimensional data acquired by the depth-sensing camera. The three-dimensional data enables the system to cause certain human elements or augmented reality elements to occlude other human elements or augmented reality elements within the video call. The three-dimensional properties may also facilitate further augmented reality interaction. For example, the occlusion enabled by the three-dimensional data enables the superimposed video to more realistically show a person holding an augmented reality object.
The depth-sensing camera further enables the system to segment elements within the video based on their depth from the camera. This functionality may be used, for example, to identify the two-dimensional location of the human element to be extracted from the video feed.
The application may also allow users to create a user profile which features information about the user, their call preferences, contacts, etc. User profiles may be stored in the memory of the central server, on user devices, or both.
The application may allow for many different video call modes, including: Traditional Video Call—front or rear facing camera only; One Way Touch Call—a superimposed real time video image of one user's front camera and another user's rear camera (or vice versa); Rear Touch Call—a superimposed real time video image of both users' rear cameras (typically used to show holding hands, etc.); and Front Touch Call—a superimposed real time video image of both users' front cameras (typically used to show a kiss, etc.).
A goal of the present invention is to increase the quality, intimacy, and entertainment value of video calls. By using the front and rear cameras on a smart phone/tablet, the video superimposing system gives the impression of reaching out and touching another person, playing a game with them, putting virtual clothing upon them, etc. Such interactions are not possible with traditional video chat and could be invaluable to long distance couples, isolated elderly people, overseas business partners, etc.
In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method of superimposing video carried out by a processor, the method includes the steps of: receiving a first live video from a first user device; receiving a second live video from a second user device; identifying a first human element in the first live video and a second human element in the second live video; combining a portion of the first live video and a portion of the second live video in real-time to create a superimposed video including a frame perimeter within which a combined portion of the first live video and second live video is contained, wherein the superimposed video includes the first human element and the second human element, wherein, within the superimposed video, the first human element and the second human element may concurrently occupy any location within the frame perimeter; and transmitting the superimposed video to at least one of the first user device and the second user device.
In some examples, in response to real-time movement by the first human element in the first live video and the second human element in the second live video, contact is simulated between the first human element and the second human element in the superimposed video.
In other examples, in response to real-time movement by the first human element in the first live video and the second human element in the second live video, the first human element is superimposed upon the second human element in the superimposed video such that the first human element obscures at least a portion of the second human element.
In some examples, the first user device is a mobile computing device, in others, it is a personal computer. In some examples, the first live video is captured by a camera of the first user device. In other examples, the first live video is captured by at least two cameras of the first user device simultaneously.
In other examples, the first live video is captured by a rear facing camera of the first user device, the second live video is captured by a front facing camera of the second user device, and the first human element obscures at least a portion of the second human element in the transmitted superimposed video. In still others, the first live video is captured by a rear facing camera of the first user device, the second live video is captured by a rear facing camera of the second user device, and the first human element obscures at least a portion of the second human element in the transmitted superimposed video. Alternatively, the first live video may be captured by a front facing camera of the first user device, the second live video is captured by a front facing camera of the second user device, and the first human element obscures at least a portion of the second human element in the transmitted superimposed video.
Yet another embodiment may feature a computer-implemented system for superimposing video, comprising: a central server featuring a processor, memory, and networking interface; a first user device featuring a camera, processor, memory, and networking interface; a second user device featuring a camera, processor, memory, and networking interface; wherein the central server, receives a first live video from a first user device and a second live video from a second user device, identifies a first human element in the first video and a second human element in the second video, combines a portion of the first video and a portion of the second video in real-time to create a superimposed video including a frame perimeter within which a combined portion of the first video and second video is contained, wherein the superimposed video includes the first human element and the second human element, wherein, within the superimposed video, the first human element and the second human element may concurrently occupy any location within the frame perimeter, and transmits the superimposed video to at least one of the first user device and the second user device.
This system may, in response to real-time movement by the first human element in the first live video and the second human element in the second live video, contact is simulated between the first human element and the second human element in the superimposed video. The system may also, in response to real-time movement by the first human element in the first live video and the second human element in the second live video, the first human element is superimposed upon the second human element in the superimposed video such that the first human element obscures at least a portion of the second human element.
The system may run on a smartphone or desktop computer, wherein the first live video is captured by a rear facing camera of the first user device, the second live video is captured by a front facing camera of the second user device, and the first human element obscures at least a portion of the second human element in the transmitted superimposed video. Alternatively, the first live video may be captured by a rear facing camera of the first user device, the second live video is captured by a rear facing camera of the second user device, and the first human element obscures at least a portion of the second human element in the transmitted superimposed video. Additionally, the first live video may be captured by a front facing camera of the first user device, the second live video is captured by a front facing camera of the second user device, and the first human element obscures at least a portion of the second human element in the transmitted superimposed video.
In some examples of the systems and methods described herein, the superimposed video may simply be the human element of both callers' live video feeds superimposed together. In another example, it may be the human element of one caller's live video feed superimposed over the full live video feed from the second caller. It is contemplated that there is a technical advantage to just overlaying one identified human element, rather than selecting two human elements. For example, just overlaying one identified human element over the full video feed of the other caller requires less computing resources and ideally results in less latency.
Embodiments of the presently disclosed system may also include augmented reality functionality. This augmented reality functionality may be incorporated into video calls carried out by the system in the form of augmented reality elements. Such elements may be augmented reality objects, environments, and/or effects added to the superimposed video generated by the system. The augmented reality objects may be any two-dimensional or three-dimensional object, cartoon, emoji, animated graphics interchange format files (.gif files), digital images, avatars, etc. added into a video call by the system. The augmented reality objects may be pure additions to the video call or they may be substitutions for elements within the video. For example, human elements (e.g., arms, hands, faces, etc.) may be replaced by augmented reality (e.g., graphically representative) versions of those elements. Augmented reality environments and/or effects may also be incorporated by the system within a given call. For example, if an end user was to place an animated three-dimensional insect augmented reality object into a given video call carried out by the system, additional buzzing sound augmented reality effects might also be added by the system into the final superimposed video generated. Similarly, a human element (e.g., arm) can be substituted with an augmented reality graphic, such as an augmented reality arm or an augmented reality baseball bat. The augmented reality arm may be given visual effects such as being made translucent, turned black and white, or shown as another color.
Another example, continuing with the insect object mentioned above could be an end user selecting a jungle themed augmented reality environment in which to carry out a video call. The system may place the human elements from each call participant upon a jungle background, add jungle sound effects, and have augmented reality bug objects all appear within the final super imposed video generated by the system.
The augmented reality elements (objects, environments, and/or effects) may be passive or active. If the augmented reality elements are passive, they merely add visual effects to the call. If, however, the augmented elements are active, the human elements may be able to interact with these elements (and environment, effects, etc.). For example, if the bug object mentioned above is active in nature, end users may be able to swat the bug or smash it. Such interactions maybe be carried out via the actual physical movement of the human elements within the frame perimeter of the superimposed video generated by the system. Additional augmented reality effects may also be generated from such interactions. For instance, if water balloon augmented reality elements are added by the system, end users may “toss” these balloons at one another by hand movement. Users may also try to dodge the water balloons via physical movement but if a balloon element runs into another human element once “thrown”, it will burst and then leave whatever human element it contacted covered in augmented reality water and/or result in a wet appearance augmented reality effect being applied to the contacted element(s). This same sort of interaction could also occur with a boxing glove augmented reality object used to “punch” the face human element of another user; leaving the face element with a black eye effect.
A given augmented reality element may also be acted upon by two or more human elements at once. For example, if there was a rope augmented reality object, two human hand elements may be able to grasp opposite ends of the rope and have a tug of war. Another example could be that of a ninja enemy augmented reality object that two or more end users could beat up simultaneously. Movement and the relative position of all visual elements within the frame perimeter of a video call carried out by the system may be tracked by a spatial recognition algorithm. This algorithm may track movement speed, acceleration, and momentum of all visual elements (human elements, augmented reality elements, background, etc.) in real time.
Yet another example of the present invention is a computer-implemented method of superimposing video carried out by a processor, the method comprising the steps of: receiving a first live video from a first user device; receiving a second live video from a second user device; identifying and extracting, on a continuous basis, a first human element from the first live video using a detection algorithm; combining the first human element and a portion or all of the second live video in real-time to create a superimposed video including a frame perimeter within which the superimposed video includes the first human element and a second human element from the second live video, wherein, within the superimposed video, the first human element and the second human element may concurrently occupy any location within the frame perimeter; inserting an augmented reality element within the frame perimeter such that the superimposed video includes the first human element extracted from the first live video, the second human element from the second live video, and the augmented reality object; and transmitting the superimposed video to at least one of the first user device and the second user device; wherein the first live video is captured by a rear facing camera of the first user device and, in response to movement of the first human element relative to the first user device, the first human element obscures at least a portion of the second human element in the transmitted superimposed video. In some examples, in response to real-time movement by the first human element relative to the first user device and the second human element relative to the second user device, the method simulates contact between the first human element and the second human element in the superimposed video.
In another example, the present invention is embodied in a computer-implemented system for superimposing video, including: a central server featuring a processor, memory, and networking interface; a first user device featuring a camera, processor, memory, and networking interface; a second user device featuring a camera, processor, memory, and networking interface; wherein one of the central server, the first user device's processor, and the second user device's processor: receives a first live video from a first user device and a second live video from a second user device; identifies and extracts, on a continuous basis, a first human element from the first live video using a detection algorithm; combines the first human element with a portion or all of the second live video in real-time to create a superimposed video including a frame perimeter within which the superimposed video includes the first human element and a second human element from the second live video, wherein, within the superimposed video, the first human element and the second human element may concurrently occupy any location within the frame perimeter; inserts an augmented reality element within the frame perimeter such that the superimposed video includes the first human element extracted from the first live video, the second human element from the second live video, and the augmented reality object; and transmits the superimposed video to at least one of the first user device and the second user device; wherein the first live video is captured by a rear facing camera of the first user device and, in response to movement of the first human element relative to the first user device, the first human element obscures at least a portion of the second human element in the transmitted superimposed video.
In embodiments of the examples above, the first user device is a mobile computing device. In other examples, the first user device is a personal computer. The first live video may be captured by at least two cameras of the first user device simultaneously. The second live video may be captured by a front facing camera of the second user device. The second live video may be captured by a rear facing camera of the second user device. The detection algorithm may include any one or more of foreground and background separation, proximity recognition, Chroma keying, hand-arm/body detection, background subtraction, and a Kalman filter.
In some examples, the augmented reality element is passive within the superimposed video. In other examples, the augmented reality element is active and responsive within the superimposed video to movement of the first human element relative to the first user device and to movement of the second human element relative to the second user device.
In additional examples, the video feed from one of the devices may be prerecorded with the other video feed being a live feed. The prerecorded video feed may or may not be recorded using a mobile device. For example, the prerecorded video feed may be recorded using professional film making equipment. In primary embodiments, a prerecorded video feed may be taken from the perspective of a front facing camera and a live element of a video call may be taken from a rear facing camera of a user's device. However, in other examples, the prerecorded video may be taken from a rear facing camera of a mobile device or using a camera not associated with a mobile device.
The prerecorded video feed may be provided to a specific one user or may be provided to many users at once. For example, the prerecorded video may be part of a marketing or advertising campaign in which a large number of users are given the opportunity to interact with the prerecorded video.
In some instances, the prerecorded video feed may be adapted such that it is provided in segments, with transitions from one segment to the next being dependent on the system recognizing a specific movement or action made by the user in the live video feed. For example, the prerecorded video feed may feature a celebrity, such as an athlete, who presents an introduction and then asks the viewer for a specific interaction (e.g., asks the viewer for a high-five) and only progresses to a second “un-locked” segment of the prerecorded video when the viewer executes the appropriate action in the live video feed. The action required to unlock the subsequent segment of the prerecorded video may be a combination of both movement and audio, just movement, or just audio.
An advantage of the present invention is that the application gives another dimension to traditional video calls and allows friends and families that are apart from each other to not only experience the sensation of being able to touch their loved ones from anywhere with an internet connection, but also become immersed in augmented reality. The present invention could allow someone climbing Mt. Everest to call someone in the depths of the Amazon rainforest and both parties could simulate being beside one another and also virtually place comical stickers upon one another, etc.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the examples will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following description and the accompanying drawings or may be learned by production or operation of the examples. The objects and advantages of the concepts may be realized and attained by means of the methodologies, instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
The drawing figures depict one or more implementations in accord with the present concepts, by way of example only, not by way of limitations. In the figures, like reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements.
Throughout the descriptions provided herein, the term extraction is used to describe isolating and separating one or more elements in a video from other elements and/or the background of the video. The primary purpose of such extraction in the present subject matter is to take and combine certain parts of a first video with parts of a second video to create a composite (i.e., superimposed) video. In each instance, the term extraction is meant to broadly describe segmentation (or any similar process) used for isolating elements in a video such that they can be used in creating a composite video, especially in a continuous and ongoing manner. While extraction (i.e., segmentation) is often used to describe the separation of the foreground and background in an image or video, it is understood that in the present disclosure, segmentation may separate human from non-human elements, foreground from background, or any other isolation and separation of elements in the video.
As described further herein, a primary object of the system 10 is to enable a portion of a first live video 212 to be superimposed upon a second live video 214 (illustrated in
As shown in
It should be noted that in the example described above, the analysis, processing, and transformation of video 210 is carried out on the central server 30. In alternative embodiments, some, or all, of such actions may be carried out on one or more of the end user devices 20.
The user device 20 may include a memory interface 102, controllers 103, such as one or more data processors, image processors and/or central processors, and a peripherals interface 106. The memory interface 102, the one or more controllers 103 and/or the peripherals interface 106 can be separate components or can be integrated in one or more integrated circuits. The various components in the user device 20 can be coupled by one or more communication buses or signal lines, as will be recognized by those skilled in the art.
Sensors, devices, and additional subsystems can be coupled to the peripherals interface 106 to facilitate various functionalities. For example, a motion sensor 108 (e.g., a gyroscope), a light sensor 163, and positioning sensors 112 (e.g., GPS receiver, accelerometer) can be coupled to the peripherals interface 106 to facilitate the orientation, lighting, and positioning functions described further herein. Other sensors 114 can also be connected to the peripherals interface 106, such as a proximity sensor, a temperature sensor, a biometric sensor, or other sensing device, to facilitate related functionalities.
A camera subsystem 116 includes a physical camera (e.g., a charged coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) optical sensor) which can be utilized to facilitate camera functions, such as recording photographs and video clips. Modern smartphones and other devices typically feature more than one physical camera operated by the camera subsystem 116. Such cameras may be located on the front of the device 20—the side of the device with a screen (e.g., front cameras 118) or rear of the device 20—the side opposite the screen (e.g., rear facing cameras 119).
Communication functions can be facilitated through a network interface, such as one or more wireless communication subsystems 120, which can include radio frequency receivers and transmitters and/or optical (e.g., infrared) receivers and transmitters. The specific design and implementation of the communication subsystem 120 can depend on the communication network(s) over which the user device 20 is intended to operate. For example, the user device 20 can include communication subsystems 120 designed to operate over a GSM network, a GPRS network, an EDGE network, a Wi-Fi or Imax network, and a Bluetooth network. In particular, the wireless communication subsystems 120 may include hosting protocols such that the user device 20 may be configured as a base station for other wireless devices.
An audio subsystem 122 can be coupled to a speaker 124 and a microphone 126 to facilitate voice-enabled functions, such as voice recognition, voice replication, digital recording, and telephony functions.
The I/O subsystem 128 may include a touch screen controller 130 and/or other input controller(s) 132. The touch-screen controller 130 can be coupled to a touch screen 134, such as a touch screen. The touch screen 134 and touch screen controller 130 can, for example, detect contact and movement, or break thereof, using any of a plurality of touch sensitivity technologies, including but not limited to capacitive, resistive, infrared, and surface acoustic wave technologies, as well as other proximity sensor arrays or other elements for determining one or more points of contact with the touch screen 134. The other input controller(s) 132 can be coupled to other input/control devices 136, such as one or more buttons, rocker switches, thumb-wheel, infrared port, USB port, and/or a pointer device such as a stylus. The one or more buttons (not shown) can include an up/down button for volume control of the speaker 124 and/or the microphone 126.
The memory interface 102 may be coupled to memory 104. The memory 104 can include high-speed random access memory and/or non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, one or more optical storage devices, and/or flash memory (e.g., NAND, NOR). The memory 104 may store operating system instructions 140, such as Darwin, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, OS X, iOS, ANDROID, BLACKBERRY OS, BLACKBERRY 10, WINDOWS, or an embedded operating system such as VxWorks. The operating system instructions 140 may include instructions for handling basic system services and for performing hardware dependent tasks. In some implementations, the operating system instructions 140 can be a kernel (e.g., UNIX kernel).
The memory 104 may also store communication instructions 142 to facilitate communicating with one or more additional devices, one or more computers and/or one or more servers. The memory 104 may include graphical user interface instructions 144 to facilitate graphic user interface processing; sensor processing instructions 146 to facilitate sensor-related processing and functions; phone instructions 148 to facilitate phone-related processes and functions; electronic messaging instructions 150 to facilitate electronic-messaging related processes and functions; web browsing instructions 152 to facilitate web browsing-related processes and functions; media processing instructions 154 to facilitate media processing-related processes and functions; GPS/Navigation instructions 156 to facilitate GPS and navigation-related processes and instructions; camera instructions 158 to facilitate camera-related processes and functions; and/or other software instructions 160 to facilitate other processes and functions (e.g., access control management functions, etc.). The memory 104 may also store other software instructions controlling other processes and functions of the user device 20 as will be recognized by those skilled in the art. In some implementations, the media processing instructions 154 are divided into audio processing instructions and video processing instructions to facilitate audio processing-related processes and functions and video processing-related processes and functions, respectively. An activation record and International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) 162 or similar hardware identifier can also be stored in memory 104. As described above, the video conferencing software 164 is also stored in the memory 104 and run by the controllers 103.
Each of the above identified instructions and applications can correspond to a set of instructions for performing one or more functions described herein. These instructions need not be implemented as separate software programs, procedures, or modules. The memory 104 can include additional instructions or fewer instructions. Furthermore, various functions of the user device 20 may be implemented in hardware and/or in software, including in one or more signal processing and/or application specific integrated circuits. Accordingly, the user device 20, as shown in
Aspects of the systems and methods described herein are controlled by one or more controllers 103. The one or more controllers 103 may be adapted run a variety of application programs, access and store data, including accessing and storing data in associated databases, and enable one or more interactions via the user device 20. Typically, the one or more controllers 103 are implemented by one or more programmable data processing devices. The hardware elements, operating systems, and programming languages of such devices are conventional in nature, and it is presumed that those skilled in the art are adequately familiar therewith.
For example, the one or more controllers 103 may be a PC based implementation of a central control processing system utilizing a central processing unit (CPU), memories and an interconnect bus. The CPU may contain a single microprocessor, or it may contain a plurality of microcontrollers 103 for configuring the CPU as a multi-processor system. The memories include a main memory, such as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and cache, as well as a read only memory, such as a PROM, EPROM, FLASH-EPROM, or the like. The system may also include any form of volatile or non-volatile memory. In operation, the main memory is non-transitory and stores at least portions of instructions for execution by the CPU and data for processing in accord with the executed instructions.
The one or more controllers 103 may further include appropriate input/output ports for interconnection with one or more output displays (e.g., monitors, printers, touchscreen 134, motion-sensing input device 108, etc.) and one or more input mechanisms (e.g., keyboard, mouse, voice, touch, bioelectric devices, magnetic reader, RFID reader, barcode reader, touchscreen 134, motion-sensing input device 108, etc.) serving as one or more user interfaces for the processor. For example, the one or more controllers 103 may include a graphics subsystem to drive the output display. The links of the peripherals to the system may be wired connections or use wireless communications.
Although summarized above as a smartphone-type implementation, those skilled in the art will recognize that the one or more controllers 103 also encompasses systems such as host computers, servers, workstations, network terminals, PCs, and the like. Further one or more controllers 103 may be embodied in a user device 20, such as a mobile electronic device, like a smartphone or tablet computer. In fact, the use of the term controller is intended to represent a broad category of components that are well known in the art.
The fourth step 246 calls for the system 10 to continuously identify and extract a first human element 216 (identified in the first video 212) and/or second human element 218 (identified in the second video 214) from their respective videos via use of the detection/recognition algorithm. Extraction may be carried out by the detection/recognition algorithm or a separate piece of programing and the methodologies used to extract a given human element may vary depending on technological resources available to a given set of end users. For example, if the system 10 was utilized by users with slower computing components, the extraction methodology used (e.g., foreground and background separation, proximity recognition, Chroma keying, hand-arm/body detection, background subtraction, and/or a Kalman filter) may be automatically selected by the system to utilize as little processor 31 power as possible.
The fifth step 248 of the computer-implemented method of superimposing video 210 carried out by a processor 31 is combing a portion of the first video 213 and a portion of the second video 215 in real-time to create a superimposed video 310 including a frame perimeter 309 within which a combined portion of the first video 212 and second video 214 is contained, wherein the superimposed video 310 includes the extracted first human element 216 and the second human element 218, wherein, within the superimposed video 310, the first human element 216 and the second human element 218 may concurrently occupy any location within the frame perimeter 309 and the positions of the human elements 216 and/or 218 within the frame perimeter 309 are responsive to movement of these human elements 216 and/or 218 relative to their corresponding end user devices 20. It should be noted that the system may unilaterally extract a human element from one video (e.g., the first human element 216 or second human element 218, in this example) without a human element being present in both videos 212 and 214.
A key feature of the multi-feed video call system 10 is that, within the superimposed video 310, the first human element 216 and the second human element 218, are each able to occupy any portion of the superimposed video 310. In the example shown in
The portion of the first video 213 and a portion of the second video 215 combined in real-time may be only the extracted first human element 216 and second human element 218, or can include more video 210 from the live videos 212, 213. This additional video 210, beyond the human elements 216, 218 may include a background 219. Such a background 219 is illustrated in
The final step 250 of the computer-implemented method of superimposing video 210 carried out by a processor 31 is transmitting the superimposed video 310 to a user device 20. Such transmission is shown in
Additionally,
In this example, the first live video 212 is associated with Caller 1's and the second live video 214 is associated with Caller 2. It should be noted however the labels regarding the live videos 212, 214 could be reversed in this example (and the examples seen in
The fourth step 404 calls for the system 10 to continuously identify and extract a first human element 216 (identified in the first video 212) and/or second human element 218 (identified in the second video 214) from their respective videos. Extraction may be carried out by the detection/recognition algorithm or a separate piece of programing and the methodologies used to extract a given human element may vary depending on technological resources available to a given set of end users.
The fifth step 405 of the computer-implemented method of superimposing video 210 carried out by a processor 31 is combining a portion of the first video 212 and a portion of the second video 214 in real-time to create a superimposed video including a frame perimeter 309 within which a combined portion of the first video 212 and second video 214 is contained, wherein the superimposed video 310 includes the first human element 216 and the second human element 218, wherein, within the superimposed video 310, the first human element 216 and the second human element 218 may concurrently occupy any location within the frame perimeter 309 and the positions of the human elements 216 and/or 218 within the frame perimeter 309 are responsive to movement of these human elements 216 and/or 218 relative to their corresponding end user devices 20. As mentioned above, a human element (216 or 218) may be captured unilaterally by the system without the need for the human element of another to be present for capture, extraction, transmission, etc. to occur.
The sixth step 406 of the method of superimposing video featuring augmented reality element(s) is combining the superimposed video 310 (generated in step 404) with at least one augmented reality element 410. Such elements can be seen illustrated in
The final step 407 of the computer-implemented method of superimposing video 210 featuring augmented reality element(s) 410 carried out by a processor 31 is transmitting the superimposed video 310 to a user device 20. Such transmission is shown in
A key feature of the augmented reality multi-feed video call system 10 is that, within the superimposed video 310, the first human element 216 and the second human element 218, are each able to occupy any portion of the superimposed video 310. In the example shown in
The portion of the first video 213 and a portion of the second video 215 combined in real-time may be only the first human element 216 and second human element 218, or can include more video 210 from the live videos 212, 213. This additional video 210, beyond the human elements 216, 218 may include a background 219 and augmented reality element(s) 410. Such a background 219 is illustrated in
The background 219 can be generated by the system 10 or captured by a device 20 camera 118, 119. In the example shown in
The augmented reality element 410 in this example is a hat. The hat augmented reality element 410 may be automatically placed upon the appropriate corresponding human element by the system 10 (e.g., hat on the head, boxing glove on hand, etc.) and may also be placed anywhere within the frame perimeter 309. The human elements 216, 218 may be set to interact with the augmented reality element 410 (e.g., bump it, push it, smash it), pass through the object 410, or have the element 410 obscured by the human elements 216 and/or 218. It should also be noted that the human elements 216 and 218 are not the only portions of the final superimposed video 310 which may interact with the augmented reality element(s) 410 with other augmented reality element(s) 410 and the background 219 also potentially interacting with a given augmented reality element 410.
It should also be noted the portions of live videos 213, 215 may be superimposed upon each other first, with the augmented reality element(s) 410 then being added in a second distinct step as shown or the various portions (e.g., human elements 216 and 218, background 219, and/or augmented reality element(s) 410) of the final superimposed video 310 may be combined all at once by the present system 10. Still yet other sequences of superimposition of the various portions of the final superimposed video 310 are also possible including the system 10 superimposing an augmented reality element 410 upon a human element (216 or 218) from one of the portions (213 or 215) of one of the video feeds (212 or 214) before then superimposing the portions of the two video feeds (213 and 215) upon one another.
Transmission of the superimposed video 310 is displayed on the first user and second user's devices 20. Worth noting here is that the example shown in
It should be noted that multiple human elements can interact with the augmented reality elements 410 during a given multi-source video call. For example, two human elements might go to squash the same bug element 410 and knock the bug aside instead. In another example, the two human elements might be able to play tug of war against one another via a rope augmented reality element 410 or team up together and fight augmented reality ninja elements 410.
The multi-source video superimposition system 10 may use a human element detection algorithm to identify the human elements of both users (such as the face/eyes/head/arm/torso etc.,) in their respective video feeds 210. These human elements can then interact with each other in the superimposed video in addition to interacting with an augmented reality effects and/or animations. Additionally, the human elements detected by the system 10 may be placed in a frame perimeter 309 featuring augmented reality elements 410 which enables the end users to further interact with one another.
As shown in
It should be noted the types of augmented reality elements 410 added to a superimposed video 310 by the system 10 may be selected via a graphical user interface (GUI) running on one of the end user devices 20. For example, users may have the option to select from a drop-down menu within the GUI of augmented reality elements 410 including objects (e.g., bugs, hats, fruit, etc.) and environments (e.g., moon, mars, rainforest, etc.). The environment(s) selected by users (or automatically applied by the system) may also impact how the human elements and augmented reality objects interact. For example, if an end user was to select the moon as their augment reality environment and bugs as an augmented reality object, the bugs might be given a weightless or low gravity visual effect to simulate being on the moon. The human elements might also have this same visual effect applied.
It should also be noted that the movement and position of all visual elements (human and augmented reality elements 410) may be tracked via a spatial recognition algorithm. The spatial recognition algorithm may keep track of the relative position between elements, movement speed of moving elements, acceleration of moving elements, and any momentum of a moving element (and this momentum's transfer to other elements).
The superimposed video 310 shown to the end users may features augmented reality element(s) 410 (examples shown in
The prerecorded video feed 500 may be provided to a specific one user or may be provided to many users and their associated devices 20 at once or at multiple points in time. For example, the prerecorded video 500 may be part of a marketing or advertising campaign in which a large number of users are given the opportunity to interact with the prerecorded video feed 500.
In some instances, the prerecorded video feed 500 may be adapted such that it is provided in segments, with transitions from one segment to the next being dependent on the system 10 recognizing a specific movement or action made by the user in the live video feed 502. For example, the prerecorded video feed 500 may feature a celebrity, such as an athlete, who presents an introduction and then asks the viewer for a specific interaction (e.g., asks the viewer for a high-five) and only progresses to a second “un-locked” segment of the prerecorded video 500 when the viewer executes the appropriate action in the live video feed 502. The action required to unlock the subsequent segment of the prerecorded video 500 may be a combination of both movement and audio, just movement, or just audio.
In the example shown in
In the example shown, the first user interacts with the prerecorded video feed 500 using the front facing camera in the user's device 20. As shown in
Also in the example shown, the second user interacts with the prerecorded video feed 500 using the rear facing camera in the user's device 20. Accordingly, the second user moves his right hand behind his device 20 to create a live video feed 502 that includes the second user interacting with the hand from the prerecorded video feed 500. When the second user interacts with the prerecorded element 504, for example, to grasp hands with the prerecorded element 504 in the live video feed 502, a subsequent segment of the prerecorded video feed 500 may be unlocked.
The prerecorded video feed 500 and the prerecorded element 504 may overlay the live video feed 502 and the live element 506. In other embodiments, the live video element 506 may overlay the prerecorded video feed 500 and the prerecorded element 504.
In the example shown in
In one example of the system 10 shown in
Many of the various embodiments and examples described herein include a composite video in which two separate video sources, each including a human element, are combined. To more realistically combine human elements from multiple video sources, it may be useful to employ an auto-scaling function in which the size of the human element in each video source is scaled to more appropriately match the human element in the other video source. This may be especially important in examples in which contact is simulated between the human elements from each video source.
The size of the human element in the video may be dependent on the distance between the camera and the human element. Accordingly, the difference in proportions between the human elements may be most noticeable when one or more of the human elements being combined in the superimposed video is closer or further from the camera than expected. Accordingly, the system 10 may auto-scale, auto-zoom, or simply provide some indication to the user to adjust the position to make the human elements within the superimposed video appear more natural in terms of scale and proportion.
For example, as shown in
As shown in
Such automatic scaling may be accomplished in a scaling of the video feed or it may be accomplished by automatically adjusting a zoom setting of the image capturing device. Accordingly, the scaling may occur as part of the capture process, in the process of combining the video feeds, or in some cases in both stages.
As shown in
Although shown in the lower right-hand corner of the display on the first device 706, the picture-in-picture element of the video may be positioned anywhere within the frame perimeter of either display. Further, the user may have the option to move the picture-in-picture window as he or she chooses. The size of the picture-in-picture window may be fixed by the system 10 or may be able to be re-sized by the user.
As shown in
To achieve this effect, the system 10 may include one or more user controllable settings that determine whether or not to extract non-human elements and, when extracting human elements, how to determine which non-human elements to extract. For example, objects in contact or close proximity to the hand can be identified using, background segmentation, computer vision detection algorithms, depth sensing, etc. and the sensitivity of the extraction may be controlled by the user through one or more settings and parameters.
For example, there may be a first setting for choosing whether or not to extract non-human elements from the live video feed and there may be a second setting for choosing how close the non-human element must be to be extracted. In this example, the first setting is a binary, on-off, setting that allows the user to turn on or turn off the ability to extract non-human elements. The second setting is a sensitivity adjustment that allows the user to vary how the system 10 chooses which non-human elements to extract by enabling the user to adjust the relative depth a non-human object must be from the extracted human elements to be included in the extraction. The depth sensing camera may identify the distance the human element to be extracted is from the end user device 20.
For example, the second setting may be adjusted such that any non-human element that is both: (1) in contact with the extracted human element; and (2) within a specified distance of the extracted human elements will be extracted with the human elements. In one example, the distance from the extracted human elements may be specified directly as the distance from the human elements (e.g., within thirty centimeters of the extracted human elements). The selectiveness of the extraction of the non-human element may be varied by requiring or not requiring the extracted human and non-human elements to be in contact with each other and/or by changing the distance requirement. For example, a wider range of extraction may be useful for extracting both the user and a bed on which the user is laying while still rejecting non-human elements that are not both within contact of the user and outside of the depth range set by the user.
In another example, the system 10 may be configured such that any object (human or non-human) that is within a specified proximity to the camera is extracted. In this example, the non-human object 804 may not need to be in contact with a human object 800 and 802 to be extracted.
As shown, enabling users to adjust the sensitivity with respect to the non-human elements 804 to be extracted provides a range of options for how the video feeds are to be combined.
In a primary embodiment, an object 804 in close proximity to the human element 800 (e.g., the object 804 is a bottle held by a user and the human element 800 is the user's hand and arm) is captured by a rear facing camera on a first user device. The extracted human element 800 and non-human element 804 are then combined with at least a human element 802 captured by a front facing camera on a second user device to create a superimposed video.
In another example, the settings for controlling which non-human elements 804 to extract may include literal identification of the elements to extract. For example, upon initialization, the system 10 may identify various elements captured in the video, such as, for example, a user, a bottle held by the user, a table next to the user, and a wall in the background of the user. The system 10 may then request the user to select exactly which elements to extract, for example, by touching each element on the screen that is to be extracted. Accordingly, the user can quickly inform the system 10 which elements to extract.
Any of the video arrangements described in the examples herein may, or may not, incorporate a picture-in-picture view showing the view from the user's front facing camera on the user's device 20. The picture-in-picture view may be used such that the rear facing camera is providing a video feed for a combined video while the front facing camera is providing a video feed for the picture-in-picture view. The feed for the picture-in-picture view may be taken from an additional camera.
Throughout the examples provided herein, there are descriptions of various forms of occlusion (i.e., one object obscuring the view of another). There are examples of the first human element 216 obscuring the second human element 218 and vice versa. There are examples in which augmented reality elements 410 are obscured by the human element 216 in the video and vice versa. It will also be understood by those skilled in the art based on the descriptions provided herein that augmented reality elements 410 may occlude other augmented reality elements 410 and that one of the benefits of the occlusive effect is that it helps to create a more interactive, realistic and immersive environment for the users.
In addition, in some embodiments of the system 10 described herein, any occlusion that results in obscuring one or more of the human elements, such as, for example, any overlapping of the human elements on the display of the users device activates a haptic vibration on at least one of the user devices. This vibration helps to simulate the sensation of touch between the users. This haptic response may be selectively triggered, or induced, by a user who is viewing the relative position of the human elements on a display. For example, a user may align the position of the first human element of the first user to simulate contact with the second human element of the second user in the superimposed video while viewing the position of the first human element of the first user and the second human element of the second user on the front facing display of the first user device to selectively induce a haptic response in one or both of the first user device and the second user device.
Aspects of the systems and methods provided herein encompass hardware and software for controlling the relevant functions. Software may take the form of code or executable instructions for causing a processor or other programmable equipment to perform the relevant steps, where the code or instructions are carried by or otherwise embodied in a medium readable by the processor or other machine. Instructions or code for implementing such operations may be in the form of computer instruction in any form (e.g., source code, object code, interpreted code, etc.) stored in or carried by any tangible readable medium.
It should be noted that various changes and modifications to the presently preferred embodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention and without diminishing its attendant advantages.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9269009 | Liu | Feb 2016 | B1 |
| 20090327893 | Terry | Dec 2009 | A1 |
| 20140071044 | Nam | Mar 2014 | A1 |
| 20160210998 | Leske | Jul 2016 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
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| 20200151962 A1 | May 2020 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
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| 62887721 | Aug 2019 | US | |
| 62485558 | Apr 2017 | US | |
| 62407267 | Oct 2016 | US | |
| 62383006 | Sep 2016 | US |
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| Parent | 15670682 | Aug 2017 | US |
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| Parent | 16116613 | Aug 2018 | US |
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| Parent | 15360536 | Nov 2016 | US |
| Child | 15670682 | US |
