Immersion Corporation

Actiontec Electronics, Inc.

Screenbeam Inc.

Other

Dean C Chang

Louis B Rosenberg

Adam C Braun

Jonathan L Beamer

Jeffrey R Mallett

Evan F Wies

Danny A Grant

Erik James Shahoian

Chuang Li

Sian W Tan

Shoichi Endo

Chuong Vu

Kenneth M Martin

Michael P Ruf

Bo Xiong

Jeffrey Eid

Gin-Pao Lu

Jeffrey Eld

Carlo Sarte

Mike Ehlenberger

Wei Li

Louis B Rosenburg

Jeffrey Mallett

A conference and collaboration system including local computing devices and a receiver are provided. The receiver and/or local devices may run collaboration applications and/or virtual conferencing applications. The receiver and/or at least one local device may be in communication with a remote server running a conference platform and hosting a virtual conference. The receiver may join the conference as a participant and share audio/visual data with the conference platform. The local device may also join and may share audio/visual data with the conference platform and receive conference audio/visual data from the conference platform. The local device may share the conference audio/visual data with the receiver. The receiver may further receive audio/visual data from a non-participant local device and send such data to the conference platform. Alternatively, only a conference device may join the conference as a participant and share audio/visual data from the conference with the local devices.

Systems and methods for video conferencing and collaboration

Systems and methods for reducing latency on a collaborative platform are provided. The collaborative platform involves a display, a moderator device, one or more member devices, and a receiver in communication with the display, the moderator device, and the one or more member devices. To reduce latency of the collaborative platform, the receiver generates an overlay image based on user input received from the display, as well as user type of the user input, generates an overlaid image based on the overlay image, and transmits the overlaid image for display, while a collaboration application generates new real image(s) based on the user input for display. The overlaid image generated may be indicative of actual user input as well as predicted user input using extrapolation and/or machine learning.

Methods and systems for reducing latency on a collaborative platform

Systems and methods of content sharing on a display are provided by establishing connections between a receiver, moderator client device and a plurality of member client devices via a local network that includes at most one node in the communication pathway between any two endpoints in the network, such as a display and one of the plurality of member client devices. The moderator client device transmits a request to promote a first one of the plurality of member client devices to the receiver, which then receives and transmits to the display content from the first one of the plurality of member client devices. The moderator client device also may monitor the screen displays of the plurality of member client devices; enable the receiver to simultaneously show on the display content from two or more of the plurality of member client devices; request transfer of data from the plurality of member client devices to the moderator client device; or delegate moderator authority or control to a subset of the member client devices.

Displaying content from multiple devices

A force feedback system provides components for use in a force feedback system including a host computer and a force feedback interface device. An architecture for a host computer allows multi-tasking application programs to interface with the force feedback device without conflicts. One embodiment of a force feedback device provides both relative position reporting and absolute position reporting to allow great flexibility. A different device embodiment provides relative position reporting device allowing maximum compatibility with existing software. Information such as ballistic parameters and screen size sent from the host to the force feedback device allow accurate mouse positions and graphical object positions to be determined in the force feedback environment. Force feedback effects and structures are further described, such as events and enclosures.

Force feedback system including multi-tasking graphical host environment

A force feedback system provides components for use in a force feedback system including a host computer and a force feedback interface device. An architecture for a host computer allows multi-tasking application programs to interface with the force feedback device without conflicts, where a single active application may output forces. A background application also provides force effects to be output and allows a user to assign force effects to graphical objects in a graphical user interface. Force feedback effects and structures are further described, such as events and enclosures.

Force feedback system including multi-tasking graphical host environment and interface device

Systems, methods, and apparatus for routing are provided in which a connection track comprising a plurality of network or transport layer packets, received by a router, is identified by examination of header fields of one or more first packets in the plurality of packets. One or more quality of service (QoS) parameters is associated with the connection track by determining whether the track encodes a data type by (i) an identification of a predetermined application protocol used within the one or more first packets and/or (ii) a comparison of a payload of one or more packets in the plurality of packets to known data type formats. A first QoS parameter is set to a first value in a first value range when the connection track contains the first data type. The connection track is routed through the router in accordance with the one or more QoS parameters assigned to the connection track.

Systems and methods for dynamic quality of service

A chat interface allowing a user to exchange haptic chat messages with other users in a chat session over a computer network. A chat interface can be displayed by a local computer and receives input data from a user of the local computer, such as text characters or speech input. The input data provides an outgoing chat message that can include sent force information. The outgoing chat message is sent to a remote computer that is connected to the local host computer via a computer network. The remote computer can display a chat interface and output a haptic sensation to a user of the remote computer based at least in part on the force information in the outgoing chat message. An incoming message from the remote computer can also be received at the chat interface, which may also include received force information. The incoming chat message is displayed on a display device to the user of the local computer. A haptic sensation can be output to the user of the local computer using a haptic device coupled to the local computer, where the haptic sensation is based at least in part on the received force information received from the remote computer.

Chat interface with haptic feedback functionality

Force feedback is provided to a user of a client computer receiving information such as a web page over a network such as the World Wide Web from a server machine. The client machine has a force feedback interface device through which the user experiences physical force feedback. The web page may include force feedback information to provide authored force effects. Force feedback is correlated to web page objects by a force feedback program running on the client and based on input information from the interface device, the web page objects, and the force feedback information. Generic force effects can also be provided, which are applied uniformly at the client machine to all web page objects of a particular type as defined by user preferences at the client machine. A web page authoring interface is also described that includes the ability to add force sensations to a web page. The user may assign force effects to web page objects and immediately feel how the web page will feel to an end user. A web page is output by the interface, including force information to provide the force effects at a client. The authoring tool can include or access a force design interface for creating or modifying force effects.

Defining force sensations associated with graphical images

Embodiments of the invention relate to methods and systems for providing customized 'haptic messaging' to users of handheld communication devices in a variety of applications. In one embodiment, a method of providing virtual touch to a handheld communication device includes: receiving an input signal associated with a virtual touch; outputting a request relating to a contact with a user-interface member coupled to a handheld communication device; and providing a control signal associated with the contact to an actuator coupled to the handheld communication device, the control signal being configured to cause the actuator to output a haptic effect associated with the virtual touch.

Methods and systems for providing a virtual touch haptic effect to handheld communication devices

Embodiments of the invention relate to methods and systems for providing customized 'haptic messaging' to users of handheld communication devices in a variety of applications. In one embodiment, a method of using haptic effects to relate location information includes: receiving an input signal associated with a position of a handheld communication device (); determining the position of the handheld communication device () relative to a predetermined location; and providing a haptic effect associated with a distance between the position of the handheld communication device () and the predetermined location. In another embodiment, a handheld communication device () can be used as a two-way haptic remote control.

Haptic communication devices

Systems, methods, and apparatus for routing are provided in which a connection track comprising a plurality of network or transport layer packets, received by a router, is identified by examining header fields of one or more packets in the plurality of packets. One or more quality of service (QoS) parameters is associated with the connection track by determining whether the track encodes a data type by (i) an identification of a predetermined application protocol used within the one or more packets and/or (ii) a comparison of a payload of one or more packets in the plurality of packets to known data type formats. A first QoS parameter is set to a first value in a first value range when the connection track contains the first data type. The connection track is routed through the router in accordance with the one or more QoS parameters assigned to the connection track.

Growing community of inventors

Gaithersburg, MD, United States of America

Dean C Chang