Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Defne Ayanoǧlu

Nakul Madaan

Chris Sano

A system for persistent participant prioritization across communication sessions is provided. A user can establish a priority for an assistant having a particular role, e.g., a sign language interpreter, a translator, etc. That prioritization can be stored in a user setting that causes a system to automatically persist the display of a video stream of their assistant in a designated region of a user interface throughout a communication session. The user setting is also utilized by the system so that the prioritization of the assistant persists across multiple communication sessions. The display of a video of an assistant is automatically positioned in the designated region each time the user joins a meeting without requiring an input to 'pin' the display of another participant. The persistent display of the video stream is not interrupted by predetermined events of a communication session, e.g., a presenter sharing content, detection of low network bandwidth.

Persistent participant prioritization across communication sessions

A system providing persistent display of prioritized participants with shared content. In a virtual meeting, a system can automatically and adaptively place a specific attendee's video based on the attendee's role and shared content having a specific data type. For example, a user can have accessibility settings that indicates a need for assistance. The system can automatically display a persistent display of a video stream of that user's assistant in a user interface. When content is shared, the system analyzes a rendering of the content to identify regions where the shared content is not displayed. The system then dynamically configures the user interface so that the persistent display of the video stream of the user's assistant is located in a region where the shared content is not displayed. Such features enable the user to have a consistent view of an assistant during the display of shared content.

Persistent display of prioritized participants with shared content of communication sessions

The disclosed system provides automatic composition of a presentation video of shared content with a rendering of a selected presenter. When a speaker is giving a presentation and providing shared content projected on a screen to in-room attendees, a system provides the composite presentation video with on-line attendees. The system can select one in-room attendee as the presenter based on one or more factors. For instance, the system may select a person that is positioned closer to an object, such as a podium. A person may also be selected based on other types of interaction with an object, e.g., whether a person is touching a podium. Automatic selection of a user and automatic generation of the composite presentation video allows a system to share the in-room dynamics with remote participants of a hybrid meeting.

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Defne Ayanoǧlu