Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Sun Microsystems, Inc.

International Business Machines Corporation

Xerox Corporation

Oracle America, Inc.

John C Tang

Gina Danielle Venolia

Kori M Inkpen

Sasa Junuzovic

Kori Inkpen Quinn

Nicole Y Mordecai

James M A Begole

Aaron C Hoff

Randall B Smith

Trevor Morris

Ellen Isaacs

Zhengyou Zhang

Andrew David Wilson

Alan T Ruberg

Asta Jane Roseway

Clemens Drews

Abigail Jane Sellen

William Arthur Stewart Buxton

Edward Sean Lloyd Rintel

Paul Johns

Thomas K Rodriguez

Rick Levenson

Christopher Brooks

Anoop Gupta

Chen Zhao

Bongshin Lee

Tessa Ann Lau

Rajesh Hegde

Xiang Cao

James Lin

Scott L Minneman

D Austin Henderson, Jr

Jennifer Marlow

David M Sirkin

William A Hamilton

Max G Van Kleek

Janak R Bhalodia

Glenn Carter Scott

Hrvoje Benko

Philip Andrew Chou

Michael Muller

George G Robertson

Mary P Czerwinski

Andreas Georg Nowatzyk

Daniel M Gruen

Thomas P Moran

Danyel Aharon Fisher

Meredith June Morris

Mark Andrew Smith

David Yuheng Zhao

David Alexander Molnar

Eric M Wilcox

Gavin Jancke

Jerald Thomas Schoudt

Chris J Ryan

Michael L Van De Vanter

Hernan Badenes

Eben Merriam Haber

Henrik Valdemar Turbell

Donald R Gentner

Sara A Bly

Stephen Dill

Julian Ariel Cerruti

Matthew Jason Pope

Francis C Li

Steve R Harrison

Payod Panda

Lilian De Greef

George R Robertson

Rajesh Hedge

Brian K Raymor

Julia Grace

Matthew Knudsen Miller

Gerard Wilkinson

Kunal Gupta

Andriana Boudouraki

Lev Tankelevitch

Ozumcan Demir Caliskan

Bo Kang

Nicolas Lanaro

Seungwon Kim

Jeremy Barksdale

James M Begole

Nicholas E Matsakis

Mark A Bilezikjian

A computer-implemented method is described which comprises generating a representation of a digital space and a representation of the physical space using an audiovisual feed received from a camera proximate to a display located in the physical space. The representation of the digital space is generated using user information identifying a remote user associated with the display and presence information relating to the remote user and the digital representation comprises an avatar of the remote user. The representation of the digital space is output to the display located in the physical space and the representation of the physical space it output to a computing device associated with the remote user. The method further comprises dynamically updating the representation of the digital space and/or physical space in response to changes in the user information and presence information.

Collaborative system

Aspects of this present disclosure relate to hybrid conference user interface. The hybrid conference interface provides an establishing shot before the meeting begins that places meeting attendees in a specific spatial arrangement, such as in specific seats around a conference table. Upon starting the conference, the hybrid user interface renders an appropriate perspective view of the meeting that is tailored to each attendee's perspective while also being spatially consistent for the entire group of attendees. Allowing attendees to place themselves where they want gives attendees a sense of physical space that helps them stay spatially oriented relative to the other people and resources in the room.

Established perspective user interface and user experience for video meetings

Various systems and methods for streaming an impromptu community are described herein. In one example, a system for streaming impromptu communities includes a data storage device, a community analyzer, and a publisher. In an example, the data storage device can store a number of incoming data sets, wherein each data set identifies a time and location for the origin of the data, a media instance, and an identification of an origin device or origin user. In an example, the community analyzer can operate from the data storage device to use a processor in order to calculate an IC boundary and generate an impromptu community (IC) indicator based on the proximity and temporality of the number of incoming data sets. In an example, the processor can modify the number of data sets to include the IC indicator.

Impromptu community streamer

Techniques for recording and replay of a live conference while still attending the live conference are described. A conferencing system includes a user interface generator, a live conference processing module, and a replay processing module. The user interface generator is configured to generate a user interface that includes a replay control panel and one or more output panels. The live conference processing module is configured to extract information included in received conferencing data that is associated with one or more conferencing modalities, and to display the information in the one or more output panels in a live manner (e.g., as a live conference). The replay processing module is configured to enable information associated with the one or more conferencing modalities corresponding to a time of the conference session prior to live to be presented at a desired rate, possibly different from the real-time rate.

Accelerated instant replay for co-present and distributed meetings

Aspects of the subject disclosure are directed towards providing contextual information (such as high resolution still images) during an audio or video call. A receiver of the contextual information may send commands to the sending device to specify a desired resolution and frame rate of such images. A receiving user also may determine how to display any video call frames and/or the contextual information on one or more display devices available to the receiving user. Other contextual information such as location-related data by which a user can determine and display a location of the other call participant (or participants) may be transmitted during the call.

Compositing and transmitting contextual information during an audio or video call

According to a disclosed example, a first video stream is captured via a first camera associated with a first communication device engaged in a multi-party video conference. The first video stream includes a plurality of two-dimensional image frames. A subset of pixels corresponding to a first human subject is identified within each image frame of the first video stream. A second video stream is captured via a second camera associated with a second communication device engaged in the multi-party video conference. A composite video stream formed by at least a portion of the second video stream and the subset of pixels of the first video stream is rendered, and the composite video stream is output for display at one or more of the first and/or second communication devices. The composite video stream may provide the appearance of remotely located participants being physically present within the same visual scene.

Video conferencing supporting a composite video stream

A communication augmentation agent (CAA) is described herein which presents a shared user experience to at least a first user and a second user. In one manner of operation, the CAA operates by intelligently determining. (1) when to offer a shared user experience to the users; (b) the particular form of the shared user experience; and (c) the manner of delivering the shared user experience to the users. In determining the form of the shared experience, the CAA can optionally customize the shared resource so that it includes common-interest information and, with respect to each user, user-specific information. The CAA also includes a mechanism by which a registered user may invite a non-registered user to take part in the shared user experience.

Providing a shared user experience of facilitate communication

Participants of a group of participants in a chat may be associated with neighborhoods. A neighborhood associated with a participant includes a subset of the participants and represents the participants whose messages the associated participant can see in the chat. When a participant generates a message, the message is presented to an audience that includes each participant with the participant that generated the message in their associated neighborhood. As the message receives indications of approval (e.g., 'likes'), the size of the audience is increased to include additional participants. Once the message receives a threshold number of indications of approval, the message may be displayed to all of the participants in the chat. The size of the neighborhoods may be dynamically adjusted based on the number of messages that are generated in each neighborhood to keep the number of messages that are presented within a predetermined range.

Presenting messages to participants based on neighborhoods

Embodiments described herein relate to enabling a lightweight way of recording and sharing video messages intended to provide input to a future meeting that cannot be personally attended. A person who cannot attend the meeting pre-records their thoughts and remarks for the meeting as video clips for presentation at the meeting. A physical device with at least a display is presented at the meeting. The physically present participants can play the pre-recorded clips on the device. Video of participants' responses to the clips is recorded and made available so that the represented attendee can view the participants' responses.

Proxy for asynchronous meeting participation

A method, system and apparatus for placeholder management in a unified activity manager in a collaborative computing environment. A method for managing placeholders in a unified activity manager in a collaborative environment can include the step of inserting a placeholder in an activity in lieu of a specified collaborator, resource, or event. The inserting step can include describing a type of resource without specifying an identity of an actual resource; and, inserting the described type in the placeholder. The inserting step also can include describing a type of event without specifying an identity of an actual event; and, inserting the described type in the placeholder. The inserting step also can include describing a type of collaborator without specifying an identity of an actual collaborator; and, inserting the described type in the placeholder.

Placeholder management in an activity manager in a collaborative computing environment

In general, the immersive telepresence implementations described herein allow desired telepresence experiences of users or telepresence travel participants to be automatically matched with travel volunteers that can provide these telepresence experiences. The mobile computing devices of the travel volunteers provide audio, video and other data to the travel participant so that the travel participant can experience the sights and sounds of a desired telepresence experience (which can include location and time, as well as a desired activity) without the travel participant physically being present. The immersive telepresence implementations described herein automatically find matches between telepresence experiences on a list (e.g., bucket list) of a travel participant and one or more travel volunteers and provide for various features to provide an immersive and personalized telepresence experience for the travel participant.

Immersive telepresence

Growing community of inventors

Palo Alto, CA, United States of America

John C Tang