US 11,695,900 B2 · System and method of dynamic, natural camera transitions in an electronic camera

Abstract

Scene changes should be done pleasingly and without user input or control. Based on the number of speakers and changes in speakers, either to a different individual or movement by the same speaker, based on the locations of the speakers, and based on the overlap of the current and intended scenes, a decision is made whether to perform a smooth transition or do a cut. It has been determined that the decision on cut versus smooth transition is preferably based on the location of the center of the intended new scene versus the boundaries of the current scene, a cut used if the center is outside the boundaries and a smooth transition if inside. If a smooth transition, an easing function, such as ease in ease out, is performed to change the scene. A preferred value for the smooth transition is to perform the transition over 80 frames.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method for operating a videoconferencing device for transitioning between scenes of a room captured by an electronic pan, tilt, and zoom (EPTZ) camera with a view of the room and to be transmitted over a network in a videoconference, the method comprising:

determining a number of speakers in the room;
determining positions of any speakers in the room;
based on a change in the number of speakers or a change in the positions of the any speakers in the room, determine a need to transition a present scene to a new scene;
based on the number of speakers in the room, the positions of the any speakers in the room and the need to transition to the new scene, determine if the transition should be smooth or a cut;
performing the transition to the new scene based on the smooth or cut determination;
and
transmitting the new scene to another videoconferencing device for display.

4 more elements

A non-transitory program storage device, readable by one or more processors in a videoconferencing device and comprising instructions stored thereon to cause the one or more processors to perform a method for operating the videoconferencing device for transitioning between scenes of a room captured by an electronic pan, tilt, and zoom (EPTZ) camera with a view of the room and to be transmitted over a network in a videoconference, the method comprising the steps of:

determining a number of speakers in the room;
determining positions of any speakers in the room;
based on a change in the number of speakers or a change in the positions of the any speakers in the room, determining a need to transition a present scene to a new scene;
based on the number of speakers in the room, the positions of the any speakers in the room, and the need to transition to the new scene, determining if the transition should be smooth or a cut;
performing the transition to the new scene based on the smooth or cut determination;
and
transmitting the new scene to another videoconferencing device for display.

4 more elements

A videoconferencing device for transitioning between scenes of a room captured by an electronic pan, tilt, and zoom (EPTZ) camera with a view of the room and to be transmitted over a network in a videoconference, the videoconferencing device comprising:

the EPTZ camera for providing a view of the room and having an output;
a microphone providing the output for allowing determination of speaker location;
a network interface for interacting with another videoconferencing device;
a processor coupled to the network interface, the EPTZ camera and the microphone and receiving the output from each;
and
a memory coupled to the processor and including programs that when executed cause the processor to perform a method of operating the videoconferencing device for transitioning between the scenes of the room to be transmitted over the network in the videoconference, the method comprising the steps of:
determining a number of speakers in the room;
determining positions of any speakers in the room;
based on a change in the number of speakers or a changed in the positions of the any speakers in the room, determining a need to transition a present scene to a new scene;
based on the number of speakers in the room, the positions of the any speakers in the room and the need to transition to the new scene, determining if the transition should be smooth or a cut;
performing the transition to the new scene based on the smooth or cut determination;
and
providing the new scene to the network interface for transmission to the other videoconferencing device for display.

10 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

System and method of dynamic, natural camera transitions in an electronic camera

Life of this patent

System and method of dynamic, natural camera transitions in an electronic camera

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20