Telepresence camera system

A telepresence system for connecting a local conferee with a distant conferee, the system comprising:

• a local telepresence terminal, having a first codec for encoding video and audio of the local conferee and decoding video and audio of the distant conferee, a first image display for producing an image of the distant conferee, a first speaker to produce the voice of the distant conferee, and a first video camera capturing an image of the local conferee;
• a table at which the local conferee is sitting;
• and
• a microphone housing in which at least one microphone is contained mounted to at least one of a bottom surface of the table or the edge of the table, wherein at least one of a microphone audio signal cable and a microphone power cable is located under the table so as not to obstruct a working surface of the table.

A telepresence system for connecting a plurality of local conferees with a distant conferee, the system comprising:

• a local telepresence terminal, having a first codec for encoding video and audio of the plurality local conferees and decoding video and audio of the distant conferee, a first image display for producing an image of the distant conferee, a first speaker to produce the voice of the distant conferee, and a first video camera capturing an image of the local conferees;
• a plurality of personal control interfaces one for each of the plurality local conferees, each interface containing a microphone to capture the voice of the local conferee associated with that interface, the interfaces each associated with manually activating a selection of a single local conferee image, captured by the first camera, among the plurality of local conferees, thereby switching image capturing between the selection of each of the plurality of local conferees, the plurality of personal control interfaces mounted to the table and extending beyond an edge thereof with each of said plurality of personal control interfaces mounted to at least one of a bottom surface of the table or the edge of the table;
• a table around which the plurality of local conferees are sitting so that each of the plurality of local conferees can easily access their interface;
• a plurality of infrared transmitters one for each of the plurality of personal control interfaces, the transmitters transmitting the selection upon the activation of the interface;
• and
• an infrared receiver connected to at least one of the first camera and the first codec, for receiving the transmitted selection.

A telepresence system for connecting a plurality of local conferees with a distant conferee, the system comprising:

• a local telepresence terminal, having a first codec for encoding video and audio of the plurality local conferees and decoding video and audio of the distant conferee, a first image display for producing an image of the distant conferee, a first speaker to produce the voice of the distant conferee, and a first video camera capturing an image of the local conferees;
• a plurality of personal control interfaces one for each of the plurality local conferees, the interfaces each associated with manually activating a selection of a single local conferee image, captured by the first camera, among the plurality of local conferees, thereby switching image capturing between the selection of each of the plurality of local conferees, the plurality of personal control interfaces mounted to the table and extending beyond an edge thereof with each of said plurality of personal control interfaces mounted to at least one of a bottom surface of the table or the edge of the table;
• a table around which the plurality of local conferees are sitting so that each of the plurality of local conferees can easily access their interface;
• a plurality of camera preset positions activated by at least one of voice activation and manually;
• a motorized camera adjustment system for at least one of panning, tilting and zooming the camera and engaged upon the activation of one of the plurality of camera preset positions;
• and
• a freeze frame system so when one of the plurality of camera presets is activated the camera image is frozen while the motorized camera adjustment system is engaged.

A telepresence system for connecting a plurality of local conferees with a distant conferee, the system comprising:

• a local telepresence terminal, having a first codec for encoding video and audio of the plurality local conferees and decoding video and audio of the distant conferee, a first image display for producing an image of the distant conferee, a first speaker to produce the voice of the distant conferee, a first video camera and a second video camera capturing an image of the local conferees;
• a plurality of personal control interfaces one for each of the plurality local conferees, each interface containing a microphone to capture the voice of the local conferee associated with that interface, the interfaces each associated with manually activating a selection of a single local conferee image, captured by the first camera, among the plurality of local conferees, thereby switching image capturing between the selection of each of the plurality of local conferees, the plurality of personal control interfaces mounted to the table and extending beyond an edge thereof with each of said plurality of personal control interfaces mounted to at least one of a bottom surface of the table or the edge of the table;
• a table around which the plurality of local conferees are sitting so that each of the plurality of local conferees can easily access their interface;
• a plurality of camera preset positions activated by at least one of voice activation and manually;
• a motorized camera adjustment system for at least one of panning, tilting and zooming the first and second cameras and engaged upon the activation of one of the plurality of camera preset positions;
• and
• an alternating switch system so that when a single camera preset is activated an outgoing video signal switches from the first camera to the second camera and alternating back and forth upon additional activations.