System and method for visually representing a recorded audio meeting

A system for visually representing an audio meeting session having a plurality of participants, comprising:

• a plurality of microphones, wherein each of said plurality of microphones are configured to generate audio signals from sound made by at least one session participant in its the vicinity of the respective microphone;
• at least one computer system having a processor and non-volatile memory and communicatively connected to said plurality of microphones through at least one digital mixing console, wherein said at least one digital mixing console is operative to convert audio signals generated by said plurality of microphones to at least one digital electrical transmission from which the respective microphone generating audio signals at a given moment can be identified;
• wherein said computer system is configured to identify each connected microphone as a discrete source of audio signals from the at least one session participant in its vicinity, associate audio signals from each connected microphone with a distinct visual cue, trigger the respective visual cue of at least one of said microphones upon the receipt of an electrical transmission containing audio signals generated by the source microphone, thereby indicating the capture of sound from at least one session participant in the vicinity of the respective microphone, and generate a visual output defined by a composite visual representation which includes a visual representation of each of said plurality microphones communicatively connected thereto, and process the digital electrical transmission containing audio signals generated by said plurality of microphones;
• wherein triggering the visual cue associated with at least one of said microphones causes the visual representation of that microphone to activate in the composite visual representation;
• wherein said computer system is additionally configured to record the visual output generated to a non-volatile memory communicatively associated therewith;
• and
• at least one audio output device, wherein said audio signals output by at least one of said plurality of microphones is directed to said at least one audio output device in addition to said computer system.

A method for visually representing an audio meeting session having a plurality of participants, comprising the steps of:

• providing a plurality of microphones, each configured to generate audio signals from sound made by at least one session participant in the vicinity of the respective microphone, and at least one computer system having a processor and non-volatile memory and communicatively connected to said plurality of microphones;
• identifying by said processor each connected microphone as a discrete source of audio signals from the at least one session participant in its vicinity;
• associating by said processor audio signals from each connected microphone with a distinct visual cue;
• processing by said processor an electrical transmission containing audio signals generated by said plurality of microphones, wherein the step of processing includes triggering the visual cue associated with the source microphone while that source microphone generates audio signals so as to indicate the capture of sound from at least one session participant in the vicinity of the respective microphone;
• and
• generating by said processor a visual output defined by a composite visual representation which includes a visual representation of at least one of said plurality microphones communicatively connected thereto.