Collaboration Content Sharing via Visual Participant Detection

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Solution Overview

Problem

In collaborative events with multiple sites or rooms, participants often struggle to capture and share content such as slide decks or videos displayed on conference room surfaces, as existing systems lack efficient methods for personalized content requests and screenshot capture management.

Innovation Solution

A collaboration system equipped with a processor and memory that detects personalized content requests or capture attempts through image analysis, identifies participants, and sends content items or links to their designated collaboration spaces, while managing screenshot capture permissions and outputting messages on display surfaces.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If content is displayed on display surfaces in multiple sites/rooms during collaboration events, then accessibility and viewing availability are improved, but control over content capture and distribution becomes more difficult

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecontent accessibilityVSAvoidcapture control complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system implements feedback mechanisms by detecting capture attempts through cameras, identifying the requesting participant, and automatically responding by sending content to their collaboration space. This closed-loop feedback system maintains control across multiple distributed display surfaces without requiring complex manual intervention at each location.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The system enables self-service content distribution by automatically detecting when a participant wants to capture content, identifying them through image analysis, and delivering the content to their personal collaboration space without requiring manual approval or complex control procedures at each display location.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

2Ease of operation

If participants photograph displayed content for later review, then personal access to content is improved, but security control and permission management become more difficult

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecontent capture easeVSAvoidsecurity control

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system introduces an intermediary automated system that sits between the display content and participant devices. This intermediary detects capture requests, verifies permissions, identifies the participant through image analysis, and delivers content through controlled channels to collaboration spaces, maintaining security while enabling easy capture.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The system replaces manual security control mechanisms with automated image analysis and permission management. Instead of physical security measures or manual approval processes, the system uses computer vision to detect capture attempts and automated logic to enforce permission policies, maintaining security control while improving ease of operation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

3Adaptability or versatility

If manual screenshot capture is permitted, then participant flexibility is improved, but automated detection and management of capture attempts becomes necessary

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecapture flexibilityVSAvoidcapture detection automation

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSExtent of automation

Solution Approach 1:

The system uses feedback from camera feeds to detect when participants are attempting to capture content manually. This automated detection triggers a response sequence that identifies the participant and delivers content to their collaboration space, maintaining flexibility while enabling automated management of capture attempts.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

4Productivity

If content is shared across multiple collaboration spaces, then collaboration effectiveness is improved, but tracking and managing content distribution becomes more complex

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecollaboration effectivenessVSAvoiddistribution management complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system segments content distribution by delivering content to individual participant collaboration spaces rather than managing a single shared distribution system. This segmentation allows each participant to receive and access content independently in their own space, improving collaboration effectiveness while simplifying distribution management through automated individual delivery.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentUS10592735B2Collaboration event content sharing

Publication Date: 2020.03.17 CISCO TECHNOLOGY INC

AI summary

In one embodiment, a system includes a processor, and a memory to store data used by the processor, wherein the processor is operative to detect a personalized content request or a personalized content capture attempt from at least one image of a video captured by a camera of a collaboration end-point during a collaboration event, visually identify a participant making the personalized content request or the personalized content capture attempt based on an image of the participant in the at least one image, and issue an instruction to send a content item or a link to the content item to a personalized collaboration space of the identified participant, the content item being a response to the personalized content request or the personalized content capture attempt. Related apparatus and methods are also described.