Participant Node Layout Rule Customization for Online Meetings
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing online meeting systems restrict participants' ability to customize their composite image feeds, limiting layout arrangements to audio levels and explicit user choices, and do not allow dynamic changes during meetings.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that enable each participant to input and dynamically change their layout rules for a customized composite image, allowing for personalized feed arrangements based on various criteria such as activity levels, ownership, and type of activity, using a graphical user interface and networked nodes to manage and calculate the composite image.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single composite image is provided to all participants, then system complexity is reduced, but participant customization capability is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the composite image generation process by creating separate layout rule sets for different participant nodes. Each node receives a customized composite image based on its specific layout rules, rather than distributing a single uniform image to all participants. This segmentation enables individual customization while maintaining system manageability through modular rule configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality by allowing different regions of the composite image to have different characteristics based on participant-specific needs. Each participant node can define local layout rules that determine which video feeds appear in which regions, their sizes, and their arrangements, creating locally optimized views tailored to each participant's requirements.
2Stability of the object's composition
If layout rules are fixed at the beginning, then system stability is improved, but adaptability during meeting is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements dynamics by enabling layout rule sets to be modified during the meeting process. Participant nodes can update their layout rules dynamically based on changing meeting conditions, such as identifying new active speakers or adjusting preferences. The system processes these updates in real-time and regenerates the composite image accordingly, maintaining both stability through structured rules and adaptability through dynamic modification capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates feedback mechanisms where the system monitors meeting state changes (such as speaker identification, feed activity levels) and uses this feedback to automatically adjust layout rules or trigger participant-initiated rule updates. This feedback loop enables the system to adapt layout configurations dynamically while maintaining operational stability through automated decision-making based on predefined criteria.
3Ease of operation
If only audio level determines layout, then decision-making is simplified, but layout personalization is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies parameter changes by allowing participant nodes to define multiple layout rule parameters beyond just audio level. These parameters include video activity levels, speaker identification, feed ownership, and custom user preferences. Each parameter can be weighted and combined to create personalized layout configurations, transforming the single-parameter audio-level system into a multi-parameter customization framework that maintains ease of operation through structured rule definitions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements universality by designing a layout rule system that can handle multiple types of criteria and conditions within a unified framework. The same rule structure that processes audio levels can also process video activity, speaker identity, and user preferences, making the system multi-functional while maintaining operational simplicity through consistent rule syntax and processing logic across different parameter types.
Data Source
AI summary
A method (and structure) of providing a composite data feed for an online meeting includes at least one of providing a capability for at least one participant node in the online meeting to input a layout rule for a customized composite image of the online meeting and receiving a layout rule defining a composite image of the online meeting that can be customized for at least one participant node in the online meeting.