Video Feed Orientation Control in Videoconferencing Gallery Views
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current videoconferencing systems fail to accurately represent the direction of gaze and gestures among participants in gallery views, leading to confusion and misinterpretation of interactions, as the orientation of video feeds does not match the camera's perspective, affecting social dynamics and interaction clarity.
Innovation Solution
The system automatically mirrors video feeds and rearranges their order to align with the camera's perspective, ensuring that participants see interactions as intended, with options for hosts to select which feeds are mirrored and in what arrangement, allowing for more natural and intuitive communication.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If video feeds are displayed in original camera orientation, then other participants see correct orientation, but the user sees their own gestures and gaze directions reversed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies inversion by offering users a choice between mirror view and original orientation for their own video feed. When mirror view is selected, the video feed is horizontally flipped to match the user's familiar mirror reflection, resolving the contradiction between seeing correct gesture direction (original orientation) and user comfort (mirror view). This allows users to prioritize either accuracy or comfort based on their needs.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the video feed orientation based on user preference settings. The mirror view option can be toggled on or off, allowing the display orientation to change adaptively. This dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction by enabling users to switch between accuracy-oriented (original) and comfort-oriented (mirrored) views as needed.
2Ease of operation
If video feeds are mirrored to match user perspective, then user sees natural gestures, but words on signs appear backwards and unreadable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent resolves this contradiction by allowing users to choose mirror view when natural gesture perception is prioritized, accepting that text will appear backwards. Conversely, users can select original orientation when text readability is more important. This choice-based approach acknowledges the trade-off and allows users to optimize for their specific needs in different contexts.
3Adaptability or versatility
If individual users can control their own mirror view setting, then user preference is respected, but consistency across all participants is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the video display into two independent components: the user's own video feed and other participants' video feeds. The user's own feed can be independently mirrored or unmirrored based on user preference, while other feeds maintain their original orientation. This segmentation allows individual customization without affecting overall system consistency.
Data Source
AI summary
A gallery view or a virtual space view is provided in an online meeting user interface associated with a videoconferencing system. The gallery view or virtual space view displays video feeds of meeting participants on their respective participant computers. The video feeds are camera-captured views of each of the meeting participants. The videoconferencing system receives an electronic request from one or more meeting participants via the meeting participant's respective participant computer to either display a mirrored view of the video feed of the meeting participant to all meeting participants in the online meeting, or display an unmirrored view of the video feed of the meeting participant to all meeting participants in the online meeting. A video processor associated with the videoconferencing system creates the respective mirrored or unmirrored view of the video feed of each of the meeting participants whose participant computer sent the electronic request. The videoconferencing system then generates instructions for a gallery view or virtual space view in the online meeting user interface using the mirrored or unmirrored view of the video feeds created by the video processor, and transmits instructions to display the gallery view or virtual space view to all meeting participants on their respective participant computers.