Virtual Curtain Video Processing for Privacy Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional video conferencing systems face issues where participants may turn off their video cameras due to privacy concerns, leading to a diminished experience as they do not want to share their background, which can be messy or contain unwanted elements.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a method that uses depth sensing technology to identify and blur the background region within the field of view, creating a virtual curtain that replaces the live initial content of the privacy region with modified video content, allowing participants to engage in online conferences without worrying about what is shared in the background.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If participants turn off their video cameras to protect privacy, then privacy is improved, but video sharing capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The video feed is segmented into foreground (presentation region) and background (privacy region) components. The system separates these regions and processes them differently, allowing the foreground to be transmitted clearly while the background is blurred or replaced, thus protecting privacy while maintaining video sharing capability.
Solution Approach 2:
Different quality levels are applied to different regions of the video feed. The presentation region maintains high quality for clear communication, while the privacy region undergoes blurring or replacement to protect sensitive information. This localized quality adjustment resolves the contradiction by preserving necessary video functionality while protecting privacy in specific areas.
2Reliability
If video cameras are turned off to avoid sharing background, then privacy is improved, but overall video conference experience deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and removes the problematic background elements from the video feed while retaining the foreground content. By taking out the privacy-sensitive background region and replacing it with blurred or virtual content, the system preserves the video conference experience without exposing unwanted background elements.
Solution Approach 2:
A virtual curtain or blurred region acts as an intermediary between the participant and the background. This intermediary element protects privacy by obscuring the background while maintaining the visual continuity of the video feed, thus preserving the overall conference experience without requiring the camera to be turned off.
3Reliability
If depth sensing technology is used to create virtual curtain, then privacy protection is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces complex mechanical or physical privacy protection methods (such as physical curtains or multiple cameras) with computational image processing techniques. Depth sensing data is used to guide software-based blurring and virtual curtain creation, substituting mechanical complexity with algorithmic processing that achieves the same privacy protection goal.
Data Source
AI summary
A technique provides user video to an online conference. The technique involves receiving a live user video signal from a camera device. The live user video signal defines a field of view. The technique further involves automatically identifying live initial content of a presentation region within the field of view and live initial content of a privacy region (e.g., a background region) within the field of view. The technique further involves generating, as the user video signal to the online conference, a modified user video signal based on the live user video signal. The modified video signal includes (i) the live initial content of the presentation region within the field of view and (ii) modified video content in place of the live initial content of the privacy region within the field of view. Such operation effectively forms a virtual curtain in which anything in the background is hidden.