Wrapper API for Interactive Whiteboard Third-Party Collaboration

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Solution Overview

Problem

Interactive whiteboard (IWB) appliances face challenges with 'shallow integration' of third-party videoconferencing solutions, leading to limited functionality integration, increased computational resources, UI clutter, and inability to manage enterprise client applications, along with user authentication complexities across different videoconferencing services.

Innovation Solution

A management service on IWB appliances provides a unified API for accessing external collaboration services, using deep integration and cross-license authentication to manage APIs, license keys, and user authentication, enabling seamless collaboration across disparate third-party services.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If multiple third-party videoconferencing solutions are integrated using shallow integration, then more collaboration services are available, but device complexity and UI clutter increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecollaboration service availabilityVSAvoidmanagement complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a wrapper application program interface (API) as an intermediary layer between the IWB appliance and multiple third-party videoconferencing solutions. This wrapper API provides a unified interface that abstracts the underlying complexity of different services, allowing the IWB to access multiple collaboration services without directly managing each service's unique API and authentication mechanisms, thereby reducing device complexity while maintaining service availability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Adaptability or versatility

If multiple third-party videoconferencing solutions are integrated, then more collaboration services are available, but computational resources increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecollaboration service availabilityVSAvoidcomputational resources

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The wrapper API acts as a mediator that centralizes the management of multiple third-party services, eliminating the need for the IWB appliance to run and manage multiple separate client applications simultaneously. This reduces computational overhead by consolidating service access through a single interface rather than maintaining multiple active service instances

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The wrapper API provides universal access to multiple videoconferencing services through a single unified interface. Instead of requiring separate integration code and runtime resources for each service, the wrapper API enables the IWB to access diverse collaboration services through common authentication and API calls, reducing the overall computational footprint

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

3Reliability

If separate authentication is performed by each videoconferencing solution, then service independence is maintained, but ease of operation decreases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveservice independenceVSAvoidauthentication complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges the authentication mechanisms of multiple independent videoconferencing services into a unified authentication process through the wrapper API. The wrapper API consolidates credential management and authentication flows, allowing users to authenticate once through a common interface while maintaining the underlying service independence and security requirements of each third-party solution

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Data Source

PatentUS10298635B2Approach for accessing third-party content collaboration services on interactive whiteboard appliances using a wrapper application program interface

Publication Date: 2019.05.21 RICOH CO LTD

AI summary

An approach for managing collaboration on IWBs allows users of different third-party collaboration services to participate in collaboration meetings on IWBs. The approach allows the users to use collaboration functionality provided by IWBs, such as annotation, and to communicate with each other, even though the users are using different third party collaboration services. The approach uses a collaboration manager that provides a “single wrapper” application program interface (API) and centralized management of collaboration meetings, including license key and token management, cross-license collaboration, user management and meeting management. The collaboration manager acts as a mediation layer that handles the APIs of different third-party collaboration services and allows users using heterogeneous collaboration clients to participate in collaboration meetings.