Apparatus, system and method for enabling eye-to-eye contact in video conferences

Claim 1

A system comprising: a video display means; and means, including a video camera, for generating a video signal corresponding to an image of an object or objects generally located opposite the video display means, wherein the image corresponds to a real image that would be effectively produced if the video camera was located relative to the video display means such that the video camera has a field of view (FOV) directed toward said object or objects and originating at a screen of the video display means or behind the screen of the video display means and passing through a central portion thereof, wherein the means for generating the video signal further comprises a holographic optical element (HOE) disposed in front of a central portion of the video display and configured to receive object light reflected off of the object or object(s) and redirect a portion of the object light having selected wavelengths to form a holographic image in an FOV of the video camera.

Claim 2

A system comprising: a video display means; and means, including a video camera, for generating a video signal corresponding to an image of an object or objects generally located opposite the video display means, wherein the image corresponds to a real image that would be effectively produced if the video camera was located relative to the video display means such that the video camera has a field of view (FOV) directed toward said object or objects and originating at a screen of the video display means or behind the screen of the video display means and passing through a central portion thereof, wherein the means for generating the video signal further comprises a holographic optical element (HOE) disposed in front of a central portion of the video display and configured to receive object light reflected off of the object or object(s) and redirect a portion of the object light having selected wavelengths to form a holographic image in an FOV of the video camera.

Claim 5

A method for performing a video conference, comprising: disposing a partially-reflective plate in front of a video display in a first conference room, said partially-reflective plate to reflect a portion of light received on a front side thereof and enable light received on a backside thereof to pass through the plate without substantial attenuation, thereby enabling a local conference participant in a first conference room to view video images of a remote conference participant in a second conference room produced by the video display and corresponding to a received video signal generated by a second video camera disposed in the second conference room and directed toward the remote conference participant; directing a first video camera to receive light reflected by the partially-reflective plate so as to capture a reflected image of the local participant in the first conference room such that the reflected image corresponds to a real image that would be obtained if the video camera was disposed behind the video display and had a field of view passing through a central portion of the video display and directed toward the local participant; disposing a first polarizing component between said one or more local participants and the video display in the first conference room and disposing a second polarizing component between the first polarizing component and the first video camera, the first polarizing component comprising a linear polarizer and a circular polarizer; generating a video signal via the first video camera corresponding to the reflected image and sending the video signal from the first conference room to the second conference room; and displaying a video image corresponding to the sent video signal on a video display located in the second conference room to be viewed by the remote conference participant.

Claim 6

A method for performing a video conference, comprising: disposing a partially-reflective plate in front of a video display in a first conference room, said partially-reflective plate to reflect a portion of light received on a front side thereof and enable light received on a backside thereof to pass through the plate without substantial attenuation, thereby enabling a local conference participant in a first conference room to view video images of a remote conference participant in a second conference room produced by the video display and corresponding to a received video signal generated by a second video camera disposed in the second conference room and directed toward the remote conference participant; directing a first video camera to receive light reflected by the partially-reflective plate so as to capture a reflected image of the local participant in the first conference room such that the reflected image corresponds to a real image that would be obtained if the video camera was disposed behind the video display and had a field of view passing through a central portion of the video display and directed toward the local participant; disposing a first polarizing component between said one or more local participants and the video display in the first conference room and disposing a second polarizing component between the first polarizing component and the first video camera, the first polarizing component comprising a linear polarizer and a circular polarizer; generating a video signal via the first video camera corresponding to the reflected image and sending the video signal from the first conference room to the second conference room; and displaying a video image corresponding to the sent video signal on a video display located in the second conference room to be viewed by the remote conference participant.

Claim 14

A method for performing a video conference, comprising: deploying video conference equipment at respective locations including: a beam-splitting means, a video camera, and a video display, the beam-splitting means comprising one of a reflection holographic optical element or a transmission holographic optical element disposed in front of the video display to redirect a portion of light received on a front side thereof and enable a substantial portion of light received on a backside thereof to pass through, thereby enabling conference participants at the respective locations to view video images of conference participants at other locations; and performing operations at each location, including: directing the video camera to receive light redirected by the beam-splitting means so as to capture an image of one or more participants at the location, said image corresponding to a real image that would be obtained if the video camera was disposed behind the video display and had a field of view passing through a central portion of the video display and directed toward said one or more participants; generating a video signal via the video camera corresponding to the image and sending the video signal to at least one other location; and displaying a video image corresponding to a video signal received from at least one other location, whereby video conference participants at the respective locations are enabled to communicate with one another using eye-to-eye contact.

Claim 15

A method for performing a video conference, comprising: deploying video conference equipment at respective locations including: a beam-splitting means, a video camera, and a video display, the beam-splitting means comprising one of a reflection holographic optical element or a transmission holographic optical element disposed in front of the video display to redirect a portion of light received on a front side thereof and enable a substantial portion of light received on a backside thereof to pass through, thereby enabling conference participants at the respective locations to view video images of conference participants at other locations; and performing operations at each location, including: directing the video camera to receive light redirected by the beam-splitting means so as to capture an image of one or more participants at the location, said image corresponding to a real image that would be obtained if the video camera was disposed behind the video display and had a field of view passing through a central portion of the video display and directed toward said one or more participants; generating a video signal via the video camera corresponding to the image and sending the video signal to at least one other location; and displaying a video image corresponding to a video signal received from at least one other location, whereby video conference participants at the respective locations are enabled to communicate with one another using eye-to-eye contact.

Claim 18

An apparatus comprising: a polarized plate to reflect a portion of light received on a front side thereof and enable light received on a backside thereof to pass through the plate without substantial attenuation; a support member coupled to the partially-reflective plate to hold the polarizing plate at an angle relative to a video display screen when deployed in front of a video display; and a polarizing component disposed between the polarized plate and the video camera, the polarized plate further to receive object light reflected off of one or more objects generally disposed opposite the video display and reflect a portion of the received object light toward a video camera so as to produce a reflected image of said one or more objects by which a video image may be generated while enabling light corresponding to display images generated by the video display to be pass through to be viewed by a viewer generally located opposite the video display, wherein at least one of the polarized plate and the polarizing component comprises a circular polarizer and linear polarizer.

Claim 19

An apparatus comprising: a polarized plate to reflect a portion of light received on a front side thereof and enable light received on a backside thereof to pass through the plate without substantial attenuation; a support member coupled to the partially-reflective plate to hold the polarizing plate at an angle relative to a video display screen when deployed in front of a video display; and a polarizing component disposed between the polarized plate and the video camera, the polarized plate further to receive object light reflected off of one or more objects generally disposed opposite the video display and reflect a portion of the received object light toward a video camera so as to produce a reflected image of said one or more objects by which a video image may be generated while enabling light corresponding to display images generated by the video display to be pass through to be viewed by a viewer generally located opposite the video display, wherein at least one of the polarized plate and the polarizing component comprises a circular polarizer and linear polarizer.

Claim 29

A method for enabling eye-to-eye contact in a video conference, comprising: providing first and second conference rooms with respective first and second video cameras and first and second video display means; generating a first video signal with the first video camera from which a first participant of the video conference located in the first conference room can be viewed via a video image displayed on the second video display means in the second conference room, said first video signal effectively containing an image of the first participant corresponding to a real image that would be produced if the first video camera had a field of view (FOV) originating at a screen of the first video display means or behind the screen of the first video display means and passing through a central portion thereof, the video image corresponding to the first video signal being generated from a holographic image produced from object light of selected wavelengths reflected off of the first participant, said holographic image being directed toward an FOV of the first video camera; sending the first video signal to the second conference room; displaying a video image corresponding to the first video signal on the second video display means to enable a second participant in the second conference room to view the first video participant; while at substantially the same time, generating a second video signal with the second video camera from which the second participant can be viewed via a video image displayed on the first video display means in the first conference room, said second video signal effectively containing an image of the second participant corresponding to a real image that would be generated if the second video camera had a field of view (FOV) originating at or behind a screen of the second video display means and passing through a central portion thereof; sending the second video signal to the first conference room; and displaying a video image corresponding to the second video signal on the first video display means to enable the first participant to view the second video participant, whereby, from their respective perspectives, the first and second video participants appear to be looking at each other eye-to-eye.

Claim 30

A method for enabling eye-to-eye contact in a video conference, comprising: providing first and second conference rooms with respective first and second video cameras and first and second video display means; generating a first video signal with the first video camera from which a first participant of the video conference located in the first conference room can be viewed via a video image displayed on the second video display means in the second conference room, said first video signal effectively containing an image of the first participant corresponding to a real image that would be produced if the first video camera had a field of view (FOV) originating at a screen of the first video display means or behind the screen of the first video display means and passing through a central portion thereof, the video image corresponding to the first video signal being generated from a holographic image produced from object light of selected wavelengths reflected off of the first participant, said holographic image being directed toward an FOV of the first video camera; sending the first video signal to the second conference room; displaying a video image corresponding to the first video signal on the second video display means to enable a second participant in the second conference room to view the first video participant; while at substantially the same time, generating a second video signal with the second video camera from which the second participant can be viewed via a video image displayed on the first video display means in the first conference room, said second video signal effectively containing an image of the second participant corresponding to a real image that would be generated if the second video camera had a field of view (FOV) originating at or behind a screen of the second video display means and passing through a central portion thereof; sending the second video signal to the first conference room; and displaying a video image corresponding to the second video signal on the first video display means to enable the first participant to view the second video participant, whereby, from their respective perspectives, the first and second video participants appear to be looking at each other eye-to-eye.