WO2004109622A1

WO2004109622A1 - Electronic whiteboard with a plurality of input devices for contemporaneous collaboration

Info

Publication number: WO2004109622A1
Application number: PCT/GB2004/002439
Authority: WO
Inventors: Simon Charles Roger Lewis
Original assignee: The Appliance Studio Limited
Priority date: 2003-06-09
Filing date: 2004-06-09
Publication date: 2004-12-16
Also published as: GB2402756A; GB0313264D0

Abstract

A user collaboration system for facilitating contemporaneous collaboration between a plurality of users, comprising a plurality of data input devices, each data input device being simultaneously operable by respective individual users, at least one display device and a data controller arranged to be coupled to the plurality of input devices and the display device and arranged to combine input data received contemporaneously from the data input devices and provide the combined input data to the disPlay device.

Description

ELECTRONIC WHITEBOARD WITH A PLURALITY OF INPUT DEVICES FOR CONTEMPORANEOUS COLLABORATION

Existing collaboration tools include shared surfaces such as whiteboards and flipcharts. A frequent use of such tools is as a tool to aid human-to-human conversation and dialogue. Individuals use the marking surface serially or simultaneously by physically standing at the surface and marking it with a pen. In a meeting situation, this requires that contributors stand up and move from their seated positions, and that a social protocol of permission and/or turn-taking is established and adhered to. Both protocols, whilst useful in the course of the meeting, contribute to a certain dynamic behaviour during the meeting which can limit its effectiveness. For example, participants in a meeting who are more junior, or less confident, than other participants may be inhibited from making a potentially valuable contribution.

Participants in such a whiteboard or flip-chart collaboration are also required to be in the same physical room, since the contents of the surface cannot be seen from outside the room.

If, at the end of a meeting which has made use of these tools, participants wish to retain the information and images they have created, they must procure a copy in some way - either by hand-transcribing or by using some other copying device such as a digital camera. Alternatively they must simply leave the whiteboard full of the information they've created, or erase it completely.

A number of previous attempts have been made to overcome some of the limitations of ordinary whiteboards and flipcharts.

Existing electronic whiteboards are available in a variety of configurations and using a variety of technologies. All utilise a large form-factor vertical surface (often, a conventional whiteboard) for marking. This surface is typically mounted on a wall at the front of a meeting room. Various sensing techniques are used to digitise marks made on the vertical surface, including pressure sensing, acoustic or optical pen tracking, or photographic means. Such digitised marks are then made available electronically by a variety of means, including via exchangeable media, interfaces to a personal computer, or network connections. In some configurations, previously captured images can be redisplayed on the vertical marking surface by front- or rear-projection, or via other mechanisms. Electronic whiteboards are often suitable for teaching, training or lecturing situations in which a single meeting participant is leading the meeting, and is principally responsible for marking the surface. They are less suitable for collaborative business meetings.

Systems based on personal computers are also available. In such systems (including, for example, Microsoft's NetMeeting), each meeting participant uses a separate computer equipped with suitable application software. Computers are linked together using network connections to enable the application software to generate a single marking surface. Tablet computers, in which a flat touch-screen surface provides the principal mode of interaction, are particularly intended for such applications. Unfortunately, systems based on personal computers suffer the disadvantages of their relatively high cost, as a fully functioning computer must be made available for each meeting participant, and the inherent operational complexity associated with setting up all the computers so that they reliably communicate to one another.

Internet-based solutions are also available, in which meeting participants use an individual computer to gain access and provide a human-interface to a centralised computer server which implements the shared surface behaviour for all users. Again, such systems rely on each participant having access to a separate computer and network connection, with the cost and complexity implications therein.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a user collaboration system for facilitating contemporaneous collaboration between a plurality of users, comprising a plurality of data input devices, each data input device being simultaneously operable by respective individual users, at least one display device and a data controller arranged to be coupled to the plurality of input devices and the display device and arranged to combine input data received contemporaneously from the data input devices and provide the combined input data to the display device.

One or more of the data input devices preferably comprises a digitising tablet, at least one of which may include a display device. Additionally, the or each input device is arranged to modify the combined input data displayed on the display device of the input device without transmission of the modification to other display devices.

The display device preferably comprises a projector or monitor.

The user collaboration system may additionally include a storage device coupled to the data controller, the data controller being arranged to store the combined input data on the storage device.

Additionally or alternatively, the data controller may include a communications device arranged to facilitate communications between the data controller and one or more further data controllers, the data controller being arranged to contemporaneously combine input data received from the or each further data controller and input data received from the plurality of input devices. The data controller may furtlier be arranged to transmit input data to the or each further data controller. The data controller may additionally or alternatively be arranged to transmit combined input data to the or each further data controller.

In a further embodiment, the data controller is arranged to perform one or more user operations in response to an input received via the user-interface. The user operations may include saving the combined input data to a memory location, retrieving combined input data from a memory location, and identifying a portion of the combined input data without causing a mark to be displayed.

The data controller may additionally or alternatively comprise a network server arranged to facilitate the connection via a network of a network client to the data controller and arranged to provide the combined input data to the network client.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a data controller comprising an input arranged to receive input data provided contemporaneously from a plurality of input devices, a processor arranged to combine the received input data and an output arranged to provide the combined input data to a display device. The data controller may further comprise communications apparatus arranged to send and/or receive data to or from one or more further data controllers. The processor may then be arranged to combine the received input data and data received via the communications apparatus. The processor may also be arranged to send to one or more further data controllers via the communications apparatus the input data received at the input and/or the combined input data.

The data controller preferably includes a data storage device.

In some embodiments the data controller provides, in use, a user-interface operable via one or more of the data input devices such that the data controller is arranged to perform one or more user operations in response to an input received via the user-interface. The user operations may include saving the combined input data to a memory location, retrieving combined input data from a memory location, and identifying a portion of the combined input data without causing a mark to be displayed.

Embodiments of the present invention therefore facilitate the separation of the marking surface of the conventional or traditional electronic whiteboard into a number of distinct, individual marking surfaces. Beneficially, these surfaces are made available to participants in a meeting such that they each have permanent access to an individual surface, instead of there being a single, shared physical surface in the meeting room. The marking surfaces themselves may be "blind" - that is, without any form of embedded display or user feedback.

Such separate marking surfaces are then electronically connected (wirelessly or using a wired-connection) via a controller so as to re-generate the single shared image which is a characteristic of a conventional whiteboard. This image may be displayed in one place where it is visible to all participants, displayed in a number of separate places where participants are located, or additionally and optionally displayed in duplicate form on every individual marking surface. Individual marking surfaces may contribute to a shared image, whether they are located in the same room, or located in widely separated locations and connected via network means. This may be achieved by arranging for the separate controllers to inter-work with each other over a network connection in order to regenerate the same image or images at other locations.

The means for combining contributions from individual marking surfaces through a controller may also optionally include other capabilities. These include the ability to receive or make the image available over a network (for example, the internet or worldwide web) for remote viewing and interaction on personal computer, and the ability to save images for later restoration and continued use. Such saved images may also be made available over a network such as the internet.

In addition, it may be possible to upload previously created images to the controller to work on them (examine, annotate, or modify) using the shared surface.

It may also be possible for marks made using any individual marking surface to remain private to the individual using the surface, and not be contributed to the shared image.

Embodiments of the present invention are described hereinafter, by way of illustrative example only, with reference to the accompanying figures, of which:

Figure 1 schematically illustrates a first embodiment of the present invention utilising separate digitising tablets and display device;

Figure 2 schematically illustrates a further embodiment of the present invention utilising tablets having integral display screens;

Figure 3 schematically illustrates a digitising tablet having an integral controller according to a further embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 4 schematically illustrates an interconnected system of data controllers according to another embodiment of the present invention; and Figure 5 schematically illustrates a conventional PC connected to a controller via a network according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 1 shows a simple embodiment of a shared electronic surface utilising an embodiment of the present invention. A number of "blind" (that is, without embedded display) digitising tablets 1 are connected to a data controller 2. The controller accepts input from each of the tablets, and combines it into a single image which is exported on a connection (VESA, VGA or similar) to a display device 3. In this instance the display is a projector, allowing the shared image to be displayed vertically on a conference room wall. Other display means such as a conventional monitor could also be used.

A feature of embodiments of the present invention is that the controller is arranged such that each user can annotate, or 'mark', the combined image at the same time as one or more of the other users are similarly annotating the combined image. In other words multiple annotations and/or amendments may be simultaneously made to the combined image. In preferred embodiments each user will be allocated an individually distinguishable cursor that is displayed on the combined image. Each cursor will be visible by the other users and will be differentiated from the other cursors by a visual characteristic, such as shape and/or colour. The annotations made by individual users may also, or alternatively, be visually distinct from one another, again for example by colour.

The ability for each user to simultaneously mark the combined image, or document, is in contrast to prior art collaboration tools, such as those mentioned in the introductory portion of this specification, in which it is necessary for users to 'take turns' to control a single cursor to annotate the shared document. Consequently, such prior art systems suffer the same user orientated disadvantages as physically shared whiteboards, namely that individuals need to gain 'permission' to assume of the single cursor. In the current invention these disadvantages are not experienced as each user is able to annotate the combined image at any time, thus removing the need to seek permission from the other users.

The controller 2 is not limited to driving a single display. With the use of any suitable adaptor and software - as will be known to persons skilled in the art - the controller 2 could drive multiple displays implementing a single, larger "logical" display surface. The controller 2 may also be equipped with a user-interface (not illustrated), which can be made available via interaction with the tablets and display, via a separate control-panel and or display connected to the controller, or over a network. Such a user-interface permits the users of the tablet to perform operations such as saving and restoring the image being worked on, pointing to areas of the shared image without making a mark, changing pen-colours, and other configuration tasks.

A connection from the controller to a network 4 such as a local area network, corporate intranet, or the Internet is also shown. This permits export of image(s) to other locations and devices (including additional data controllers as is explained hereinafter), and the importation of pre-existing images (for example, by "printing" to the controller as disclosed in UK Patent Application 0211802.4) for further annotation during a meeting.

Figure 2 shows an alternative embodiment in which each tablet 21 is equipped with a embedded screen (for example, an LCD).

In this configuration no external display or projector is required since each tablet functions as a display, displaying an exact copy of the shared image being electronically created in the controller 22 by combining inputs from the tablet.

The user-interface for the controller 22 may again be presented on the tablet(s) or using separate buttons/screen provided on the controller itself.

Tablets equipped with their own screens may also be used to present additional functionality to an individual user. For example, the user may be offered the capability to annotate the shared image in ways which are not reflected in the image seen by other users, or to make and manage personal notes using their own tablet. Each user may also be offered the ability to send private messages to other users, or collaborate with selected others using shared images not exported to every user of the system.

In further embodiments a shared screen or projector may be connected to the controller, in addition to the individual tablets that have embedded screens. This not only retains the added physical characteristics of a vertical display, but facilitates the separation of shared from individual content. In other embodiments some of the tablets connected to the controller are "blind", whilst some have the full functionality of an embedded screen. In order for this to be useful to users of the blind tablets, it is probable that a shared display would also be connected to the controller.

Although the connections between tablets 1, 21 and controllers 2, 22 has been illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 as wired connections, any suitable wireless interconnection means could also be used.

In a further embodiment, illustrated in Figure 3, a single tablet 31 is provided that has a controller 32 (not shown) included in the tablet. A connection to other controllers may be established via a network 34, such as the internet.

The embodiments shown in Figures 1-3 have been illustrated with an optional network connection. This facilitates the interconnection of individual controllers via the network (for example, a local area network, company intranet or the Internet). Such an interconnected system is illustrated in Figure 4. Multiple controllers 42 are separated geographically but connected via a network 44 to function as a single large system. Input from all tablets 41 connected to any controller 42 is combined into a single image shared amongst the controllers and therefore displayed either through attached external displays or projectors 43, or via the embedded displays optionally included in some tablets. All users across the network therefore see the same shared image and are able to contribute to it in identical ways. Pointing or marking the surface in one location creates duplicated behaviour in all locations.

In the embodiments described above, each controller's network connection and embedded data server, for example a web-server, allows the user of a conventional PC and browser, such as a web-browser, connected to the network to access information held on that controller, as illustrated in Figure 5. This includes saved drawings from previous meetings, and a "live view" of a meeting in progress in which that particular controller is participating. A user accessing the controller 52 from a PC 51 over the network 54 in such a way can thus himself participate in the meeting, using nothing more than a conventional PC configured to function as a controller, input device and output device. The PC configuration may occur under the control of the controller whilst the PC is in communication with the controller via the network. Alternatively, the configuration may be accomplished by software automatically loaded onto the PC from the controller, for example a Java applet. A further alternative is for the configuration software to be installed on the PC prior to a connection to the controller being established, the software being previously provided.

Although reference has been made in the above description of embodiments of the present invention to shared 'images', it will be appreciated that the format of the shared data is not limited in any way. For example, a text document may equally be shared and manipulated. In this case other input devices other than the described digitising tablets may be preferably used.

Claims

1. A user collaboration system for facilitating contemporaneous collaboration between a plurality of users, comprising a plurality of data input devices, each data input device being simultaneously operable by respective individual users, at least one display device and a data controller arranged to be coupled to the plurality of input devices and the display device and arranged to combine input data received contemporaneously from the data input devices and provide the combined input data to the display device.

2. A user collaboration system according to claim 1, wherein one or more of the data input devices comprises a digitising tablet.

3. A user collaboration system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein one or more of the input devices includes a display device.

4. A user collaboration system according to claim 3, wherein the or each input device is arranged to modify the combined input data displayed on the display device of the input device without transmission of the modification to other display devices.

5. A user collaboration system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the display device comprises a projector or monitor.

6. A user collaboration system according to any preceding claim further comprising a storage device coupled to the data controller, wherein the data controller is arranged to store the combined input data on the storage device.

7. A user collaboration system according to any preceding claim, wherein the data controller includes a communications device arranged to facilitate communications between the data controller and one or more further data controller, wherein the data controller is arranged to contemporaneously combine input data received from the or each further data controller and input data received from the plurality of input devices.

8. A user collaboration system according to claim 7, wherein the data controller is arranged to transmit input data to the or each further data controller.

9. A user collaboration system according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the data controller is arranged to transmit combined input data to the or each further data controller.

10. A user collaboration system according to any preceding claim, wherein the data controller provides, in use, a user-interface operable via one or more of the data input devices such that the data controller is arranged to perform one or more user operations in response to an input received via the user-interface..

11. A user collaboration system according to claim 9, wherein the user operations include saving the combined input data to a memory location, retrieving combined input data from a memory location, and identifying a portion of the combined input data without causing a mark to be displayed.

12. A user collaboration system according to any preceding claim, wherein the data controller comprises a network server arranged to facilitate the connection via a network of a network client to the data controller and arranged to provide the combined input data to the network client.

13. A user collaboration system according to claim 12, wherein the network server is arranged to provide configuration data to the network client, the configuration data enabling the network client to view the combined input data.

14. A user collaboration system according to claim 13, wherein the provided configuration data enables the network client to function as an additional data input device to the user collaboration system.

15. A data controller comprising an input arranged to receive input data provided contemporaneously from a plurality of input devices, a processor arranged to combine the received input data and an output arranged to provide the combined input data to a display device.

16. A data controller according to claim 15 further comprising communications apparatus arranged to send and/or receive data to or from one or more further data controllers.

17. A data controller according to claim 16, wherein the processor is arranged to combine the received input data and data received via the communications apparatus.

18. A data controller according to claim 16 or 17, wherein the processor is arranged to send to one or more further data controllers via the communications apparatus the input data received at the input and/or the combined input data. .

19. A data controller according to any one of claims 15 to 18 further comprising a data storage device.

20. A data controller according to any one of claims 15 to 19, wherein the data controller provides, in use, a user-interface operable via one or more of the data input devices such that the data controller is arranged to perform one or more user operations in response to an input received via the user-interface.

21. A data controller according to claim 20, wherein the user operations include saving the combined input data to a memory location, retrieving combined input data from a memory location, and identifying a portion of the combined input data without causing a mark to be displayed.

22. A data controller according to any one of claims 15 to 21, wherein the data controller comprises a network server arranged to facilitate the connection via a network of a network client to the data controller and arranged to provide the combined input data to the network client.

23. A data controller according to claim 22, wherein the network server is arranged to provide configuration data to the network client, the configuration data enabling the network client to view the combined input data.

24. A data controller according to claim 23, wherein the provided configuration data enables the network client to function as an additional data input device to the user collaboration system.