WO2005117435A1

WO2005117435A1 - System for and method of personalising videocommunications, and computer program product therefor

Info

Publication number: WO2005117435A1
Application number: PCT/EP2004/005870
Authority: WO
Inventors: Antonella Roella; Aldo Reolon; Søren PORS; Molly Wright Steenson
Original assignee: Telecom Italia SpA
Current assignee: TIM SpA
Priority date: 2004-05-31
Filing date: 2004-05-31
Publication date: 2005-12-08
Anticipated expiration: 2006-11-30

Abstract

The invention concerns a system for personalising video streams generated during videocommunications. The system comprises a central server (3) that is accessible by the videocommunication equipment of the users (1a, 1b) through a communication network (2) and is arranged to receive the personalisation requests from a first user and to perform the operations requested for the personalisation, The server (3) is interfaced with the communication network (2) so as to set up, upon selection by said first user and at least one second user, to receive the images generated by the users and to perform the requested personalisation on line. A method of effecting the personalisation is also disclosed.

Description

SYSTEM FOR AND METHOD OF PERSONALISING VIDEOCOMMUNICATIONS, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT THEREFOR

Field of the invention The present invention refers to multimedia services, and more particularly it concerns a system for and a method of personalising video streams transmitted during videocommunications. Background of the Invention The growing diffusion of web cameras connectable to computers, mobile telephones, television sets..., and the entry into service of 3rd generation mobile communication systems, are relaunching the consumer's interest in videocommunications. In such communications, personalising the video streams being transmitted, by adding ornamental elements or inserting audio clips and so on, could be an appealing feature for the users. Many existing proposals for image personalisation require sophisticated ad hoc equipment, available only to skilled people, for professional use. Examples are disclosed in US patents 5,278,662, 5,625,570 and 6.072.537. It would be on the contrary desirable that such personalisation could be performed by using the same terminal the users are equipped with for performing videocommunication and that personalisation be an application available through the communication network. US-A 2003/0222899 discloses a system for creating multimedia presentations, preferably by using a mobile phone. The user has to request suitable templates from a central server and, upon receiving them, uses the mobile phone as a control panel to define or insert the presentation content into the template: Thereafter the user sends the template and the content definition to an editor tool in the server for creation of the presentation. The presentation is then available for being forwarded to any desired place. This system is still unsatisfactory in that it only is intended for off-line creation of a file that is subsequently to be transmitted by the user having requested personalisation. The Applicant has tackled the problem of performing, efficiently and independently of the technical characteristics of user terminals, a personalised videocommunication between users. Summary of the Invention The Applicant has found that this problem can be solved by having the videocommunication set up by a server, upon selection by the calling user of a personalisation, so that the video streams of the videocommunication pass through the server, and said personalisation is carried out by the server on line, while the videocommunication is ongoing. According to the invention, there is provided a system for personalising an ongoing videocommunication, which system comprises a central server that is accessible by the videocommunication equipment of the users through a communication network and is arranged to receive the personalisation requests at least from a first user participating in the videocommunication and to perform the operations requested for the personalisation. The system is characterised in that said server is interfaced with the communication network so as to set up, upon selection by said first user of a personalisation to be performed, the videocommunication between said first user and at least one second user, to receive the real stream generated by the users and to perform the requested personalisation on line, while the communication is ongoing. The invention also provides a method of personalising a video stream generated by a videocommunication equipment of a first user participating in a videocommunication, wherein said first user accesses by means of his/her equipment and through a communication network a central server in charge of the personalisation, in order to select the personalisation to be performed by the server. The method is characterised in that said videocommunication is set up by said server, upon selection by said first user of a personalisation, so that the video streams of the videocommunication pass through said server, and said personalisation is carried out by said server on line, while the videocommunication is ongoing. The invention also provides a computer program product loadable in the memory of at least one computer and comprising software code portions for performing the steps of the method of the invention when the product is run on a computer. As used herein, reference to such a computer program product is intended to be equivalent to reference to a computer-readable medium containing instructions for controlling a computer system to coordinate the performance of the method of the invention. Reference to "at least one" computer is obviously intended to highlight the possibility for the arrangement of the invention to be implemented in a de-centralized fashion. Thus, according to the invention, the personalisation not only is controlled by the user by means of its terminal, without the need of ad hoc equipment, but also all operations, including forwarding the personalised real stream to another user, are performed within a same communication. Brief description of the drawings A preferred embodiment of the invention, given by way of non-limiting example, will now be disclosed with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: - Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a system according to the invention;

- Fig. 2 is a flow chart of the method of the invention;

- Figs. 3a and 3b show the images appearing on the display of the called and the calling party, respectively; and

- Figs. 4a to 4g are pictorial representations of the operations concerning an example of personalisation performed according to the invention.

Description of the preferred embodiment Referring to Fig. 1 , a system for the personalisation of videocommunications comprises:

- user terminals, two of which are shown at 1a and 1b in the drawing; - a network 2 supporting video communication, which network may be either a wireless network or a wired network; and

- a central server 3, accessible by the users through network 2. User terminals 1 can include any terminal capable of performing videocommunications, for instance mobile terminals equipped with a video camera, or fixed terminals such as video-telephones or TV sets equipped with videocommunication facilities. Server 3 is the unit performing the the operations required to personalise the video stream of an ongoing videocommunication, according to the requests of a calling party, and to forward the personalised video stream to the called party. For instance, personalisation can consist in:

- combining the images of the live video stream with a frame or some other ornamental element;

- placing the images onto a background;

- combining the images with an audio file, in alternative or in addition to combining the images with a frame or a background. Advantageously, server 3 has also the possibility of saving, at least temporarily, at least one personalisation carried out for a user, for instance the last one he/she requested, and to offer the user the possibility of repeating such personalisation for a subsequent videocommunication. The saved personalisations are stored in a suitable memory area of the server. In server 3, a composer 4 interfaces server 3 with network 2 and provides both for preparing the personalised video stream and for forwarding it to the called party during communication. The video and audio files to be used for the personalisation are taken by composer 4 from databases 5, 6. Operations made by the server 3 on the video stream may introduce a slight delay in the video transmission; such a delay however can be made unperceivable by the user by delaying the corresponding audio stream of the communication. As far as the video files are concerned, the frames could consist of a contour typical of the current season or related to an event, shapes of famous persons, and so on; the backgrounds could be landscapes, advertising of movies, photographs, etc. (i.e. still or animated backgrounds). The audio files could be sound tracks of movies, hit records, music related to the season etc. The contents of such databases can be provided and updated by an external content provider 9. Server 3 further comprises an image extractor 7 (e.g. a so-called chromakey) and a transcoding unit 8 (e.g. a so-called video gateway). Chromakey 7 is an apparatus for the automatic extraction of a feature from a background based on the colours, for instance, for extracting the image of the face of the calling party for combination with a background. Video gateway 8 in turn is an apparatus performing any transcoding required by the terminals that are to be connected for the videocommunication. Intervention of these apparatuses will be controlled by composer 4. Both kinds of apparatuses are well known in the art. The personalisation method according to the invention is now disclosed with reference to the flow chart of Fig. 2 and to the pictorial representations in Figs. 3 and 4. At step 101 , the calling party accesses server 3 in any suitable manner allowed by his/her terminal and receives therefrom (step 102) the list of available services. On a mobile network this step can be performed, for example, by means of WAP / HTTP browsing over a data connection (GPRS / EDGE / UMTS..), and then automatically switching to the videocommunication phase for a video test phase (preview for the user). In the exemplary embodiment described here, the calling party has the possibility of requesting a personalisation consisting in the combination of the video stream generated by his/her terminal during the videocommunication with, for example, an ornamental frame or a background, or with an audio file, or of asking repetition of the last personalisation he/she had requested (step 117). Considering first the case in which the calling party requests a new personalisation, if he/she chooses combining the live video stream generated by his/her terminal with a frame or a background, the list of available frames/backgrounds, compatible with the user terminal, is shown on the display of terminal 1 (step 103). Similarly, if the calling party chooses combining the live video stream with an audio file, he/she is displayed the list of available audio files (steps 104). Assuming that the calling party initially chooses combining the video stream generated by its terminal with a frame or a background, he/she selects the desired frame/background at step 105. For combination with a background, the images of the video stream to be transmited during the communication are to be shot against a white or at least a clear and uniform background, in order chromakey 7 can recognise the image itself (generally, the user's face) based on the different colours. At step 106, the user is shown a preview of the personalisation and at step 107 approval is requested. If the result is not accepted, the process returns to step 102 and proposes again the list of services to the user. If the result is accepted, the user will be asked whether he/she wishes to combine the video stream also with an audio file (step 108). In the affirmative, the process passes to step 104 of presentation of the audio file list. In the negative, the user is invited to digit the called party's number (step 109) without releasing the connection. Then, server 3 sets up the communication with the called party and, provided that the latter accepts the call, while the communication is ongoing, performs the requested personalisation on the images of the video stream generated by the calling's party terminal and forwards the personalised images to the called party (step 110). If the user has initially chosen to combine the video stream with an audio file, or if he/she wishes to combine the video stream also with an audio file after having combined them with a frame/background, the audio file list is presented at step 104, as already said. Similarly to the case of combination with the frame/background, the user chooses the file at step 111 and he/she can listen to the audio file at step 112. The user's approval is then requested at step 1 13. If the user accepts the result, the process continues with step 109 as already described. If the file is not accepted, the process returns to step 102. Moreover, in case of acceptance, at step 114 the user is offered the possibility of combining the video stream also with a video file (i.e. a frame or a background). This step is skipped if such a combination has been already performed. If the user decides to do so, the process goes to step 103 and the operations described above are performed, except that, in case of acceptance, step 108 is omitted. If the calling party does not wish to combine the video stream with a frame or a background, the process goes to step 109 of digiting the called party's number and hence to step 1 10 of communication and personalisation, as before. If the user initially chooses the repetition of the last performed personalisation, the process directly passes from step 1 17 to step 109 and hence to step 1 10, omitting the whole dialogue relevant to the personalisation selection. When the called party accepts the call, he/she will see on his/her display the images shot by the called party's terminal during the call, associated with the frame/background, and will listen to the audio file, if any, as pictorially indicated in Fig.

3a. The calling party will see on the contrary the actual image of the called party as shot by the called party's terminal (see Fig. 3b). Figs. 4a to 4g show the operations to be performed e.g. on the mobile phone of the calling party to combine the images with an ornamental frame and an audio file. More particularly, Fig. 4a shows the access to server 3 (step 101 in Fig. 2), under the assumption that such access takes place via the Web. Fig. 4b shows the service list presented to the user and the selection of the combination with a frame. Fig. 4c shows the presentation of the different frames to the calling party, corresponding to step 103: depending on the number of available frames, this operation could require multiple display steps. It can be readily appreciated that displaying frames on the terminal is a simple and user friendly implementation of the frame list presentation mentioned in Fig. 2. Fig. 4d shows the preview of the personalisation (steps 106, 107). The acceptance of the result by the user saves the personalisation requested in the server, to allow the subsequent addition of an audio file to images contoured by a frame and/or the repetition of the personalisation itself in subsequent videocommunications. Fig. 4e shows the request to the user of possibly adding also an audio file to the image (step 108) and the acceptance of that possibility. In the Figure, the request is made by presenting again the service list on the display: the options different from the audio file selection could however be disabled. Fig. 4f shows the presentation of the audio file list and the file selection (steps 1 1 1 , 1 12). Lastly, Fig. 4g shows the invitation to digit the called party's number (step 1 10) upon acceptance of the final result. It will be immediately appreciated that the operations are quite similar to any other navigation through the options offered by a mobile phone menu. It is clear that the above description is given only by way of non-limiting example and that changes and modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the invention. For instance, even if the above description considers that personalisation is requested only by the calling party, it could also be envisaged that the called party, upon acceptance of the call, could request that server 3 performs a predetermined personalisation of the video stream generated by his/her terminal: such a personalisation could be the last personalisation performed for that user when acting as calling party in a communication or a default personalisation.

Claims

Patent Claims 1. A system for personalising a video stream related to a videocommunication, which system comprises a central server (3) that is accessible by videocommunication equipment (1a, 1 b) of the users through a communication network (2) and is arranged to receive the personalisation requests at least from a first user participating in the videocommunication and to perform the operations requested for the personalisation, characterised in that said server (3) is interfaced with the communication network (2) so as to set up, upon selection by said first user of a personalisation to be performed, the videocommunication between said first user and at least one second user and to perform the requested personalisation of the video stream generated by the first user on line, while the communication is ongoing.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1 , characterised in that said first user and said at least one second user are the calling party and the called party, respectively, of the videocommunication.

3. The system as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterised in that said server (3) is further arranged to manage an interactive procedure for the choice of the personalisation by said calling party.

4. The system as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that said server (3) comprises: - a composer (4) controlling the personalisation operations and interfacing the server (3) with the communication network (2) for receiving the images and the personalisation requests and commands from said first user and forwarding the personalised images to the called party (1 b); and

- at least one memory unit (5, 6) storing files to be used for said personalisation and accessible for reading by said composer (4).

5. The system as claimed in claim 4, characterised in that said at least one memory unit (5, 6) is accessible for writing by an external content provider (9).

6. The system as claimed in claim 4 or 5, characterised in that said at least one memory unit comprises a first database (5) and a second database (6) for video and audio files, respectively, to be used for personalisation.

7. The system as claimed in claim 6, characterised in that the video files stored in said first database (5) include ornamental frames and backgrounds.

8. The system as claimed in any preceding claim, characterised in that said server (3) further comprises an image extractor (7) for extracting details of a shot from a background.

9. The system as claimed in claim 8, characterised in that said image extractor (7) is of a type performing extraction based on colours.

10. The system as claimed in any preceding claim, characterised in that said server (3) further comprises a transcoding unit (8) for carrying out any image transcoding required for communication between the terminals (1a, 1 b) of said users.

11. The system as claimed in any preceding claim, characterised in that said server (3) comprises a further memory unit for storing at least one personalisation chosen by a user.

12. The system as claimed in any of claims 2 to 11 , characterised in that said server (3) is arranged to perform, upon request of the called party, a predetermined personalisation of the video stream generated by the videocommunication equipment (1a, 1 b) of the called party.

13. The system as claimed in any preceding claim, characterised in that said communication network (2) is a mobile communication network and the videocommunication equipment (1a, 1b) includes mobile terminals with video shooting capability.

14. The system as claimed in any of claims 1 to 12, characterised in that said communication network (2) is a fixed communication network and the video communication equipment (1a, 1 b) includes videotelephones or television sets with videocommunication capability.

15. .A method of personalising a video stream generated by the videocommunication equipment (1a, 1 b) of a first user participating in a videocommunication, wherein said first user accesses by means of his/her equipment (1a, 1 b) and through a communication network (2) a central server (3) in charge of the personalisation, in order to select the personalisation to be performed by the server (3), characterised in that said videocommunication is set up by said server (3), upon selection of a personalisation by said first user, so that the video streams of the videocommunication pass through said server, and said personalisation is carried out by said server (3) on line, while the videocommunication is ongoing.

16. The method as claimed in claim 15, characterised in that said first user and said at least one second user are the calling party and the called party, respectively, of the videocommunication.

17. The method as claimed in claim 15 or 16, characterised in that said personalisation consists in the combination of the video stream with video and/or audio files.

18. The method as claimed in claim 17, characterised in that said video files include ornamental frames and backgrounds.

19. The method as claimed in claims 15 to 18, characterised in that it comprises the following steps: a) set-up (101 ) of a connection between said first user and the server (3); b) presentation (102) of a list of available services to said first user; c) selection of a desired service by said first user; d) in case of request of a new personalisation, presentation (103, 104) to said first user of the list of personalisation files available for the selected service; e) selection (105, 111 ) of the desired file by said first user; f) presentation (106, 107, 112, 113) to said first user of a preview of the results of the personalisation for approval; g) in case of approval, set-up (109), by the server (3), of the videocommunication between said first user and said at least one second user; and h) reception (110) from the first user of the images of the video stream generated by his/her equipment, execution of the chosen personalisation on said images and forwarding (110) of the personalised images from the server (3) to said at least one second user.

20. The method as claimed in claim 19, characterised in that, upon approval of the preview at the end of the operations performed by the server (3) and the first user for the choice of a personalisation within a first service and before the setting up of the videocommunication, the first user is offered the possibility of requesting the server (3) the concurrent execution of a further personalisation within a different service, and, in case of acceptance of that possibility, steps c) to f) are repeated for that different service.

21. The method as claimed in claim 19 or 20, characterised in that, in case of non-approval of the personalisation result, the user is presented again the list of available services.

22. The method as claimed in any of claims 15 to 21 , characterised in that at least one personalisation chosen by a user is stored in the server.

23. The method as claimed in claim 22, characterised in that the calling party is offered the possibility of repeating said at least one stored personalisation when accessing said server (3).

24. The method as claimed in claim 16, characterised in that the called party is offered the possibility of requesting a predetermined personalisation of the video stream generated by his/her videocommunication equipment (1a, 1 b).

25. The method as claimed in claims 15 to 24, characterised in that it is applied on videocommunications performed through a mobile communication network.

26. The method as claimed in claims 15 to 24, characterised in that it is applied on videocommunications performed through a fixed communication network.

27. A computer program product loadable in the memory of at least one computer and including software code portions for performing the method of any of claims 15 to 26.