This invention relates generally to the field of computer supported collaborative work between plural users, and more particularly to a system for capturing and transmitting, via wireless means, images and sound of the user's immediate surroundings to as well as receiving images and audio from one or more other parties via a network connection in order to achieve a basic form of telepresence.
Colaborative work often requires one or more parties to physically travel to a common location where the work is to be done. For example, an expert technician from headquarters will travel to a plant location to assist the local technician in troubleshooting and correcting an equipment problem. Said travel is time consuming and expensive, and can result in substantial delays in remedying a manufacturing issue requiring specialized technical expertise. In addition to technical field service, other examples where a visual means of collaborating on a task might be preferred over travel include security operations, home healthcare, emergency services, real-estate sales, various types of training and building inspections.
While the telephone is a very useful means of communicating over long distances, the absence of a real-time visual component limits its effectiveness in situations where verbal description is inadequate. Videoconferencing has evolved to include dedicated as well as desktop (PC-based) systems that allow two or more parties to “see” each other via images transmitted across a computer network. Typically, each party sits in front of a camera a used to capture the image to be sent and a monitor to display the image being received. A microphone and speaker assembly perform the same functions for sound. Supplemental images are often captured using additional cameras, typically on a fixed copy stand assembly. Images generated using a personal computer or video recording device can also be transmitted and received. None of these solutions provide a real-time first person perspective or the ease of mobility afforded by the invention.
Recent advances in cellular telephony have seen the integration of low resolution cameras to cellular handsets. Due to the limited bandwidth of the cellular wireless network and the limited processing power of the handset, these phone/camera combinations offer only low resolution, still images that take several minutes to send.
Wearable computing has evolved to offer a wide array of application specific solutions for stock keeping, point of sale, meter reading to name a few. No prior art has yet combined the required user interface, processing power, compression technology and ergonomics to provide the unique personal telepresence solution described herein.
Prior art in the related fields of the invention include the following patents:                (1) U.S. Pat. No. 4,845,636, entitled “Remote Transaction System” issued in the name of Mark E. Walker on Jul. 4, 1989; (2) U.S. Pat. No. 4,847,894, entitled “Device for Aiding Maintenance of an Electromechanical Installation Having Automatic Monitoring and Control Means” issued in the names of Chanvin et. al. on Jul. 11, 1989; (3) U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,819, entitled “Video Conferencing System for Courtroom and Other Applications” issued in the name of Deno Kannes on Oct. 23, 1990; (4) U.S. Pat. No. 5,010,399, entitled “Video Transmission and Control System Utilizing Internal Telephone Lines” issued in the names of Goodman et al. on Apr. 23, 1991; (5) U.S. Pat. No. 5,164,979, entitled “Security System Using Telephone Lines to Transmit Video Images to Remote Supervisory Location” issued in the name of Hyun J. Choi on Nov. 17, 1992; (6) U.S. Pat. No. 5,202,759, entitled “Surveillance System” issued in the name of John Laycock on Apr. 13, 1993; (7) U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,943, entitled “Remote Monitoring Unit” issued in the name of Mutuo Tanaka on Jan. 17, 1995; and (8) U.S. Pat. No. 6,307,526, entitled “Wearable Camera System With Viewfinder Means” issued in the name of Steve G. Mann on Oct. 23, 2001.        