A collaborative Web browsing session may take place over a network, allowing the presenter on a first computer to direct the audio and visual components of a browser on one or more second computers. The second computer is instructed to log into a control site that downloads an active control, such as an applet, to the second computer. The present invention allows a collaborative Web browsing session ('session'), as created by the presenter and witnessed by one or more users on second computers, to be recorded and archived by the control site. When a user of a computer is connected to the control site through a communication network such as the World Wide Web, that user may log into the control site and request to view an archived session. The session will then be replayed by the control site on the user's computer, directing the audio and visual components of the browser on the user's computer as if the user was attending the live session. The recorded session replays the events of the live session in real time such that the playback experience contains the same audio and visual events that took place when the session was originally being recorded.

System and method for record and playback of collaborative web browsing session

The present invention is a navigational user input device (13) interface for interactive television (11). The invention uses an intuitive interactive interface for navigating through service options preferably offered by a cable television service. Services offered such as video on demand, purchasing delivery foods, restaurant selection, banking and community events is all navigated using the present invention.

Navigational user interface for interactive television

A communication system includes at least one telephone unit, a transmission system for communicating from the telephone unit, and a server for receiving information via the transmission system. The telephone unit includes a digital image pick up by which images are recorded, transmitted to the server, and stored in the server depending upon classification information which characterizes the digital images and which is associated with the digital image data. The classification information is determined by an analysis unit in the server.

Apparatus and method for recording, communicating and administering digital images

An intelligent asset management system is disclosed which includes a schedule manager for evaluation of predetermined events particular to each asset and predetermined requirements for distribution, updating, and deletion of the asset in view of real time current conditions and constraints; a resource manager for optimizing the utilization of hard disk storage devices on the system as well as optimizing the use of other types of storage devices available; a configuration manager that tracks and provided updated asset Metadata, application information, storage disk topology, bandwidth topology, weighting factors, and timing information for each asset; and a reporting and polling manager which tracks actual activity on the system such as user input and demands, and provides periodic reporting capabilities for the operators of the system.

System for managing the addition/deletion of media assets within a network based on usage and media asset metadata

A communication device (10) for interconnecting a digital camera (12) to a communication network (16) for downloading data to a remote computer. The device (10) has a network communication port (30) for establishing communication with a network (16) via a pre-defined protocol and communication mode, and has a camera communication port (20) such as a serial, parallel, SCSI, USB or Irda-port that imitates the back end application of a PC (14), for connection to a digital camera (12) for sending and receiving data to and from the camera (12). The camera communication port (20) is also used for input of programming and setup data to the communication device (10) from a PC (14). The device can be programmed to operate on the data directly, such as in the case of data for storage or operational direction, and/or direct the data to the camera. The device may also have a Smart card socket (34) into which a user can insert a card to input data, such as user and camera I.D., user authorization, image marking, camera operational parameters, remote computer/destination address, etc. The device can be programmed to perform encryption, authentication, watermarking and fingerprinting procedures, as well as structuring the data for transmission over a particular network, and to automatically perform operations, such as at specific times or in response to data input.

Camera network communication device

A server (S) and a plurality of terminals (A, B) are interconnected so as to allow communication of image data therebetween. A terminal information retrieval section (26) provided in the server (S) discriminates whether or not image data requested from a first terminal have already been transmitted to a second terminal. An image data transfer section (25) provided in the server (S) requests, when a result of the discrimination is that the data have been transmitted already, the second terminal for transmission of the image data and transfers the image data received from the second terminal to the first terminal. A terminal memory (30) provided in each terminal stores image data, and an image data transmission section (32) provided in each terminal reads out image data requested from the server (S) from the terminal memory (30) and transmits the read out image data to the server (S).

Image data communication system

In order to serve, to each of a plurality of client terminals, programs and data for selecting a video service while considering the memory capacity of the client terminals, client terminals of a video-on-demand system of the invention send information of their memory capacity together with a request for downloading video selection programs to a server station. The server station downloads the video selection programs arranged into MPEG formatted data, step by step according to the memory capacity information and to the result of the program executed in each of the client terminals, providing an excellent graphical user interface making use of an ordinary bi-directional data transmission network.

Video-on-demand system

A synchronous compression system for compressing input video data and audio data with establishing synchronization therebetween, comprises video data compressing circuit for compressing each of first to nth blocks where n is an integer greater than or equal to two in order of the first block to the nth block, audio data compressing circuit for compressing input audio data for one frame, interruption control circuit for controlling to interrupt video data compression when video data compression process is delayed with respect to audio data compression process with reference to frame numbers of those currently compressed in the video data compressing circuit and the audio data compressing circuit.

Synchronous compression and reconstruction system

In order to provide a presentation system for displaying various kinds of media data simultaneously on a display device of any resolution, a scenario description file is prepared in the invention for storing information concerning media data to be presented A presentation system of the invention comprises an initial information table analyzing section and media information table analyzing section for analyzing the scenario description file, a layout correcting section for correcting positional information and sizes of display images of display media data described in the scenario description file, according to the resolution difference between the display device employed in editing the scenario description file and that for presentation, together with a font preparing section for correcting character sizes and character thicknesses, and a time description correcting section for correcting a reproduction time error caused by correcting the display sizes of the media data

Presentation system for correcting positional and size information of images to compensate for resolution of display apparatus

Processing is carried out assuming that a picture structure is fixed to I picture and P picture and that motion compensation value is fixed. header analyzing section 11 identifies the type of picture of input video code. In case of P picture, IDCT section 14 carries out IDCT to calculate a differential value of each block. An adder 15 adds the differential value and a motion compensated block obtained by motion compensating, by forward prediction section 18, a video code of preceding frame stored in a preceding frame section 16. Thus, an image is expanded and reproduced. By fixing the picture structure to I picture and P picture, it is possible to dispense with judgement whether or not the picture is B picture and backward prediction or bidirectional prediction in processing of the B picture.

Compact image transmission system and image reproducing device capable of reproducing a DCT-based code at a high speed without deterioration of picture quality

Hiroaki Ueda

Papers

Image data communication system

Video-on-demand system

Synchronous compression and reconstruction system

Presentation system for correcting positional and size information of images to compensate for resolution of display apparatus

Compact image transmission system and image reproducing device capable of reproducing a DCT-based code at a high speed without deterioration of picture quality