Telepresence system and method

Abstract

A telepresence method includes capturing video at a source location, the videos including a subject within their respective points of view. The method further includes determining a viewpoint of a remote user at a remote location other than the source location, creating a synthetic video from the captured video, with the synthetic video corresponding to the determined viewpoint of the remote user, and displaying the synthetic video of the subject to the remote user.

1 . A telepresence method, comprising:
 capturing video at a source location, the videos including a subject within their respective points of view;   determining a viewpoint of a remote user at a remote location other than the source location;   creating a synthetic video from the captured video, the synthetic video corresponding to the determined viewpoint of the remote user; and   displaying the synthetic video of the subject to the remote user.   
     
     
         2 . The telepresence method according to  claim 1 , further comprising capturing videos with at least two different points of view at a source location; creating a pair of synthetic videos from the captured videos, the synthetic videos being formed from at least two of the captured videos; and displaying the synthetic videos of the subject to the remote user. 
     
     
         3 . The telepresence method according to  claim 1 , further comprising removing an undesired background from the captured video such that the undesired background does not appear in the synthetic video. 
     
     
         4 . The telepresence method according to  claim 1  further comprising:
 rendering or capturing a scene corresponding to the determined viewpoint of the remote user; and 
 compositing the scene with the synthetic video. 
 
     
     
         5 . The telepresence method according to  claim 4  further comprising:
 capturing a at least one local video representing the viewpoint of the remote user at the remote location; 
 processing the local video to remove an undesired background; and 
 wherein the compositing includes compositing the scene, the synthetic video, and the processed local video. 
 
     
     
         6 . The telepresence method of  claim 1  wherein the remote user is a first remote user and the subject is a second remote user and the capturing, determining, creating, and displaying are performed for each of the first remote user and the second remote user and each of the first remote user and the second remote user has displayed a respective synthetic video of the other remote user. 
     
     
         7 . The telepresence method of  claim 1  wherein the remote user is a first remote user of a plurality of first remote users and the subject is a second remote user, the capturing, determining, creating, and displaying are performed for each of the plurality of first remote users and the second remote user, and each of the plurality of first remote users has displayed a synthetic video of the second remote user. 
     
     
         8 . The telepresence method of  claim 1  wherein the remote user and the subject are remote users of a plurality of remote users, the capturing, determining, creating, and displaying are performed for each of the plurality of remote users, and each of the plurality of remote users has displayed a synthetic video of at least one other user of the plurality of remote users. 
     
     
         9 . The telepresence method of  claim 1  wherein creating the synthetic video from the captured video comprises creating one or more stereoscopic synthetic videos. 
     
     
         10 . The telepresence method of  claim 1  wherein creating the synthetic video from the captured video comprises creating a monoscopic synthetic video. 
     
     
         11 . A telepresence method operable to provide a shared telepresence meeting for at least a first remote user and a second remote user, the method comprising:
 capturing video with at least one point of view at a first remote location of the first remote user, the video including the first remote user within their point of view;   capturing video with at least one point of view at a second remote location of the second remote user, the video including the second remote user within their point of view;   determining a viewpoint of the first remote user at a first remote location;   determining a viewpoint of the second remote user at a second remote location;   creating a synthetic video from the captured video at the first remote location, the synthetic video corresponding to the determined viewpoint of the second remote user;   creating a synthetic video from the captured video at the second remote location, the synthetic video corresponding to the determined viewpoint of the first remote user; and   displaying the synthetic video of the second remote user to the first remote user and displaying the synthetic video of the first remote user to the second remote user such that the first remote user and the second remote user share a telepresence meeting.   
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 11 , further comprising capturing videos with at least two different points of view at the location of the first remote user; creating a pair of synthetic videos from the captured videos at the first remote location, the synthetic videos being formed from at least two of the captured videos to produce videos corresponding to the determined viewpoint of the second remote user; and displaying the synthetic videos of the first remote user to the second remote user. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 12 , further comprising capturing videos with at least two different points of view at the location of the second remote user; creating a pair of synthetic videos from the captured videos at the second remote location, the synthetic videos being formed from at least two of the captured videos to produce videos corresponding to the determined viewpoint of the first remote user; and
 displaying the synthetic videos of the second remote user to the first remote user.   
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 11 , further comprising removing an undesired background from the synthetic video such that the undesired background does not appear in the synthetic video. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 11  further comprising:
 rendering or capturing a first scene corresponding to the determined viewpoint of the first remote user; and 
 compositing the first scene with the synthetic video displayed to the first remote user. 
 
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 15  further comprising:
 rendering or capturing a second scene corresponding to the determined viewpoint of the second remote user; and 
 compositing the second scene with the synthetic videos displayed to the second remote user. 
 
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 16  wherein the first scene and the second scene are the same virtual reality scene. 
     
     
         18 . The method according to  claim 17  further comprising:
 capturing at least one local video representing the viewpoint of the first remote user at the first remote location; 
 processing the local video to remove an undesired background; and 
 wherein the compositing includes compositing the first scene, the synthetic video, and the processed local video. 
 
     
     
         19 . The method according to  claim 16  further comprising:
 capturing at least one local video representing the viewpoint of the second remote user at the second remote location; 
 processing the local video to remove an undesired background; and 
 wherein the compositing includes compositing the second scene, the synthetic video, and the processed local video. 
 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 11  wherein creating the synthetic video from the captured video comprises creating one or more stereoscopic synthetic videos. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 11  wherein creating the synthetic video from the captured video comprises creating a monoscopic synthetic video.