Methods and systems for providing virtual collaboration via network

Abstract

Various embodiments of the present technology provide an online and/or offline meeting system that utilizes a “scene” as a collaboration context and/or for collecting and grouping related multimedia based messages exchanged in discussions, and causes the related messages to be presented to participants of an online and/or offline meeting in a cinematic way. When an online meeting is over and the meeting session is ended, participants can still make offline communications using the scene as the collaboration context. Further, the present technology improves user experience in viewing or annotating non-text based content in a chat session.

1 . A computer-implemented method for providing a virtual collaboration, comprising:
 receiving a 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional non-text content;   generating at least one collaborative session of the virtual collaboration based at least in part upon the 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional non-text content, the at least one collaborative session enabling any of one or more participants of the virtual collaboration to point to a location on the at least one collaborative session, and conduct a plurality of operations including commenting or revising the 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional non-text content, wherein each drawing of the at least one collaborative session is associated with a corresponding timestamp;   causing the multimedia-based messages in the plurality of sub-groups to be presented on at least one computing device of the one or more participants of the virtual collaboration, wherein the virtual collaboration presented on a display of the at least one computing device comprises a container, wherein the container includes content of the 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional non-text content, and at least two participants of the at least one collaborative sessions are enabled to erase or modify each other's 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional non-text content; and   providing an option for one participant of the one or more participants to render an annotation tag associated with a 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional coordinate of the location in the at least one collaborative session.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising playing back the at least one collaborative session of the virtual collaboration based at least upon timestamps associated with drawings of the at least one collaborative session. 
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , wherein the playing back the at least one collaborative session of the virtual collaboration comprises providing a slide bar for a user of the computing device to view a corresponding drawing associated with a specific timestamp. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the container also includes a plurality types of user interaction content, the plurality types of user interaction content including text, voice, a picture, a drawing, a video, and a user generated 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional geometric object. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the annotation tag includes text, voice, a picture, a drawing, a video, and a user generated 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional geometric object. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the annotation tag further includes a system-assigned index, and user interaction content of the one or more participants of the virtual collaboration, the user interaction content including text, voice, a picture, a drawing, a video, and a user generated 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional geometric object. 
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the container comprises multiple layers and one of the multiple layers is an annotation layer, wherein the annotation layer includes metadata of 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional geometric objects, and text messages of the at least one collaborative session, and wherein the annotation layer enables the at least two participants of the at least one collaborative sessions to erase or modify each other's metadata of 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional geometric objects, and text messages of the at least one collaborative session. 
     
     
         8 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising: determining that the at least one collaborative session has ended, and enabling an offline scene-based collaboration. 
     
     
         9 . A system, comprising:
 a processor; and   a computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to perform operations comprising:
 receiving a 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional non-text content; 
 generating at least one collaborative session of the virtual collaboration based at least in part upon the 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional non-text content, the at least one collaborative session enabling any of one or more participants of the virtual collaboration to point to a location on the at least one collaborative session, and conduct a plurality of operations including commenting or revising the 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional non-text content, wherein each drawing of the at least one collaborative session is associated with a corresponding timestamp; 
 causing the multimedia-based messages in the plurality of sub-groups to be presented on at least one computing device of the one or more participants of the virtual collaboration, wherein the virtual collaboration presented on a display of the at least one computing device comprises a container, wherein the container includes content of the 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional non-text content, and at least two participants of the at least one collaborative sessions are enabled to erase or modify each other's 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional non-text content; and 
 providing an option for one participant of the one or more participants to render an annotation tag associated with a 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional coordinate of the location in the at least one collaborative session. 
   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the operations further comprise playing back the at least one collaborative session of the virtual collaboration based at least upon timestamps associated with drawings of the at least one collaborative session. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the operations of playing back the at least one collaborative session of the virtual collaboration comprises providing a slide bar for a user of the computing device to view a corresponding drawing associated with a specific timestamp. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the container also includes a plurality types of user interaction content, the plurality types of user interaction content including text, voice, a picture, a drawing, a video, and a user generated 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional geometric object. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the annotation tag includes text, voice, a picture, a drawing, a video, and a user generated 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional geometric object. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the annotation tag further includes a system-assigned index, and user interaction content of the one or more participants of the virtual collaboration, the user interaction content including text, voice, a picture, a drawing, a video, and a user generated 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional geometric object. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the container comprises multiple layers and one of the multiple layers is an annotation layer, wherein the annotation layer includes metadata of 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional geometric objects, and text messages of the at least one collaborative session, and wherein the annotation layer enables the at least two participants of the at least one collaborative sessions to erase or modify each other's metadata of 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional geometric objects, and text messages of the at least one collaborative session. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the operations further comprise determining that the at least one collaborative session has ended, and enabling an offline scene-based collaboration. 
     
     
         17 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computing system, cause the computing system to perform operations comprising:
 receiving a 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional non-text content;   generating at least one collaborative session of the virtual collaboration based at least in part upon the 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional non-text content, the at least one collaborative session enabling any of one or more participants of the virtual collaboration to point to a location on the at least one collaborative session, and conduct a plurality of operations including commenting or revising the 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional non-text content, wherein each drawing of the at least one collaborative session is associated with a corresponding timestamp;   causing the multimedia-based messages in the plurality of sub-groups to be presented on at least one computing device of the one or more participants of the virtual collaboration, wherein the virtual collaboration presented on a display of the at least one computing device comprises a container, wherein the container includes content of the 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional non-text content, and at least two participants of the at least one collaborative sessions are enabled to erase or modify each other's 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional non-text content; and   providing an option for one participant of the one or more participants to render an annotation tag associated with a 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional coordinate of the location in the at least one collaborative session.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 17 , wherein the container also includes a plurality types of user interaction content, the plurality types of user interaction content including text, voice, a picture, a drawing, a video, and a user generated 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional geometric object. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 17 , wherein the annotation tag includes text, voice, a picture, a drawing, a video, and a user generated 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional geometric object. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 17 , wherein the annotation tag further includes a system-assigned index, and user interaction content of the one or more participants of the virtual collaboration, the user interaction content including text, voice, a picture, a drawing, a video, and a user generated 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional geometric object.