Interactive video conferencing interface

Abstract

A system for conducting a video conference is descried herein. The system conducts a video conference by receiving video and audio data for a plurality of participants of the video conference and displaying a representation of the participants in presentation containers. The video and audio data is used to determine an engagement level of each participant. The engagement level is used to determine a position of the presentation containers. The position of the presentation containers is changed based on changes in the engagement level as the video conference is being conducted, thereby causing the presentation containers to move across a display.

1 . A method, comprising:
 initiating a video conference for a plurality of participants, wherein a representation of each respective participant of the plurality of participants is displayed in a respective presentation container within a display screen of the video conference;   during a first time of the video conference:
 receiving first audiovisual data of the plurality of participants from a plurality of participant computing devices; 
 determining a first engagement level for at least one participant of the plurality of participants based on an analysis of the first audiovisual data; 
 determining a first position within the display screen of the video conference for each respective presentation container for each respective participant of the plurality of participants based on the determined first engagement level of the at least one participant; 
 providing the first audiovisual data and the determined first position of each respective presentation container for the plurality of participants to the plurality of participant computing devices to display each respective presentation container of each respective participant within the display screen of the video conference according to the determined first position of each respective presentation container; and 
   during a second time of the video conference that is after the first time:
 receiving second audiovisual data of the plurality of participants from the plurality of participant computing devices; 
 determining a second engagement level for the at least one participant based on an analysis of the second audiovisual data; 
 determining a second position within the display screen of the video conference for the presentation container associated with the at least one participant based on the second engagement level; and 
 providing the second audiovisual data and the second position of the respective presentation container for the at least one participant to the plurality of participant computing devices to cause the plurality of participant computing devices to display movement of the respective presentation container for the at least one participant from the first position within the display screen to the second position within the display screen. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the second engagement level for the at least one participant includes:
 determining the second engagement level for the at least one participant based on the second audiovisual data received from at least two participants of the plurality of participants.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the second engagement level for the at least one participant includes:
 determining the second engagement level for the at least one participant based on the second audiovisual data received from the at least one participant.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the second engagement level for the at least one participant includes:
 determining the second engagement level for the at least one participant based on the second audiovisual data received from at least one other participant.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the second engagement level for the at least one participant includes:
 determining whether two or more participants of the plurality of participants are interacting with each other based on the second audiovisual data received for the two or more participants; and   determining the second engagement level for the at least one participant based on whether the two or more participants are interacting with each other, wherein the at least one participant is at least one of the two or more participants interacting with each other.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein providing the second position further includes:
 selecting at least one characteristic of the presentation container associated with the at least one participant other than the position of the presentation container based on an engagement level for the at least one participant;   determining at least one magnitude for modifying the selected characteristic based on the engagement level for the at least one participant;   determining a modification for the selected characteristic based on the at least one magnitude; and   providing an indication of the modification of the selected characteristic of the presentation container to the plurality of participant computing devices to cause the plurality of participant computing devices to display the modification of the selected characteristic of the presentation container.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein providing the second position further includes:
 determining a change from a first size to a second size of the presentation container associated with the at least one participant based on the engagement level for the at least one participant; and   providing the change to the plurality of participant computing devices to cause the plurality of participant computing devices to display the change from the first size to the second size of the presentation container associated with the at least one participant.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein providing the second position further includes:
 determining a change from a first shape to a second shape of the presentation container associated with the at least one participant based on the engagement level for the at least one participant; and   providing the change to the plurality of participant computing devices to cause the plurality of participant computing devices to display the change from the first shape to the second shape of the presentation container associated with the at least one participant.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein providing the second position further includes:
 determining a change from a first movement to a second movement of the presentation container associated with the at least one participant based on the engagement level for the at least one participant; and   providing the change to the plurality of participant computing devices to cause the plurality of participant computing devices to display the second movement of the presentation container associated with the at least one participant.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein providing the second position further includes:
 selecting an icon based on an engagement level for the at least one participant; and   modifying the presentation container associated with the at least one participant to include the selected icon.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein providing the second position further includes:
 selecting an icon based on an engagement level for the at least one participant; and   adding the selected icon to the video conference relative to the presentation container associated with the at least one participant to indicate the engagement level of the at least one participant.   
     
     
         12 . A video conference server system, comprising:
 a memory that stores computer instructions; and   a processor that executes the computer instructions to conduct a video conference for a plurality of participant computing devices, wherein conducting the video conference includes causing the processor to:
 during a first time of the video conference:
 receive first video and audio data from the plurality of participant computing devices; 
 determine a first engagement level of each participant of the plurality of participant computing devices based on an analysis of the first video and audio data; 
 determine a first position within the display screen of the video conference for each respective presentation container for each participant based on the determined engagement level of each participant; and 
 
 during a second time of the video conference that is after the first time:
 receive second video and audio data of the plurality of participants from the plurality of participant computing devices; 
 determine a second engagement level of each participant of the plurality of participants based on an analysis of the second video and audio data; 
 determine a second position within the display screen of the video conference for the presentation containers associated with each participant based on the second engagement level of each participant; and 
 provide the second video and audio data and the second position for the presentation containers to the plurality of participant computing devices to cause the plurality of participant computing devices to display movement of the presentation containers from the first positions to the second positions within the display screen. 
 
   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the processor determines the second engagement level by further executing the computer instructions to cause the processor to:
 determine the second engagement level for at least one participant based on the second video and audio data received from at least two participant computing devices of the plurality of participant computing devices.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the processor determines the second engagement level by further executing the computer instructions to cause the processor to:
 determine the second engagement level for at least one participant based on the second video and audio data received from the at least one participant computing device associated with the at least one participant.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the processor determines the second engagement level by further executing the computer instructions to cause the processor to:
 determine the second engagement level for at least one participant based on the second video and audio data received from at least one other participant computing device associated with at least one other participant.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the processor determines the second engagement level by further executing the computer instructions to cause the processor to:
 determine whether two or more participants of the plurality of participants are interacting with each other based on the second video and audio data received from at least one participant computing device, each of the participant computing devices being associated with at least one participant of the two or more participants; and   determine the engagement level for the at least one participant based on the determination of whether the two or more participants are interacting with each other.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the processor provides the second position of the one or more presentation containers by further executing the computer instructions to cause the processor to:
 select a characteristic of at least one presentation container to modify based on the second engagement level for at least one participant associated with the at least one presentation container;   determine at least one magnitude for modifying the selected characteristic based on the second engagement level for the at least one participant;   determine a modification for the selected characteristic based on the at least one magnitude; and   provide an indication of the modification of the selected characteristic of the at least one presentation container to the plurality of participant computing devices to cause the plurality of participant computing devices to display the modification of the selected characteristic of the at least one presentation container.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the processor determines the modification of the selected characteristic by further executing the computer instructions to cause the processor to:
 determine a modification to at least one of a size, shape, or movement of the one or more presentation container based on the second engagement level for the at least one participant; and   provide the modification to the plurality of participant computing devices to cause the plurality of participant computing devices to display the modification in the at least one of size, shape, or movement of the presentation container associated with the at least one participant.   
     
     
         19 . A computer-readable media having contents that, when executed by a processor of a computing device associated with a first participant of a video conference, cause the computing device to:
 participate in the video conference for a plurality of participants, including the first participant, wherein the video conference includes a plurality of presentation containers, each respective presentation container including a representation of a respective participant of the plurality of participants; and   during a first time of the video conference:
 obtain first video and audio data of the first participant; 
 transmit the first video and audio data to a video conference server; 
 receive, via the video conference server, a first position for a presentation container associated with the first participant, wherein the first position is determined based on a first engagement level of the first participant, and wherein the first engagement level is calculated based on the first video and audio data; 
 display, via a display screen configured to display data associated with the video conference, the presentation container associated with the first participant based on the first position; and 
   during a second time of the video conference that is after the first time:
 obtain second video and audio data of the first participant; 
 transmit the second video and audio data to the video conference server; 
 receive, via the video conference server, a second position for the presentation container associated with the first participant, wherein the second position is determined based on a second engagement level of the first participant, and wherein the second engagement level is calculated based on the second video and audio data; and 
 display, via the display screen, movement of the presentation container associated with the first participant from the first position to the second position. 
   
     
     
         20 . The computer-readable media of  claim 19 , wherein the contents, when executed by the processor to cause the computing device to display the movement of the presentation container via the display screen, further cause the computing device to:
 receive, via the video conference server, a modification to a characteristic of the presentation container associated with the first participant; and   display, via the display screen, the modification of the presentation container.   
     
     
         21 . The one or more instances of computer-readable media of  claim 20 , wherein the modification of a characteristic of the presentation container includes:
 a modification to at least one of a size, shape, or movement of the presentation container.   
     
     
         22 . The one or more instances of computer-readable media of  claim 20 , wherein displaying the modification of the presentation container includes:
 gradually displaying the modification of the presentation container via the display screen.   
     
     
         23 . A computing device comprising:
 a processor; and   a memory that stores computer instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
 join a video conference for a plurality of participants, including a first participant and a second participant, wherein the video conference includes a plurality of presentation containers, each respective presentation container including a representation of a respective participant of the plurality of participants; and 
 during a first time of the video conference:
 obtain first audiovisual data of the first participant of the computing device; 
 transmit the first audiovisual data to a video conference server; 
 receive, from the video conference server, a first position for a presentation container associated with the second participant, wherein the first position is determined based on a first engagement level of the second participant; 
 display, via a display screen configured to display the video conference, the presentation container associated with the second participant based on the first position; and 
 
 during a second time of the video conference that is after the first time:
 obtain second audiovisual data of the first participant; 
 transmit the second audiovisual data to the video conference server; 
 receive, from the video conference server, a second position for the presentation container associated with the second participant, wherein the second position is determined based on a second engagement level of the second participant; and 
 display, via the display screen, movement of the presentation container associated with the second participant from the first position to the second position.