US 12,323,739 B2
Video conference apparatus, video conference method and computer program using a spatial virtual reality environment
Siegfried Fößel, Erlangen (DE); and Angela Raguse-Fößel, Erlangen (DE)
Assigned to FRAUNHOFER-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FÖRDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG E.V., Munich (DE)
Filed by Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V., Munich (DE)
Filed on Aug. 11, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/448,416.
Application 18/448,416 is a continuation of application No. PCT/EP2022/053302, filed on Feb. 10, 2022.
Application 18/448,416 is a continuation of application No. 17/175,335, filed on Feb. 12, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2023/0388454 A1, Nov. 30, 2023
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. H04N 7/15 (2006.01)
CPC H04N 7/157 (2013.01) 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A video conference apparatus,
wherein the video conference apparatus is configured to reproduce videos of a plurality of video conference participants in a plurality of video reproduction spaces that are arranged in a spatial virtual reality environment and that can provide different views and depths information for objects or scene by a renderer, and
wherein the video conference apparatus is configured to render the spatial virtual reality environment with the video reproduction spaces to a total image for a single video conference participant;
wherein the video conference apparatus is configured to render the spatial virtual reality environment with the video reproduction spaces viewed from a variable observation point;
wherein the video conference apparatus is configured to adjust the variable observation point depending on observation information or depending on angle information;
wherein the video conference apparatus is configured to adjust the variable observation point depending on observation information or depending on angle information, such that the variable observation point is selectable or displaceable by a user along a predetermined curve in the virtual reality environment,
such that there is a predefined path along which the variable observation point can be moved,
wherein a movement along the predetermined curve is controlled by a one-dimensional user input; and
wherein for each position along the predetermined curve in the virtual reality environment, a corresponding observer viewing direction is defined.