Patent ID: 6292211
Filing Date: 2001-09-18
Classification: G06Q,H04N

Abstract:
A computer-aided telecommunication system that would allow subscribers who are part of a subscriber database, who may be unskilled in computer operation and those not having available to them the necessary personal computer equipment to conduct real-time visual communication with others, to conduct such visual communication in private with remote subscribers who are part of the same subscriber database and other people accompanying the remote subscribers, at a cost that is relatively low when compared to communication alternatives, in addition to providing an option for subscribers to promptly and securely transfer money from one to the other during a visual communication with instant on-camera money transfer confirmation, providing an option for subscribers to obtain still and moving images of themselves and any other person participating in a visual communication, and providing an option for subscribers to transfer written and pictorial information to others in the subscriber database, said system comprising:an Internet web site configured for visual and e-mail communication between subscribers who are part of a subscriber database and located remotely from one another;at least two privacy booths, each in a location accessible to subscribers desiring to participate in real-time visual communications with remote subscribers, each of said privacy booths comprising an enclosed room in which sound produced inside said room is not easily heard by anyone positioned immediately outside of said room; high resolution image display means within said enclosed room for showing subscribers and any accompanying visual correspondents participating in a visual communication with remote participants, including both subscribers and people accompanying the subscribers, a clear real-time image of the remote participants while they remain positioned within a distant one of said privacy booths; live image capture means within said enclosed room for digitizing images of subscribers and accompanying visual correspondents in said room and transmission through said Internet web site to the distant one of said privacy booths housing said remote participants; at least one microphone within said enclosed room for capturing sounds made by subscribers and accompanying visual correspondents and transmission through said Internet web site to the distant one of said privacy booths housing said remote participants; and at least two audio speakers within each of said enclosed rooms for projecting sounds made in the distant one of said privacy booths by said remote participants to subscribers and said accompanying visual correspondents in said room, and wherein controls for said high resolution image display means, said live image capture means, said microphone, and said audio speakers in said room remain substantially inaccessible to subscribers and said accompanying visual correspondents to prevent malfunction and preserve optimum performance of said high resolution image display means, said live video capture means, said microphone, and said audio speakers;at least two control stations, at least one of said privacy booths being associated with each of said control stations, each of said control stations having a central processing unit with modem means for accessing said Internet web site; scanner means electronically connected to said central processing unit for capturing and digitizing images of written and pictorial information for e-mail transfer from one subscriber to any of the subscribers in the subscriber database without said central processing unit maintaining a permanent record thereof; a computer keyboard electronically connected to said central processing unit; printer means electronically connected to said central processing unit for creating high resolution copies of written and pictorial information transferred to recipient subscribers by e-mail and which become promptly available to recipient subscribers when they reveal a uniquely assigned access code to said central processing unit through said keyboard, and also for printing still images of visual communication participants; fax means also electronically connected to said central processing unit for transmission of high resolution images of money receiving subscribers participating in a visual communication who receive a money sum by way of a bank voucher, as well as transmission of corresponding voucher information, to a bank selected by the money receiving subscriber so that representatives at the selected bank are able to readily confirm the identify the money receiving subscriber and know how much to pay the money receiving subscriber when the money receiving subscriber presents the voucher to the bank to claim the transferred money sum amount, the selected bank being one of several banks conveniently accessible from the one of said privacy booths in which the visual communication was conducted during which the money receiving subscriber received the bank voucher and which through prior arrangement has agreed to transfer money sums in exchange for such bank vouchers; video recording means electronically connected to said central processing unit for transferring to videotape without said central processing unit maintaining a permanent record thereof a copy of moving images of subscribers, remote subscribers, and other accompanying people captured during a visual communication for immediate delivery at the conclusion thereof to each participant of the visual communication requesting in advance a preserved copy of said images; and at least one electronic technician having skills for activating said central processing units, said modem means, said scanner means, said printer means, said fax means, and said video recording means to implement private and secure transfer of visual communication, money, written messages, and printed pictorial information between remotely located subscribers; anddata transfer means between each of said privacy booths and a nearby one of said control stations for achieving electronic connection between said privacy booths and said control stations as well as two-way electronic data communication therebetween.