Method for securely distributing meeting data from interactive whiteboard projector

Distributing meeting data from an interactive whiteboard projector to at least one computer of a meeting member, comprises: in the interactive whiteboard projector, using a processor to save meeting data, generate a password, display a screen with a URL of the projector and the password and use a web server to transfer the meeting data from the interactive whiteboard projector to the at least one computer.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is related to commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/332,751, filed Dec. 21, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to interactive whiteboard projectors (IWPs) and pertains to sharing meeting content that has been stored on the IWP. More specifically, the present invention relates to distributing the IWP stored content to meeting participants in a secure manner.

BACKGROUND

In the past, a projector and an interactive whiteboard were used to create an interactive and collaborative meeting environment. Now, a single product, known as an interactive whiteboard projector (IWP) can make almost any wall, or even a tabletop, interactive. One such commercial product is the Epson BrightLink 455Wi interactive whiteboard projector.

Interactive whiteboard projectors can turn any surface into a collaborative interactive workspace. They function like an interactive whiteboard without a dedicated board—almost any surface can be utilized. An electronic whiteboard pen can be used as a mouse to draw, write and click. It can be used to draw and annotate on the visuals being presented.

The Epson BrightLink 455Wi projector plus pen combination integrates interactive functionality in one machine without the constraints or expense of a conventional interactive whiteboard and is compatible with Windows® Ink Tools to easily add annotations and more. Because it is an ultra-short throw distance projector, it can be mounted on any wall or ceiling to project a whiteboard surface image from a very short distance, thus eliminating or reducing shadowing of the person interacting with the whiteboard surface. Individuals interact with the whiteboard surface using an infrared pen, and the system software is platform independent so that the user can work with virtually any Web 2.0 application, digital media file, or eTextbook. The interactive software allows the user to draw on the screen, highlight areas, save annotations, and toggle between pen and mouse modes.

In reference to the present invention, the term “meeting” will be used in a general sense. A meeting could be, for example, in a corporate setting with various presenters showing Powerpoint slides, PDF files, Word documents, etc., or a classroom setting with a teacher presenting a lesson and the students interacting with the whiteboard screen to offer solutions to problems, or any other various presentation setting where videos, photos, or slides are shown.

In a typical corporate meeting, for example, users may generate many pages of drawing data that are cached on the interactive whiteboard projector (IWP). Additional data such as images, Powerpoint slides, PDF files, videos, Word documents, etc. may be uploaded by users to the IWP to be displayed or annotated. Once the meeting concludes, meeting participants need an easy, secure method for accessing data stored on IWP.

Various methods have been proposed for delivering meeting information to participants. Email is one example. The IWP can be configured over a network to have access to an enterprise email server. In this example, meeting participants email addresses are entered into the IWP and the IWP is programmed to send all meeting content to the list of email addresses through the enterprise email server. However, this mode of delivery has certain limitations. It requires IT staff to configure the projector and email server to allow access. The IWP must have access to a global email address list and each meeting participant's email address must be added to the meeting. For security, email contents must be encrypted and passwords provide through another channel such as a phone message. Users cannot interactively select specific content and ignore others, and the limited capacity of the typical email server may cause large attachments to be rejected.

Another possible method is the use of a USB key (a data storage device that includes flash memory with an integrated Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface). In this instance, the meeting leader places a USB key in the IWP and saves the meeting content to the key. A USB key is then physically given to each meeting participant to copy to their personal computers. However, this is a slow and cumbersome process, and some meeting participants may not have a laptop in the conference room, or their device, e.g. iPad® or smart phone, may not have a USB port. Many companies do not allow USB keys to be used within the corporation because of security concerns. Also, since the meeting content is just a list of files, users may have difficulty finding the specific items that they are most interested in saving.

Another solution for distributing the meeting content is to save it to a local file server. If the IWP has access to an enterprise file server, once the meeting is over, the meeting contents are saved to a directory on the file server. However, this requires the IT staff to configure the IWP and file server to allow access. For highest security, meeting content must be encrypted. This requires a password to be distributed. Many meetings involve members that are not in a predefined enterprise security group. This requires meeting files on an enterprise file server to be accessible to all, which is unacceptable if confidential items are discussed in the meeting. Further, the IWP firmware must have the capability of writing and reading data across a network using network disk protocols including a security model.

Lastly, a possible solution is to save to the meeting contents to the cloud (a web-based service). If the IWP has access to a service on the cloud such as Google Docs, once the meeting is over, the meeting contents are converted and uploaded to the cloud service. This solution also has many limitations. It requires the IT staff to configure the IWP and cloud service to allow access. The IWP would have to be programmed to understand network protocols and document formats supported by many different service providers. Many IT departments prohibit the use of such services due to security and internal document policies. Also, many services do not have the concept of groups so all meeting participants would need to have an account at the service provider, such as Google, in addition to their corporate email account.

Therefore, it would be desirable to have a way of distributing meeting content from the interactive whiteboard projector to meeting participants that would be secure but without the disadvantages of other solutions proposed above.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention provides an interactive whiteboard projector, a method, and computer-readable media for distributing meeting data from an interactive whiteboard projector to at least one computer of a meeting member. More specifically, a processor in the interactive whiteboard projector saves meeting data, generates a password, causes display of a screen with a URL of the projector and the password, and uses a web server to transfer the meeting data from the interactive whiteboard projector to the at least one computer.

In a preferred embodiment, a processor in the at least one computer access the URL of the projector using a web browser and the password, and downloads the meeting data from the interactive whiteboard projector.

In a further embodiment, the processor in the at least one computer selects individual whiteboard files of meeting data for downloading from the interactive whiteboard projector.

In another embodiment, the meeting data saved on the interactive whiteboard projector is deleted once all meeting data has been downloaded.

In an embodiment, encrypted meeting data is transferred from the interactive whiteboard projector to the at least one computer across a network using an https protocol.

In yet another embodiment, the password is a time-expiration password, and preferably, the meeting data saved on the interactive whiteboard projector is deleted once the time-expiration password has expired.

In a further embodiment, a QR Code (Quick Response Code) is displayed on the screen with the URL embedded.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1shows a general view of an interactive whiteboard projector (IWP)10connected to a network12through an interface box14. The IWP10projects an image onto a surface30. This surface can be a wall, a conventional non-electronic whiteboard, or even a table top. The Epson BrightLink 455Wi interactive whiteboard projector, for example, includes a driver for interactive pens32, which can be used to draw on the surface30, highlight areas of the projected image, save annotations to the projected image, and toggle between a pen mode and a mouse mode. One or more computers16can connect to the IWP10through network12, or directly through a USB port on the projector10or interface box14. InFIG. 1, computers16are illustrated as PCs, but in a corporate meeting setting, for example, some or all of the computers16would be laptops, tablets such as iPad®, or hand-held devices.

FIG. 2shows a simplified block diagram view with more detail of projector10and computer16. The method steps of the present invention described hereinafter are preferably performed by one or more processors in the projector10and/or computer16executing computer-executable instructions, programs, software, firmware, that are stored or loadable in memory in projector10and/or computer16and/or in accessible external memory. Computer16processors may include, for example, a central processing unit (CPU)161and one or more graphical processing units (GPU)162. The internal memory may include, for example, RAM163and ROM164. I/O interface165enables communication with keyboard54, mouse56, external memory166, and/or a touch screen device (not shown) for example. Client projector10may similarly include a CPU101, RAM102, and ROM103. I/O Interface and Connectors106, which may be integrated in projector10and/or interface box14(FIG. 1), allow connection to and/or communication with external devices and services110. These may include, for example, connectors and interfaces for an educational or business environment.

For example, in the Epson BrightLink 455Wi IWP there are two VGA ports that can each connect to either a computer16or a component video source. Also included are an S-Video port and a composite video jack. Each of these is paired with its own stereo audio input, with a miniplug input for each VGA port and one set of two RCA phono plugs shared by the S-Video and composite video ports. The connection panel also offers a pass-through monitor connector, a microphone input, a miniplug stereo audio output, two USB ports, an RS-232 port, and a LAN connection. One USB port is meant primarily for a document camera. The other is for connection to a computer16that allows use of the interactive feature of projector10. In addition, an Ethernet port allows projector10to be managed from a computer16over network12. A wireless 802.11 port may also be provided for connection to a wireless network. The RS-232 port can be used to run diagnostics as well as turn the projector on or off though a third party controller. Data can also be sent to projector10over a LAN or over the USB port.

In a preferred environment, projector10includes a Web Server104, which may be any one of the many commercially available proprietary web server software packages (e.g. Microsoft IIS, Oracle HTTP Server, etc.) or an open-source web server (e.g. Apache, Nginx, Lighttpd, etc). The computer16preferably has a conventional Web Browser166such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, etc.

FIG. 3illustrates an example of an interactive whiteboard meeting. A projected screen328with instructions on how to download the meeting data from IWP10will be discussed in detail later (with reference toFIG. 4). A classroom setting is shown in block310. The short-throw projection IWP10is mounted on a wall above a projection surface30so that shadows cast by the teacher and student are minimized. A teacher and student can both interact with IWP10using pen(s)32. Block320shows a projection of a computer16desktop322with screen324from an application program such as Powerpoint, Word, Excel, etc. that might be used in a corporate meeting. Using a pen32, the screen324can be annotated, for example, by adding formula326that can be saved to the IWP10. All meeting data including projections of original pages, screen drawings, annotations, etc. are saved as whiteboard files in memory, e.g. RAM102, of IWP10using, for example, SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) or a portable network graphic (png) extension.

FIG. 4illustrates the general steps of the present invention for securely distributing the meeting data, i.e. whiteboard files, to meeting attendees. At the end of the meeting, the meeting administrator (i.e. meeting organizer, teacher, IT personnel, etc.) notifies the IWP10that the meeting has concluded (step402). This notification can be performed by pressing a button on a control panel located on the IWP10or interface box14, through remote control, a web based control panel, command from a connected computer16, or any suitable control command method.

A processor, e.g. CPU101, on IWP10generates a permanent or timed-expiration password for the meeting data (step404). Settings in the IWP control what type of password (e.g. number of characters, alpha-numeric, caps, lower-case, etc.) is generated and how long is it valid if it is a timed-expiration password. The settings, which can be stored in ROM103or RAM102, for example, can be overridden on a meeting by meeting basis.

Next IWP10displays a projected screen328(FIG. 3) with instructions on how to download the meeting data from IWP10(step406). The screen has content with the following information, for example: “To access and save the meeting content for this meeting, access the address https://xxxxxx/ with your web browser. In the password box, enter the password yyyyyy;” where xxxxxx is the network address plus path of IWP10and yyyyyy is the password generated for the meeting by the IWP10. Alternately or additionally, projected screen328can include a QR Code (Quick Response Code) with the URL embedded. The QR code can be read by a smart phone, for example.

If the conference room has windows and the projection surface30is visible to people outside the meeting, the meeting administrator can command the IWP10to play the password through a connected speaker instead of displaying the password on the screen328.

When meeting members access the given URL (Uniform Resource Locator), step408, using their web browser166, a meeting information page is displayed with information about the meeting, a list of the meeting data generated or uploaded during the meeting, controls to select all or individual meeting data items, and controls to download the meeting data to the user's personal computer16. An example of the meeting information page is shown inFIG. 5. The meeting members can then download all or selected whiteboard files (step410). As shown inFIG. 5, individual whiteboard files, saved with a portable network graphic (png) extension, for example, can be selected or deselected for downloading to the meeting member's computer16. The meeting data is encrypted when transferred across the network using the https protocol (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) to the user's personal computer16.

Once all meeting members have downloaded the meeting data (step410), the meeting administrator can notify the IWP10through a button or other similar command that the meeting data can be destroyed. IWP10then deletes all meeting data stored internally and invalidates the meeting password (step412). The meeting data can no longer be accessed by anyone.

In some circumstances, meeting members may not have time at the conclusion of the meeting to download the meeting data or may not have a laptop in the conference room. In this instance, a time-expiration password is beneficial. If the password is a time-expiration password, the meeting data will be deleted after the specified time period has passed after the end of the meeting.

The present invention offers several advantages over alternative methods. In the present invention, the IWP10configuration requires only an IP address. If the enterprise (school/company) uses DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol), IWP10will acquire and configure the IP address automatically. IWP10does not require any additional permission such as access to email servers, file servers, or cloud based services.

Meeting users accessing the meeting data can use a standard web browser. No additional software installation is required. Also, the meeting data is not stored permanently in the IWP, thus adding a layer of security and reducing the need for additional internal memory. Further, IWP development time is reduced since the present invention utilizes existing tools and protocols.

While the invention has been described in conjunction with several specific embodiments, it is evident to those skilled in the art that many further alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent in light of the foregoing description. For example, to avoid https certificate requirements in the projector's web server, a protocol such as RFC 2945 may be implemented instead. RFC 2945 describes the Secure Remote Password Authentication and Key Exchange System, which does not require certificates.

Also, since browsers may not support RFC 2945 directly, the password entry screen in the web page delivered by the web server on the projector may include a dynamic component such as ActiveX for Internet Explorer, a Java applet, a plugin, or other component to implement the client protocol for RFC 2945.

Thus, the invention described herein is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications, applications and variations as may fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.