Abstract:
A video communication system includes a 3D video recording system, a 3D video display system, a first control for activating the 3D recording system to record a video message, a second control for playing back the video message on the 3D display, a power supply, and a microprocessor configured to: receive input commands from the first control and the second control, receive video data from the 3D video recording system, and control the 3D video recording system and the 3D video display system.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) 
       [0001]    This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/433,234 filed on Jan. 16, 2011 in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    A peephole is a typical feature of a residential front door, but is uncommon in the front door of a business. A peephole is generally of limited use because a user must be physically present at the peephole in order to perceive a visitor outside the front door. 
         [0003]    In the field of household security systems, front door security cameras are typically used to allow users inside a home to view or record a video image of a visitor outside the door to a remote location within the building. Some household security systems also provide intercom capabilities. However, such security systems typically do not include a mechanism for a visitor to leave a message for the resident. 
         [0004]    Residential front door security cameras and intercom systems also often involve lengthy or difficult installation procedures because the weight and bulk of the cameras typically require them to be mounted onto or into the walls. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0005]    Embodiments of the present invention are directed to a system providing a 3D video messaging system. According to one embodiment, a video communication system includes a 3D video recording system, a 3D video display system, a first control for activating the 3D recording system to record a video message, a second control for playing back the video message on the 3D display, a power supply, and a microprocessor configured to receive input commands from the first control and the second control, receive video data from the 3D video recording system, and control the 3D video recording system and the 3D video display system. 
         [0006]    In one embodiment, the 3D recording system includes a 3D camera system, a microphone, and a memory, wherein the microprocessor is further configured to receive audio data from the microphone. 
         [0007]    In one embodiment, the 3D video display system is an autostereoscopic 3D display. 
         [0008]    In one embodiment, the video communication system further includes a network communication device, such as a wireless network communication device and the microprocessor is further configured to transmit the video message via the network communication device to a personal computing device such as a smartphone, a personal computer, or a tablet computer. 
         [0009]    In one embodiment, the 3D recording system is configured to be attached to an outside surface of a door, the 3D display system is configured to be attached to an inside surface of a door, and the 3D recording system and the 3D display system are coupled to each other through a peephole of the door. 
         [0010]    In one embodiment, the video communication system further includes a doorbell control coupled to the microprocessor, wherein the microprocessor is further configured to activate a notification, record video received from the 3D recording system for a period of time, and increment a doorbell ring counter when the doorbell control is activated. 
         [0011]    In another aspect, the invention provides an improved door having an inside surface, an outside surface, and a peephole extending between the inside surface and the outside surface, wherein the improvement includes a 3D video recording system coupled to the outside surface, a 3D video display system, a first control for activating the 3D recording system to record a video message, a second control for playing back the video message on the 3D display, a power supply, and a microprocessor configured to receive input commands from the first control and the second control, receive video data from the 3D video recording system, and control the 3D video recording system and the 3D video display system. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]    Together with the specification, the accompanying drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present invention, wherein: 
           [0013]      FIG. 1  is a front view of an outwardly facing portion of a video messaging system according to one embodiment of the invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is a front view of an inwardly facing portion of a video messaging system according to one embodiment of the invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  is a side view illustrating outwardly and inwardly facing portions of a video messaging system according to one embodiment of the invention in which the outwardly and inwardly facing portions are mounted to a door. 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram illustrating the internal structure of a video messaging system according to one embodiment of the invention. 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  is a front view of an outwardly facing portion of a video messaging system according to one embodiment of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0018]    In the following detailed description, only certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention are shown and described, by way of illustration. As those skilled in the art will recognize, the invention can be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Also, in the context of the present application, when an element is referred to as being “on” another element, it can be directly on the other element, or indirectly on the other element with one or more intervening elements interposed therebetween. Like reference numerals designate like elements throughout the specification. 
         [0019]    According to the invention, a 3D video messaging system is provided and allows visitors to leave a 3D video message at the front door of a home when nobody answers the bell by activating a “leave video message” control, optionally, after the visitor has first rung the doorbell. In some embodiments, the 3D video messaging system is further configured to display a 3D video messages left by a visitor on a 3D display integrated into the system, and in other embodiments the 3D video messaging system can transmit the 3D video messages to be played on an external device such as a smartphone or a computer. 
         [0020]    A 3D video messaging system according to one embodiment of the present invention is described in more detail below in reference to  FIGS. 1 through 5 . 
         [0021]      FIG. 1  is a front view of an outwardly facing portion  100  of a video messaging system. The outwardly facing portion  100  includes two cameras  110   a  and  110   b , a microphone  120 , a speaker  130 , a doorbell control  140 , and a record message control  150  (which may be referred to as a first control). In one embodiment, the outwardly facing portion  100  can be mounted on an outside surface of a door. 
         [0022]    Each of the cameras  110  includes a lens and a digital image sensor such as a CMOS or CCD sensor. In one embodiment, the cameras  110  may also include one or more signal processors for controlling the read-out of data from the digital image sensors and for converting the detected signals into video data. In some embodiments, the signal processors further include components for the compression of video (which may be referred to as a “codec”) into standard formats such as MPEG-2, H.263, and H.264/MPEG-4 and output digital data. 
         [0023]      FIG. 2  is a front view of an inwardly facing portion  200  of a video messaging system according to one embodiment of the invention. The inwardly facing portion  200  includes a 3D display  210 , a microphone  220 , a speaker  230 , a playback control  240 , a recording control  250 , a message indicator  260 , a battery indicator  270 , and a battery compartment  280 . The inwardly facing portion  200  can be mounted on an inside surface of a door. 
         [0024]    In one embodiment, the 3D display  210  is a stereoscopic display (e.g., based on polarized glasses) or an autostereoscopic (or “glasses free”) 3D display (e.g., using a parallax barrier or a lenticular lens). 
         [0025]    The message indicator  260  and the battery indicator  270  are illustrated in the embodiment shown in  FIG. 2  as separate indicators (e.g., LED lights) but in other embodiments are displayed on the 3D display  210 . For example, in one embodiment an envelope icon is displayed on the 3D display when unviewed messages are awaiting viewing. 
         [0026]    In some embodiments of the invention, the 3D display  210  includes a touch sensitive panel, and the playback control  240  and the recording control  250  are implemented as controls, which are displayed and which are activated by touching the display panel. Touch screen panels are well known in the art and are based on, for example (but not limited to), capacitive, resistive, surface acoustic wave, infrared, optical imaging, dispersive signal, and acoustic pulse recognition detection technologies. 
         [0027]      FIG. 3  is a side view of a 3D video messaging system according to one embodiment of the invention in which the outwardly facing portion  100  is affixed to an outside surface  300   a  of a door  300 , and the inwardly facing portion  200  is affixed to an inside surface  300   b  of the door  300 . 
         [0028]    The door includes a hole (e.g., a peephole)  310  through which electrical wiring  320  is threaded, and the electrical wiring  320  electrically couples the outwardly facing portion  100  to the inwardly facing portion  200 . 
         [0029]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram illustrating the internal structure of a video messaging system according to one embodiment of the invention. The video messaging system includes a microprocessor  410  configured to control the video messaging system. The microprocessor can be controlled by a computer program stored in memory  420  or memory integrated into the microprocessor  410 . In some embodiments, memory  420  is flash memory (e.g., NOR or NAND flash), dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), or static random access memory (SRAM). 
         [0030]    As illustrated in the embodiment of  FIG. 4 , the microprocessor is electrically coupled to the each of the components in the  3   d  video messaging system. In some embodiments the microprocessor is directly coupled to each of the components, and in other embodiments other components, such as digital signal processors and audio and video compression/decompression processors, are located between the microprocessor and some of the components illustrated in  FIG. 4 . 
         [0031]    The operation of the 3D video messaging system according to one embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 4  is described below in more detail. 
         [0032]    In some circumstances, a visitor approaches a door on which the 3D video system is mounted and activates the doorbell control  140  such as a momentary push-button switch. The activation of the doorbell control  140  is detected by the microprocessor  410  which is configured to play one or more sounds through the internal speaker  230  to indicate that the doorbell control  140  has been activated (i.e., the doorbell has been rung). In one embodiment, the notification sounds played through the internal speaker are selected from prerecorded sounds or are previously recorded or supplied by a user. In some embodiments, the microprocessor is also configured to activate the cameras  110  and the microphone  120  to record video for a configurable amount of time (e.g., 10 seconds) after the doorbell has been rung. The process of recording video from the cameras  110  is described below in more detail. 
         [0033]    A visitor can also manually activate the record message control  150  in order to leave a video message. Like the doorbell control  140 , the record message control  150  can be a momentary push-button switch. The microprocessor  410  is configured to detect the activation of the record message control  150  and to activate the cameras  110  and the microphone  120  in response. 
         [0034]    As discussed above, the cameras  110  supply digital video data to the microprocessor  410 , which writes the digital video data to the memory  420 . In some embodiments, a direct memory access (DMA) method is used in which the digital video data is written directly to the memory  420  without passing through the microprocessor  410 . Each of the cameras  110  supplies video data taken from a different angle. 
         [0035]    Similarly, the microphone  120  outputs an analog audio signal which is processed by an analog to digital (A/D) converter to produce digital audio data. In some embodiments, the A/D converter is a standalone component, is integrated into the microprocessor  410 , or is integrated into the microphone  120 . The digital audio data is also written into the memory  420 . 
         [0036]    In one embodiment, the digital video data and the digital audio data are stored and associated with timestamps corresponding to the start and stop times of the recording of the audio and video. In one embodiment, the video and audio data are also associated with a flag indicating whether the message is “unviewed” or “viewed.” When the message is initially stored in the memory, the flag is set to the “unviewed” state. 
         [0037]    The message indicator  260  is activated when at least one message stored in the memory has its flag set in the “unviewed” state. 
         [0038]    The playback control  240  is used to play back messages stored in the memory  420 . For example, in one embodiment, the microprocessor  410  is configured to play back messages starting from the oldest unviewed message and move forward in time through the unviewed messages when the playback control  240  is activated. In one embodiment, the microprocessor is configured to change the flag on each message to the “viewed” state after it has been played. 
         [0039]    During playback, the video data stored in the memory  420  is supplied to the 3D display  210  via the processor  410 . In other embodiments, the video data is supplied directly to the display  210 . In addition, in some embodiments, a separate video decompression chip is used to decompress the compressed video for playback on the 3D display  210 . The 3D video data is supplied to the 3D display such that an appropriate image is supplied to the appropriate eye of a user such that a 3D effect is perceived. 
         [0040]    Similarly, during playback, audio data is supplied from the memory  420  and converted to an analog voltage which is supplied to the speaker  230  in synchrony with the supply of the video data to the 3D display  210 . 
         [0041]    In one embodiment, the inwardly facing portion  200  further includes additional controls, such as a four-way controller (up, down, left, right) and a selection button in order to provide control over an on-screen or menu-driven interface in order to provide additional control over the selection and playback of messages stored in the memory  420 . 
         [0042]    In one embodiment, the inwardly facing portion  200  further includes a delete message control for deleting messages from the memory  420 . The delete message control may be implemented as, but is not limited to, a separate physical button or a selectable function in a graphical user interface (e.g., a touch screen or menu driven interface). 
         [0043]    In some embodiments, 3D video messaging system is further configured to communicate with an external device such as a smartphone, a computer, a tablet, or a television via a network interface device  430 . Non-limiting examples of such devices include wireless network interface devices operating over network communication systems, e.g., a Wi-Fi™ network, a Bluetooth™ connection, and an Ethernet connection. For example, in one embodiment, the microprocessor  410  is configured to transmit a message to an external device to indicate that the doorbell control  140  was activated. 
         [0044]    In some embodiments, the video messages are also transmitted to a user via the network interface device  430 . For example, in one embodiment, the video messages are delivered to a server for storage and streaming playback, delivered via email to a user&#39;s inbox, delivered to a user&#39;s phone via the multimedia messaging service (MMS), or delivered to a user via the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP). In addition, in one embodiment, the 3D video messaging system supplies notification of a new message to a user&#39;s cell phone via a text message (SMS). The messages are also be delivered to or viewed in a dedicated application (such as the Skype™ client software) running on a personal computing device such as a smartphone, a computer, a tablet, a television. 
         [0045]    In one embodiment, the server or other external storage device for messages are used when the memory  420  has been filled to capacity or when users wish to free up space in the memory  420  and to save messages for a longer period of time. In some embodiments, the memory  420  is merely used as a buffer to store the 3D messages before transmission to the server or other external storage device. 
         [0046]    In some embodiments, a user records a greeting message to be played to the visitor. For example, the microphone  220  on the inwardly facing portion  200  can be used to record a message to be stored in memory  420  and played on the speaker  130  of the outwardly facing portion  100  when the doorbell control  140  is activated. In other embodiments of the present invention, the outwardly facing portion  100  further includes a 3D display for displaying a video greeting. 
         [0047]    In embodiments in which the 3D video messaging system is battery powered, a battery indicator  270  is used to indicate the battery level to the user. 
         [0048]    In some embodiments of the present invention, the microprocessor  410  and the network communication device are located in the outwardly facing portion  100 . In some embodiments of the invention, both the outwardly facing portion  100  and the inwardly facing portion  200  include microprocessors and network communication devices, and the outwardly facing and inwardly facing portions communicate via the network communication devices instead of the wiring  320 . 
         [0049]    According to another embodiment of the present invention illustrated in  FIG. 5 , the outwardly facing portion  500  is substantially the same as the outwardly facing portion  100  illustrated in  FIG. 1 , except that the outwardly facing portion  500  of  FIG. 5  does not include a doorbell control. 
         [0050]    While the present invention has been described in connection with certain exemplary embodiments, the invention is not limited to such embodiments, but encompasses various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.