Patent ID: 8094193

Claim:
An apparatus for video monitoring of a presentation, comprising: a) a first presence sensor that signals to a controller a first preset trigger which is in an active state when the first presence sensor detects that a person is located in a first preset zone, and inactive otherwise, wherein the first preset zone is a spatially fixed region; b) a reference camera, which captures reference video signal within a reference field of vision and transmits the reference video signal to the controller; c) a tracking camera that executes motion commands received from the controller; and d) the controller, which (i) receives the state of the first preset trigger from the first presence sensor, (ii) receives the reference video signal from the reference camera, (iii) contains motion detection logic that detects motion in the reference video signal, (iv) receives a user-specified viewing configuration that includes a portion of the first preset zone, and excludes a portion, outside the first preset zone, of the reference field of vision, (v) has a first preset capture state, wherein the controller sends at least one command to the tracking camera, thereby causing the tracking camera to suspend tracking and to capture video according to the user-specified viewing configuration, (vi) has a motion capture state, wherein the controller sends at least one command to the tracking camera, thereby causing the tracking camera to capture video from a zone that the motion detection logic indicates is proximate to detected motion, and (vii) contains capture state selection logic that causes the controller to select among capture states.