Patent ID: 7015949

Claim:
A method for refreshing an image, the method comprising: (a) capturing an image with a camera; (b) sending the image to a user's computer system; (c) refreshing the image, the step of refreshing the image comprising: (i) capturing a refreshed image with the camera, and (ii) sending the refreshed image to the user's computer system, wherein at least a portion of the step of refreshing the image is performed when a refresh period has elapsed; (d) determining whether to increase the refresh period, wherein the step of determining whether to increase the refresh period comprises determining whether the image is visually obstructed on the user's computer system, wherein the act of determining whether the image is visually obstructed on the user's computer system comprises determining whether the image is covered by a window (e) increasing the refresh period in response to determining that the image is visually obstructed on the user's computer system.