Patent ID: 7184559

Claim:
An audio telepresence system, comprising: a user station at a first location, the user station comprising: a plurality of microphones adapted to be positioned around a user to capture sound produced by the user; and a lapel microphone for capturing the sound produced by the user; the user station comprising a computer system configured to: compare input volumes for each of the plurality of microphones to determine directional information associated with the sound produced by the user based on which one of the plurality of microphones has the highest input volume; and generate a stream of data representative of sound captured by at least one of the plurality of microphones, the lapel microphone, or both; and a telepresence unit at a second location, the telepresence unit providing a three-dimensional representation of the user that simultaneously includes a front view and a profile view, the telepresence unit being remotely coupled to the user station to receive the stream of data and the directional information, the telepresence unit comprising a plurality of speakers for projecting sound interpreted from the stream of data in a direction corresponding to the directional information, the telepresence unit being further adapted to capture audio stimuli at the second location and to communicate the audio stimuli to the user station.