Patent Document ID: 20080297589
Application ID: 11756575
Patent Flag: 0

Claim One:
1. A video communication system for communicating between an individual in a local environment, and a remote viewer in a remote environment, the system comprising; an image display device; at least one image capture device which acquires video images for fields of view of a local environment, and any individuals therein; an audio system having an audio emission device and an audio capture device; a computer, which includes a contextual interface having a gaze adapting process, and image processor; and a communication controller which transmits and receives video images of the local environment and the remote environment and data regarding video scene characteristics across a network between the local environment and the remote environment; wherein the gaze adapting process uses a scene analysis algorithm to identify video scene characteristics of the local environment indicative of eye gaze image capture; and wherein the gaze adapting process alters image capture or image processing of the video images of the local individual when the characteristics are indicative of eye gaze image capture, so as to provide eye-contact video images to the remote viewer wherein the eyes of the local individual appear to be looking at the eyes of the remote viewer in the remote environment and in a manner consistent with the video scene characteristics for both the local environment and remote environments.