Patents by Inventor David M. Sirkin

David M. Sirkin has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Functionality for indicating direction of attention
    Patent number: 9270936
    Abstract: A communication system is described herein which provides an indicator that helps hub participants of a meeting (or other environmental setting) determine a direction of attention of a satellite participant (who is not physically present at the meeting). The indicator can be implemented as a mechanical pointer, a solid-state display mechanism, a rotating display mechanism, a display mechanism which presents visual information that reflects directionality, and so on. The communication system can assess the directionality of the satellite participant based on any combination of control inputs from explicit input mechanism(s) and/or implicit input mechanism(s). The communication system can also choose between explicit and/or implicit control of the indicator based on at least one selection criterion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 23, 2016
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Gina D. Venolia, George R. Robertson, John C. Tang, David M. Sirkin, Bongshin Lee
  • Functionality for Indicating Direction of Attention
    Publication number: 20130229483
    Abstract: A communication system is described herein which provides an indicator that helps hub participants of a meeting (or other environmental setting) determine a direction of attention of a satellite participant (who is not physically present at the meeting). The indicator can be implemented as a mechanical pointer, a solid-state display mechanism, a rotating display mechanism, a display mechanism which presents visual information that reflects directionality, and so on. The communication system can assess the directionality of the satellite participant based on any combination of control inputs from explicit input mechanism(s) and/or implicit input mechanism(s). The communication system can also choose between explicit and/or implicit control of the indicator based on at least one selection criterion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 22, 2013
    Publication date: September 5, 2013
    Applicant: MICROSOFT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Gina D. Venolia, George R. Robertson, John C. Tang, David M. Sirkin, Bongshin Lee
  • Functionality for indicating direction of attention
    Patent number: 8520052
    Abstract: A communication system is described herein which provides an indicator that helps hub participants of a meeting (or other environmental setting) determine a direction of attention of a satellite participant (who is not physically present at the meeting). The indicator can be implemented as a mechanical pointer, a solid-state display mechanism, a rotating display mechanism, a display mechanism which presents visual information that reflects directionality, and so on. The communication system can assess the directionality of the satellite participant based on any combination of control inputs from explicit input mechanism(s) and/or implicit input mechanism(s). The communication system can also choose between explicit and/or implicit control of the indicator based on at least one selection criterion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2013
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Gina D. Venolia, George G. Robertson, John C. Tang, David M. Sirkin, Bongshin Lee
  • FUNCTIONALITY FOR INDICATING DIRECTION OF ATTENTION
    Publication number: 20120194631
    Abstract: A communication system is described herein which provides an indicator that helps hub participants of a meeting (or other environmental setting) determine a direction of attention of a satellite participant (who is not physically present at the meeting). The indicator can be implemented as a mechanical pointer, a solid-state display mechanism, a rotating display mechanism, a display mechanism which presents visual information that reflects directionality, and so on. The communication system can assess the directionality of the satellite participant based on any combination of control inputs from explicit input mechanism(s) and/or implicit input mechanism(s). The communication system can also choose between explicit and/or implicit control of the indicator based on at least one selection criterion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 2, 2011
    Publication date: August 2, 2012
    Applicant: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Gina D. Venolia, George G. Robertson, John C. Tang, David M. Sirkin, Bongshin Lee