Abstract: A video conference receiving system receives a panoramic view of a meeting. The panoramic view is displayed in a panoramic window of a display unit with additional windows so that a remote participant of the meeting enjoys many of the benefits of physically attending the meeting. For example, a virtual camera window can be displayed in the display unit. The remote participant can pan the virtual camera window to view different areas of the meeting. Furthermore the remote participant can cause the virtual camera window to zoom in or zoom out to obtain the desired image. An auto-tracking window can be displayed that automatically tracks an object, such as a on-site participant of the meeting or the active speaker of the meeting. Furthermore, an application that is shared by the participants of the meeting can be displayed in an application window.

Abstract: An audio/visual conference station that sits in the middle of a conference table, and includes a panoramic lens to capture and record a panoramic scene (e.g., meeting participants) that are surrounding the conference table and facing the conference station. The panoramic scene is captured as an annular image that is “unwrapped” and processed to form a rectangular panoramic image. The station also includes communication mechanisms to compress the panoramic image for transmission to a remote audio/visual conference station for display. Thus, people around the remote audio/visual conference station are able to both hear and see those at the local audio/visual conference station and vice versa. In addition, the audio/visual conference station includes several independently controlled display devices that allow meeting participants to enhance selected portions of the panoramic image, such as a current speaker.