Abstract: The systems and methods of this invention use an index and digital audio and/or video recordings of an activity to provide access to recently recorded material. For example, users initiate audio and/or video recordings. An index, e.g., an agenda, outlines the structure of the to be recorded event. The user selects an index item as an activity that corresponds to an index item is recorded. The recordings are then associated with the index. The user can then randomly access the recordings for playback, editing or further recording. The systems and methods of this invention additionally provide the means for correlating events and the corresponding index items with the recordings.

Abstract: A system for the capture and playback of temporal data representing a collaborative activity such as a meeting. Such temporal data is captured by one or more capture devices (e.g. audio recordings or an electronic whiteboard). Temporal data is comprised of timestreams and events. Timestreams are sets of timestamped data which represent some recordable aspect of the meeting. Events are contained within a timestream that represent natural activities that occurred during the course of the session. Events are used to create indices which provide direct access to a point or span in time during the collaborative activity. Playback of a session is performed under the control of a session access device. Coupled to the session access device are a plurality of players for playing back timestreams. The session access device utilizes event information to create a user interface for controlling session replay. The user interface is comprised of a plurality of windows.

Abstract: A method of recording a real-time multimedia presentation and replaying a missed portion at an accelerated rate until the missed portion catches up to the current point in the presentation. The multimedia presentation may consist of audio, video, graphics, and text. A graphical timeline is provided to allow the user easy access to different points in the recorded presentation. All the media formats are synchronized at the accelerated rate and the audio is accelerated without changing its pitch.

Abstract: The present invention comprises a display unit (10) which displays a composite image (38); a stylus (24) which is used to "write" on the composite image (38); a way of detecting (20) the position of the stylus (24) over the composite image (38); a video camera (12) mounted a short distance away from the video display (11) and aimed at the composite image (38); a light (23) which provides uniform illumination to the composite image (38); a mechanism for preventing video feedback (26); and a computer (22). A special configuration of cables (16, 28, 30, 32, 34) is used to interconnect the display (10), the stylus (24), the position detector (20), the video camera (12) and the computer (22). Two or more workstations (11) can be electrically connected to each other via cables (34) or over a network (76). Many variations of this invention can be created by connecting other components into the computer network (76).