Web cam with an interlude switch
US7409701B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 30, 2002 |
| Grant date | Aug 5, 2008 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 23, 2023 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N21/812
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A web cam with an interlude switch, wherein the interlude switch can be toggled between a view and an interlude mode. In its view mode, the web cam captures images of a scene for their transmittal to a web cam page hosted at a web site. With the switch in its interlude mode, the web cam system replaces the live images with interlude content which is prerecorded content which may include still and video images, slide shows, or advertisements. The prerecorded interlude content may be stored locally at the host computer, or it may be stored at and/or provided from a remote site. A user viewing a web cam page in its interlude mode, will see prerecorded interlude content as if it was provided by the digital camera. The interlude switch may be a manual or an automatic switch configured to switch between its view and interlude modes based on the occurrence of external events. The external events may include an outgoing or an incoming telephone call. Alternately, external events such as motion, light, sound levels, movement of doors and windows could be used to cause the interlude switch to toggle from the interlude to the view mode and vice versa. The interlude switch may be a tethered sw…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.