MULTI-CONVERSATIONAL SOCIAL NETWORKING

Abstract

This invention relates to a social networking application for emulating a multi-conversational event space.

Claims

1. Social networking application means, where said application means can, at least in part, emulate a multi-conversational event space.

2. The application means of claim 1, where said emulation can include a plurality of participants, where said participants can include at least one speaker/listener pair, where some portion of the speech of said speaker of at least one said pair can be converted to text, where some portion of said text can be transmitted to said listener of said pair, where some portion of said transmitted text can be received by said listener, where some portion of said received text can be converted to synthesized speech, and where the volume of some portion of said synthesized speech can be independently attenuated.

3. The application means of claim 2, where said attenuation can, at least in part, be in accordance with a spatial relationship between said pair.

4. The application means of claim 3, where said relationship can, at least in part, be in accordance with the separation of said pair in said event space.

5. The application means of claim 2, where said attenuation can, at least in part, be in accordance with user selection.

6. The application means of claim 1, where some portion of said event space can be a restaurant dining room.

7. The application means of claim 6, where said emulation can include a plurality of dining patrons, where said patrons can include at least one speaker/listener pair, where some portion of the speech of said speaker of at least one said pair can be converted to text, where some portion of said text can be transmitted to said listener of said pair, where some portion of said transmitted text can be received by said listener, where some portion of said received text can be converted to synthesized speech, and where the volume of some portion of said synthesized speech can be independently attenuated.

8. The application means of claim 7, where said attenuation can, at least in part, be in accordance with a spatial relationship between said pair.

9. The application means of claim 8, where said relationship can, at least in part, be in accordance with the separation of said pair in said dining room.

10. The application means of claim 7, where said attenuation can, at least in part, be in accordance with user selection.

11. Social networking application means that can include a plurality of participants, where some portion of said participants can include one or more groups, where at least one of said participants, from at least one of said groups, can request to become, at least temporarily, a designated speaker for said group, where if said request is granted, it can cause some portion the audio/video data of said designated speaker to be independently transmitted to some portion of said group of said designated speaker.

12. The application means of claim 11, where said grouping can, at least in part, be in accordance with a spatial relationship amongst said group.

13. The application means of claim 11, where said grouping can, at least in part, be in accordance with user selection.

14. The application means of claim 11, where said request can, at least in part, be automatically initiated by said requestor's voice upon speaking.

15. The application means of claim 11, where said request can, at least in part, be manually initiated by said requestor.

16. The application means of claim 11, where said request can, at least in part, be granted on a first-come-first-served basis.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] To illustrate this invention, there are shown in the accompanying drawings, embodiments that are presently preferred, it being understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.

[0012] FIG. 1 is a restaurant dining room embodiment of the invention.

[0013] FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a multi-conversational scenario for FIG. 1.

[0014] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a request-to-talk scenario for FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0015] Referring now to the details of the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals have been used throughout for designating like elements, there is shown from a top view perspective in FIG. 1, a restaurant dining room 1000, with two dining tables 1100 and 1200, and four dining patrons 1110, 1120, 1210, and 1220. FIG. 2 shows the flowchart 2000 of a multi-conversational scenario for FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 shows the flowchart 3000 of a request-to-talk scenario for FIG. 2.

[0016] In FIG. 1, there is shown a first 1110 and second 1120 dining patron seated at a dining table 1100 in the restaurant dining room 1000, and a third 1210 and fourth 1220 dining patron seated at another dining table 1200 in that restaurant dining room 1000. In a real restaurant dining room, dining patrons seated at the same table would, due to their proximate seating, hear each other's unattenuated speech, whereas dining patrons seated at nearby tables would, due to their less proximate seating, hear each other's speech after it has been attenuated in proportion to the distance between them in dining room.

[0017] In FIG. 2, using the seating arrangement of FIG. 1, the first 1110 and second 1120 dining patrons are shown directly conversing with each other, using their unattenuated real voices, as are the third 1210 and fourth 1220 dining patrons.

[0018] Also in FIG. 2, the first 1110 dining patron is shown indirectly speaking to the third 1210 and fourth 1220 dining patrons, using its synth voice (obtained from its real voice after speech-to-text and then text-to-speech conversion), being independently attenuated for each speaker/listener pair 1110/1210 and 1110/1220 in proportion to their dining room 1000 separation. The remaining dining patrons 1120, 1210, and 1220 are similarly (but not shown) speaking indirectly to their counterparts.

[0019] As such, dining patrons seated in close proximity, will hear one another unattenuated; whereas, dining patrons seated less proximately, will hear one another individually attenuated in proportion to each pair's dining room separation, just like in a real restaurant dining room.

[0020] While the present embodiment emulates a very small dining room, these same emulation techniques can be applied to rooms of any size and type. Furthermore, while the present embodiment shows just two dining patrons participating in each of the unattenuated direct conversations, it is certainly possible, and likely, that more than two dining patrons would be directly conversing with each other.

[0021] For example, four dining patrons, seated at the same table, could, due to their proximate seating, be directly conversing unattenuated, just like in a real restaurant dining room, whereas any number of dining patrons seated at surrounding tables could, due to their less proximate seating, be indirectly hearing that conversation attenuated, also just like in a real restaurant dining room.

[0022] Additionally, other dining patrons, regardless of their spatial seating, could be conversing directly or indirectly, and attenuated or unattenuated, simply as a matter of user selection.

[0023] In FIG. 3, using the seating arrangement, and the indirect speaking connections (not shown), of FIG. 2, a group of dining patrons, consisting of the first 1110 and second 1120 dining patrons, is shown transmitting their audio/video data to each other, as is another group of dining patrons, consisting of the third 1210 and fourth 1220 dining patrons. While these data flows are bidirectional, they can flow in only one direction at any given time, namely, from the designated speaker of each group at that time, that designated speaker being determined, as follows.

[0024] When a dining patron in a group requests to speak, it sends its epoch time to the request-to-speak controller for that group, which will then grant these requests on a first-come-first-served basis, as long as any such previously granted request has been relinquished. Whenever a request is granted, the requesting dining patron becomes the designated speaker for that group, and its audio/video data is transmitted to all the other dining patrons in the group, thus enabling them to see and hear the designated speaker. As shown in FIG. 3, the first 1110 and fourth 1220 dining patrons are the designated speakers for their respective groups, and the second 1120 and third 1210 dining patrons are, respectively, receiving their transmitted audio/video data.

[0025] The reason that epoch time is used in FIG. 3 to determine if a request to speak should be granted, is because the dining patrons 1110, 1120, 2110, and 2120 are connected via the internet, with up to several seconds of lag, so it would be difficult to make decisions that require sub-second accuracy without an absolute time reference.

[0026] For FIG. 3, requests to speak are granted on a first-come-first-served basis; however, these requests could just as easily have been granted based on other criteria, as well. For example, requests could have been granted based on the seniority of the requestor, based on the alphabetical listing of the requestor, based on the number of previous requests made by the requestor, or even arbitrarily, just to name a few.