US-12625664-B2 - Conferencing solutions for multi-monitor aware immersive collaboration experience

US12625664B2US 12625664 B2US12625664 B2US 12625664B2US-12625664-B2

Abstract

Disclosed methods and systems for multi-monitor aware collaboration assist tools provide immersive collaboration and an improved participant experience. Disclosed collaboration assist systems and methods may implement a middle application layer running on an electron.js run time, or another suitable runtime framework. In at least one embodiment, collaboration assist tools may include collaboration assist components including, as non-limiting examples, a collaboration assistant streaming service, a content sharing controller (CSC), and a view manager (VM). In at least some embodiments, the CA components may be installed as system software on endpoints for a multi monitor aware collaboration experience with UC Apps.

Inventors

Sudhakar Ramasamy
Ramanujam Kaniyar Venkatesh
JAYAPRAKASH K
Nanda Kumar S

Assignees

DELL PRODUCTS L.P.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20240725

Claims (12)

1 . A method, comprising: receiving a shared content stream associated with a multi-participant unified communication (UC) session including first and second participants corresponding to first and second information handling systems, wherein the shared content stream includes content from two or more shared content sources shared by the first participant via the first information handling system, wherein the two or more shared content sources include a first shared content source corresponding to a first application running on the first information handling system and a second shared content source corresponding to a desktop of the first information handling system, wherein the second participant joins the UC session from a multi-monitor information handling system including a first monitor and a second monitor; and enabling the multi-monitor information handling system to: view two or more windows displaying shared content corresponding to the two or more shared content sources; and move at least one of the two or more windows from a position on the first monitor to a position on a second monitor.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the shared content stream includes: first shared content corresponding to a first shared window on a first monitor of a first information handling system; and second shared content corresponding to a second shared window on a second monitor of the first information handling system.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the multi-monitor information handling system includes collaboration assist components including: a streaming service to stream the shared content stream to the second participant via secure web socket connections from a content sharing controller for data transfer; the content sharing controller to receive the shared content stream and initiate data transfer; and a view manager to create multiple windows and render shared content in accordance with a request from the content sharing controller.
4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the streaming service opens multiple parallel shared content streams including a shared content stream for each of two or more recipients.
5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the shared content stream received by the streaming service is broadcasted to listener sockets based on the session identifier.
6 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the collaboration assist components execute on an electron JavaScript runtime.
7 . An information handling system, including: a central processing unit (CPU); and a system memory including processor executable instructions that, when executed by the CPU, cause the information handling system to perform operations including: receiving a shared content stream associated with a multi-participant unified communication (UC) session including first and second participants corresponding to first and second information handling systems, wherein the shared content stream includes content from two or more shared content sources shared by the first participant via the first information handling system, wherein the two or more shared content sources include a first shared content source corresponding to a first application running on the first information handling system and a second shared content source corresponding to a desktop of the first information handling system, wherein the second participant joins the UC session from a multi-monitor information handling system including a first monitor and a second monitor; and enabling the multi-monitor information handling system to: view two or more windows displaying shared content corresponding to the two or more shared content sources; and move at least one of the two or more windows from a position on the first monitor to a position on a second monitor.
8 . The information handling system of claim 7 , wherein the shared content stream includes: first shared content corresponding to a first shared window on a first monitor of a first information handling system; and second shared content corresponding to a second shared window on a second monitor of the first information handling system.
9 . The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the multi-monitor information handling system includes collaboration assist components including: a streaming service to stream the shared content stream to the second participant via secure web socket connections from a content sharing controller for data transfer; the content sharing controller to receive the shared content stream and initiate data transfer; and a view manager to create multiple windows and render shared content in accordance with a request from the content sharing controller.
10 . The information handling system of claim 9 , wherein the streaming service opens multiple parallel shared content streams including a shared content stream for each of two or more recipients.
11 . The information handling system of claim 10 , wherein the shared content stream received by the streaming service is broadcasted to listener sockets based on the session identifier.
12 . The information handling system of claim 9 , wherein the collaboration assist components execute on an electron JavaScript runtime.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure pertains to video conferencing and collaboration tools. BACKGROUND As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems. Information handling systems may be configured for use as video conferencing, and collaboration clients such as Zoom, Teams, and similar applications, many of which achieved rapid and global recognition in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, have since evolved into essential communication and teamwork tools. Client side conferencing and collaboration tools, collectively referred to herein as unified communication (UC) tools and/or UC clients, enable substantially any two or more people to connect from disparate and potentially remote locations to facilitate seamless sharing and collaboration. In parallel with the rapid and pervasive emergence of UC clients, the prevalence of desktop and laptop configurations featuring two or more display monitors has increased dramatically. Such multi-monitor configurations are heavily utilized in the workplace and other environments for multitasking, creative design work, comfort, data analysis, and a wide variety of other use cases. Multi-monitor workstations can significantly enhance productivity and improve the overall work experience, especially when sharing work and collaborating with stakeholders is critical. Unfortunately, existing UC tools lack the capability to provide an immersive experience for users to share applications across multiple displays or share applications across multiple monitors simultaneously during collaboration sessions. These limitations can hinder effective collaboration and create a less productive work environment, particularly for individuals who need to collaborate on multiple applications or view data on multiple screens. Consider, as an example, a first user (User1), working on a 2-monitor workstation, who joins a UC application session with a second user (User2). User2 shares two applications with User1 for collaboration. Conventional UC tools, which do not take into account the number of monitors being used by User1, display the two applications by User2 as a single window to User1. As a result, not only is the displayed text likely to be smaller for User1, the overall collaborative and immersive characteristics of the UC session are diminished. SUMMARY Previously discussed problems associated with conventional UC applications are addressed by disclosed methods and systems for multi-monitor aware collaboration assist tools for immersive collaboration and an improved participant experience. Disclosed collaboration assist systems and methods may implement a middle application layer running on a JavaScript Electron runtime, also referred to as an electron.js run time, or another suitable runtime framework. In at least one embodiment, collaboration assist tools may include collaboration assist components including, as non-limiting examples, a collaboration assistant streaming service, a content sharing controller (CSC), and a view manager (VM). In at least some embodiments, the CA components may be installed as system software on endpoints for a multi monitor aware collaboration experience with UC Apps. Disclosed systems and methods may consider a receiving participant's multi-monitor capabilities to allow the shared app/desktop content to be rendered into multiple split windows. Disclosed methods support sharing content from applications, distributed across the multiple monitors, eliminating the need to switch the UC application to the primary monitor by presenter. In addition, disclosed features support a seamless OS/UC App agnostic framework for presenters to share content from multiple monitors simultaneously. Exemplary use