Methods of establishing a communications link using perceptual sensing of a user's presence

Abstract

A method of establishing a communications link uses automatic sensing of a computer user's presence and activity state to record user attributes in a form accessible to other computers in a communications network. Such automatic sensing may include keyboard/mouse monitors, cameras with associated image processing algorithms, speech detectors, RF radiation detectors, and infrared sensors. Preferably, the attribute recording is done in a server process which can be accessed by other computer programs. A first application of this method is to inform persons at remote locations whether the party to be called is available to receive a call. A second application of the method is to use a Connection Agent to determine whether all desired participants for a conference, or at least a quorum of them, are present and available, so that the conference can be started. A third application of the method is to allow a called party to adjust the kind of notification, if any, he or she receives of an incoming call, depending upon what activity is currently engaging the called party.

1 . A method of detecting whether a person is present within a predefined space and, if present, what their activity state is, comprising the steps of: 
 periodically generating an image of a scene including said predefined space;    comparing successive images of said scene and determining whether differences between successive images are due to arrival or departure of a person;    monitoring sounds in said predefined space to determine whether speech is coming from a person detected in at least one of said successive images, and    recording a current activity state of a detected person, for automatic indication of said activity state to other computers in a network.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising 
 evaluating any speech coming from said detected person and determining whether such speech constitutes conversation with another person.    
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising the step of 
 determining whether any speech coming from said detected person is accompanied by radio-frequency radiation indicative of a wireless communications call.    
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of 
 checking whether a peripheral input device of a computer is being actuated by a person detected in at least one of said successive images.    
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of 
 checking whether a person detected in at least one of said successive images has eye movements indicative of reading activity.    
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising 
 recording a current activity state of a detected person, for automatic indication of such status to other computers in a network.    
   
   
       7 - 8 . (canceled)  
   
   
       9 . A method of notifying a person of an incoming request for a communications link, comprising the steps of: 
 sensing whether the person to be notified is present near a communications device and, if not, transferring the incoming request to a message-taking service;    sensing whether the person to be notified is working at a computer and, if so, displaying a message about said request on a display of said computer;    if a person to be notified is present but not working on a computer, sensing what is the person's current activity state and modulating how the person is notified about said incoming request as a function of at least one of said current activity state, a priority level of the request, and the identity of the sender of the request.    
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein said modulating step comprises 
 comparing a priority level of the person's activity state with a priority level of the request for a communications link    
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein 
 said modulating step comprises    comparing a priority level of the person's activity state with a status level of the sender of the request.    
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein 
 said modulating step comprises    matching a priority level of the person's activity state with a list of request senders authorized to interrupt an activity having that priority level, and    determining whether the sender of the current request matches said list of authorized senders.    
   
   
       13 . A method of detecting whether a person is present within a predefined space and, if present, what their activity state is, comprising at least one of the three steps of: 
 periodically generating an image of a scene including said predefined space;    comparing successive images of a scene and determining whether differences between successive images are due to arrival or departure of a person;    monitoring sound in said predetermined space to determine whether speech is coming from a person in said space, and    recording a current activity state of a detected person, for automatic indication of said activity state other computers in a network.