Web-enabled presentation device and methods of use thereof

Abstract

A presentation device includes an embedded web server for transmitting images representative of presentation information to network-connected terminals concurrently with the display of such presentation information at the presentation site. The images may be viewed at the terminals by pointing a conventional web browser to a DNS name or IP address associated with the presentation device. Certain of the terminals may be given presenter privileges, wherein the users of the presenter terminals may control aspects of the presentation such as slide sequencing by engaging the appropriate controls displayed within the browser window. In this manner, presentations may be viewed and controlled remotely using a conventional browser interface.

1 . A method for conducting a presentation, comprising:
 reading, at a presentation device, a presentation file containing presentation information;   displaying current presentation information at a local site; and   substantially simultaneously with displaying current presentation information at a local site, transmitting, from a web server embedded in the presentation device, a web page including the current presentation information to at least one remote terminal over a network.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein transmitting the web page including the current presentation information comprises converting the current presentation information from a proprietary format to a standard image format for viewing by a conventional web browser executing on the at least one remote terminal. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving a request from the at least one remote terminal to join a presentation session. 
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising authenticating a user of the at least one remote terminal to determine if the user is authorized to join the presentation session. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein authenticating includes determining if the user is authorized to join the presentation session as a presenter. 
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the web page includes a presenter toolbar enabling a user of the at least one remote terminal to control display of the presentation information at the local site. 
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 receiving a control command from the at least one remote terminal; and   displaying current presentation information in accordance with the received control command.   
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the control command is a file selection command. 
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the control command is one of a next slide command or a previous slide command. 
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising the step of writing the converted current presentation information to an archive file. 
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein transmitting a web page including the current presentation information to at least one remote terminal over a network further comprises the step of transmitting additional presentation information for caching at the at least one remote terminal. 
   
   
       12 . A presentation apparatus, comprising:
 means for reading a presentation file containing presentation information;   means for displaying current presentation information at a local site; and   means for transmitting a web page including the current presentation information to at least one remote terminal over a network, the means for transmitting a web page including a web server embedded within the presentation apparatus.