Providing content in a multiuser digital whiteboard session

Abstract

Presented herein are systems and methods that allow for dynamic tracking of changes made by an interacting participant. The non-interacting participants follow the changes made by the interacting participant but maintain the ability to take control of their viewport. The systems and methods introduce the concept of an area of interest (AOI), which is a region of the canvas that contains changes or modifications. The AOI relies on a notion of an active user. An active user is a participant that performs an action on the whiteboard. In order for the other participants to view and be aware of changes made to the whiteboard by the active user, the viewport of each device is automatically mapped to contain the AOI.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 connecting, by a first device, to a collaborative meeting space to which at least a second device is connected, the collaborative meeting space involving a collaborative whiteboard;   providing, on the first device, a first viewport that includes at least a first portion of content provided on the collaborative whiteboard; and   providing, on the first device, a second viewport that includes at least a second portion of content provided on the collaborative whiteboard, the second viewport being different from the first viewport and being based at least in part on activity from the second device with respect to the content of the collaborative whiteboard.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 based on detecting the activity from the second device with respect to the content of the collaborative whiteboard, determining, by the first device, whether to set the second device as active in the collaborative meeting space; and   based on the second device being set as active, replacing the first viewport on the first device with the second viewport that maps to a local viewport of the second device.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 tracking, on the second viewport, one or more modifications made by the second device to the content of the collaborative whiteboard.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 releasing a mapping of the second viewport to the local viewport of the second device based on detecting a local activity performed at the first device.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the local activity includes painting a stroke on the content of the collaborative whiteboard. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the activity from the second device includes at least one of (a) manipulating the second viewport to display a different portion of the content of the collaborative whiteboard, and (b) modifying the content of the collaborative whiteboard displayed on the second viewport. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the activity comprises painting a stroke on the content of the collaborative whiteboard. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the second viewport corresponds to an area of interest of a user associated with the second device. 
     
     
         9 . An apparatus comprising:
 a communication interface configured to enable network communications;   a display;   a memory configured to store executable instructions; and   a processor coupled to the communication interface and the memory, and configured to perform:
 connecting to a collaborative meeting space to which at least a second device is connected, the collaborative meeting space involving a collaborative whiteboard; 
 providing a first viewport that includes at least a first portion of content provided on the collaborative whiteboard; and 
 providing a second viewport that includes at least a second portion of content provided on the collaborative whiteboard, the second viewport being different from the first viewport and being based at least in part on activity from the second device with respect to the content of the collaborative whiteboard. 
   
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to perform:
 based on detecting the activity from the second device with respect to the content of the collaborative whiteboard, determining whether to set the second device as active in the collaborative meeting space; and   based on the second device being set as active, replacing the first viewport of the apparatus with the second viewport that maps to a local viewport of the second device.   
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to perform:
 tracking, on the second viewport, one or more modifications made by the second device to the content of the collaborative whiteboard.   
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to perform:
 releasing a mapping of the second viewport to the local viewport of the second device based on detecting a local activity performed at the apparatus.   
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the local activity includes painting a stroke on the content of the collaborative whiteboard. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the activity from the second device includes at least one of (a) manipulating the second viewport to display a different portion of the content of the collaborative whiteboard, and (b) modifying the content of the collaborative whiteboard displayed on the second viewport. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the activity comprises painting a stroke on the content of the collaborative whiteboard. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the second viewport corresponds to an area of interest of a user associated with the second device. 
     
     
         17 . One or more non-transitory computer readable storage media encoded with software comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations including:
 connecting to a collaborative meeting space to which at least a second device is connected, the collaborative meeting space involving a collaborative whiteboard;   providing a first viewport that includes at least a first portion of content provided on the collaborative whiteboard; and   providing a second viewport that includes at least a second portion of content provided on the collaborative whiteboard, the second viewport being different from the first viewport and being based at least in part on activity from the second device with respect to the content of the collaborative whiteboard.   
     
     
         18 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media according to  claim 17 , wherein the computer executable instructions cause the processor to perform:
 based on detecting the activity from the second device with respect to the content of the collaborative whiteboard, determining whether to set the second device as active in the collaborative meeting space; and   based on the second device being set as active, replacing the first viewport with the second viewport that maps to a local viewport of the second device.   
     
     
         19 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media according to  claim 18 , wherein the computer executable instructions cause the processor to perform:
 tracking, on the second viewport, one or more modifications made by the second device to the content of the collaborative whiteboard.   
     
     
         20 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media according to  claim 18 , wherein the processor is further configured to perform:
 releasing mapping of the second viewport to the local viewport of the second device based on detecting a local activity detected by the processor.