Gesture-controlled private transmission in meetings

1 . A processor-implemented method, the method comprising:

establishing a virtual conference room and connections thereto by at least an initiating participant, a recipient participant, and a non-recipient participant;

detecting a gesture by the initiating participant toward the recipient participant indicating an intention for a private communication channel;

modifying a user interface of the virtual conference room, of the initiating participant and the recipient participant, to display an on-screen notification and an audio cue of the intention;

identifying an acceptance gesture from the recipient participant to initiate the private communication channel; and

generating the private communication channel only after the identifying, wherein the generating comprises:

generating an on-screen prompt to the recipient participant that requires the recipient participant to manually enter the private communication channel.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the recipient participant is based on the gesture.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the gesture comprises the initiating participant covering their mouth with their hand.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

detecting a gaze of the initiating participant contemporaneously with the gesture, and wherein determining the recipient is based on the gaze.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining that a speaking participant is directing a speech segment to an addressee participant based on detecting a gaze of the speaking participant to the addressee participant.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the on-screen notification displayed on the user interface of the recipient participant is an icon overlayed on a static avatar or on a video feed of the initiating participant.

7 . A computer system comprising:

a processor set;

one or more computer-readable storage media; and

program instructions stored on the one or more computer-readable storage media to cause the processor set to perform operations comprising:

establishing a virtual conference room and connections thereto by at least an initiating participant, a recipient participant, and a non-recipient participant;

detecting a gesture by the initiating participant toward the recipient participant indicating an intention for a private communication channel;

modifying a user interface of the virtual conference room, of the initiating participant and the recipient participant, to display an on-screen notification and an audio cue of the intention;

identifying an acceptance gesture from the recipient participant to initiate the private communication channel; and

generating the private communication channel only after the identifying, wherein the generating comprises:

generating an on-screen prompt to the recipient participant that requires the recipient participant to manually enter the private communication channel.

8 . The computer system of claim 7 , wherein determining the recipient participant is based on the gesture.

9 . The computer system of claim 7 , wherein the gesture comprises the initiating participant covering their mouth with their hand.

10 . The computer system of claim 7 , further comprising:

detecting a gaze of the initiating participant contemporaneously with the gesture, and wherein determining the recipient is based on the gaze.

11 . The computer system of claim 7 , further comprising:

determining that a speaking participant is directing a speech segment to an addressee participant based on detecting a gaze of the speaking participant to the addressee participant.

12 . The computer system of claim 7 , wherein the on-screen notification displayed on the user interface of the recipient participant is an icon overlayed on a static avatar or on a video feed of the initiating participant.

13 . A computer program product comprising:

one or more computer-readable storage media; and

program instructions stored on the one or more computer-readable storage media to perform operations comprising:

establishing a virtual conference room and connections thereto by at least an initiating participant, a recipient participant, and a non-recipient participant;

detecting a gesture by the initiating participant toward the recipient participant indicating an intention for a private communication channel;

modifying a user interface of the virtual conference room, of the initiating participant and the recipient participant, to display an on-screen notification and an audio cue of the intention;

identifying an acceptance gesture from the recipient participant to initiate the private communication channel; and

generating the private communication channel only after the identifying, wherein the generating comprises:

generating an on-screen prompt to the recipient participant that requires the recipient participant to manually enter the private communication channel.

14 . The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein determining the recipient participant is based on the gesture.

15 . The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the gesture comprises the initiating participant covering their mouth with their hand.

16 . The computer program product of claim 13 , further comprising:

detecting a gaze of the initiating participant contemporaneously with the gesture, and wherein determining the recipient is based on the gaze.

17 . The computer program product of claim 13 , further comprising:

determining that a speaking participant is directing a speech segment to an addressee participant based on detecting a gaze of the speaking participant to the addressee participant.