Eye Contact During Video Conferencing

1 . A video-conferencing terminal comprising:

a monitor;

a non-visible-light camera configured to generate an eye-contact non-visible-light image of a video-conference participant;

one or more visible-light cameras, each configured to generate a non-eye-contact visible-light image of the participant; and

a mirror positioned in front of the monitor and configured to (i) transmit visible light from the monitor towards the participant and (ii) reflect non-visible light from the participant towards the non-visible-light camera, wherein the terminal is configured to ( 1 ) generate an eye-contact visible-light image from the eye-contact non-visible-light image and the one or more non-eye-contact visible-light images and ( 2 ) transmit the eye-contact visible-light image to a remotely located video-conferencing terminal.

2 . The terminal of claim 1 , wherein:

the non-visible-light camera is an infrared (IR) camera configured to generate an eye-contact IR-light image; and

the mirror is a hot mirror.

3 . The terminal of claim 1 , wherein the terminal is configured to generate the eye-contact visible-light image by:

(a) performing pattern matching to identify regions in the one or more non-eye-contact visible-light images corresponding to regions in the eye-contact non-visible-light image; and

(b) performing color mapping to replace data in the regions of the eye-contact non-visible-light image with data representing colors of the identified regions in the one or more non-eye-contact visible-light image to generate the eye-contact visible-light image.

4 . The terminal of claim 3 , wherein the pattern matching is performed between the one or more non-eye-contact visible-light images and the eye-contact non-visible-light image.

5 . The terminal of claim 3 , wherein:

at least one visible-light camera is further configured to generate a non-eye-contact non-visible-light image; and

at least some of the pattern matching is performed between the non-eye-contact non-visible-light image and the eye-contact non-visible-light image.

6 . The terminal of claim 1 , wherein:

the non-visible-light camera is an infrared (IR) camera configured to generate an eye-contact IR-light image;

the mirror is a hot mirror; and

the terminal is configured to generate the eye-contact visible-light image by:

(a) performing pattern matching to identify regions in the one or more non-eye-contact visible-light images corresponding to regions in the eye-contact non-visible-light image; and

(b) performing color mapping to replace data in the regions of the eye-contact non-visible-light image with data representing colors of the identified regions in the one or more non-eye-contact visible-light image to generate the eye-contact visible-light image.

7 . The terminal of claim 6 , wherein the pattern matching is performed between the one or more non-eye-contact visible-light images and the eye-contact non-visible-light image.

8 . The terminal of claim 6 , wherein:

at least one visible-light camera is further configured to generate a non-eye-contact non-visible-light image; and

at least some of the pattern matching is performed between the non-eye-contact non-visible-light image and the eye-contact non-visible-light image.

9 . A method for generating an eye-contact visible-light image of a video-conference participant using a video-conferencing terminal, the method comprising:

(a) generating one or more non-eye-contact visible-light images of the participant;

(b) transmitting visible light from the monitor towards the participant;

(c) reflecting non-visible light from the participant;

(d) generating an eye-contact non-visible-light image of the participant from the reflected non-visible light;

(e) generating an eye-contact visible-light image from the eye-contact non-visible-light image and the one or more non-eye-contact visible-light images; and

(f) transmitting the eye-contact visible-light image to a remotely located video-conferencing terminal.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein:

one or more visible-light cameras located around a periphery of a monitor of the terminal generate the one or more non-eye-contact visible-light images of the participant;

a mirror (i) transmits the visible light from the monitor towards the participant and (ii) reflects the non-visible light from the participant;

a non-visible-light camera generates the eye-contact non-visible-light image of the participant from the reflected non-visible light; and

the terminal (i) generates the eye-contact visible-light image from the eye-contact non-visible-light image and the one or more non-eye-contact visible-light images and (ii) transmits the eye-contact visible-light image to the remotely located video-conferencing terminal.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein:

the non-visible-light camera is an infrared (IR) camera that generates an eye-contact IR-light image; and

the mirror is a hot mirror.

12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the terminal generates the eye-contact visible-light image by:

(a) performing pattern matching to identify regions in the one or more non-eye-contact visible-light images corresponding to regions in the eye-contact non-visible-light image; and

(b) performing color mapping to replace data in the regions of the eye-contact non-visible-light image with data representing colors of the identified regions in the one or more non-eye-contact visible-light image to generate the eye-contact visible-light image.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the pattern matching is performed between the one or more non-eye-contact visible-light images and the eye-contact non-visible-light image.

14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein:

at least one visible-light camera generates a non-eye-contact non-visible-light image; and

at least some of the pattern matching is performed between the non-eye-contact non-visible-light image and the eye-contact non-visible-light image.

15 . The method of claim 9 , wherein:

one or more visible-light cameras located around a periphery of a monitor of the terminal generate the one or more non-eye-contact visible-light images of the participant;

a mirror (i) transmits the visible light from the monitor towards the participant and (ii) reflects the non-visible light from the participant;

a non-visible-light camera generates the eye-contact non-visible-light image of the participant from the reflected non-visible light;

the terminal (i) generates the eye-contact visible-light image from the eye-contact non-visible-light image and the one or more non-eye-contact visible-light images and (ii) transmits the eye-contact visible-light image to the remotely located video-conferencing terminal;

the non-visible-light camera is an infrared (IR) camera that generates an eye-contact IR-light image;

the mirror is a hot mirror; and

the terminal generates the eye-contact visible-light image by:

(a) performing pattern matching to identify regions in the one or more non-eye-contact visible-light images corresponding to regions in the eye-contact non-visible-light image; and

(b) performing color mapping to replace data in the regions of the eye-contact non-visible-light image with data representing colors of the identified regions in the one or more non-eye-contact visible-light image to generate the eye-contact visible-light image.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the pattern matching is performed between the one or more non-eye-contact visible-light images and the eye-contact non-visible-light image.

17 . The method of claim 15 , wherein:

at least one visible-light camera generates a non-eye-contact non-visible-light image; and

at least some of the pattern matching is performed between the non-eye-contact non-visible-light image and the eye-contact non-visible-light image.