Microsoft receives patent for three-way video streaming on a multi-screen device
Even though Microsoft won't release its rumored Andromeda device this year, the company continues to receive patents for a dual-screened device. The patent is titled "Three-way video calling on hinged multi-screen device," and according to the patent, it covers a dual-screened hinged device with a processor and accelerometer. Each part features a camera and a screen. Under certain conditions, both displays will show images streamed by the second camera, and from a remote device. You can see what the patent is talking about by viewing the image at the top of this article.
Users interact with the device in various ways, including in a vertical manner (what we would call portrait mode). The primary or secondary screen can be arranged to appear directly in front of the user, and the patent notes that there are "other positions and orientations." The patent addresses a situation where "it may be difficult for users in the same physical space to be part of a video call when they are not in proximity to one another, especially when there are three or more participants. They may lose sight of each other or a remote user, and it may be difficult to tell if the users are in frame of the cameras recording them."
The patent was received earlier this month and is designated US 10,015,442. It was awarded to Microsoft just after news broke that the company was putting the device codenamed Andromeda on hold for the rest of 2018.
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