Interactive visual content sharing and telestration: A novel network multimedia service

Traditional telestration is a technique for TV broadcast operators to draw freehand sketches over live video streams [1]. In this paper, we present a novel, interactive visual content sharing and telestration (IVCST) system that support n-way telestration. IVCST uses a network based telestration method on shared visual content. The superimposition of telestration drawings on shared video is done at each participanting client who executes a sequence of telestration commands received from an IVCST telestration server, via a dedicated data channel. Multiple clients may telestrate on a shared drawing board concurrently on a common visual background, without altering original visual content. With no dependency to background visual content format, an IVCST application can be a software component that easily fits into a multi-platform, multi-screen environment. IVCST can be used in multiple fields such as telemedicine, virtual office collaboration, tele-education, entertaining, remote command/control, and social networking, to enhance the overall shared experience.