JP2002373075A - Voice message bulletin board system, information processing terminal, server and method for transmitting voice message - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a voice message bulletin board system capable of contributing a voice message reproducible only to a particular user and also making the voice message have an anonymity by changing the voice quality of the voice message. SOLUTION: A user who contributes a voice message bulletin board transmits an encoded voice message and its title together with reproduction permission information to a server 1 from an information processing terminal 2, etc. The server 1 stores the encoded voice message, the title and the reproduction permission information. The server transmits menu information to a terminal concerning a user requesting to hear a voice message. When the user selects a particular voice message on the basis of the menu, the server recognizes the user who has requested the voice message, and decides the acceptance/rejection of transmission of the voice message in accordance with whether or not the user is designated with the reproduction permission information. The voice quality is changed in accordance with the reproduction permission information with respect to all users or the particular user, and the voice message is subsequently transmitted.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a voice message bulletin board system, an information processing terminal, a server, and a voice message transmitting method capable of transmitting a voice message to an unspecified number of users.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An "electronic bulletin board" is one of services utilizing the Internet technology. In this electronic bulletin board, a text message is posted by an unspecified number of people, and the unspecified number of people can list their titles, select a message, and freely browse the contents. Also, WWW (World Wid
There is also a bulletin board using eWeb) servers that handles text and images.

[0003] Further, it is possible to construct a Web site called a "homepage" and publish multimedia data such as long texts, images, voices, and music to an unspecified number of people.

[0004] Recently, services such as i-mode, EZ Web, and Sky Web (all trademarks) have made it possible for mobile phones to connect to the Internet and browse multimedia data such as text and images using a browser. It has become to.

[0005]

However, portable telephones have characteristics such as a smaller number of operation keys, a smaller screen size, and a higher communication cost than PCs (personal computers). When attempting to release multimedia data to an unspecified number of people from a mobile phone using the Internet technology, it is difficult to input long text data.

On the other hand, a portable telephone is equipped with a voice input / output device such as a microphone and a speaker, so that a voice message can be easily created. However, the use of voice messages in the prior art is recorded as a message memo and played back later, a call with a specific party is recorded, and a message is recorded when the other party is away when talking to a specific party. And no voice message is disclosed to an unspecified number of parties who do not know the telephone number.

[0007] In addition, there is a bulletin board accessed from a personal computer that handles voice, but there is no bulletin board accessible from a mobile phone that handles voice. There is nothing to change the voice quality based on the user's user restriction settings. In a voice message, the contributor also discloses his voice quality,
This is troublesome if you want to post only to a specific user or if you want to post anonymously.

Further, it has been impossible to hear a voice message from a telephone having no decoding means for reproducing a compressed voice message file or a telephone having no Internet connection function.

In addition, when searching for an interesting message from an unspecified number of people's voice messages, it takes a long time to search for the message if it can be reproduced only at the same speed as that at the time of recording.

Conventionally, there is a method of transmitting a message to an unspecified number of people using a dedicated game device, as in "Message Game Device and Message Transmission Method" disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-176169. In this example, the message is a text to the last, and the message can be heard by voice by voice synthesis. Also, it is not intended to be realized by a mobile phone and a server on the Internet.

[0011] The present invention has been made in view of the above,
A voice message that allows a user of an information processing terminal to send information to an unspecified number of people using a voice message, and also enables posting of a voice message that can be reproduced only to a specific user. Bulletin board system,
It is an object to provide an information processing terminal, a server, and a voice message transmission method.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a voice message bulletin board system, an information processing terminal, a server, and a voice message that can provide anonymity by changing the voice quality, instead of exposing the voice quality of the voice message as it is. To provide a transmission method.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a voice message bulletin board system capable of easily finding a message necessary for oneself among a large number of posted voice messages,
An information processing terminal, a server, and a voice message transmission method are provided.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a voice message bulletin board system, an information processing terminal, a server, and a voice message transmission that enable a user of a non-Internet-compatible telephone having no voice decoder to listen to a voice message via a voice line. It is to provide a method.

[0015]

A voice message bulletin board system according to the present invention includes a server on the Internet for providing a voice message bulletin board service, and an information processing terminal connectable to the Internet. Voice message creating means for creating a voice message by inputting voice, encoding means for encoding the input voice message, the encoded voice message and its title together with the reproduction permission information of the voice message, Means for uploading to the server;
Means for receiving menu information including the title of the voice message from the server, means for downloading the voice message selected from the menu, decoding means for decoding the downloaded voice message, and decoded voice Voice output means for outputting a message as voice, wherein the server receives an encoded voice message uploaded from the information processing terminal and a title thereof together with the reproduction permission information, and the received voice message Storage means for storing the title together with the reproduction permission information, means for transmitting menu information including the title of the stored voice message to the information processing terminal, and for the voice message requested from the information processing terminal. , Voice selectively according to the reproduction permission information. Voice quality changing means for performing a process of changing the voice message, encoding means for re-encoding the voice message whose voice quality has been changed, means for recognizing the user who has requested the voice message, and Means for determining whether or not the specified user matches;
Voice message transmitting means for transmitting the coded voice message before or after the voice quality change to the information processing terminal of the authorized user according to the reproduction permission information when it is determined that they match. It is characterized by.

A user of the voice message bulletin board system inputs a voice from a voice message creating means of the information processing terminal, encodes the voice, and uploads it as a voice message to the server. At this time, a title and reproduction permission information can be added to the voice message. The server receives the voice message, the title, and the reproduction permission information and stores them in the storage unit. When a user who wants to view a voice message accesses the server, the server sends menu information including the title of the stored voice message to the terminal of the user. The user selects a desired voice message from this menu. At this time, the server checks whether or not the user matches the specified user based on the reproduction permission information, determines whether or not to respond to the request, and notifies the voice message to the user who is permitted to respond. Send If the reproduction permission information includes an instruction to change the voice quality, the voice quality is changed, and the re-encoded voice message is transmitted to the user.

According to the present invention, the user of the information processing terminal can not only transmit information to an unspecified number of people using a voice message, but also can specify a specific information in accordance with reproduction permission information specified by the poster. It is possible to post a voice message that can be reproduced only for the user.

Further, by giving an instruction to change the voice quality to the reproduction permission information designated by the contributor, the voice quality of the voice message can be changed to have anonymity instead of disclosing the voice quality as it is.

In this voice message bulletin board system, a voice response device connected to the server, and a non-internet-compatible telephone not having an Internet connection function, connected to the voice response device via a voice line. The non-internet-compatible telephone has means for notifying the identification number of the voice message requested by the user to the voice response device by DTMF control via a voice line, and the voice response device is transmitted from the server by the server. Means for receiving decoded data of a voice message corresponding to the notified identification number and transmitting the data as a voice signal to the non-internet-compatible telephone.

As a result, even a user of a telephone that does not support the Internet can listen to a voice message via a voice line.

The present invention can also be recognized as an information processing terminal and a server that receive a voice message bulletin board service.

An information processing terminal according to the present invention is an information processing terminal capable of accessing a server on the Internet to be provided via the Internet, wherein the user inputs voice to generate a voice message, Encoding means for encoding the encoded voice message, means for uploading the encoded voice message and the title thereof to the server together with the reproduction permission information of the voice message, and menu information including the title of the voice message from the server. Means for receiving
Means for downloading a voice message selected from this menu, decoding means for decoding the downloaded voice message, and voice output means for outputting the decoded voice message as voice. I do.

[0023] The reproduction permission information may include user limitation information for designating a user who is permitted to download and reproduce the voice message. Alternatively, the reproduction permission information may include voice quality change information instructing the server to change the voice quality of the voice message before transmitting the voice message requested by the user to the user. The user limitation and the voice quality change can be used in combination. For example, it is possible to instruct to change the voice quality of the voice message before transmitting the voice message requested by a user other than the designated user to the user. .

[0024] The information processing terminal may further comprise a reproduction speed varying means for changing a reproduction speed when reproducing the downloaded voice message. Therefore, by increasing the reproduction speed, it is possible to easily find a message necessary for oneself among a large number of posted voice messages.

The decoding means may be constituted by an audio codec capable of changing the reproduction speed parametrically when decoding the encoded voice message. In this case, the audio codec controls the reproduction speed variable means. Can double.

The server according to the present invention is a server on the Internet that provides a voice message bulletin board service, and a means for receiving an encoded voice message uploaded from an information processing terminal and its title together with reproduction permission information, Storage means for storing the received voice message and the title thereof together with the reproduction permission information; menu transmission means for transmitting menu information including the stored voice message title to the information processing terminal; Means for receiving a request for a voice message, means for recognizing a user who has requested the voice message, and means for determining whether or not the recognized user matches the user specified in the reproduction permission information. When determined, the voice message is Serial characterized by comprising a voice message transmitting means for transmitting to the user of the information processing terminal is permitted in accordance with the reproduction permission information.

[0027] In order to respond to the voice quality change instruction, the server performs voice quality changing means for performing a voice quality changing process on the voice message requested from the information processing terminal according to the reproduction permission information. It is preferable to further provide. This voice quality changing means can be constituted by a voice codec capable of performing parametric pitch change control when decoding the encoded voice message.

The voice message transmitting method in the voice message bulletin board system is a voice message transmitting method in a server on the Internet that provides a voice message bulletin board service, wherein the voice message transmitting method includes an encoded voice message uploaded from an information processing terminal. Receiving the title together with the reproduction permission information, storing the received voice message and the title together with the reproduction permission information, and transmitting menu information including the title of the stored voice message to the information processing terminal. Transmitting a menu, receiving a voice message request from the user based on the menu, recognizing the user who has requested the voice message, and specifying the recognized user with the reproduction permission information. Deciding whether or not the message matches the received user, and transmitting the voice message to the information processing terminal of the authorized user in accordance with the reproduction permission information when it is determined that the voice message is transmitted. And a step.

[0029] In the voice message transmitting method, the information for designating the degree of voice quality change is received for the voice message together with the user restriction information, and in the voice quality changing process, the voice quality is changed according to an instruction of a contributor. The degree of voice quality change may be changed.

The present invention can be understood as a computer program or a storage medium for realizing the means and functions of the information processing terminal and the server as described above.

[0031]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

First, FIG. 1 shows an example of the entire configuration of the system. This system provides W
A WWW server 1, a mobile phone 2 connected to the WWW server 1 via the Internet 5 and a base station 6, a personal computer (PC) 3 b and a personal digital assistant (PDA: Pers) connected via the Internet 5
ona Digital Assistant) 3a, and a general Internet-capable telephone (fixed telephone) 4 (for example, an L-mode telephone) capable of displaying text on a liquid crystal screen. In this specification, the mobile phone 2, the PDA 3a, the PC 3b, the Internet-compatible general telephone 4, and the like are referred to as information processing terminals. These information processing terminals function as client terminals for the WWW server 1. In this specification, a terminal device is also simply referred to as a terminal. The user of each of these devices creates a voice and a text message and transmits it to the electronic bulletin board service by transmitting it to the WWW server 1, browses the title (text) of the posted voice message, and selects the selected voice. It is possible to download and listen to messages. The WWW server 1 stores voice message files and the like, and is a central element of the bulletin board system. As will be described later, it is possible to listen to a voice message even with a telephone that is not compatible with the Internet, and in this sense, such a telephone can be said to constitute a part of the present system.

In the present invention, essential functions that the information processing terminal should have are as follows. (1) Voice message posting function: (1-1) Function to create voice message file (voice file encoder) (1-2) Function to create title (text) of voice message (1-3) Connect to the Internet (1-4) Function to display text on the server and perform necessary operations for posting (2) Voice message playback function: (2-1) Function to connect to the Internet and send and receive files (2-2) Function of displaying text on server and selecting desired voice message (2-3) Function of reproducing voice message file (voice file decoder)

The following functions are not essential but preferably provided. (3) Playback speed control function: (3-1) Function of playing back a voice message at a desired speed given by a key operation by a terminal user (4) Function of connecting to WWW server by voice line (4-1) Voice line (described later) Function to select and play messages on the WWW server using DTMF signals and voice signals

This eliminates the need for an audio file encoder and decoder.

If it is not necessary to display the title of the message,
No Internet connection or text display function is required.
In this case, the telephone 4 may be a telephone that is not compatible with the Internet. In the present embodiment, the pitch change control function for changing the voice quality is not provided on the terminal side for the reason described later.

FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of the mobile phone 2 which is one of the terminals.

This terminal includes an antenna 301, a transmission / reception processing unit 303, a modulation / demodulation processing unit 305, a data processing unit 307, and a D / A converter 30 as elements unique to the mobile phone 2.
9, a speaker 310, an A / D converter 311 and a microphone 312. The mobile phone 2 also includes a controller 325 including a CPU or the like for controlling these elements, a memory 327 used as a work area or a temporary storage area for data by the controller 325, a display unit 321 functioning as a user interface, and an operation unit. A part 323 is provided. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the elements that should be provided to the mobile phone 2 are an audio file encoder 328 and an audio file decoder 329 corresponding to the audio data format of the audio message file. (A combination of an encoder and a decoder is also referred to as a voice codec.) Normally, a digital mobile phone uses a voice codec to compress and expand voice. This voice codec is included in the data processing unit 307 in FIG. 2, and can read input data from the memory 327 or write output data after processing to the memory 327, but can be used as a file on the Internet (packet network).
Uploading and downloading via the Internet is not considered. If the format of the voice message file is the same as the format of the voice codec adopted by the mobile phone carrier, the encoder / decoder included in the data processing unit 307 can be used. However, since the voice file encoder 328 and the voice file decoder 329 are different from the voice codec built in a normal mobile phone in that they are intended for voice message files transmitted and received on the Internet (packet network), they are separately specified. It is. As described above, since the encoder 328 and the decoder 329 of the voice message file are separate from the voice codec adopted by the mobile phone carrier, the formats of the two can be different.

The format of the voice message file according to the present invention is not necessarily limited to a specific format, but may be an MPEG-4 HVXC (Harmonic Ve
The adoption of ctoreXcitation Coding facilitates the processing of the reproduction speed and pitch change control. MPEG
The HVXC, which is one of the -4 voice codecs, is also called parametric encoding, and has a feature that a change in reproduction speed and a change in pitch are incorporated in a decoding process and a relatively high compression ratio. (Previously, playback speed,
The control of the pitch was another process after the decoding was completed. )
As a result, when audio is converted to data, the file size is reduced as compared with the WAVE, MP3 format, etc., which are currently frequently used, and the time required for transmission and reception with the server is also reduced.

The details of MPEG-4 HVXC are as follows.
AES (Audio Engineering Socie) was held in Florence, Italy, September 2-5, 1999.
ty) 17th International Conference on High Quality
"MPE" by Masayuki Nishiguchi of Audio Coding
G-4 SPEECH CODING ".

In general, some PDAs do not have a built-in voice input / output device (microphone / speaker), but the PDA 3a used in the present invention is assumed to have a voice input / output device here. If a modem is built in and voice communication is possible, a DTMF (Dual Tone
It is also possible to use the embodiment using Multiple Frequecy).

The Internet-compatible telephone 4 is an L-mode telephone that can be connected to the Internet, and can be used as a terminal of the present invention if it has a built-in audio file encoder 328 and decoder 329. If the title of the message cannot be displayed, but the user wants to listen to the message of a specific party, a server can be constructed so that the user can listen to the message by specifying the message number by key input using DTMF or the like. A non-internet-compatible telephone having no Internet connection function can be used as the terminal of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the WWW server 1 has a storage unit 11 such as a hard disk for storing voice messages and text data posted on a bulletin board.
And a data processing unit 12 for processing the data, and a communication processing unit 13 for transmitting and receiving data to and from the terminal via the Internet or a voice line (in the case of claim 6). The WWW server 1 in the present embodiment is basically the same as an existing WWW server on the Internet that operates an electronic bulletin board service for handling texts and images.

The WWW server 1 has the following functions in addition to the normal Web processing function 121. (1) Function 122 for accepting posting of an audio file 122 (2) Function 123 for accepting user restriction setting (a type of reproduction permission information to be described later) regarding to which user a posting user is allowed to listen to a voice message

The user restriction is, for example, for restricting an operation other than a specific user, which is permitted according to a user, such as permission to reproduce or prohibit reproduction by changing the pitch. Therefore, when a user who plays a voice message selects a voice message and downloads a file in accordance with the content of the set user restriction, the voice message is processed based on the user restriction information. . For example, when the reproduction is permitted by changing the pitch, the voice message file is changed in pitch, then re-encoded by the server, and the file is downloaded. Alternatively, in the case where the reproduction is prohibited, the history of the reproduction is prohibited for the user, and the download of the voice message is rejected. (3) Function 124 for allowing the user to download the selected audio file (4) Function 1 for decoding and re-encoding the audio file
25

It suffices for this function 125 to have the same functions as the audio file encoder 328 and the decoder 329 shown in FIG.

Hereinafter, an operation example of the present embodiment will be described.

FIGS. 4A to 4I show examples of display screens of the mobile phone 2 when posting a voice message.

FIG. 4A shows a screen when a user records a voice message to be posted offline. This screen is a screen for recording for creating a voice message, a recording time (first time is 00:00), a current date and time, and an operation menu.
The user instructs "recording" from a menu by a key operation or the like, and the user utters a message. When the message ends, "stop" is instructed to end recording.

FIG. 4B shows a screen for the user to reproduce the recorded contents after recording. The example in the figure shows that the length of the recorded message is 52 seconds. When "replay" is instructed on the menu on this screen, the voice message just recorded is reproduced.

FIG. 4 (c) shows that the user has set the recording content to O.
It is a screen for confirming whether it is K or not. When the user wants to redo the recording, the user instructs “Retry” in the menu, and returns to the screen of FIG. 4A again to perform the recording operation. If the content of the recording is OK, by instructing "OK", the screen proceeds to the screen of FIG.

On the screen shown in FIG. 4D, the user is prompted to input the title of the voice message.
In this example, a state is shown in which the user has input the title "Listen a little".

FIG. 4E shows an example of a screen on which the user sets reproduction permission information as attribute information for the recorded voice message. On this screen, a menu in which a plurality of reproduction permission modes (user-limited levels) are selected is displayed. It is also possible to simply input the number of the option without displaying the menu. In the figure,
"Public" indicates that a user who is permitted to listen to the voice message is not limited. "As is" indicates that the voice quality of the voice message is not changed.
“Pi change” indicates that the pitch is changed as one method of changing the voice quality of the voice message. "weak"
“Strong” indicates that the pitch change strength can be selected in two stages. "Limit" indicates that the user who can listen to this voice message is limited to a specific user. “Reproduction prohibited” indicates that a specific user is prohibited from listening to the voice message. The screen example of FIG. 4E shows a state in which the option “6” “restriction + prohibition of reproduction” is selected for the voice message “Listen to A”.

Normally, the screen is shifted from FIG. 4 (d) to the screen of FIG. 4 (e). For convenience of explanation, FIG. 4 (e) shows the reproduction permission information of the voice message “Listen a little”, for example. This shows a scene in which after setting “public + as is”, the reproduction permission information is set for the voice message “Listen to A” recorded next. In this way, the upload does not necessarily have to be performed separately for each voice message, but a plurality of voice messages can be uploaded collectively.

The screen shown in FIG. 4 (f) is a screen for designating a limited user (permitted user), which is displayed when “restrict” is selected in FIG. 4 (e). On this screen, a specific user can be specified (input) or a specific user group can be specified. Here, the user name is specified as a specific user. The bulletin board service in the present embodiment is assumed to be a service for registered users (a user registration type bulletin board service).
Here, an example is shown in which the login name (handle name) “A-san” registered by the user is used as the user name. The system can identify the user “Mr. A” because “Mr. A” is the registered handle name, and can perform the above-mentioned user-limited processing. In addition, as shown in the screen of FIG.
A user group may be selected as a limited user and a registered group name may be specified.

FIG. 4H shows an example of a screen when a voice message is transmitted to the server after setting the reproduction permission information. This screen is a screen for logging in to the voice message bulletin board service, selecting a stored voice message, and transmitting (uploading) to the server. When the user selects the desired voice message and indicates "OK",
The voice message is uploaded, and as shown in FIG. 4 (i), a message list (list of titles) currently registered in the bulletin board is received and displayed.
From this screen, it can be confirmed that the voice message that the user has just uploaded is included.

Note that each voice message in the displayed message list may be identified and displayed by coloring or adding pictograms so that the user-limited level can be recognized. If the title cannot be displayed on one line, the screen may be scroll-displayed in response to a cursor operation as seen in a bulletin board service of an existing mobile phone. Since the poster is logged in when using the bulletin board service, the handle name may be displayed together with the title. When the contributor does not input text when inputting the title, a time stamp indicating the post time may be used as the title.

FIGS. 5A to 5F show examples of display screens of the portable telephone 2 when selecting and reproducing the voice message.

FIG. 5A shows a screen on which a message list is displayed after logging in to the voice message bulletin board service, which is the same as FIG. 4I. On this screen, when a voice message to be heard (the fourth voice message in this example) is selected and "determined", a screen showing the contents of the voice message as shown in FIG. 5B is displayed. This screen displays the handle name of the poster of the selected voice message, the posting date, the posting time, the size and length (reproduction time) of the voice message, the reproduction permission information, and the operation menu. The user restriction information of this voice message indicates "no user restriction" corresponding to the "public". FIG. 5C shows another voice message (first voice message) in the message list, that is, a voice message of “user restricted”. In this example, a text message "You are not allowed" is displayed because the user who tried to listen to the voice message was a user other than the limited user.

When "reproduction" is instructed on the screen shown in FIG. 5B, the screen shifts to the screen shown in FIG. 5D and reproduction of the voice message is started. On this screen, the reproduction time is updated and displayed together with the display of "during reproduction". In addition, "speed" is indicated in the operation menu, and the reproduction speed can be changed during reproduction by operating a specific key such as an up / down cursor movement key. Note that another screen indicating “downloading” may be displayed between FIG. 5B and FIG. 5D.

When "reproduction" is instructed on the screen shown in FIG. 5C, the screen shifts to the screen shown in FIG. 5E, and a text message whose reproduction of the voice message is prohibited is displayed for the user. It also indicates that pitch change is not possible.

FIG. 5F is an example of a screen showing a state in which the sixth message in the message list is being reproduced with a pitch change. This is equivalent to the above-mentioned “disclosure + copy change weak” or “public + copy change strong” of the reproduction permission information described above.

FIG. 6 shows a processing flow of the terminal (mobile phone) and the server when posting a voice message.

First, as described with reference to the screens of FIGS. 4A to 4C, the terminal accepts the creation (recording) of a voice message by the user (S11). Next, FIG.
As described above, the input of the title (text) is accepted (S12). Further, FIG. 4 (e)-(d)
As described above, the setting of the reproduction permission information is received (S13). Then, the user logs in to the bulletin board service according to the user's instruction (S14). The server accepts this login (S31), and after recognizing that the logged-in user is a legitimate registered user with a password or the like (S32), transmits an operation menu related to a voice message to the terminal (S33). The terminal receives this menu and displays it as a menu screen (not shown) (S
15). User selection for this menu (S16)
Is "post", the terminal uploads the title and the voice message (S18, S19). The voice message is encoded by the voice file encoder 328 at the latest before uploading. The server responds to the selection of the post (S34, Ye
s), the upload of the title and the message is accepted (S35, S36), and the confirmation information is transmitted to the terminal (S37). The terminal requests the user to confirm the uploaded message based on the confirmation information (S2
0), if the user gives an instruction to start over (S21, Ye
s), and return to step S18. In response, the server
The received title and message are canceled (S39), and the process returns to step S35. If the terminal does not need to start over in step S21, the terminal returns to the menu selection in step S16. Although the upload of the title and the voice message in steps S35 and S36 has been described in two steps, the title, the reproduction permission information and the voice message should be combined into one file when creating the voice message, and uploaded in one step. Is also possible.

If "list / select / reproduce" is selected in step S16, list / select / reproduce processing described later is executed. The server responds (S40, Yes),
The corresponding process is executed (S41. If "end" is selected in step S16, the terminal logs out from the bulletin board service (S22). Is performed (S43).

FIG. 7 shows a flow of voice message list / selection / playback processing corresponding to steps S17 and S41 in FIG.

First, the server stores the title list data,
For example, it is transmitted as a markup language file represented by HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) (S61). The terminal receives the title list screen (FIG. 5 (a)) (S51), and receives a selection of a voice message desired to be downloaded / reproduced by the user (S51).
52). The server receives this selection result (S62),
The registered reproduction permission information of the voice message is checked. If "change voice quality" is not instructed in the reproduction permission information (S63, No), the process proceeds to step S66 described later. If "change voice quality" is instructed (S63, Ye
s) A process for changing the voice quality of the voice message is executed (S64). In the present embodiment, pitch change processing is performed as an example of voice quality change processing. As described above, this pitch change control process is performed by using an MPEG-codec as a codec.
4 It can be easily achieved by employing HVXC. The following can be considered as a specific method of changing the pitch. That is, based on the gender of the contributor (understood from the user registration information), the pitch is increased by a predetermined amount for males and decreased by a predetermined amount for females. This predetermined amount may be a predetermined fixed amount or may be specified by the poster. On the screen described with reference to FIG. 4E, the user is caused to specify a two-step pitch change. Instead of increasing or decreasing the pitch of the original voice message, a method of ignoring the original pitch and fixing the pitch at the time of decoding may be considered. After the voice quality changing process, the data is re-encoded and the obtained data is temporarily stored (S6).
5).

Next, it is confirmed whether the reproduction permission information of the voice message is "public" or "user limited" (S6).
6). If it is open, the process proceeds to step S68. If the user is limited, the user designated for the message is compared with the user who desires download / reproduction, and it is determined whether the download / reproduction is OK (S6).
7). If OK, the voice message (if the voice quality has been changed in S64, the temporarily stored voice message) is transmitted to the terminal (S68). If it is not OK, this voice message is not transmitted, and it is notified that reproduction is impossible (S69).

If the download / reproduction is not OK (S53, Yes), the terminal receives the above-mentioned notice and displays an improper display (S54), and then returns to step S51. If the download / reproduction is OK, the voice message is downloaded (S55), and the message is decoded and reproduction is started (S56). If the user gives an instruction to change the playback speed before the end of the playback message (S59) (S57, Yes), the playback speed is changed according to the instruction (S58). By employing MPEG-4 HVXC as a codec as described above, the reproduction speed can be changed simultaneously with decoding. Note that the user may specify the reproduction speed before the reproduction. In addition, general control such as pause and stop of reproduction actually exists, but specific processing steps are not shown. When the message ends (S59,
Yes), terminates the reproduction process, and issues a user termination instruction (S
Until step 60), the process returns to the first step S51. If there is a termination instruction, the process returns to the process in FIG.

As described above, the voice quality of the voice message posted by the user is selectively limited according to the instruction of the poster,
For example, it is possible to limit the users who can reproduce. Also,
By making the playback speed of the voice message controllable by the user who plays the voice message, it is possible to quickly listen to the voice message, and even if there are many posted voice messages, it is possible to reduce the time for searching for the voice message necessary for oneself. . In addition, since the speed control is performed during reproduction, the file size at the time of downloading does not change, and this speed control does not affect the download time.

The terminal also has an audio file decoder 32.
9 (FIG. 2), however, in this embodiment, means for performing pitch change control on a voice message downloaded from a bulletin board is not provided. This is to prevent the user from restoring the voice message whose voice quality has been changed to the original voice quality. Further, the pitch of the reproduced sound does not change by the reproduction speed change control in the present embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a modification of the list / selection / playback processing of FIG. This is shown in FIG.
This is a process corresponding to the example of the reproduction permission information (reproduction permission level) of the screen.

First, after the server transmits the data of the title list, it is the same as the case of FIG. 7 until the terminal receives the selection of the user's voice message (S81, S8).
2, S71, S72). The server checks the registered reproduction permission level of the selected voice message (S8).
3). If the reproduction permission level is "1" (public), the message is transmitted to the terminal (S91). If the reproduction permission level is “2 or 3” (release with voice quality change limitation), the process proceeds to step S86 described later. If the reproduction permission level is "4 to 6" (limited to the user), it is checked whether or not the log-in user is a permitted user (S84).
If the user is an authorized user, the message is transmitted to the terminal (S91). If the user is not a permitted user, it is checked whether or not the reproduction is prohibited (S85). If the reproduction is prohibited, a rejection notification is issued (S90), and no message is transmitted. If the reproduction is not prohibited, the degree of voice quality change is confirmed (S86). If the voice quality change weakness is specified, a voice quality change process of a weak level is performed (S87). In the present embodiment, decoding is performed by specifying a small pitch change amount. If the voice quality change strength is designated, a voice quality change processing of a high degree is performed (S88). In the present embodiment, decoding is performed by specifying a large pitch change amount. After steps S87 and S88, re-encoding is performed, and the resulting data is temporarily stored (S89). Then, the voice message (if the voice quality has been changed,
The temporarily stored voice message is transmitted to the terminal (S91).

Subsequent operations at the terminal (S73 to S80)
Are the same as the corresponding operations in FIG. 7 (S54 to S60), and a description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, in the processing of FIG. 8, it is possible to perform a finer reproduction permission level processing.

In the embodiment described above, an example in which a voice message on a bulletin board is reproduced from a terminal capable of connecting to the Internet has been described. However, reproduction of a voice message is not necessarily limited to a terminal capable of connecting to the Internet. Voice response device (IV
By using R (Interactive Voice Response), it is possible to listen to a voice message via a voice line from a mobile telephone or a general telephone that cannot decode the posted voice message file. IVR is based on CTI (Comput
er Telephony Integration) is one of the important devices of the technology, and has a function to collect voice guidance and responses from users. For example, Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.
It is also used in a system called TStage (trademark).

FIG. 9 shows an i-mode (trademark) system as an example, and a second embodiment of the present invention in which an IVR is added to enable connection to a voice line in addition to the original connection to the Internet. 1 shows a configuration of a system according to the first embodiment. Terminal (A,
B) From 3c, the respective base stations (A, B) 6a, 6
b, it is connected to a PDC (Personal Digital Cellular) network 500. PDC Network 5
00 is one of communication networks for mobile phones, and is a service control station (M-SCP: Mobile Service Cen.).
tral Point) 501, 503, PDC circuit switching network 40
0, a PDC packet network (DoPa network) 200, and an Internet connection gateway 11. The PDC circuit switching network 400 includes exchanges (SW) 401, 403, and 4
05, and provides voice lines between mobile phones and between the mobile phone and the specific site 10. On the other hand, P
The DC packet network 200 includes packet subscriber processing units (PPMs) 201 and 20.
3, 205, and provide data lines between the mobile phones and between the mobile phone and the gateway 11. The gateway 11 is a GRIMM (Gateway Service).
Representative Internet Mobile Access Exchange) 1
11 and a mobile message packet relay processing device M-PGW (Mobile Message-PGW) 112 for relaying data between the packet network 200 and the Internet 5. The specific site 10 includes a WWW server 1 that provides a voice message bulletin board service of the present invention and a voice response device (IV)
R) 9. WWW server 1 is Internet 5
To perform the processing in the above-described embodiment,
A voice message listening service via a voice line is provided via the voice response device 9.

Although not shown, the voice response device 9 can of course be accessed from a general telephone via a voice line.

FIG. 10 shows a processing flow of selecting / reproducing a voice message via a voice line in the system of FIG.
This process is an independent process different from the posting process of FIG.

First, the server transmits the registered title by voice (S111). At this time, the number of each message is also notified. The terminal outputs the sound (S10
1) A selection of a desired voice message is accepted by a key input by a user using a DTMF push button signal or the like (S102). The server receives and decodes the selection result (S112), and checks the registered reproduction permission information of the voice message. "Change voice quality" in playback permission information
Is not instructed (S113, No), the process proceeds to step S116 described later. If "change voice quality" is instructed (S113, Yes), the process of changing the voice quality of the voice message is executed as described above (S11).
4). Note that it takes time to transmit the title from the server by voice, so it is time-consuming to categorize the messages on the bulletin board, or the user can input the posting time with a key and transmit the title of the message posted before and after that by voice. For example, a mechanism that makes it easy for a user to find a message desired by a user from a huge number of messages may be added. Furthermore, a unique message number is issued on the server at the time of posting for each message, and the number is displayed on text mail or on the Web so that the user can recognize it. It is also possible to make the voice message immediately accessible without having to listen to it.

After the voice quality changing process, the data is re-encoded and the obtained data is temporarily stored (S11).
5). Then, it is confirmed whether the reproduction permission information of the voice message is “public” or “user limited” (S116).
If open, the process proceeds to step S118. If it is a user only, compare the user specified for the message with the user who wants to download and play,
It is determined whether the reproduction is OK (S117). If OK,
A predetermined reproduction speed is set (S118). After that, the voice message (if the voice quality has been changed in S114, the voice message temporarily stored) is decoded and the voice is transmitted to the terminal (S119). If it is not OK in step S117, this voice message is not transmitted, and it is notified that reproduction is impossible (S12).
0).

At the terminal, if the reproduction is not OK (S10
3, Yes), and receives and reproduces the voice-not-possible notification (S1).
04), and proceed to step S109. If the reproduction is OK, the voice of the voice message is received and reproduced (S105), and during that time, instructions such as pause and stop of reproduction are received by control of the DTMF (S106). If there is such an instruction, the instruction is sent to the server via a voice line (S
107). In response to this control (S121, Yes),
The server performs the specified control (S122). When the message ends at the terminal (S108, Yes), the process proceeds to step S101 until there is a user end instruction (S109).
And the above processing is repeated. The process is terminated by a termination instruction.

In this embodiment, there is no need to download the file, and the server performs the decoding process and listens to the voice message through the voice line.
In order to change the reproduction speed, the time required for reproduction is shortened by giving an instruction to the server to perform fast-reproduction before reproduction.

Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, various modifications and changes other than those described above are possible. For example, instead of MPEG-4HVXC, a codec of another system may be used as long as similar parametric encoding and decoding can be performed.

[0085]

According to the present invention, the most common voice communication is by telephone. However, according to the present invention, the user of the information processing terminal can communicate with a party who does not know the telephone number in a non-real-time and one-way manner. , A voice message can be transmitted. Also, for many opponents,
It is possible to transmit information at low cost. Furthermore, messages longer than texts can be easily created. In other words, a message that becomes long when expressed in characters can be posted by voice, so that the trouble of character input using the operation keys is eliminated. In particular, a terminal such as a mobile phone having a relatively small display unit and few operation keys is particularly effective. At the same time, a message posted by another user can be heard as voice, so that it is not necessary to read a long message on a small screen. In particular, the current load on the eyes when browsing content on the Internet, which is mainly text and images, and the load on keyboard input such as e-mail, are expected to impose a heavy burden on the elderly, which will increase in the future. The present invention provides an example of voice communication on the Internet, and has an effect of reducing the burden.

Also, by providing a mechanism in which the poster specifies the user who can reproduce the voice message posted by the user and prohibits the reproduction of other users, the bulletin board can be used only for the specific user who knows only the handle name. You can send messages via.

Further, if the user wants to convey the contents of the message by changing the voice quality and making it reproducible to users other than the user designated by the poster, but does not want to disclose his own voice quality as it is, By changing the voice quality and making it reproducible instead of prohibiting the replay, a voice message with anonymity can be posted.

Also, by providing a voice response device,
Even a telephone without a voice decoder or a telephone not compatible with the Internet can listen to a voice message via a voice line by DTMF control.

In the information processing terminal, the reproduction speed of the voice message can be variably controlled, so that a message necessary for oneself can be searched at high speed from a large number of messages, or the speed is reduced to listen carefully. It becomes possible.

Even if the terminal does not have an audio file encoder / decoder, if it is possible to connect to a WWW server via an audio line, it is possible to listen to a message via an audio line.

As described above, the use value of the bulletin board service can be enhanced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a mobile phone as one of terminals in the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a WWW server in the system of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 4A to 4I show examples of display screens of a mobile phone when posting a voice message according to an embodiment of the present invention.
It is.

FIGS. 5A to 5F are diagrams illustrating examples of display screens of the mobile phone when selecting and playing back a voice message in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of a terminal (mobile phone) and a server when posting a voice message according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of voice message list / selection / playback processing corresponding to steps S17 and S41 in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a modification of the list / selection / playback processing of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration of a system according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a processing flow of voice message selection / playback according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: WWW server, 2: mobile phone, 3a: PDA, 3
b ... PC, 4 ... General telephone having internet connection function, 5 ... Internet, 328 ... Audio file encoder, 329 ... Audio file decoder

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Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. An information processing terminal comprising: a server on the Internet for providing a voice message bulletin board service; and an information processing terminal connectable to the Internet. Creating means, encoding means for encoding the input voice message, means for uploading the encoded voice message and its title together with the reproduction permission information of the voice message to the server, Means for receiving menu information including a title, means for downloading a voice message selected from the menu, decoding means for decoding the downloaded voice message, and outputting the decoded voice message as voice Audio output means, A server configured to receive the encoded voice message and the title thereof uploaded from the information processing terminal together with the reproduction permission information; a storage unit configured to store the received voice message and the title together with the reproduction permission information; Means for transmitting menu information including the title of the stored voice message to the information processing terminal; and selectively changing the voice quality of the voice message requested by the information processing terminal in accordance with the reproduction permission information. Voice quality changing means for performing processing; coding means for recoding the voice message whose voice quality has been changed; means for recognizing a user who has requested the voice message; and a recognized user specified by the reproduction permission information. Means for determining whether or not the user matches, and voice quality when determined to match Voice message transmitting means for transmitting the coded voice message before or after to the information processing terminal of the user permitted according to the reproduction permission information; and a voice message bulletin board. system. 2. A non-internet-compatible telephone having no Internet connection function, wherein said non-internet-compatible telephone is connected to said server via a voice line and connected to said voice-responsive device. The telephone sets the identification number of the voice message requested by the user via the voice line to DT.
Means for notifying the voice response device by MF control, wherein the voice response device receives, from the server, decoded data of a voice message corresponding to the notified identification number, 2. A voice message bulletin board system according to claim 1, further comprising means for transmitting a signal to said non-internet-compatible telephone. 3. An information processing terminal capable of accessing, via the Internet, a server on the Internet that provides a voice message bulletin board service, wherein the user inputs voice and generates a voice message. Encoding means for encoding the encoded voice message; means for uploading the encoded voice message and the title thereof to the server together with the reproduction permission information of the voice message; and menu information including the title of the voice message from the server. Means for receiving, means for downloading a voice message selected from this menu, decoding means for decoding the downloaded voice message, and voice output means for outputting the decoded voice message as voice. Characterized by having Broadcast processing terminal. 4. The information processing terminal according to claim 3, wherein the reproduction permission information includes user limitation information for specifying a user who is permitted to download and reproduce the voice message. 5. The reproduction permission information includes voice quality change information for instructing the server to change the voice quality of the voice message before transmitting the voice message requested by the user to the user. The information processing terminal according to claim 3, wherein: 6. The reproduction permission information instructs the server to change the voice quality of the voice message before transmitting the voice message requested by a user other than the designated user to the user. 4. The information processing terminal according to claim 3, further comprising user-limited / voice-quality change information. 7. The information processing terminal according to claim 3, further comprising a reproduction speed changing means for changing a reproduction speed when reproducing the downloaded voice message. 8. The decoding means is constituted by an audio codec capable of changing a reproduction speed parametrically when decoding the encoded audio message, and the audio codec also serves as the reproduction speed variable means. The information processing terminal according to claim 7, wherein 9. A server on the Internet for providing a voice message bulletin board service, comprising: means for receiving an encoded voice message and its title uploaded from an information processing terminal together with reproduction permission information; And a storage unit for storing the title together with the reproduction permission information; a menu transmission unit for transmitting menu information including the stored title of the voice message to the information processing terminal; Means for receiving the voice message, means for recognizing the user who has requested the voice message, means for determining whether or not the recognized user matches the user specified by the reproduction permission information. The voice message is included in the reproduction permission information. And a voice message transmitting means for transmitting to the information processing terminal of the user who is permitted accordingly. 10. The server according to claim 9, wherein the reproduction permission information includes user limitation information for specifying a user who is permitted to download and reproduce the voice message. 11. The reproduction permission information includes voice quality change information for instructing the server to change the voice quality of the voice message, wherein the server responds to the voice message requested by the information processing terminal. Further comprising voice quality changing means for performing a process of changing voice quality in accordance with the reproduction permission information, wherein the voice message transmitting means transmits the encoded voice message after voice quality change in accordance with the reproduction permission information to the information 10. The server according to claim 9, wherein the server transmits the message to a processing terminal. 12. The reproduction permission information is user-limited / voice quality change information for instructing to change a voice quality of a voice message requested by a user other than a designated user before transmitting the voice message to the user. The server according to claim 11, further comprising: 13. The server according to claim 11, wherein said voice quality changing means is constituted by a voice codec capable of performing a parametric pitch change control when decoding said encoded voice message. . 14. A method for transmitting a voice message in a server on the Internet providing a voice message bulletin board service, comprising: receiving an encoded voice message uploaded from an information processing terminal and its title together with reproduction permission information; A storing step of storing the received voice message and its title together with the reproduction permission information; a menu transmitting step of transmitting menu information including the stored voice message title to the information processing terminal; Receiving a request for a voice message from the user; recognizing a user who has requested the voice message; and determining whether the recognized user matches the user specified in the reproduction permission information. Then A voice message transmitting step of transmitting the voice message to the information processing terminal of the user permitted according to the reproduction permission information when the determination is made. 15. Reproduction permission information which uses a combination of user restriction information and voice quality change information as the reproduction permission information and instructs that a user other than a specific user is not permitted to reproduce the original voice quality. For the voice message to which is added, when the specific user requests the voice message, the voice message before the voice quality change is transmitted, and when a user other than the specific user requests the voice message, The voice message transmission method according to claim 14, wherein the voice message after voice quality change is transmitted to a user other than the specific user. 16. The voice message transmitting method according to claim 15, wherein the voice message to which the information designating the degree of voice quality change is added as the reproduction permission information is changed.