JP2007094451A - Remote control system and method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a user to perform operation without attention to a difference in facilities between bases. <P>SOLUTION: A base management server 20 comprises an image formation part 22 generating, based on information for facilities set in a plurality of bases, image data of virtual base facilities capable of collectively operating the facilities of the bases from a remote place, and a control command conversion part 24 converting, upon receipt of instruction information to the image of the virtual base facilities, the instruction information to a format suitable to the facilities of the bases. A user terminal 10 displays the image of the virtual base facilities capable of collectively operating facilities of bases A-C from a remote place. A user can collectively operate a display device or printer set in each base A-C from the remote place through the image of the virtual base facilities by operating a keyboard or mouse connected to the user terminal 10. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a remote operation system and a remote operation method.

  Conventionally, there has been proposed a remote conference system capable of performing a conference between remote locations connected to a network. In this remote conference system, when a presentation is being performed at a certain site, the material used for this presentation is transferred to each site, and the conference is progressed by displaying the material on a display or projector at each site.

The followings have been proposed as conventional techniques related to multiple display devices and remote presentation devices. The device described in Patent Document 1 records still images displayed by a plurality of display devices in synchronization with moving images, sounds, etc., and is displayed on each display device on a single image based on the above recording. There has been proposed a technique for synchronously reproducing an object together with moving images and sounds (see Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-87758 A

  However, when communicating between remote locations, if the configuration of the display device is different, for example, the number of display devices is different between bases, a pair of a document displayed on the speaker side and a display device on the viewer side are paired. Cannot correspond to 1. For this reason, there has been a problem that it is impossible to appropriately assign a document to the display device. In Patent Document 1, since materials displayed on all display devices are stored in a single image, the visibility is reduced.

  Further, when actually operating a plurality of bases, since the equipment installed at the plurality of bases is different, the same operation cannot be performed at all the bases. In addition, when sharing information such as presentations at multiple locations such as remote locations, the amount of information that can be presented varies depending on the location of the projector and other equipment at each location, and the size of the characters may not be appropriate. is there. In addition, it was a burden for the presenter to give a presentation taking into account the differences in facilities at each site.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a remote operation system and a remote operation method that allow a user to perform an operation without paying attention to differences in equipment between bases. With the goal.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the present invention is a remote operation system capable of operating equipment from a remote location, and the equipment at the location is remote from the location based on information on the facilities installed at a plurality of locations. A generation unit that generates image data of a facility at a virtual base that can be collectively operated, and when instruction information for an image of the facility at the virtual base is received, the instruction information is in a format suitable for the facility at the base. And a conversion unit for converting to According to the present invention, by generating image data of a virtual base facility capable of collectively operating the base facility from a remote location, each actual request can be made in response to a request from a user to the virtual base. An appropriate request can be transmitted to the base. Thereby, the user can perform the operation without paying attention to the difference in equipment between the bases.

  The remote operation system of the present invention further includes an acquisition unit that acquires information on the facility from the base. Thereby, the image data of the virtual base equipment can be generated using the latest equipment information acquired from the base. The remote operation system of the present invention further includes a display control unit that controls display of an image of a virtual base facility generated by the generation unit. As a result, an image of the actual virtual base facility is provided to the user. The facility may be at least one of a display device and a printing device, for example.

  The remote operation system according to the present invention further includes an instruction unit that instructs to display a predetermined image on the display device at the base using the image of the virtual base facility when the equipment includes a display device. . Thereby, it is possible to collectively operate the display device at the base from a remote place. The remote operation system according to the present invention further includes an instruction unit that instructs to print a predetermined image from the printing device at the base using the image of the virtual base facility when the equipment includes a printing device. . Thereby, it is possible to perform a batch operation on the printing apparatus at the base from a remote place.

  The remote operation system of the present invention uses a virtual base facility image to select document information to be handled by the base facility, and transmits the document information selected by the selection unit to the base. And a transmission unit. Thereby, the document image selected in the remote place can be used at each base.

  The generation unit may generate image data of virtual facilities at the base by counting one display device as a plurality of display devices according to the size of the display area of the display device at the base. According to the present invention, a site with a small number of display devices can be handled as if there are many display devices. The remote operation system of the present invention further includes a management unit that manages information on the facilities at the base. The remote operation system of the present invention further includes a management unit that stores information on the facilities at the base.

  When the facility includes a display device, the management unit may hold at least one of the resolution of the display device installed at the site and the information on the installation position of the display device as information on the facility at the site. It may be provided for each base.

  The present invention is a remote operation method capable of operating a facility from a remote location, and is a virtual operation capable of collectively operating the facilities at each location from the remote location based on information on the facilities installed at a plurality of locations. A generation step of generating image data of the facility at the base, and a conversion step of converting the instruction information into a format suitable for the facility at the base when the instruction information for the image of the virtual base facility is received. Have. According to the present invention, by generating image data of a virtual base facility capable of collectively operating the base facility from a remote location, each actual request can be made in response to a request from a user to the virtual base. An appropriate request can be transmitted to the base. Thereby, the user can perform the operation without paying attention to the difference in equipment between the bases.

  The remote operation method of the present invention further includes an acquisition step of acquiring the facility information from the base. Thereby, the image data of the virtual base equipment can be generated using the latest equipment information acquired from the base. The remote operation method of the present invention further includes a step of displaying an image of the virtual base facility generated in the generation step. As a result, an image of the actual virtual base facility is provided to the user.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the remote operation system and the remote operation method which can perform operation even if a user does not care about the difference in the equipment between bases can be provided.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a remote control system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The remote operation system 1 enables operations on facilities from a remote location. More specifically, the remote control system 1 has a function called Reach Through the Screen (RTS). This RTS is displayed, for example, by dragging and dropping materials on the desktop to a display device such as a display or a printing device such as a printer that appears in the monitor image through a monitor image taken of a conference room with a camera or the like. It is a function that allows you to print or print.

  The remote operation system 1 includes a user terminal 10, a base management server 20, and base systems 30, 40, and 50. These are connected via a network 60. In the following description, a display device and a printer (printing device) will be described as an example of equipment installed at a base. The user terminal 10 is a terminal operated by a user of the remote operation system 1. The user terminal 10 is connected to the display device 11. The display device 11 is configured by, for example, a CRT display, a flat panel display, a projector, or the like. The site management server 20 is a server that manages each site system 30, 40, and 50 as a whole.

  Although details will be described later, the user terminal 10 displays on the display device 11 an image of a virtual base facility that can collectively operate base facilities A to C from a remote location. Then, the user operates a keyboard or mouse connected to the user terminal 10 to display a display device or printer installed at each site A to C from a remote location via an image of a virtual site facility. Can be operated collectively. For example, the user can display the document image on the display device at each site by dragging and dropping the document image onto the virtual display devices x1 to x4 on the display device 11 with the mouse. The document can be printed from the printer at each site by dragging and dropping the document image onto the correct printer x4.

  The base system 30 includes an equipment management server 31 as a management unit, display devices 32 to 34, personal computers (PCs) 35 to 37, and a printer 38. These display devices 32 to 34 are configured by, for example, a CRT display, a flat panel display, a projector, or the like. A plurality of display devices 32 to 34 are provided in the base system 30. By providing a plurality of display devices 32 to 34 in the same base system 30 in the base system 30, it is possible to simultaneously display a reference material during the presentation from the plurality of display devices 32 to 34. Each personal computer 35-37 controls the display devices 32-34, respectively.

  Although one personal computer is assigned to one display device here, a plurality of display devices may be controlled by one personal computer. The equipment management server 31 manages equipment such as the display devices 32 to 34 and the printer 38 installed at the site A. The facility management server 31 manages the display devices 32 to 34 via personal computers 35 to 37.

  The base system 40 includes an equipment management server 41, display devices 42 and 43, PCs 44 and 45, and a printer 46. Similarly to the base system 30, the base system 40 is also provided with a plurality of display devices. By providing a plurality of display devices 42 and 43 in the same base, it is possible to simultaneously display a reference material during the presentation from the plurality of display devices 42 and 43. Since the display device 43 is higher in resolution and larger in size than the other display devices 42, the displayable area is larger than the other display devices. The personal computers 44 and 45 control the display devices 42 and 43, respectively. The equipment management server 41 manages equipment such as the display devices 42 and 43 and the printer 46 installed at the site B. The facility management server 41 manages the display devices 42 and 43 via the personal computers 44 and 45.

  The base system 50 includes an equipment management server 51, display devices 52 and 53, PCs 54 and 55, and a printer 56. Similarly to the base system 30, the base system 50 is also provided with a plurality of display devices. By providing a plurality of display devices 52 and 53 in the same base, it is possible to simultaneously display a reference material during the presentation from the plurality of display devices 52 and 53. The personal computers 54 and 55 control the display devices 52 and 53, respectively. The equipment management server 51 manages equipment such as the display devices 52 and 53 and the printer 56 installed at the site C. The facility management server 51 manages the display devices 52 and 53 via personal computers 54 and 55.

  The base systems 40 and 50 have fewer display devices than the base system 30. The base system 40 has a smaller number of display devices than the base system 30, but since the display area of the display device 43 is large, the area that can be displayed is equal to or greater than the base system 30. The base system 50 simply has fewer display devices than the base system 30. For this reason, the base system 50 has a smaller total display area than the base system 30.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the site management server 20 and the facility management server 31. Here, an example is shown in which an equipment management server is provided for each site. Since the facility management servers 41 and 51 have the same configuration as the facility management server 31, description thereof is omitted here. The facility management server 31 includes a control unit 310, a facility information acquisition unit 311, a facility information recording unit 312, a facility information transmission unit 313, and a document transmission / reception unit 314. The control unit 310 controls the facilities at the site based on the control command from the site management server 20. The facility information acquisition unit 311 acquires information on the facility at the base from the control unit 310. The facility information recording unit 312 records the facility information of the base acquired by the facility information acquiring unit 311. The facility information transmission unit 313 transmits the facility information of the base to the base management server 20. The document transmission / reception unit 314 provides the document information received from the site management server 20 to a display device or a printer.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a table of facility information of bases. Here, the display device information will be described by way of example of the display device as the base equipment. When the facility includes a display device, the facility management server 31 holds information about the resolution of the display device installed at the site and the installation position of the display device as information about the facility at the site. The display device 32 corresponds to PDP (Plasma Display Panel) 1, the display device 33 corresponds to PDP2, and the display device 34 corresponds to PDP3. The equipment information of the display device includes the equipment name, the resolution such as VGA (Video Graphics Array), SXGA (Super eXtended Graphics Array), etc., the coordinates of the left bottom position, the left vertex position, and the right vertex position of the display device. The position at the base of the display device is determined by knowing the left bottom position, left vertex position, and right vertex position of the display device. If the position of the display device in the base can be determined, other methods can be used. When the facility at the base is a printer, the performance of the printer and the installation position of the printer are held as facility information by the facility management server.

  The site management server 20 includes an equipment information acquisition unit 21 as an acquisition unit, an image creation unit 22 as a generation unit, a control command reception unit 23, a control command conversion unit 24 as a conversion unit, a control command transmission unit 25, and a document transmission / reception unit. 26. The equipment information acquisition unit 21 accesses the equipment management servers 31 to 51 and acquires information on equipment installed at the bases from the respective bases. The image creation unit 22 generates image data of the virtual base equipment that can collectively operate the base equipment from a remote location based on the information of the equipment installed in the plurality of bases, and generates the generated virtual base The image data of the facility is transmitted to the user terminal 10. The image creation unit 22 creates an image of a virtual facility at the base in consideration of the number and size of display devices that differ depending on the site. For example, the image creation unit 22 counts one display device as a plurality of display devices according to the size of the display area of the base display device, and generates image data of the virtual equipment at the base. The user terminal 10 functions as a display control unit that controls display of an image of a virtual base facility generated by the image creation unit 22.

  Next, an image of a virtual base facility created by the image creation unit 22 will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an image of equipment at a virtual base displayed on the display device 11. The image of the virtual base facility is an illustration of the conference room facility. The virtual facility image is an image showing the arrangement of the display and printer. When the equipment includes a display device, the user terminal 10 as the instruction unit displays a predetermined image on the display device at each base using the display devices x1 to x3 in the image of the virtual base equipment. Can be instructed to do so.

  Further, when the facility is a printing device, the user terminal 10 may instruct to print a predetermined image from the printing device at each base using the printing device x4 in the image of the virtual base facility. it can. Furthermore, the user terminal 10 also functions as a selection unit that selects document information to be handled by the facility at the base using an image of the virtual facility at the base. At this time, the document transmission / reception unit 26 of the site management server 20 functions as a transmission unit, and transmits the document information selected by the user terminal 10 to the site systems 30 to 50. When the user terminal 10 receives an instruction for an image of a virtual base facility, the user terminal 10 transmits a control command corresponding to the instruction to the base management server 20. In this way, by operating using the image of the conference room displayed in the illustration, even if the facilities are different at multiple sites, the operator can display a compromise image between sites. It becomes unnecessary to pay attention to the difference in equipment.

  The control command receiving unit 23 receives from the user terminal 10 a control command indicating an instruction from the user with respect to the image of the facility at the virtual base. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a control command. When receiving a control command that is instruction information for an image of a virtual base facility, the control command conversion unit 24 converts the instruction information into a control command in a format suitable for the base facility. The control command transmission unit 25 transmits the converted control command to the facility management servers 31 to 51 and gives appropriate instructions to the base systems 30 to 50. The document transmission / reception unit 26 transmits / receives document information from the user terminal 10.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an image of a virtual base facility. In particular, FIG. 6 shows an example in which an image of a display device is generated and provided as a virtual base facility. In step S <b> 11, the user uses the user terminal 10 to request the site management server 20 to obtain an image of a virtual site facility. In step S12, the facility information acquisition unit 21 requests the facility management server 31 installed at the site to acquire information on the facility at the site. In step S13, the control unit 310 of the facility management server 31 confirms whether the display device or the printer is movable or whether the position of the display device or the printer has been changed. In step S <b> 14, the facility information transmission unit 313 of the facility management server 31 transmits facility information (table) to the site management server 20 in accordance with the current display device and printer status.

  In step S <b> 15, the facility information acquisition unit 21 acquires base facility information from the facility management server 31 of each base system 30 to 50. In step S <b> 16, the image creating unit 22 calculates a plane that maximizes the area that is projected onto the plane of the area of the display device. For example, the image creation unit 22 calculates the angle and position at which the display device is most easily seen and the displayable area is the largest in the room.

  In step S <b> 17, the image creating unit 22 searches for a display device having the narrowest displayable area. Next, in step S18, the image creation unit 22 searches for a display device having the narrowest displayable area in each site. In step S <b> 19, the image creating unit 22 divides the area that can be displayed on the display device by the display area of the smallest display device, and calculates the number of the smallest display devices. In step S <b> 20, the image creation unit 22 calculates how many minimum display devices each base corresponds to and selects the minimum number of bases. In step S <b> 21, the image creation unit 22 secures a memory for creating an image of a virtual base facility. In step S <b> 22, the image creation unit 22 sets all the numbers of the display device images to be drawn in the size of the display region of the display device having the smallest display region among the display devices of all bases on the memory. The image of the display device is drawn in accordance with the base having the smallest number of display devices. In step S <b> 23, the image creation unit 22 provides the drawn image to the user terminal 10 as image data of a virtual base facility.

  FIG. 7 is a processing flowchart for displaying a material. In step S31, the user uses the mouse connected to the user terminal 10 to drag and drop the virtual image material displayed on the display device 11 onto the virtual facility image. In step S32, the user terminal 10 confirms whether the dragged and dropped position corresponds to the display devices x1 to x3 or the printer x4 on the image of the virtual base facility. In step S <b> 33, the user terminal 10 transfers the document image data as the material to the site management server 20. In step S34, the positions of the display devices x1 to x3 on the image of the virtual base facility are acquired. In step S <b> 35, the user terminal 10 creates a control command and transmits it to the site management server 20.

  In step S36, the control command conversion unit 24 converts the control command received from the user terminal 10 into a control command in a format suitable for each site. At this time, the control command conversion unit 24 selects the display device having the closest display position from the information on the facilities at the base, and rewrites the control command. In step S37, when the display device at the base is larger than the display device at the virtual base, the control command conversion unit 24 rewrites the control command so that the display is displayed in accordance with the position and size of the display device at the virtual base. . In step S <b> 38, the document transmission / reception unit 26 transfers the document image, which is the material received from the user terminal 10, to the facility management server 31 at each site. In step S39, the control command transmission unit 25 transfers the converted control command to the facility management server 31. In this way, the facilities at the base can be collectively operated from the user terminal 10 at the remote place.

  8-10 is a figure for demonstrating the correspondence of a display apparatus in the case of using the base system 30 and the base system 40. FIG. When the site system 30 and the site system 40 are used, the image creating unit 22 determines that the display device 43 can be used for two display devices of the site system 30 because the display area of the display device 43 of the site system 40 is large. Then, an environment having three display devices x1 to x3 is displayed in the image of the virtual base facility. Then, as shown in FIG. 8, when an operation is performed to display the material Y on the central display device x2 with respect to the image of the virtual base facility, the actual base system 30 specifies the specified center. The material Y is displayed as it is on the display device 33, and the base system 40 displays the material Y on a part of the large display device 43.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 9, when an operation is performed to display the material Y on the display device x1 on the left side with respect to the image of the virtual base facility, the actual base system 30 specifies the left side specified. The material Y is displayed as it is on the display device 32, and the base system 40 displays the material Y on the display device 42. Further, as shown in FIG. 10, when an operation is performed to display the material Y on the display device x1 on the left side with respect to the image of the virtual base facility, the actual base system 30 specifies the left side specified. The material Y is displayed as it is on the display device 34, and the base system 40 displays the material Y on a part of the large display device 43. As a result, the same presentation can be made at site A and site B with different facilities.

  In the case of the base system 30 and the base system 50, since the display device 53 of the base system 50 is not as large as the display device 43 of the base system 40, it cannot be used as described above. Are limited to two display devices x1 and x2, and the facilities of the base system 30 are limited so that the base system 50 can display them reliably. Similarly, in the case of the base system 40 and the system 50, since the display area of the display device 53 of the base system 50 is narrow, the image of the facility at the virtual base is converted into two small display devices and displayed on the base system 40. Is displayed in a small size so that the presentation can be performed in a form that can be reliably displayed even in the base system 40.

  According to the present embodiment, an image of a virtual base facility is created and provided to the user, and the virtual base facility is appropriate for each actual base in response to a request from the user for the image. By transmitting a simple request, the user can perform an operation without paying attention to the difference in equipment between bases. Further, the facility management servers 31, 41 and 51 and the site management server 20 can be controlled by the same interface.

  In the above-described embodiment, a display device and a printer (printing apparatus) have been described as examples of equipment installed at a base. However, the base includes other equipment such as lighting and a personal computer. Further, the remote control system of the present invention can be applied to various uses such as conferences and classes.

  Each of the servers includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Member), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a hard disk device, and the like. Each function of the base management server 20 is realized by executing a predetermined program. The remote operation method of the present invention is realized by the remote operation system 1.

  Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiment, and various modifications, within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims, It can be changed.

It is a figure showing the whole remote operation system composition concerning an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of a base management server and an equipment management server. It is a figure which shows the table of the equipment information of a display apparatus. It is a figure for demonstrating the virtual image displayed on a display apparatus. It is a figure which shows the example of a control command. It is a flowchart of virtual image creation. It is a process flowchart in the case of a data display. It is a figure for demonstrating the correspondence of a display apparatus in the case of using the base system 30 and the base system 40. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the correspondence of a display apparatus in the case of using the base system 30 and the base system 40. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the correspondence of a display apparatus in the case of using the base system 30 and the base system 40. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Remote operation system 10 User terminal 11 Display apparatus 20 Base management server 21 Equipment information acquisition part 22 Image creation part 23 Control command reception part 24 Control command conversion part 25 Control command transmission part 26 Document transmission / reception part 30, 40, 50 Base system 32 -34, 42, 43, 52, 53 Display device 35-37, 44, 45, 54, 55 Personal computer 31, 41, 51 Equipment management server 310 Control part 311 Equipment information acquisition part 312 Equipment information recording part 313 Equipment information transmission Part 314 Document transmission / reception part

Claims (15)

A remote control system that can operate equipment from a remote location,
A generation unit that generates image data of facilities at a virtual base that can collectively operate the facilities at the base from the remote location based on information on the equipment installed at a plurality of bases;
A remote operation system comprising: a conversion unit that converts instruction information into a format suitable for the facility at the base when the instruction information for the image of the facility at the virtual base is received. The remote operation system according to claim 1, further comprising an acquisition unit that acquires the facility information from the base. The remote control system according to claim 1, further comprising a display control unit that controls display of an image of a virtual base facility generated by the generation unit. The remote operation system according to claim 1, wherein the facility is at least one of a display device and a printing device. The display device according to claim 1, further comprising: an instruction unit that instructs to display a predetermined image on the display device at the base using the image of the virtual base facility when the equipment includes a display device. The remote control system described in. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an instruction unit that instructs to print a predetermined image from the printing device at the base using the image of the equipment at the virtual base when the equipment includes a printing device. The remote control system described in. A selection unit that selects document information to be handled by the facility of the base using an image of the facility of the virtual base;
The remote operation system according to claim 1, further comprising: a transmission unit that transmits the document information selected by the selection unit to the base. The generation unit generates image data of virtual facilities at the base by counting one display device as a plurality of display devices according to a size of a display area of the display device at the base. The remote control system according to claim 1. The remote operation system according to claim 1, further comprising a management unit that manages information on the facility at the base. The remote operation system according to claim 1, further comprising a management unit that stores information on equipment at the base. When the equipment includes a display device, the management unit holds at least one of the resolution of the display device installed at the base and the information on the installation position of the display device as information on the equipment at the base. The remote control system according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that The remote control system according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the management unit is provided for each base. A remote operation method capable of operating equipment from a remote location,
A generation step of generating image data of a virtual base facility that can collectively operate the facilities of each base from the remote location based on information of the equipment installed at a plurality of bases;
A remote operation method comprising: a conversion step of converting the instruction information into a format suitable for the facility at the base when the instruction information for the image of the facility at the virtual base is received. The remote operation method according to claim 13, further comprising an acquisition step of acquiring the facility information from the base. The remote operation method according to claim 13, further comprising a step of displaying an image of a virtual base facility generated in the generation step.

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