JP2009223061A - Display control system, display control method, and display control program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a display control system which achieves a satisfactory interaction between a user and a large-screen display, and also provide a display control method and a display control program. <P>SOLUTION: The display control system having a plurality of displays includes: a task information acquisition means which obtains information on prescribed tasks related to content display whose execution is instructed by a user; a device information acquisition means 120 which acquires information on the plurality of displays; a state detection means 130 which detects information on the present use states of the plurality of displays; and a content control means 150 which determines displays which displays content corresponding to the prescribed tasks and/or the display areas of the displays from the plurality of displays on the basis of the information on the prescribed tasks, the information on the plurality of displays and the information on the present use states of the plurality of displays. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a display control system, a display control method, and a display control program.

  In recent years, prices of devices such as liquid crystal panels and semiconductors have fallen, and technologies such as PC (Personal Computer) graphic processing capability and tiling processing have evolved. Therefore, in the future, it is expected that large-screen displays having a large display area will be widely spread in public places such as offices, homes, and commercial facilities. In such a situation, it is important that the user can easily and efficiently browse and operate the content displayed on the large screen display.

  In a conventional desktop PC environment (including a multi-monitor environment in which multiple displays are connected to a single PC), the Macintosh (registered trademark) of Apple Inc., the Windows (registered trademark) of Microsoft Corporation, Linux, etc. Various operating systems (OS) are equipped with a GUI (Graphical User Interface) environment as standard for users to comfortably operate and control display content. Therefore, the user can easily and efficiently browse and operate content displayed on the display using an input device such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a touch panel.

  However, if CHI (Computer Human Interaction) technology based on GUI and input devices used in the conventional desktop environment is applied to a large screen display environment (an environment using a large screen display), New issues are likely to arise.

  First, there are problems related to the operability and visual effects of the displayed content. That is, when the content displayed on the large-screen display is operated with a mouse or a touch panel, it is difficult and time-consuming to access the content far from the user's position or to move the content over a long distance by a drag operation. In order to solve this, if the moving distance of the cursor is simply increased with respect to the unit operation amount of the mouse, it becomes difficult for the user to track the cursor. In addition, when a new content is displayed on the screen, an area that enters the user's field of view is relatively small with respect to the display area, which makes it difficult for the user to check the display position of the content.

  Other issues include issues related to display layout and task management / control. That is, especially when multiple users or groups share a large screen display environment, the display area per content decreases and content shielding (overlap) increases with the increase in the number of users or groups and the number of display contents. Or, there is a concern that an unfavorable situation such as a display environment inappropriate for the usage situation of the user and the nature of the task may occur. In addition, when a large-screen display environment is virtually formed by combining multiple display devices, the display layout can be appropriately controlled so that content is not displayed across the discontinuous boundaries between display devices. desirable.

  In view of the above problems, in a large-screen display environment, compared to a conventional desktop environment, an interface for comfortable operation of displayed content, visual feedback of operations on content, user and group task management, and Management and control of the content display layout will be more important.

  Conventionally, various inventions have been made to realize comfortable interaction between a user and a display device (including a large screen display).

  For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a technique for changing the scale of a display object based on the area occupied by the object in the work area on the screen. According to this, the entire screen is the root, and display objects such as windows and icons corresponding to the child are arranged on the root screen. The child window further has subordinate windows and icons. The window size is user programmable and each window has an independent scale factor. The scale ratio is determined so that the ratio of the total area of the display object inside the window area is constant or does not exceed a certain value.

Non-Patent Document 1 discloses a pointing technique for a large-screen display environment for achieving both user cursor tracking and long-distance cursor movement. Further, Non-Patent Document 2 discloses an interaction technique for copying and displaying an arbitrary window area on another window.
JP 2005-4396 A G. Robertson et al: "The Large-Display User Experience", IEEE Computer Graphics Vol. 25, No. 4 (2005) Desney S. Tan, Brian Meyers, Mary Czerwinski: "WinCuts: Manipulating Arbitrary Window Regions for More Effective Use of Screen Space", ACM CHI 2004

  As described above, in a large-screen display environment, the interface for comfortable operation of displayed content, visual feedback of operations on content, user and group task management, and content display layout, compared to the conventional desktop environment It is thought that management and control will be more important.

  However, the conventional technology (see Patent Document 1 and the like) attempts to solve some of them and cannot realize all of them.

  The present invention has been invented in order to solve this problem in view of the above points, and includes a display control system, a display control method, and a display control that realize a comfortable interaction between a user and a large screen display. The purpose is to provide a program.

  In order to achieve the above object, a display control system according to the present invention is a display control system having a plurality of display devices, and a task for acquiring information related to a predetermined task related to content display instructed by a user. Information acquisition means; device information acquisition means for acquiring information relating to the plurality of display devices; status detection means for detecting information relating to current usage status of the plurality of display devices; information relating to the predetermined task; Display device and / or display device to display content corresponding to the predetermined task from the plurality of display devices based on information on the display devices and information on the current usage status of the plurality of display devices Content control means for determining the area Door can be.

  In order to achieve the above object, the content control means in the present invention should display the content corresponding to the predetermined task based on the information on the predetermined task and the information on the plurality of display devices. The priority information related to the display device is created, and the display device and / or the display device that is to display the content based on the created priority information and information on the current usage status of the plurality of display devices. A display area can be determined.

  In order to achieve the above object, the information related to the predetermined task in the present invention includes the type of content corresponding to the predetermined task, the access authority to the content, the sharpness and saturation attributes of the content It can be configured to be information.

  Moreover, in order to achieve said objective, the information regarding the said some display device in this invention can be comprised so that it may be the information which concerns on the characteristic of each said some display device.

  In order to achieve the above object, the information on the current usage status of the plurality of display devices in the present invention is the display device already used in the display control system and / or the display area of the display device. It can be configured to be information relating to position and size.

  In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the situation detection means in the present invention further detects whether or not the user who has instructed execution of the predetermined task is a user who is using the display control system. When it is detected that the user who has instructed the execution of the predetermined task by the status detection means is a user who is using the display control system, the content control means The display device and / or the display area of the display device adjacent to the display area of the display device and / or the display device is configured to determine the display device to display the content and / or the display area of the display device. Can do.

  In order to achieve the above object, the display control system according to the present invention displays the content in a display device and / or a display area of the display device to display the content determined by the content control means. It can comprise so that it may further have the visual effect means which displays the visual effect which concerns.

  In order to achieve the above object, the visual effect means according to the present invention stops the visual effect by the visual effect means and displays the content determined by the content control means. Can be configured to provide.

  In order to achieve the above object, a display control method according to the present invention is a display control method in a display control system having a plurality of display devices, and a predetermined task related to content display instructed to be executed by a user. A task information acquisition step for acquiring information on the device, a device information acquisition step for acquiring information on the plurality of display devices, a state detection step for detecting information on the current usage status of the plurality of display devices, and the predetermined A display device to display content corresponding to the predetermined task from the plurality of display devices based on information on the task, information on the plurality of display devices, and information on a current usage status of the plurality of display devices; A content control step for determining a display area of the display device; It can be configured to have.

  In order to achieve the above object, the display control program in the present invention can be configured to be a display control program for causing a computer to realize the above display control method.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a display control system, a display control method, and a display control program that realize a comfortable interaction between a user and a large screen display.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[Embodiment]
(Display control system)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overview of a display control system in the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, the display control system 1 is configured to include large screen devices 11, 12, 13 (hereinafter, collectively referred to as “large screen device 10”) and a tile screen device 20.

  The large screen device 10 is a device equipped with a large (large screen) display device. The specifications such as the size, resolution, gradation, price, etc. of the display devices included in each large screen device 10 may be the same or different. That is, the display control system 1 can be configured by combining display devices having different specifications. Further, a display device in which a large screen is virtually formed by combining a plurality of display devices may be used. Furthermore, input devices (not shown) such as a touch panel, a keyboard, a mouse, a trackball, and a remote controller used for interaction with each large screen device 10 may also have different specifications.

  The tile screen device 20 is a device that configures one large screen by combining a plurality of small (small screen) display devices in a tile shape.

  As described above, the display control system 1 according to the present embodiment has a system configuration including at least one large screen device 10 (a display device included in the screen device 10) in a closed space.

  By the way, in such a display control system 1, it is desirable that the user can select an optimal large screen device 10 and an input device (not shown) as devices to be used according to his / her task and purpose.

  However, when multiple large-screen devices 10 and input devices with different specifications coexist, the user himself / herself performs the content display / operation in which display area of which large-screen device 10 in order to perform his / her own task. It is expected that it will be difficult to judge whether it should be done. In particular, when the display control system 1 is used simultaneously by a plurality of users or groups, it is expected that it will be extremely difficult for the user himself to perform such content display / operation and control related to the task.

  Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the hardware configuration, software configuration, and operation illustrated below solve such content display / operation and control related to tasks, and the like between the user and the large screen display. Comfortable interaction can be realized.

(Hardware configuration)
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the display control system according to the present embodiment. The large screen devices 11, 12, 13 and the tile screen device 20 shown in FIG. 2 correspond to the devices shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 2, the display control system 1 includes a large screen device 11, 12, 13, a tile screen device 20, and a back-end server 30 connected via a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network). .

  First, the large screen devices 11 to 13 will be described.

  The large screen device 11 is a device for displaying content desired by a user, and has a configuration including an LCD 11a, a touch panel 11b, a PC (Personal Computer) 11c, a sensor 11d, and the like.

  The LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 11a is a display device included in the large screen device 11. Here, for example, it is a large screen display device such as 45 inches. The touch panel 11b is an input device for the user to perform various operation inputs. Note that the display function of the LCD 11a and the operation input function of the touch panel 11b may be realized by a single device. The PC 11c is a general computer device having a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), and the like.

  The hardware configuration of the PC 11c will be described in more detail. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the PC. In FIG. 3, a PC 11c includes a CPU 21, an SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory) 22, a power source 23, an HDD 24, and an input interface (hereinafter, “interface” is abbreviated as “I / F”) connected to each other via a bus. ) 25, display I / F 26, network I / F 27, serial I / F 28, DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) -ROM (Read Only Memory) drive 29, and the like.

  The CPU 21 is a central processing unit that controls each device (LCD 11a, touch panel 11b, sensor 11d, etc.) connected to the PC 11c. The SDRAM 22 is a storage device that temporarily stores various data (information) for the CPU 21 to perform processing. The power source 23 is a device that converts electricity input from an outlet or the like so that the PC 11c can use the electricity. The HDD 24 is a storage device that stores an OS (Operating System) 24a and various programs 24b that are activated on the PC 11c.

  The input I / F 25 is an input interface device for connecting an input device such as the touch panel 11b. The display I / F 26 is an interface device for connecting a display device such as the LCD 11a. The network I / F 27 is an interface device for connecting to a network such as a LAN. The serial I / F 28 is an interface device for connecting a peripheral device having a communication function such as a sensor 11d described later. The DVD-ROM drive 29 is a device that reads various programs 24b and the like stored in a storage medium such as a CD and a DVD.

  The PC 11c has been described above, but the same applies to the PC 12c and PC 13c in FIG.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the sensor 11d uses the large screen device 11 (whether there is a user who is using the large screen device 11 before the large screen device 11, and if there is a user, etc. For example, an ultrasonic location sensor or the like that functions as a transmission means for transmitting the detection result by the detection means to the PC 11c. When the sensor 11d is an ultrasonic location sensor and a user standing in front of the large screen device 11 holds an ultrasonic ID tag in which his / her user ID is recorded, the sensor 11d is recorded in the ultrasonic ID tag. The user is detected by reading the user ID, and the position of the user is detected based on the difference between the transmission time and the arrival time of the ultrasonic wave from the ultrasonic ID tag.

  The configuration of the large screen device 11 has been described above. The configuration of the large screen devices 12 and 13 in FIG. 2 is the same as that of the device 11 except that the large screen device 13 has a PDP (Plasma Display Panel) 13a as a display device. To do.

  Next, the tile screen device 20 will be described.

  The tile screen device 20 is, for example, for collectively controlling the display contents and operation inputs of each large screen device 10, and includes a plurality of display devices, LCDs 20a to 23a, and a plurality of input devices, a touch panel 20b. ˜23b, PC 20c, sensor 20d.

  In the present embodiment, the LCD 20a and the touch panel 20b among the plurality of display devices and input devices are display devices unique to the tile screen device 20 (for example, a 17-inch small (small screen) device) and input devices. On the other hand, other display devices LCD21a to LCD23a are tiled display devices (for example, 17-inch small (small) (small) (small), respectively, to display the same display contents as those displayed on the LCDs 11a, 12a, and PDP 13a. Device). Similarly, touch panels 21b to 23b as other input devices are input devices having functions similar to those of the touch panels 11b to 13b, respectively.

  The PC 20c is a general computer device similar to the PC 11c in FIG. In the PC 20c, the display I / F 26 is assumed to be equipped with a graphic controller that supports multiple monitors. Further, the input I / F 25 supports input devices such as the touch panels 11b to 13b and a trackball 20e described later.

  The sensor 20d is a detection device such as an ultrasonic location sensor, similar to the sensor 11d described above. The trackball 20e is a type of input device for a user to input an operation.

  Although the tile screen device 20 has been described above, the tile screen device 20 may include an input device (not shown) such as a keyboard. Further, by providing the tile screen device 20, the user can collectively control display contents and operation inputs of each large screen device 10 on the tile screen device 20.

  Next, the back end server 30 will be described.

  In FIG. 2, the back-end server 30 is configured to have a server PC 30c. The back-end server 30 functions as a Web server that provides a Web service to the large screen device 10 and the tile screen device 20, and also has a function as an information storage unit that stores various contents and system setting information.

  The server PC 30c manages various information necessary for content display / operation and control related to tasks in the display control system 1, and is managed by the server PC 30c in response to a service request from the large screen device 10 or the tile screen device 20. A device that provides information handling services. Although the server PC 30c is not shown in FIG. 1, it may be installed in any place as long as it is connected to the large screen device 10 and the tile screen device 20 via a network such as a LAN.

  Heretofore, each device constituting the display control system 1 has been described. Here, it is assumed that a common group ID is set in advance for each device constituting the display control system 1. This is for forming a common space in which various devices can freely communicate with each other. In addition, it is possible to obtain the positional relationship of each device (for example, in FIG. 1, the large screen device 11 and the large screen device 12 are arranged so as to be orthogonal to each other). It is. That is, it is assumed that each large screen device 10, tile screen device 20, and back-end server 30 can acquire the mutual positional relationship at an arbitrary timing.

(Software configuration)
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a software configuration of the display control system according to the present embodiment. Here, the software configuration of the large screen device 10 or the tile screen device 20 (hereinafter referred to as “screen device 40” when referring to either the large screen device 10 or the tile screen device 20) and the back-end server 30 Give an explanation.

  4, the screen device 40 includes a control unit 110, a device acquisition unit 120, a status detection unit 130, a menu display unit 140, a content control unit 150, and a Web client unit 160. Further, the back-end server 30 includes a Web service unit 310 and a database 320. The functions of these functional units are functions realized by various programs 24b stored in the screen device 40 or the HDD 24 (see FIG. 3) of the back-end server 30.

  Hereinafter, each functional unit in FIG. 4 will be described.

  The control unit 110 performs control related to the overall operation of the screen device 40 based on communication of commands and data between the device acquisition unit 120 and the content control unit 150. Note that control related to the operation of the screen device 40 may be performed based on command or data communication with a control unit (not shown) of another screen device 40.

  The device acquisition unit 120 acquires information about devices included in the screen device 40. Specifically, information about devices such as a display device (LCD 11a and the like) and an input device (touch panel 11b and the like) included in the screen device 40 is acquired. The device-related information includes various attribute values such as the display device name for the display device, the resolution and gradation of the display device, and the input device type for the input device. Since acquisition of information regarding such devices can be easily performed by using middleware that is standardly installed in the OS 24a, detailed description thereof is omitted here.

  The status detection unit 130 relates to the current usage status of the screen device 40 (whether there is a user who is using the screen device 40 before the screen device 40, and who is the user if there is any). Detect information. Specifically, detection is performed based on a signal transmitted from a detection device (sensor 11d or the like) included in the screen device 40.

  The menu display unit 140 displays a menu on the screen device 40. Specifically, when a predetermined input is made, a menu screen (see FIGS. 17 to 19 and the like) serving as a usage guide for the screen device 40 is displayed on a display device (LCD 11a and the like) provided in the screen device 40. The predetermined input is, for example, when the input device is a touch panel, a non-content display area where no content is displayed on the touch panel is pressed (contacted) by the user.

  The content control unit 150 performs control related to content (display content) to be displayed on the screen device 40. For example, when a user intends to display predetermined content on the screen device 40, the predetermined content is acquired from the database 320 of the backend server 30 via the Web client unit 160, and the content and visual effects are The image is displayed on a display device (LCD 11a or the like) included in the screen device 40. In addition, task information acquisition means for acquiring information related to a predetermined task related to content display instructed to be executed by the user (information related to the start of an application such as a Web browser, a whiteboard, and a mailer, and a display instruction for a document) is included. It can also be configured as follows.

  The web client unit 160 communicates commands and data with the web service unit 310 described later. Here, it is performed based on various commands from the device acquisition unit 120 to the content control unit 150. In the present embodiment, the description will be made assuming that HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) is used as the communication protocol between the Web client unit 160 and the Web service unit 310, but the present invention is not limited to this case.

  The web service unit 310 communicates commands and data with the web client unit 160. Here, processing such as acquisition / update / registration / deletion of data managed in the database 320 is performed in response to a service request from the Web client unit 160, and the processing result is converted into data in HTML format or XML format. Return to 160.

  FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram relating to data communication between the Web client unit and the Web service unit. First, the Web client unit 160 establishes a TCP session with the Web service unit 310 and transmits an HTTP request message related to the service request as shown in FIG. The web service unit 310 that has received the HTTP request message transmits a response message as shown in FIG. 5B to the web client unit 160 according to the content of the HTTP request message.

  Returning to FIG. 4, the database 320 is a data management means operable by, for example, SQL for managing various data used in the display control system 1. The various data includes information related to devices included in each screen device 40 configuring the display control system 1, information related to the usage status of the screen devices 40, and the like. Hereinafter, specific examples of data managed by the database 320 will be described with reference to FIGS.

(Data managed in the database)
Here, as a specific example of data managed by the database 320, an outline of each table shown in FIGS. 6 to 12 and a meaning of each column constituting the table will be described.

(Display table for managing information about display devices)
FIG. 6 is a table (display table) for managing information related to display devices included in the screen device. This table is used to centrally manage information related to display devices included in the large screen device 10 or the tile screen device 20.

  The ID (primary key) column in FIG. 6 is an ID value for uniquely identifying a record stored in this table (a value is automatically assigned by the database control program when a new record is created). . The name column is the name of the display device. The width column is the number of pixels in the horizontal direction of the display device. The height column is the number of pixels in the vertical direction of the display device. The size column is the size (in inches) of the display device. The bits column is the number of bits of each pixel of the display device. The color column is an enumeration value indicating the color format of each pixel of the display device. In the case of monochrome, "GRAY" is assumed to be "RGB" in the case of RGB color. The host column is the host name (or IP address) of the PC connected to the display device.

(Input device table that manages information related to input devices)
FIG. 7 is a table (input device (input_device) table) for managing information on input devices included in the screen device. This table is used to centrally manage information related to input devices included in the large screen device 10 or the tile screen device 20.

  The ID (primary key) column in FIG. 7 is an ID value for uniquely identifying a record stored in this table (a value is automatically assigned by the database control program when a new record is created). . The name column is the name of the input device. The type column is an enumerated value indicating the type of the input device. Here, "TP" is assumed for a touch panel, "KB" is assumed for a keyboard, "MOUSE" is assumed for a mouse, and "TB" is assumed for a trackball. The host column is the host name (or IP address) of the PC connected to the input device.

(Status table that manages information about display control system usage)
FIG. 8 is a table (status table) for managing the usage status of the display control system. This table is used for registering or acquiring the current usage status of the display control system 1, and also used as log data indicating the past usage status (that is, usage history). FIG. 9 is a table for supplementarily explaining the table of FIG.

  The ID (primary key) column in FIG. 8 is an ID value for uniquely specifying the record stored in this table (a value is automatically assigned by the database control program when a new record is created). . The start column is data of the start date and time of use of the display control system 1. The end column is data on the end date and time of use of the display control system 1. Here, for example, “1970-01-01 09:00:00” is set as the default value of the date and time data. In this case, if the data of the current start date and time of use is set in the start column and the default value is set in the end column, the use is not finished, that is, currently in use. Means that.

  The userlist column in FIG. 8 is text data describing users who are using or have used the display control system 1. As shown in FIG. 9A, the data format of the text data is a data format having a structure in which user elements (<user id = “XXX” />) having ID attributes are arranged inside. The ID attribute (for example, 3001, 3002) corresponds to a user ID managed for each user in the display control system 1. Details will be described later with reference to FIG. When the value of the ID attribute is empty, it indicates that a user who does not have his own user ID, that is, a user who does not have an ultrasonic ID tag is currently using or has used it.

  The Screen column is text data describing information about a display area, such as information about a display device that is being used or used in the display control system 1 and the range of the display area at the time of use. As shown in FIG. 9B, the data format of the text data includes a display element (<display id = "XXX">) having an ID attribute therein and a child element (display element in the display element). This is a data format of a structure in which left elements, top elements, right elements, bottom elements, (<left> 960 </ left>, etc.) are arranged, for example, the data shown in FIG. This indicates that the right half of the display device and the left half of the display device with ID 3 are used, where the ID is the ID value managed in the display device ID column in the display table. It corresponds.

  As described above, by using the status table described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9, the display control system 1 can handle a complicated display area that spans a plurality of display devices, and displays each display. The current or past usage status of the device can be managed.

(User table for managing information about users)
FIG. 10 is a table (user table) for managing information related to users who use the display control system. This table is used to centrally manage information related to users who use the large screen device 10 or the tile screen device 20.

  The ID (primary key) column in FIG. 10 is an ID value (for example, an ID value such as an employee number) for uniquely identifying a record stored in this table. The name column is the full name of the user. The passwd column is a password given to the user for use of the display control system 1. A symbol string in which a password is hash-coded can be stored. The email column is the user's email address. The org_ID (foreign key) column is an ID value of a group (organization) to which the user belongs. This is a foreign key that refers to the primary key (ID) of a table that separately manages group IDs and names.

(User ID table for managing user IDs and user IDs recorded on ultrasonic ID tags in association with each other)
FIG. 11 is a table (user ID (usID) table) for managing the user ID managed in the display control system in association with the user ID recorded in the ultrasonic ID tag.

  The ID (primary key) column in FIG. 11 is the ID value of the user ID stored in the ultrasonic ID tag held by the user. The user_ID (external key) column is the ID value of the user managed in the display control system 1, and is managed in association with the user ID stored in the ultrasonic ID tag. It is also a foreign key that refers to the primary key (ID column) of the user table in FIG.

  Note that the situation detection unit 130 of FIG. 4 uses the user ID table and uses the screen device 40 based on a signal transmitted from a detection device (such as the sensor 11d) included in the screen device 40. Can be detected.

(Document table for managing information about documents)
FIG. 12 is a table (document table) for managing information related to documents. This table is for managing documents displayed in the display control system 1. Although details will be described later, here, for each document, access authority to the document, sharpness and saturation of the document are associated with each other and managed.

  The ID (primary key) column in FIG. 12 is an ID value for uniquely identifying the record stored in this table (a value is automatically assigned by the database control program when a new record is created). . The title column is text data for indicating an outline of the document. It may be directly input by the user at the time of registration of the document, or text excluding the extension from the file name of the document may be automatically input. The url column is text data indicating a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the document. If the document is not a file itself but a link to a file or a web page, the text data can be registered. The Mime-type column is text data representing the MIME (Multipart Internet Mail Extension) type of the document. The owner (foreign key) column is the ID value of the user who is the owner of the document, and is a foreign key that refers to the primary key (ID column) of the user table in FIG.

  The access column is an enumerated value indicating access (read / write) authority to the document. The value is "PRIVATE" when only the owner of the document can access, "GROUP" when only a user belonging to the same group as the owner can access, and "PUBLIC" when anyone can access. .

  The sharpness column is an enumerated value indicating the sharpness of the document. When the sharpness of the document is high, “HIGH” is taken, “LOW” is taken when it is low, and “MID” is taken otherwise. Note that the sharpness of a document is determined based on a frequency spectrum obtained by performing FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) when the document is newly registered and when the registered document is updated. Also, if the document is a link to a file or Web page, a null value can be registered in this column.

  The color column is an enumeration value indicating the saturation of the document. If the saturation of the document is high, "HIGH" may be used, "LOW" if the saturation is low, "MID" if the document is medium, "GRAY" if the document is monochrome, etc. it can. Note that the saturation of a document is determined based on the result of extracting a color histogram from the document when the document is newly registered and when the registered document is updated. Also, if the document is a link to a file or Web page, a null value can be registered in this column.

  The data managed by the database 320 has been described above with reference to FIGS. Here, when such data is communicated between the Web client unit 160 and the Web service unit 310, for example, data in the XML format shown in FIG. 13 is used.

(Data structure of data communicated between the Web client part and the Web service part)
FIG. 13 is an example of a data structure of data communicated between the Web client unit and the Web service unit. Here, a data structure when data managed in the display table of FIG. 6 is communicated will be described as an example.

  First, a case where a single record of an arbitrary table managed in the database 320, here, data in a record having an ID value of 1 in the display table of FIG. 6 is described in XML format data will be described as an example. The data structure is as shown in FIG. That is, after the XML declaration (which can be omitted), the first level whose element is the table name (display here) and the second column whose element is the column name (name, width,...) Of the table. A tree structure with successive levels.

  Subsequently, a case will be described as an example where a plurality of records of an arbitrary table managed in the database 320, in this case, data in records whose ID values are 1 and 2 in the display table of FIG. To do. The data structure is as shown in FIG. In other words, after the XML declaration (which can be omitted), the first level whose elements are a table name (display here) plus a specified character string (here "_list") and the above two element levels Is a tree structure that is followed by a second level and a third level.

(Control of data managed in database)
Further, according to the present embodiment, the Web service unit 310 assigns a unique path to data managed in an arbitrary record or an arbitrary column on the database 320, and obtains, updates, and newly creates the data. -Deletion is performed by HTTP GET / PUT / POST / DELETE methods. Therefore, the implementation is applicable to REST (REpresentational State Transfer). Hereinafter, the details of each method will be described.

(Acquisition of data managed by database 320)
First, an HTTP GET method used for realizing a function as an acquisition means for acquiring data managed in the database 320 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining the GET method.

  When acquiring predetermined data registered in a predetermined table on the database 320, the message header of the HTTP request message (see FIG. 5 (1)) transmitted from the Web client unit 160 to the Web service unit 310 is used. , “GET / (table name of acquisition target (table_1 in FIG. 14) / ID value of acquisition target (ID_1 in FIG. 14) / column name of acquisition target (c in FIG. 14)” is described. Does not describe anything.

  Then, the Web service unit 310 that has received such an HTTP request message acquires the corresponding data in the corresponding table on the database 320 according to the content of the message. That is, the column of the acquisition target column name specified in the record (ID_1 in FIG. 14) of the specified acquisition target ID value in the acquisition target table (table_1 in FIG. 14) specified in the message header (in FIG. 14). Data of c) (val_1c in FIG. 14) is acquired. Subsequently, the acquired value is converted into XML format data shown in a tree structure and described in the message body of the response message. Finally, the data is transmitted to the Web client unit 160. As a result, the screen device 40 can acquire data managed in the database 320.

  "Get target ID value" in "GET / (get target table name) / (get target ID value) / (get target column name)" described in the message header of the HTTP request message, It can also be configured such that the “column name to be acquired” can be omitted.

  If "Collecting target column name" is omitted, the Web service unit 310 acquires the values of all the columns of the specified ID target record of the acquiring target table, and sends them to the response message. In the message body. In particular, when a document table (see FIG. 12) is specified for “table to be acquired” and a predetermined character string (for example, “body”) is specified for “column name to be acquired”, the Web service unit 310 can be configured to acquire a content body corresponding to the ID value instead of XML data.

  When the status table (see FIG. 8) is specified in the “acquisition target table” and the “acquisition target ID value” is omitted, the Web service unit 310 displays the current usage status of the display control system 1, That is, it can be configured to acquire only records whose end column date is “1970-01-01 09:00:00”. When the other table is specified in the “table to be acquired” and the “ID value to be acquired” is omitted, the Web service unit 310 is configured to acquire all the records of the specified table. You can also

(About update of data managed in database 320)
Next, an HTTP PUT method used for realizing a function as an updating means for updating data managed in the database 320 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining the PUT method.

  When updating predetermined data managed in a predetermined table on the database 320, the message header of the HTTP request message (see FIG. 5A) that the Web client unit 160 transmits to the Web service unit 310 is used. , “PUT / (update target table name (table_1 in FIG. 15) / update target ID value (ID_2 in FIG. 15)” is described, and the updated data (value in column b in FIG. 15 is val_2b in FIG. 15). ', The value of column c is val_2c').

  Then, the Web service unit 310 that has received such an HTTP request message, in accordance with the content of the message, specifies the specified update target ID value (table_1 in FIG. 15) in the database 320. In FIG. 15, the data after updating the record of ID_2 (in FIG. 15, the value of column b is val_2b 'and the value of column c is val_2c') is set. Thereby, the screen device 40 can update the data managed in the database 320.

(About new creation of data managed by database 320)
Next, an HTTP POST method used for realizing a function as a new creation means for creating new data managed in the database 320 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining the POST method.

  When a new record is registered in a predetermined table on the database 320, the message header of the HTTP request message (see FIG. 5 (1)) transmitted from the Web client unit 160 to the Web service unit 310 is “POST / (Registered table name (table_1 in FIG. 16) ”is described, and data to be registered in the message body (in FIG. 16, the value of column a is val_3a, the value of column b is val_3b, the value of column c is val_3c) Described.

  Then, the Web service unit 310 that has received such an HTTP request message adds a new ID value to the table specified in the registration target table (table_1 in FIG. 16) on the database 320 according to the content of the message. A record having (ID_3 in FIG. 16) is created, and data to be registered in each column a, b, and c (val_3a, val_3b, and val_3c in FIG. 16) is set. Accordingly, the screen device 40 can newly create data managed in the database 320.

  After the registration, the web service unit 310 transmits a response message as shown in FIG. 17 to the web client unit 160. FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of a response message that the Web client unit receives from the Webs service unit.

  The location header of this response message can be configured to describe a URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) (http: // (omitted) display / xxxx in FIG. 17) of the newly created data. Thereby, the Web client unit 160 can know the ID value of the newly registered record with reference to the header of the received response message.

(About deletion of data on database 320)
Next, an HTTP DELETE method used for realizing a function as a deleting means for deleting data managed in the database 320 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 18 is a diagram for explaining the DELETE method.

  When deleting data from a predetermined table on the database 320, the message header of the HTTP request message that the Web client unit 160 sends to the Web service unit 310 contains “DELETE / (name of table to be deleted (in FIG. 18). table_1) / ID value to be deleted (ID_2 in FIG. 18) "is described. Nothing is described in the message body.

  Then, the Web service unit 310 that has received such an HTTP request message sends a deletion target ID value specified from the deletion target table (table_1 in FIG. 18) on the database 320 according to the content of the message. The record (ID_2 in FIG. 18) is deleted. Thereby, the screen device 40 can delete the data managed in the database 320.

  As described above, the acquisition, update, new creation, and deletion of the managed data of the data managed in the database 320 have been described, but it is essential for the HTTP request message that the Web client unit 160 sends to the Web service unit 310 If the item is not described, or the value such as the table name described in the path is invalid, the Web service unit 310 sends a response message with an error code to the Web client unit 160. Can be configured to.

[Operation of display control system]
Hereinafter, examples of various operations realized in the display control system 1 in the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Startup operation of screen device 40)
First, an operation when a power switch (not shown) of the screen device 40 is turned on will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 19 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of processing relating to power-on of the screen device.

  First, the control unit 110 is activated (S101). Here, when the power supply 23 of the screen device 40 is turned on, the control unit 110 and the Web client unit 160 are activated by the OS 24a. Thereafter, the control unit 110 generates an instance of the device acquisition unit 120.

  Subsequently, the process proceeds to step S102, and information on the device is acquired (S102). Here, the device acquisition unit 120 generated in step S101 displays information about the device (names of display devices included in the screen device 40, resolutions / gradations of the display devices, and various attribute values such as names and types of input devices). ) To get. Information about the acquired device is stored in the screen device 40.

  Subsequently, the process proceeds to step S103, and a device registration request is made (S103). Here, in order to register the information about the device acquired in step S102 in the back-end server 30, the device acquisition unit 120 passes the information about the device to the Web client unit 160 and also relates to the device to the Web client unit 160. A command is issued to newly register the information in the display table (see FIG. 6) and input device table (see FIG. 7) of the database 320.

  Subsequently, the process proceeds to step S104, and the POST method is performed (S104). Here, the Web client unit 160 that has received a command for new registration in step S103 performs a POST method (see FIG. 16) on the Web service unit 310. Specifically, the Web client unit 160 describes “POST / display” in the message header of the HTTP request message in accordance with the information about the device received in step S103, for example, in the case of information about the display device, and the message body Is sent to the Web service unit 310 in which XML-structured data having a tree structure, in which a first level having a table name as an element and a second level having a table column name as an element, are described.

  Subsequently, the process proceeds to step S105, and new data registration is performed (S105). Here, the Web service unit 310 that has received the HTTP request message in step S104 registers a new record in the table on the database 320 according to the content of the message. That is, a record having a new ID value is created in the registration target table specified in the message, and data (display device or input device attribute information) to be registered is set in each column of the record.

  When the screen device 40 is activated by the processing described above, information related to devices such as a display device and an input device connected to the activated screen device 40 is registered in the back-end server 30.

  Note that the processing according to steps S103 to S105 is repeated as many times as the number of display devices and input devices connected to the activated screen device 40. In this case, the device acquisition unit 120 internally stores the ID value of the newly registered record included in the header of the response message received by the Web client unit 160 from the Web service unit 310.

(Operation related to starting a new task)
Subsequently, an operation when starting a new task (starting of an application or the like, display of a document or the like) in the display control system 1 after the screen device 40 is started will be described.

  First, a menu screen displayed by the menu display unit 140 of the screen device 40 prior to the operation when starting a new task will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining the transition of the menu screen.

  In the state in which the screen device 40 is activated, the operation shown in FIG. 20A, that is, a predetermined input operation (such as a user pressing the non-content display area of the display device included in the activated screen device 40, or a mouse click operation) is performed. Then, the menu display unit 140 displays a top menu screen for a usage guide for the screen device 40.

  FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an example of the top menu screen. The top menu screen illustrated in FIG. 21 is provided with buttons as instruction input means for inputting execution instructions of various tasks in order to realize a comfortable interaction between the user and the screen device 40.

  The “open document” button is an instruction input means for instructing display / operation of a document managed by the back-end server 30. The “open web browser” button is an instruction input means for causing the screen device 40 to display a web browser. The “use whiteboard” button is an instruction input means for using a whiteboard application that realizes a handwriting function such as a pen operation or a touch operation on the screen device 40. Further, the “open mailer” button is an instruction input means for reading and writing mails by executing and displaying the mailer on the screen device 40.

  The “Close” button is an instruction input unit for ending the display of the top menu screen and continuing to use the screen device 40. The “end” button is an instruction input unit for ending use of the screen device 40.

  In addition, the top menu screen illustrated in FIG. 21 may be configured to display the user name (“Mr. A” in FIG. 21). A mechanism related to this display will be described more specifically. When the detection device included in the screen device 40 is an ultrasonic location sensor and a user using the screen device 40 holds an ultrasonic ID tag in which his / her user ID is recorded, the situation detection unit 130 Reads the user ID recorded in the ultrasonic location sensor. Thereafter, in order to acquire the name of the user specified from the user ID, the Web client unit 160 is instructed to acquire the name of the user corresponding to the user ID from the user table of the database 320 (see FIG. 10). To do.

  Then, the Web client unit 160 that has received a command related to acquisition of the user name performs a GET method on the Web service unit 310. Since the details of the GET method have been described above, detailed description will not be given here, but the name of the corresponding user is acquired from the user table on the database 320 (see FIG. 10). The message display unit 140 displays the acquired user name as shown in FIG. If the user name information cannot be acquired, a message indicating that the user is operating may be displayed.

  When the “open document” button is pressed on the screen shown in FIG. 21 (the operation shown in FIG. 20B), the menu display unit 140 changes the screen to the document selection menu screen (FIG. 22). .

  FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating an example of a document selection menu screen. In the document selection menu screen illustrated in FIG. 22, only the documents for which the user who has pressed the “Open Document” button among the documents managed in the document table of the database 320 (see FIG. 12) has access authority are displayed. Are listed at the bottom of the screen in order of date of update.

  Processing relating to such document list display will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 23 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of processing relating to document list display. Here, a process of displaying a list of documents to which the user who has pressed the “open document” button at the time of transition to the document selection menu screen of FIG. 22 has access authority will be described.

  First, a document list request is made (S201). Here, when the “open document” button is pressed, the menu display unit 140 informs the Web client unit 160 to obtain a list of documents managed in the document table (see FIG. 12) of the database 320. Order.

  Then, it moves to step S202 and performs a GET method (S202). Here, the Web client unit 160 that has received the command relating to the document list request in step S201 performs the GET method for the Web service unit 310. Specifically, in response to the command received in step S201, a message in which “GET / document” is described in the message header of the HTTP request message is transmitted to the Web service unit 310.

  Subsequently, the process proceeds to step S203, and data acquisition is performed (S203). Here, the Web service unit 310 that has received the HTTP request message in step S202 has an XML format in which the values of all the columns of all the records managed in the document table (see FIG. 12) of the database 320 are shown in a tree structure. Get the data. Further, the Web service unit 310 transmits the acquired XML format data to the Web client unit 160.

  Subsequently, the process proceeds to step S204, where access authority is checked (S204). Here, the device acquisition unit 120 determines whether the user has access authority for each of the documents acquired in step S203. That is, each document is determined based on the values of the owner element and access element (see FIG. 12) of each record described in the XML format data acquired in step S203 and the user ID of the user detected by the status detection unit 130. Whether or not the user has access authority is determined, and only documents accessible by the user are selected. Note that the determination result of the presence / absence of access authority here differs depending on whether or not the organization to which the owner belongs and the organization to which the user belongs, but this is related to the org_ID in the user table (see FIG. 10). This can be realized by transmitting a request for acquiring a column value to the Web service unit 310. Further, when the user ID is not detected by the situation detection unit 130, only the document whose access element value is “PUBLIC” is selected.

  Subsequently, the process proceeds to step S205, and a document list is displayed (S205). Here, the device acquisition unit 120 displays the documents selected by the processing according to step S204 in a list format at the bottom of the screen of the document selection menu screen as shown in FIG.

  By the processing described above, at the time of transition to the document selection menu screen of FIG. 22, only documents for which the user who has pressed the “Open Document” button has access authority are displayed in a list.

  Here, the title part of the document displayed in a list can be configured to be a hyperlink. Here, when the user selects any of these titles (the operation shown in FIG. 20C), the menu display unit 140 ends the menu display in accordance with the selection operation, and notifies the control unit 110 of the completion. To do. Then, the control unit 110 activates the content control unit 150 to display the content body of the selected document. On the other hand, a “to top menu” button as an instruction input means for returning to the top menu is displayed at the lower right of the screen. When the button is pressed (the operation shown in FIG. 20D), the menu display unit 140 is displayed. Displays the top menu screen of FIG. 21 again.

(Operation related to content display)
Returning to FIG. 21, when the “Open Web Browser” button, “Use Whiteboard” button, or “Open Mailer” button is pressed on the screen shown in FIG. The operation in the case where is selected will be described.

  In this way, when the user gives an instruction to execute a predetermined task related to content display (activation of an application such as a web browser, whiteboard, mailer, etc., display of a document, etc.), that is, the content display instructed by the user When the information related to the predetermined task is acquired, the menu display unit 140 ends the menu display according to the execution instruction, and notifies the control unit 110 to that effect. Then, the control unit 110 activates the content control unit 150 and displays the corresponding content with a visual effect.

  Processing related to such content display will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 24 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of processing related to content display.

  First, a table is created (S301). Here, the content control unit 150 creates a table used for determining a display device and / or a display area of the display device on which content corresponding to the execution instruction is to be displayed. Specifically, a display device and / or a display device on which content is to be displayed is determined based on the attribute of the content corresponding to the execution instruction and information on the display device and the input device that can be used in the display control system 1. Create a table to do. An example of the created table is shown in FIG.

  FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating an example of a table for determining a display area related to content display. In the table shown in FIG. 25, contents other than the contents corresponding to the execution instruction are also listed for convenience of explanation.

  In FIG. 25, the content column is the type of content corresponding to the execution instruction. The sharpness column, the color column, and the access column indicate the sharpness, saturation, and access level of the content corresponding to the execution instruction, respectively. The columns from the first candidate to the fourth candidate are columns for managing information related to the display device on which content is to be displayed, together with the priority order information. The columns from the first candidate to the fourth candidate are used when determining the display device and / or the display area of the display device in step S302 described later. The priority order information here is determined according to the type of content, the access authority to the content, the sharpness of the content, and the attribute information of the saturation. Hereinafter, an example of the determination method will be described.

  For example, in the case of a document in which the content's sharpness column is “HIGH” and the color column is “GRAY”, the large screen device 11 that is monochrome but has the largest number of pixels (the display device with ID value 1 in FIG. 6). ) Is determined as the first candidate display device with the highest priority. When the content color column is “HIGH”, the large-screen device 13 having the highest image quality (the display device with ID value 3 in FIG. 6) is the first candidate display device with the highest priority. As determined.

  Also, for example, when the content access column is a “PRIVATE” document or a mailer application, the tile screen device 20 (display device with ID values 4 to 7 in FIG. 6) has a small display area due to the confidentiality of the content. Is determined as the first candidate display device with the highest priority.

  In order to create such a table of FIG. 25, the content control unit 150 acquires information (display device size, number of pixels, color characteristics, etc.) regarding display devices that can be used in the display control system 1. There is a need. This operation is performed by the HTTP request message in which the Web client unit 160 writes the command “GET / display HTTP / 1.1” in the message header to obtain a list of currently available display devices from the display table of the database 320 (see FIG. 6). Is transmitted to the Web service unit 310.

  Similarly, the content control unit 150 can acquire information on input devices that can be used in the display control system 1 via the Web client unit 160. Originally, the table shown in FIG. 25 should be created in consideration of information related to the input device, but there is not much difference between the input devices connected to each large screen device 10 or tile screen device 20 as shown in FIG. In some cases, the information regarding the input device may not affect the determination of the display area.

  Subsequently, the process proceeds to step S302, and the display area is determined (S302). Here, the content control unit 150 determines a display device with a high priority in the table of FIG. 25 as a display device and / or a display area of the display device that should display the content. In the present embodiment, the display device and / or the display area of the display device is automatically determined according to the current usage status of the display control system 1.

  That is, if the content is, for example, a black and white CAD drawing document (sharpness column is “HIGH”, color column is “GRAY”, access column is “GROUP”), it is originally the first candidate in FIG. The display device having the ID value of 1 is determined as the display device to be used. When the display device is being used by another user, the display device having the ID value of 2 in FIG. 6 as the second candidate is displayed. Decide as a display device to be used.

  Here, acquisition of information related to attributes such as sharpness, saturation, and access level of the document is performed by the Web client unit 160 from the document table (see FIG. 12) of the database 320 (for example, ID value 10001). This is realized by sending an HTTP request message in which a command “GET / document / 10001” for obtaining information on the message is written in the message header to the Web service unit 310. In addition, acquisition of information regarding the current usage status of the display control system 1 is performed by the command “GET / status HTTP / 1.1, which is used by the Web client unit 160 to acquire the current usage status from the status table (see FIG. 8) of the database 320. This is realized by transmitting an HTTP request message in which “is written in the message header to the Web service unit 310.

  Subsequently, the process proceeds to step S303, and the content main body is acquired and copied (S303). Here, if the processing related to the display of the content is the case where the “Open Web Browser” button, “Use Whiteboard” button, or “Open Mailer” button is pressed, this step is not performed. To Step S304. When the processing related to the display of the content is a case where any of the listed documents as shown in FIG. 22 is selected, the content control unit 150 displays the content body of the selected document in the database 320. In order to obtain it from the document table, the Web client unit 160 is instructed to that effect. Upon receiving the command, the Web client unit 160 writes the command “GET / document / 10001 / body” for acquiring the content body of the document (for example, ID value 10001) from the document table (see FIG. 12) of the database 320 in the message header. The HTTP request message is transmitted to the Web service unit 310. When the acquisition of the content body of the document is completed, the content control unit 150 copies the content and uses the screen device 40 having a display device that is used as the display area determined in step S302 described above (hereinafter, this operation). (In this example, “candidate device”). However, when the candidate device and the screen device 40 being operated by the user (hereinafter referred to as “operation device” in this operation example) are the same, this operation is not performed.

  Subsequently, the process proceeds to step S304, and the application is activated (S304). Here, the content control unit 150 on the operation device and the candidate device displays an application (document or the like) corresponding to a task (execution of a web browser, whiteboard, mailer or other application, display of a document or the like) instructed by the user. If it is displayed, the application for performing the display) is started.

  Subsequently, the process proceeds to step S305 to start displaying the visual effect (S305). Here, along with the activation of the application according to step S304, the content control unit 150 on the operation device and the candidate device displays a visual effect such as animation on each display device.

  FIG. 26 is a diagram for explaining an example of the visual effect. As shown in FIG. 26, on the operation device, an animation in which the application screen moves in the direction of the candidate device is displayed, and a button as an input means for forcibly ending the display of the visual effect (FIG. 26). Then a thumbtack icon) is displayed. On the candidate device, an animation in which the application screen gradually zooms up is displayed. These visual effects are automatically terminated when a predetermined finite display time (for example, 5 seconds) elapses. These visual effects can be realized using GDI (Graphic Device Interface) +, which is an API (Application Programming Interface) related to graphic processing of Windows (registered trademark).

  Subsequently, the process proceeds to step S306, where it is determined whether or not the thumbtack icon has been pointed (S306). Here, it is determined whether or not there is an instruction input for forcibly terminating the display of the visual effect. If YES in step S306 (S306, YES), the process proceeds to step S307. If NO in step S306 (S306, NO), the process proceeds to step S309.

  When the process proceeds to step S307, the visual effect is forcibly terminated (S307). Here, the content control unit 150 on the operation device forcibly ends the display of the visual effect. Subsequently, the control unit 110 on the operation device notifies the control unit 110 on the candidate device that the thumbtack icon has been pointed. After that, the control unit 110 on the candidate device that has received the notification that the thumbtack icon has been pointed out forcibly ends the display of the application and the visual effect on the content control unit 150 of the own device, and in step S303 Command to delete content copied / transmitted by operation device.

  Further, the process proceeds to step S308 to confirm the display of the content (S308). Here, when the thumbtack icon in FIG. 26 is pointed, the content control unit 150 on the operation device displays the application screen at a predetermined position on the display device of the operation device. On the other hand, when a predetermined display time has elapsed since the start of display of the visual effect, the content control unit 150 on the candidate device displays an application screen at a predetermined position on the display device of the candidate device. In this case, the content control unit 150 on the operation device terminates the application and deletes the content acquired from the database 320.

  The content control unit 150 on any of the devices on which the application screen is displayed indicates the current usage status of the display control system 1 in the status table (see FIG. 8) of the database 320 via the Web client unit 160. Register new. Specifically, for example, when the ID value of the user is identified as 3001 by an ultrasonic ID tag, and the display device used as the display area is the entire display device having the ID value 1 in FIG. The client unit 160 uses the command “POST / status HTTP / 1.1” for registering the current usage status in the status table of the database 320 (see FIG. 8) in the message header and the XML format data as shown in FIG. The HTTP request message written in the body is transmitted to the Web service unit 310. FIG. 27 is an example of data in XML format for newly registering the current usage status of the display control system.

  As a result, the current usage status is newly registered in the status table of the database 320. Here, the date and time when the Web client unit 160 generated the HTTP request message is displayed in the start column of the data newly registered in the status table, and the userlist element is a child of the userlist element written in the message body of the HTTP request message. In the screen column, child elements of the screen element written in the message body of the request message are set. Further, the content control unit 150 internally stores the value of the new ID (see FIG. 17) included in the message header of the response message to the POST method.

  When the process proceeds to step S309, the process according to steps S306 to S307 is performed unless the user points the thumbtack icon until the predetermined display time (here, 5 seconds) elapses from the visual effect display start process according to step S305. Repeat the process.

  Through the processing described above, the display control system 1 according to the present embodiment executes the execution when a predetermined task (start of an application such as a Web browser, whiteboard, or mailer, or display of a document) is instructed. The content corresponding to the instruction is displayed with a visual effect. Therefore, the following advantages are exhibited.

  The advantage is that the system side automatically moves the content over a long distance by optimally controlling the display of the content according to the task that the user intends to start and the current usage status of the display control system 1. The display control system 1 can be comfortably and comfortably used without troublesome work such as adjustment of the display area and troublesomeness such as obstructing other users in use.

  As another advantage, by displaying the visual effect on the display device of the operation device and the candidate device, the user can easily confirm where the content is to be displayed. At this time, other users who are using the display control system 1 may not be obstructed by the tasks they are performing.

  Furthermore, as another advantage, by displaying a thumbtack icon for using the content on the operation device, the user does not accept the automatic control of the content display area by the system, and the work environment is based on his / her intention. You may be able to choose.

(Operation related to starting a new task by a user who already uses the display control system 1)
Next, an operation when the user who already uses the display control system 1 tries to start the new task by displaying the top menu screen of FIG. 21 again will be described.

  Here, any of the following conditions (that is, a predetermined input operation (such as a user pressing the non-content display area of the display device included in the activated screen device 40, a mouse click operation, etc.) within a given display area) Occurrence or a record in which the user ID detected by the status detection unit 130 is registered as “in use” in the status table (see FIG. 8) of the database 320 (that is, the value of the end column is “1970”). -01-01 09:00:00 ") matches that of the user registered in the userlist column), the menu display unit 140 of the screen device 40 indicates that the display of the top menu is" already It is determined that it was made by the user who is currently using.

  The operation of the menu display unit 140 at this time is the same as the operation described above, and a description thereof is omitted here. On the other hand, the operation of the content control unit 150 is partly different from the above-described operation (processing related to steps S302 and S308), and therefore the difference will be described below.

  First, the process according to step S302 will be described. In the above description, the content control unit 150 determines the display area based on the current usage status of the display control system 1 in addition to the table of FIG. 25. Here, the display area currently used by the user is also selected. The display area is determined in consideration.

  For example, when the user using the display device having the ID value 2 in FIG. 6 presses the “Open Mailer” button on the top menu screen, the display device of the tile screen device 20 is the first in the table of FIG. In consideration of the fact that it is more preferable to have an adjacent display device be used, it is determined that a part of the display device with ID value 1 is set as a new display area.

  Next, the process according to step S308 will be described. In the above description, the content control unit 150 on the candidate device or the operation device on which the application screen is displayed is displayed on the status table of the database 320 (see FIG. 8) via the Web client unit 160 as the current usage status of the display control system 1 Was newly registered. Here, before the current usage status of the display control system 1 is newly registered in the database 320, the usage status data already registered in the database 320 is updated.

  For example, if the content control unit 150 stores a value of 1002 as the ID value of the record on the status table corresponding to the current usage status of the user, the Web client unit 160 uses the command PUT / status / 1002. Is written in the message header of the HTTP request message, the status element is the first level, XML data with the end element at the second level is written in the body of the HTTP request message, and this request message is sent to the Web service unit 310 Then, the record in the status table of the database 320 is updated. At this time, the date and time when the Web client unit 160 generates the request message is set in the end column of the record.

(About termination of use)
Returning to FIG. 21, the operation when the “end” button is pressed on the screen shown in FIG. 21 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 28 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of processing related to the termination operation of the screen device. As described above, the “end” button is an instruction input unit for ending use of the screen device 40.

  First, the situation detection unit 130 is activated (S401). Here, when the “Finish” button is pressed, the control unit 110 generates an instance of the situation detection unit 130.

  Subsequently, the process proceeds to step S402, where a status update request is made (S402). Here, the status detection unit 130 generated in step S401 passes a list of ID values of usage status stored internally at the time of content display on the screen device 40 to the Web client unit 160, and at the same time, the Web client unit 160 Is instructed to update the value of the end time (end column) of the record having the ID value in the status table of the database 320 (see FIG. 8).

  Then, it moves to step S403 and performs the PUT method (S403). Here, the web client unit 160 that has received the update command in step S402 performs a PUT method on the web service unit 310. Specifically, the Web client unit 160 describes “PUT / status / ID value /” in the message header of the HTTP request message, the status element is the first level in the message body, and the end element is in the second level. The data describing the data in the XML format having (the value of the end element is the time of the screen device 40 when the request message is transmitted) is transmitted to the Web service unit 310.

  Subsequently, the process proceeds to step S404, and data is updated (S404). Here, the Web service unit 310 that has received the HTTP request message in step S403 updates the table on the database 320 according to the content of the message. That is, the value in the end column of the usage status having the ID value described in the request message in the status table on the database 320 is updated at the time described in the request message.

  The processes according to steps S402 to S403 are repeated as many times as the number of usage status data stored in the status detection unit 130.

  Note that the “Finish” button can be enabled only when the status detection unit 130 detects that there is a user or group that is using the display area.

(About the termination operation of the screen device 40)
Finally, the operation when the power switch (not shown) of the screen device 40 is turned off will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 29 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of processing relating to power-off of the screen device.

  First, the control unit 110 is activated (S501). Here, when the power supply 23 of the screen device 40 is turned off, the control unit 110 and the Web client unit 160 are activated by the OS 24a. Thereafter, the control unit 110 generates an instance of the device acquisition unit 120.

  Subsequently, the process proceeds to step S502, and a device deletion request is made (S502). Here, the device acquisition unit 120 generated in step S501 obtains an ID value based on the device list stored in the device in order to delete information related to its own device registered in the backend server 30 in the startup operation described above. Obtain and pass it to the Web client unit 160 and instruct the Web client unit 160 to delete the record having the ID value in the display table (see FIG. 6) and / or the input device table (see FIG. 7) of the database 320. To do.

  Subsequently, the process proceeds to step S503, and the DELETE method is performed (S503). Here, the Web client unit 160 that has received the instruction for deletion in step S502 performs the DELETE method for the Web service unit 310. Specifically, according to the ID value based on the information related to the device received in step S502, for example, when the deletion target is information related to the display device, the Web client unit 160 adds “DELETE” to the message header of the HTTP request message. The content described as “/ display / ID value” is transmitted to the Web service unit 310.

  Subsequently, the process proceeds to step S504 to update data (S504). Here, the Web service unit 310 that has received the HTTP request message in step S503 determines the table to be deleted specified in the database 320 according to the content of the message (the display table in FIG. 6 or the input device table in FIG. 7). Delete the record to be deleted specified from.

  When the power of the screen device 40 is turned off by the processing described above, information about devices such as a display device and an input device connected to the screen device 40 is deleted from the back-end server 30. Note that the same operation as in FIG. 29 is also performed when the power supply 23 is turned off while the screen device 40 is being used.

  Note that the processing in steps S501 to S504 is repeated as many times as the number of devices stored in the device acquisition unit 120 of the screen device 40. In addition, when the above operation ends, the operations of the control unit 110 and the Web client unit 160 also end.

(Summary)
Heretofore, various examples of operations realized in the display control system 1 according to the present embodiment have been described. According to such a display control system 1, an interface for comfortably operating displayed content, visual feedback of operations on content, user and group task management, and content display layout management and control can be performed. Therefore, a comfortable interaction between the user and the large screen display can be realized.

  In the above-described embodiment, the wall-type device as shown in FIG. 1 has been described as an example of the display control system 1. However, the table top is provided with an input device such as a display device or a touch panel on a work desk. Of course, it can also be applied to mold devices. Various types of display devices, input devices, and sensors other than those described in the above embodiments can be used.

  In the above embodiment, the Web service unit 310 and the database 320 are operating in the back-end server 30, but a configuration may be adopted in which both are operated on different PCs.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the database 320 on the back-end server 30 has been described as managing information on the usage status and devices of the display control system 1, but each screen device 40 includes a database and a service program. In addition, it may be an autonomously distributed form in which data is exchanged with each other in P2P (pier-to-pier).

  In the above embodiment, the configuration in which each screen device 40 has a PC has been described as an example, but the relationship between the screen device 40 and the PC may not be one-to-one. For example, by integrating multiple PCs connected to the network, a virtual high-performance PC (grid, etc.) is formed, and this virtual high-performance PC is used in display devices that are used in a large screen display environment. Even if the configuration is such that the input devices are centrally managed, it is within the scope of the present application.

  In the above embodiment, it has been described that the display area to be used by the user is determined based on the current usage status of the display control system 1 and the attribute of the document or application that the user is trying to open. May use different decision rules and inference rules.

  Also, for example, in the above embodiment, it has been described that the display area is determined by creating a table as shown in FIG. 25 in advance. For example, a function that takes several parameters indicating attributes of a document or application as arguments is defined. However, another form such as determining the display area based on the return value may be used. Further, other items such as the reservation status of the large screen device 10 or the tile screen device 20 may be added to the determination of the display area. As described above, various display area determination rules and learning / inference algorithms can be used.

  Although the present invention has been described based on the embodiments shown above, the present invention is not limited to the requirements shown here, such as combinations with other elements listed in the above embodiments. With respect to these points, the present invention can be changed within a range that does not detract from the gist of the present invention, and can be appropriately determined according to the application form.

It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the display control system in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the display control system in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of PC. It is a figure which shows an example of the software configuration of the display control system in this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which concerns on the data communication between a Web client part and a Web service part. It is a table which manages the information regarding the display device with which a screen device is provided. It is a table which manages the information regarding the input device with which a screen device is provided. It is a table which manages the usage condition of a display control system. 9 is a table for supplementary explanation of the table of FIG. It is a table which manages the information regarding the user who uses a display control system. 7 is a table for managing a user ID managed in the display control system in association with a user ID recorded in an ultrasonic ID tag. It is a table for managing information about documents. It is an example of the data structure of the data communicated between a Web client part and a Web service part. It is a figure for demonstrating a GET method. It is a figure for demonstrating a PUT method. It is a figure for demonstrating the POST method. It is a figure which shows an example of the response message which a web client part receives from a web service part. It is a figure for demonstrating the DELETE method. It is a sequence diagram showing an example of processing related to power-on of the screen device. It is a figure for demonstrating the transition of a menu screen. It is a figure which shows an example of a top menu screen. It is a figure which shows an example of a document selection menu screen. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the process concerning the list display of a document. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the process which concerns on the display of a content. It is a figure which shows an example of the table for determining the display area which concerns on the display of a content. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of a visual effect. It is an example of the data of the XML format for newly registering the current usage status of the display control system. It is a sequence diagram showing an example of processing related to the end operation of the screen device. FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of processing relating to power-off of a screen device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Display control system 10 Large screen device 20 Tile screen device 30 Backend server 40 Screen device 110 Control part 120 Device acquisition part 130 Status detection part 140 Menu display part 150 Content control part 160 Web client part 310 Web service part 320 Database

Claims (10)

A display control system having a plurality of display devices,
Task information acquisition means for acquiring information on a predetermined task related to content display instructed by the user;
Device information acquisition means for acquiring information on the plurality of display devices;
Status detection means for detecting information on the current usage status of the plurality of display devices;
Based on the information on the predetermined task, the information on the plurality of display devices, and the information on the current usage status of the plurality of display devices, the content corresponding to the predetermined task should be displayed from the plurality of display devices. Content control means for determining a display device and / or a display area of the display device;
A display control system comprising: The content control means creates priority order information related to a display device on which content corresponding to the predetermined task should be displayed based on the information on the predetermined task and the information on the plurality of display devices,
The display device and / or the display area of the display device to display the content is determined based on the created priority order information and information on the current usage status of the plurality of display devices. Item 4. The display control system according to Item 1.   3. The information on the predetermined task is attribute information on content type corresponding to the predetermined task, access authority to the content, sharpness, and saturation of the content. The display control system described.   The display control system according to claim 1, wherein the information related to the plurality of display devices is information related to characteristics of the plurality of display devices.   The information on the current usage status of the plurality of display devices is information related to the position and size of the display device and / or the display area of the display device already used in the display control system. The display control system according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The situation detection means further detects whether or not the user who has given the execution instruction for the predetermined task is a user who is using the display control system,
When it is detected that the user who has instructed execution of the predetermined task by the status detection means is a user who is using the display control system, the content control means is a display device that is already being used by the user. The display device adjacent to the display area of the display device and / or the display area of the display device is determined as a display device and / or a display area of the display device on which the content is to be displayed. The display control system according to any one of 1 to 5.   The display device for displaying the content determined by the content control unit and / or a visual effect unit for displaying a visual effect related to the display of the content in a display area of the display device. Item 7. The display control system according to any one of Items 1 to 6.   8. The visual effect unit according to claim 1, further comprising an instruction input unit for canceling the visual effect by the visual effect unit and displaying the content determined by the content control unit. The display control system according to any one of the above. A display control method in a display control system having a plurality of display devices,
A task information acquisition step of acquiring information about a predetermined task related to content display instructed by the user;
A device information obtaining step for obtaining information on the plurality of display devices;
A situation detecting step of detecting information on a current usage situation of the plurality of display devices;
Based on the information on the predetermined task, the information on the plurality of display devices, and the information on the current usage status of the plurality of display devices, the content corresponding to the predetermined task should be displayed from the plurality of display devices. A content control step for determining a display device and / or a display area of the display device;
A display control method comprising:   A display control program for causing a computer to realize the display control method according to claim 9.

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