JP2011061314A - Conference system, conference management device, terminal device, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technology for allowing an outline of participants of a conference to be easily obtained. <P>SOLUTION: A conference management device includes a participant information acquisition part, a classification part, and a display control unit. The participant information acquisition part acquires person information about a plurality of participants P11, P12, P13, P21, ... related to a conference. Each person information includes a face image, a name of the person, and information for classification (affiliation section information or the like). Also, the classification part classifies the plurality of participants into a plurality of groups ("product planning division", "development division", "production headquarter", "quality assurance division", or the like) according to the information for classification (affiliation section information or the like). The display control unit generates display data for a display screen DP having a participant information display region RG2. In the participant information display region RG2, face images G11, G12, G13, G21, ... of the plurality of participants P11, P12, P13, P21, ... are classified into a plurality of groups along with respective name of person displays N11, N12, N13, N21, ..., respectively, and are placed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a conference system and related technology.

  In a conference system, there is a system that transfers a captured video (moving image) related to a conference participant via a network.

  However, in a system that transfers and displays a moving image related to a conference participant, the image quality is generally not high (depending on the status of the communication line). Therefore, a moving image in the system is not always easy to see. Conversely, if the image quality is to be improved, the amount of transfer data increases and the communication load increases.

  In order to solve such a problem, there is a technique for displaying a face image (still image) of a conference participant without transferring a moving image (see Patent Document 1). In this technique, instead of transferring a moving image, a face image (still image) of a conference participant is transferred to a client computer and displayed on a display unit of the client computer. According to this technology, since the face images (still images) of a plurality of participants are displayed without transferring a moving image having a large amount of data, it is possible to reduce the communication load. In Patent Document 1, the name of each participant is displayed together with the face image of each participant.

JP 2000-270305 A

  However, in a meeting in which a plurality of persons participate, the atmosphere of the meeting (specifically, the composition of the participants in the meeting (member structure) only by displaying the face images of the plurality of persons using the technology of Patent Document 1). Etc.) may be difficult to grasp. For example, there are situations in which it is difficult to immediately understand what kind of person is participating in each position.

  In addition, even if a name (person name) is added to the face image of each person and displayed, there is a situation where it is not immediately possible to know what kind of person is based on the name alone. For example, if a large number of people who are not acquainted (the first person to meet) are participating in the meeting, even if the names and face images of each person are listed on the display, any person will participate in the meeting. It is difficult to immediately know what is happening.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique that can easily grasp the outline of the conference participant configuration.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention of claim 1 is a conference management apparatus for acquiring personal information of a plurality of participants related to a conference and including personal information including face images, personal names, and classification information A person information acquisition means, a classification means for classifying the plurality of participants into a plurality of groups according to the classification information, and classifying the face images of the plurality of participants into the plurality of groups together with respective person names. And display control means for generating display data for a display screen having the arranged participant information display area.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the conference management apparatus according to the first aspect of the invention, the participant information display area has a group name display for displaying a group name of each of the plurality of groups. And

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the conference management apparatus according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, the display screen has a material display area for displaying a conference material in addition to the participant information display area. It is characterized by.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the conference management apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects of the invention, the classifying unit assigns the plurality of participants according to a place of participation regarding the plurality of participants. It is characterized by being classified into a plurality of groups.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the conference management apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects of the present invention, the classification means assigns the plurality of participants according to a department to which the plurality of participants belong. It is characterized by being classified into a plurality of groups.

  A sixth aspect of the present invention is the conference management apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects of the present invention, wherein the display control means displays a chairman display indicating that the conference is chaired by the plurality of participants. Is added to the face image of the chairman.

  A seventh aspect of the present invention is the conference management apparatus according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, wherein the display control means displays a material creator display indicating that the material creator is related to the conference, It is added to the face image of the material creator among a plurality of participants.

  The invention according to claim 8 is the conference management apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the display control means displays a person-in-charge display indicating that the person in charge is in charge of a predetermined role. It adds to the face image of the person in charge among the plurality of participants.

  The invention of claim 9 is the conference management device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising presence information acquisition means for acquiring presence status information regarding each participant of the conference, The display control means discriminates the presence person and the absence based on the presence status information, and among the plurality of face images related to the plurality of participants, the face image corresponding to the presence person and the absence The face image corresponding to the person is displayed separately.

  A tenth aspect of the present invention is the conference management apparatus according to any one of the first to ninth aspects, further comprising pros and cons information acquisition means for acquiring approval / disapproval information of each participant of the conference, wherein the display control is performed. The means discriminates the pros and cons of the specific matter based on the approval / disapproval information, and corresponds to the face image corresponding to the pros and the opponent among the plurality of face images related to the plurality of participants. It is characterized by displaying the face image separately.

  The invention of claim 11 is the conference management apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein speech request information acquisition means for acquiring speech request information by a specific participant among the plurality of participants, The display control means adds a message request display indicating that the user wants to speak at the conference to the face image of the specific participant.

  The invention of claim 12 is the conference management device according to any one of claims 1 to 11, further comprising a plurality of voice input means for inputting each speech voice of the plurality of participants, The display control means changes the display mode of the participant's face image corresponding to each utterance voice based on the volume information of each utterance voice detected by the plurality of voice input means.

  A thirteenth aspect of the present invention is the conference management apparatus according to any one of the first to twelfth aspects of the present invention, further comprising a plurality of voice input means installed for each participation place of the plurality of participants, The display control means changes the display mode of the participant's face image corresponding to the installation location of each voice input means based on the volume information detected by the plurality of voice input means.

  According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the conference management apparatus according to any one of the first to thirteenth aspects of the present invention, the material storage means for storing the material data relating to the conference and the operation input using the face image of the material creator In response, a material sending instruction acquisition means for obtaining an instruction to send the material data, and responding to the instruction to send the material data, the material data stored in the material storing means corresponds to the sending instruction person of the sending instruction. And a material sending control means for sending to the sending destination.

  According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in the conference management apparatus according to any one of the first to fourteenth aspects of the present invention, in response to an operation input using a face image related to a specific participant, an email message for the specific participant is sent An email creation instruction acquisition means for obtaining a creation instruction; and an email creation control means for generating email creation data in which an email address for the specific participant is designated as a destination address in response to the email creation instruction; It is further provided with the feature.

  According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in the conference management device according to any one of the first to fifteenth aspects, the attendance status information of each participant of the conference is stored in association with the audio data of the conference. The method further comprises first associating means.

  The invention according to claim 17 is the conference management apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 16, wherein the conference data is stored in association with the audio data of the conference in association with the approval / disapproval information of each participant of the conference. The association means is further provided.

  The invention of claim 18 is a program comprising: a) acquiring personal information of a plurality of participants related to a conference, including personal information including face images, personal names, and classification information; and b) the plurality of the personal information A step of classifying the participants into a plurality of groups according to the classification information; and c) a participant information display area in which the face images of the plurality of participants are classified and arranged in the plurality of groups together with the display of each person's name. Generating the display data for the display screen, and a program for causing a computer to execute the step.

  The invention of claim 19 is a terminal device in a conference system, wherein the participant information acquisition means acquires personal information of a plurality of participants related to the conference and includes personal information including face images and names, Display control means for generating display data of a display screen having a participant information display area in which participant face images are classified and arranged in a plurality of groups together with the display of each person's name, based on the person information; and Display means for displaying the display screen based on display data.

  The invention of claim 20 is a program comprising: a) obtaining personal information of a plurality of participants related to a meeting and including face images and names; b) based on the personal information; Generating display data for a display screen having a participant information display area in which the face images of the plurality of participants are arranged in a plurality of groups together with the display of each person's name. It is a program.

  The invention of claim 21 is a conference system, wherein the participant information acquisition means acquires personal information of a plurality of participants related to the conference and includes personal information including face images, personal names, and classification information; Classifying means for classifying a plurality of participants into a plurality of groups according to the classification information, and a participant information display area in which the face images of the plurality of participants are classified and arranged in the plurality of groups together with the display of each person's name Display means for displaying a display screen having the display screen.

  The invention according to claim 22 is a conference management device, wherein the participant information acquisition means acquires personal information of a plurality of participants related to the conference and includes personal information including face images, personal names, and classification information; Classifying means for classifying a plurality of participants into a plurality of groups according to the classification information, and a participant information display area in which the face images of the plurality of participants are classified and arranged in the plurality of groups together with respective person name displays And a print output means for printing out a print output screen.

  According to the invention described in claims 1 to 22, it is possible to easily grasp the outline of the participant configuration of the conference.

  In particular, according to the second aspect of the invention, it is possible to easily grasp the names of the groups.

  In particular, according to the third aspect of the invention, a high listability can be obtained.

  In particular, according to the invention described in claim 9, it is possible to easily grasp the participation status of a plurality of participants.

  In particular, according to the invention described in claim 10, it is possible to easily grasp the pros and cons of a plurality of participants.

  In particular, according to the invention described in claim 11, it is possible to easily grasp the person who wants to speak.

  In particular, according to the invention described in claim 12, it is possible to easily grasp the speaker.

  In particular, according to the invention described in claim 14, the conference material can be easily obtained.

  In particular, according to the inventions described in claims 16 and 17, it is possible to leave the conference status in an easily understandable form.

It is a system configuration figure showing an outline of a conference system concerning a 1st embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of a meeting management apparatus. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a part of the configuration of FIG. 2 in more detail. It is a figure which shows meeting reservation data. It is a figure which shows person data. It is a figure which shows a display screen. It is a figure which expands and shows a part of FIG. It is a figure which shows the display screen during attendance confirmation. It is a figure which shows the display screen during attendance confirmation. It is a figure which shows the display screen containing the display during speech. It is a figure which shows the display screen containing a speech wish display. It is a figure which shows the display screen containing a question wish display. It is a figure which shows the display screen containing a pros and cons display. It is a figure which shows material transmission operation. It is a figure which shows a mode that various information is linked | related with audio | voice data. It is a system configuration figure showing an outline of a conference system concerning a 2nd embodiment. It is a figure which shows a display screen. It is a figure which shows the display content of the operation panel at the time of attendance confirmation. It is a figure which shows the display content of the operation panel at the time of attendance confirmation. It is a figure which shows the display content of the operation panel at the time of attendance confirmation. It is a figure which shows the display content of the operation panel at the time of guest member registration. It is a figure which shows the display content of the operation panel at the time of guest member registration. It is a figure which shows the display content of the operation panel at the time of guest member registration. It is a figure which shows an example of an employee ID card. It is a figure which shows the display content of the operation panel at the time of guest member registration. It is a figure which shows the display screen which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the display screen containing the display during speech. It is a figure which shows the display screen which concerns on a modification. It is a figure which shows the system configuration | structure which concerns on another modification. It is a figure which shows the functional block of the computer which concerns on another modification. It is a figure which shows a printed output material.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<1. First Embodiment>
<1-1. Outline of configuration>
FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an overview of a conference system 100 (100A) according to the first embodiment. The conference system 100 includes a conference management device 10 (specifically, 10b), a plurality of computers 70, and a plurality of display devices 80. Note that the conference management apparatus 10 also functions as a server computer, and the computer 70 also functions as a client computer.

  The conference management device 10, the plurality of computers 70, and the plurality of display devices 80 are connected to each other via a network NW and can perform network communication. Here, the network NW is configured by a LAN, a WAN, the Internet, or the like. A connection form of each device to the network NW may be a wired connection or a wireless connection.

  A plurality of computers (for example, portable personal computers) 70 are possessed by individual participants of the conference, and each participant can use them individually. These computers 70 (70a, 70b,...) Are arranged at the participation place of each participant. For example, the computers 70a, 70b, and 70c are arranged in the meeting room MRa in Kyoto, the computers 70d, 70e, and 70f are arranged in the meeting room MRb in Osaka, and the computers 70g, 70h, 70i, and 70j are arranged in the meeting room MRc in Kobe. Is done. As described above, the plurality of computers 70 can be arranged at locations (remote locations) separated from each other in accordance with the participation location of the owner.

  Each computer 70 receives an image (particularly a still image) transmitted from the conference management apparatus 10 and displays it on the display unit of each computer, and transmits and receives audio information to and from the conference management apparatus 10. Is possible. The voice is input to each computer 70 using a voice input unit (such as a microphone) of each computer 70 and transferred to the conference management apparatus 10. Further, the audio is distributed (transmitted) from the conference management apparatus 10 to each computer 70 and is output using an audio output unit (speaker, headphones, etc.) of each computer 70.

  Thereby, each participant can browse an image (particularly a still image) distributed from the conference management apparatus 10 using the computer 70 to be used. Each participant can use his / her computer 70 to transmit his / her voice to other participants and listen to the voices of other participants.

  In addition, a plurality of display devices 80 (for example, a projector or a large display device) are each installed at a meeting place. For example, the display device 80a is disposed in the conference room MRa in Kyoto, the display device 80b is disposed in the conference room MRb in Osaka, and the display device 80c is disposed in the conference room MRc in Kobe. Each display device 80 can receive and display an image (particularly a still image) transmitted from the conference management device 10. Thereby, each participant can also browse images (particularly still images) distributed from the conference management device 10 using the display device 80.

  As described above, the conference system 100 is also expressed as a remote conference system that transmits images (particularly still images) and audio between a plurality of devices 10, 70, 80, and the like arranged at remote locations.

  The conference management apparatus 10 manages a conference (meeting) material (specifically, material data) DM. Further, as will be described later, the conference management apparatus 10 includes a plurality of display areas (in detail, including a material display area RG1 for displaying the material DM and a participant information display area RG2 for displaying a face image of the conference participant). Are combined with each other to generate a display screen DP (specifically, display data for the display screen DP) (see FIG. 6). Then, the conference management device 10 transmits display data for the display screen DP to each computer 70 and each display device 80. Then, on the display device 80 and the display unit of the computer 70, the display screen DP is displayed using the display data.

  In this embodiment, the conference management apparatus 10b is configured as an MFP (Multi Function Peripheral).

  2 and 3 are block diagrams showing a schematic configuration of the conference management apparatus (MFP) 10 (10b). FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a part of the configuration of FIG. 2 in more detail.

  As shown in the functional block diagram of FIG. 2, the conference management apparatus (MFP) 10 includes an image reading unit 2, a print output unit 3, a communication unit 4, a storage unit 5, an input / output unit 6, a controller 9, and the like. Various functions are realized by operating these parts in a complex manner.

  The image reading unit 2 is a processing unit that optically reads a document placed at a predetermined position of the MFP 10 and generates image data (also referred to as a document image) of the document.

  The print output unit 3 is an output unit that prints out an image on various media such as paper based on data related to a print target.

  The communication unit 4 is a processing unit capable of performing facsimile communication via a public line or the like. Furthermore, the communication unit 4 can perform network communication via the communication network NW. In this network communication, various protocols such as TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) and FTP (File Transfer Protocol) are used. By using the network communication, the MFP 10 can exchange various data with a desired destination. The MFP 10 can also send and receive e-mails using the communication unit 4.

  The storage unit (storage unit) 5 includes a storage device such as a hard disk drive. The storage unit 5 includes a conference information storage unit 5a, a person data storage unit 5b, and a material storage unit 5c. The conference information storage unit 5a stores conference reservation data TB1 (FIG. 4) in which various information related to the conference is defined. The person data storage unit 5b stores person data TB2 (FIG. 5) in which various information related to a plurality of persons is defined, and the material storage unit 5c stores material data of the conference material DM.

  The conference material DM (specifically, the material data) is created, for example, as presentation data in a predetermined format and stored in the material storage unit 5c.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the conference reservation data TB1 includes a conference reservation number (“RS123456”), a conference name (“budget conference”), a date (“April 1”), and a time zone (“09:00:00”). ~ 11: 00 "), conference rooms used (" MRa, MRb, MRc "), participants (" P11, P12, P13, P21, P22, P23, P31, ... ") Yes. The conference reservation data TB1 also includes the chairperson of the conference, the creator of the materials related to the conference (material creator), and other information. In the conference reservation data TB1 of FIG. 4, it is registered that the person P21 (“Kawada”) is the chairperson, and the person P12 (“Yamamoto”) and the person P23 (“Kawakami”) are the document creators. ing. Further, as other information, it is registered that the person P23 ("Kawakami") is a development leader and the person P12 ("Yamamoto") is a planner. The conference reservation data including these various types of information is registered in advance in the conference management apparatus 10 in response to an operation input from the chairperson or the like under the control of the conference information registration control unit 21 (see FIG. 3).

  Furthermore, the person data TB2 has various information regarding a plurality of persons as shown in FIG. Specifically, various information such as a user name, a user ID, a site name, a department name, an e-mail address, and a face image (image data) are stored in a plurality of persons P11, P12, P13, P21, P22, P23, P31, Registered for each of the ...

  The input / output unit 6 includes an operation input unit 6a that receives input to the MFP 10 and a display unit 6b that displays and outputs various types of information. Specifically, the MFP 10 is provided with an operation panel 63 (see FIG. 1) and the like. The operation panel (touch screen) 63 is configured by embedding a piezoelectric sensor or the like in a liquid crystal display panel, and functions as a part of the display unit 62 and also functions as a part of the operation input unit 61.

  The controller 9 is a control device that is built in the MFP 10 and controls the MFP 10 in an integrated manner. The controller 9 is configured as a computer system including a CPU and various semiconductor memories (such as a RAM and a ROM). The controller 9 implements various processing units by executing predetermined software programs (hereinafter also simply referred to as programs) stored in a ROM (for example, an EEPROM) in the CPU.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the controller 9 includes a conference information registration control unit 21, an attendance information acquisition unit (attention status acquisition unit) 22, an approval / disapproval information acquisition unit 23, and a speech request information acquisition unit 24. A question request information acquisition unit 25, a material sending instruction acquisition unit 26, a mail creation instruction acquisition unit 27, and a speech information acquisition unit 28 are provided. The controller 9 further includes a participant information acquisition unit 31, a conference material acquisition unit 32, a classification unit 33, a display control unit 34, an audio data control unit 35, a material transmission control unit 36, and a mail creation control unit 37. The operation of each of these processing units will be described in detail later.

<1-2. Display screen>
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the display screen DP displayed on the display unit (liquid crystal display or the like) of the computer 70. The display screen DP is generated by the conference management apparatus 10 and then transmitted to the computers 70 and the display device 80 via the network and displayed on the computers 70 and the like.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the display screen DP has a material display area RG1, a participant information display area RG2, and a command designation area RG3. The material display area RG1 is a larger area than the other two areas RG2 and RG3, and is arranged near the center (slightly upper left) of the screen DP. Further, the participant information display area RG2 is arranged below the material display area RG1, and the command designation area RG3 is arranged on the right side of the material display area RG1.

  Here, since the material display area RG1 and the participant information display area RG2 are arranged in the same display screen DP, each participant can view various information regarding the participant while viewing the material in the screen DP. (Participant composition, person in charge display, presence information, etc.) (described later) can also be obtained from the same screen DP. In short, the display screen DP has a high listability.

  The material display region RG1 is a region for displaying the conference material DM. In the material display area RG1, a conference material DM is displayed based on presentation data in a predetermined format. Specifically, an appropriate page in the meeting material DM is selected by the presenter (material creator or the like), and the selected page is displayed (updated display) in the material display area RG1. Note that the page selection operation (page update operation) of the conference material DM may be performed by the presenter using an operation screen (not shown) different from FIG. Alternatively, a page selection button may be provided in the material display area RG1, and a page selection operation may be performed in response to a pressing operation of the button. The material display area RG1 (specifically, the display data) is generated by the display control unit 34 based on the page data of the material DM acquired by the conference material acquisition unit 32.

  The participant information display area RG2 is an area for displaying various information (face images, person names, departments, participating bases, etc.) regarding the conference participants. In the participant information display area RG2, face images G11, G12, G13, G21, G22, G23, G31,... Of a plurality of participants P11, P12, P13, P21, P22, P23, P31,. .. are arranged together with respective personal name displays N11, N12, N13, N21, N22, N23, N31,.

  Further, these face images G11, G12, G13, G21, G22, G23, G31,... Are classified and arranged for each participating base. In the participant information display area RG2, classification name display (base display) L1, L2, and L3 (each character of “Kyoto Satellite”, “Osaka Development Center”, and “Kobe Factory”) by each participating base is supported. Is placed below the face image.

  Specifically, as shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 7, on the left side of the participant information display area RG2, face images G11 of three participants P11, P12, and P13 who participate in the conference in “Kyoto Satellite”. , G12, and G13 are arranged together with respective personal name displays N11, N12, and N13 (characters “Yamada”, “Yamamoto”, and “Yamashita”). In the center of the participant information display area RG2, face images G21, G22, and G23 of three participants P21, P22, and P23 who participate in the conference at the “Osaka Development Center” are displayed with their respective name displays N21, N22, N23 (characters “Kawada”, “Kawamoto”, and “Kawakami”) are arranged together. Further, on the right side of the participant information display area RG2, the face images G31, G32, G33, G34 of the four participants P31, P32, P33, P34 participating in the conference at the “Kobe Factory” are displayed with their respective person names N31. , N32, N33, N34 (characters “Machida”, “Matsuda”, “Matsumoto”, “Matsushita”).

  In this way, in the participant information display area RG2, a plurality of participants are classified into a plurality of groups (“Kyoto Satellite”, “Osaka Development Center”, “Kobe Factory”) according to the base information, and the plurality of participants The person's face image and each person name display are arranged for each of the plurality of groups. According to such a display, it is possible to easily grasp the outline of the participant configuration (member configuration) of the conference. More specifically, it is possible to easily grasp how many people are participating in which base. In particular, group name displays L1, L2, and L3 (“Kyoto Satellite”, “Osaka Development Center”, and “Kobe Factory”) are arranged in the vicinity of the face images of each group in the participant information display area RG2. Therefore, it is possible to easily grasp the name (and thus the contents) of each group. Note that the group name display may not be displayed when the group name is easily estimated from the names of the persons in the group.

  Further, these face images G11, G12, G13, G21, G22, G23, G31,... Are also classified and arranged for each department to which they belong. In addition, in the participant information display area RG2, classification name display (department display) SC1, SC2, SC3, SC4 (“product planning department”, “development department”, “production headquarters”, “certification department” by each department “)” Is arranged above the corresponding face image. In addition, the classification by “affiliation department” in this embodiment is also expressed as a lower-level classification (secondary classification) with respect to the classification by “participating place (base)”.

  Specifically, as shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 7, on the left side of the participant information display region RG2, face images G11, P11, P12, and P13 of the three participants P11, P12, and P13 belonging to the “product planning department”. G12 and G13 are arranged together with respective personal name displays N21, N22, and N23 (“Yamada”, “Yamamoto”, and “Yamashita”). Further, in the center of the participant information display area RG2, face images G21, G22, G23 of three participants P21, P22, P23 belonging to the “development department” are displayed as personal name displays N21, N22, N23 (“ Kawada "," Kawamoto "," Kawakami "). Further, on the right side, face images G31, G32, and G33 of three participants P31, P32, and P33 belonging to “Production Headquarters” are displayed with their respective name displays N31, N32, and N33 (“Machida” and “Matsuda”). , “Matsumoto”). Then, on the far right side of the participant information display area RG2, a face image G34 of one participant P34 belonging to the “certification department” is arranged together with the person name display N34 (“Matsushita”).

  In this way, in the participant information display area RG2, a plurality of participants are assigned to a plurality of groups (“Product Planning Department”, “Development Department”, “Production Headquarters”, “Quality Inspection Department”) according to the department to which they belong. The face images of the plurality of participants and the respective person name displays are arranged for the plurality of groups. According to such a display, it is possible to easily grasp the outline of the participant configuration (member configuration) of the conference. Specifically, it is possible to easily grasp how many persons in which department are participating. In particular, in the vicinity of each group's face image in the participant information display area RG2, group name displays SC1, SC2, SC3, SC4 (“Product Planning Department”, “Development Department”, “Production Headquarters”, “ Since the “certification part”) is arranged, it is possible to easily grasp the name (and therefore the contents) of each group without guessing the group name from the names of the persons in the group. Note that the group name display may not be displayed when the group name is easily estimated from the names of the persons in the group.

  In addition, although the case where the plurality of participants are classified according to both the participation place (base) regarding the plurality of participants and the department to which the plurality of participants belong is illustrated here, the present invention is not limited thereto. . For example, you may make it classify | categorize only by the one of the both.

  In the participant information display area RG2, among the face images of a plurality of participants, the face image G21 of the person P21 who is the chairperson ("Kawada") is displayed as "chairperson display" indicating the chairperson of the meeting. "Is added. Here, the face image G21 is surrounded by a rounded rectangular figure D1, and the character “Chairperson” is added in the vicinity of the face image G21 to indicate that the person P21 corresponding to the face image G21 is the chairperson. Yes. According to this, it is possible to easily determine which person is the chairperson.

  Furthermore, among the face images of a plurality of participants, a “material creator display” indicating that the person is the document creator is added to the face image G12 of the person P12 (“Yamamoto”) who is the document creator. ing. Here, by adding an icon image D2 simulating “material” in the vicinity of the face image G12, it is indicated that the person P12 corresponding to the face image G12 is the material creator. Similarly, the document creator display D2 is also added to the face image G23 of the person P23 (“Kawakami”) who is the document creator. According to such a material creator display D2, it is possible to easily determine which person is the material creator.

  Among the face images of a plurality of participants, the face image of the person in charge (business person in charge) who is in charge of a predetermined role (business etc.) has a “person in charge display” indicating that the person is in charge. Added. Here, by adding the character D3 of “planner” in the vicinity of the face image G12, it is indicated that the person P12 corresponding to the face image G12 is a planner. Similarly, by adding the character D4 “development leader” in the vicinity of the face image G23, it is indicated that the person P23 corresponding to the face image G23 is the development leader. According to such a person-in-charge display, it is possible to easily understand what kind of person each person is.

  Although not shown here, among the face images of a plurality of participants, the job title of the job title is added to the face image of the job title of the job title as “title manager display”. It may be.

  The participant information display area RG2 (in detail, the display data) is generated as follows.

  First, the participant information acquisition unit 31 of the conference management apparatus 10 performs information on conference participants (specifically, participant name, chairperson information) based on the conference reservation data TB1 stored in the conference information storage unit 5a. , Material creator information, person in charge information, etc.). Based on the person data TB2 stored in the person data storage unit 5b, the participant information acquisition unit 31 also includes face images (specifically, image data of the face images) corresponding to each participant, classification information (bases). Information, department information). In this manner, the participant information acquisition unit 31 acquires personal information (face images, names of people, classification information, and the like) of a plurality of participants.

  Further, the classification unit 33 of the conference management apparatus 10 classifies the plurality of participants into a plurality of groups based on the classification information (base information, department information) acquired by the participant information acquisition unit 31.

  Then, the display control unit 34 of the conference management apparatus 10 displays the display data related to the participant information display region RG2 as described above based on the classification result by the classification unit 33 and the various information acquired by the participant information acquisition unit 31. Is generated.

  The command designation area RG3 (FIG. 6) is an area where icon images for designating execution of various commands related to the conference are displayed. In the command designation area RG3, a plurality (eight) of icon images C1 to C8 (specifically “attended”, “absent”, “speech”, “question”, “document” for executing various commands related to the conference are displayed. ”,“ Mail ”,“ Agree ”,“ Reverse ”) are arranged in the vertical direction. These various command execution designation operations will be described in detail later.

  Such a command designation region RG3 (specifically, display data thereof) is generated by the display control unit 34.

  Then, the display control unit 34 of the conference management apparatus 10 combines the material display area RG1, the participant information display area RG2, and the command designation area RG3 to generate a display screen DP (specifically, display data thereof). . The generated display screen DP (display data) is output to each computer 70 or the like via the communication control unit 38 or the like.

<1-3. Operation>
Also, in this conference system, various operations such as attendance confirmation operation, speaker display operation, speech request display operation, question request display operation, approval / disapproval confirmation operation, material sending instruction operation, mail creation instruction operation and recording operation are executed. The Hereinafter, these various operations will be described sequentially.

<Attendance confirmation>
First, the attendance confirmation operation will be described.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the display screen DP in a state immediately after the person P21 finishes attendance confirmation. In FIG. 8, the face image of each person is shown in a gray-down (light color display) state, as can be seen from comparison with FIG. In FIG. 8 and the like, the gray-down face image is represented by a broken line.

  The person P21 is present in the display screen DP by dragging his / her face image G21 onto the presence icon image C1 and dropping it on the presence icon image C1 ( Here, attendance) can be input to the conference system 100. Specifically, in response to such an icon operation, the computer 70 (70d) of the person P21 receives the input, and the input is transferred from the computer 70 (70d) to the conference management apparatus 10. When the presence information acquisition unit 22 of the conference management apparatus 10 receives and acquires the input information, the presence information acquisition unit 22 recognizes the presence of the person P21 in response to the reception operation of the input information. When the presence of the person P21 is recognized, the display control unit 34 again generates the display screen DP in which the face image G21 in the display screen DP is changed from the gray-down display to the normal display. Then, the regenerated display screen DP (see FIG. 8) is transmitted again to each computer 70 and displayed on the display unit of each computer 70.

  Similarly, the person P11 drags his / her face image G11 onto the presence icon image C1 in the display screen DP (FIG. 8) and drops it onto the presence icon image C1, thereby causing the person P11 to drop the person P11. Being present (in this case, being present) can be input to the conference system 100. Specifically, in response to such an icon operation, the computer 70 (70a) of the person P11 receives the input, and the input is transferred from the computer 70 (70a) to the conference management apparatus 10. When the presence information acquisition unit 22 of the conference management apparatus 10 receives and acquires the input information, the presence information acquisition unit 22 recognizes the presence of the person P11 in response to the operation of receiving the input information (attention information). When the presence of the person P11 is recognized, the display control unit 34 generates the display screen DP (FIG. 9) in which the face image G11 in the display screen DP is changed from the gray-down display to the normal display. Then, the regenerated display screen DP is transmitted again to each computer 70 and displayed on the display unit of each computer 70. As a result, a display screen DP as shown in FIG. 9 is displayed on the display unit of each computer 70.

  Thereafter, attendance can be confirmed by each person performing similar attendance input processing. For example, in FIG. 6, the face images of all prospective participants (participating registrants) are normally displayed (non-gray-down display), and all the prospective participants are present (present). Has been. When there are absent persons, the face images of the absent persons are displayed in gray on the display screen DP, so that the absent persons can be easily grasped.

  In this way, the presence status (attendance status) can be confirmed. In particular, the display control unit 34 of the conference management apparatus 10 discriminates the presence person and the absence based on the presence status information (in this case, the presence information), and among the plurality of face images regarding the plurality of participants, A face image corresponding to an occupant and a face image corresponding to an absent person are displayed separately. Therefore, each participant can easily grasp the participation status (attendance information) of a plurality of participants.

  Further, it is preferable that the presence status confirmation is executed in real time not only before the conference starts but also during the conference.

  Specifically, when a person leaves for some reason during a meeting, the person drags his face image onto the absent icon image C2 and drops it onto the absent icon image C2. Thus, it may be input to the conference system 100 that the person is away. In this case, the same operation as described above is executed.

  For example, the person P33 leaves the person P33 by dragging his / her face image G33 onto the absent icon image C2 and dropping it on the absent icon image C2 in the display screen DP (FIG. 6). Can be input to the conference system 100.

  In response to such an icon operation, the computer 70 (70i) of the person P33 receives the input, and the input is transferred from the computer 70 to the conference management apparatus 10. When the presence information acquisition unit 22 of the conference management apparatus 10 receives and acquires the input information (separation information), the presence information acquisition unit 22 recognizes the absence of the person P33 in response to the input information reception operation. When the absence of the person P33 is recognized, the display control unit 34 again generates the display screen DP (see FIG. 11) in which the face image G33 in the display screen DP is changed from the normal display to the gray-down display. . Then, the regenerated display screen DP is transmitted again to each computer 70 and displayed on the display unit of each computer 70. As a result, for example, a display screen DP as shown in FIG. 11 is displayed on the display unit of each computer 70.

  On the other hand, when the person P33 returns to the seat again, the presence information input operation, the re-creation operation of the display image DP, and the like are performed as in the attendance confirmation.

  According to such an aspect, a presence person and an absence person are discriminated based on presence status information (attention information and / or absence information) acquired in real time, and a plurality of faces related to a plurality of participants Among the images, the face image corresponding to the occupant and the face image corresponding to the absent person are displayed separately. Therefore, each participant can easily grasp the real-time participation status (present / separated) regarding a plurality of participants.

<Speaker display>
Next, the operation after the start of the conference, specifically, the speaker display operation will be described.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display screen DP at a certain time after the start of the conference.

  FIG. 10 shows a situation where the person P23 who is the development leader speaks. At this time, the face image G23 of the person P23 is enlarged and displayed as compared with the state of FIG. 6, and the speaker is clearly shown. Such an enlarged display (also referred to as a speaker display) D5 or the like is realized as follows.

  First, it is determined whether or not the input level (volume level) of audio input to the audio input unit (internal microphone or the like) of each computer 70 at each time point is higher than a predetermined level. Then, among the plurality of computers 70, the computer 70 (70f) that has determined that a sound of a level higher than a predetermined level is input determines that the person P23 corresponding to the computer 70 (70f) is speaking. To do. Then, the computer 70 (70f) transmits the determination result to the conference management apparatus 10. In response to the reception operation of the determination result, the utterance information acquisition unit 28 of the conference management apparatus 10 recognizes that the person P23 (person corresponding to the computer 70f) is uttering ("person P23 is speaking"). To do. When the display control unit 34 recognizes that “the person P23 is speaking”, the display control unit 34 again generates the display screen DP in which the face image G23 corresponding to the person P23 is changed from the normal display to the enlarged display. Then, the regenerated display screen DP (see FIG. 10) is transmitted again to each computer 70 and displayed on the display unit of each computer 70. As a result, for example, a display screen DP as shown in FIG. 10 is displayed on the display unit of each computer 70.

  As described above, the display control unit 34 of the conference management apparatus 10 determines the facial image of the participant corresponding to each utterance voice based on the volume information of each utterance voice detected by each voice input unit of the plurality of computers 70. The display mode (here, the area (size) of the face image) is changed. For example, the face image G23 of the participant P23 corresponding to the computer 70f in which an audio input greater than a predetermined level is detected is enlarged. On the other hand, the face images of other participants are displayed in a normal size. According to such a display screen DP (FIG. 10), it is possible to easily grasp the speaker (the person who is speaking). Although the case where the speaker's face image is enlarged is illustrated here, the present invention is not limited to this, and the color or the like of the speaker's face image may be changed.

<Request to speak>
Next, a speech request display operation will be described.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a display screen DP at another time point. FIG. 11 also shows a situation where the person P23 who is the development leader speaks. At this time, the face image G23 of the person P23 is enlarged and displayed as in FIG. 10, and the speaker is clearly shown. As described above, at this time, the face image G33 is displayed in gray, indicating that the person P33 is away.

  In the situation of FIG. 11, the participants other than the person P23 display “speaking request display” indicating that he / she wants to speak (in other words, he wishes to speak) in the display screen DP. be able to.

  In FIG. 11, among the face images of a plurality of participants, a “speaker request display” indicating that a person wishes to speak is added to the face image G11 of the person P11 (“Yamada”) who is a speaker. Has been. Here, by adding an icon image D6 simulating “raising hands” in the vicinity of the face image G11, it is indicated that the person P11 corresponding to the face image G11 is a speech requester. According to such a speech request display D6, it is possible to easily grasp which person is a speech requester.

  When a person wishes to speak during a meeting, the person drags his / her face image onto the speech request icon image C3 and drops it onto the speech request icon image C3. It is possible to input to the conference system 100 that he / she wants to speak.

  For example, the person P11 drags his face image G11 onto the speech request icon image C3 in the display screen DP and drops it on the speech request icon image C3, thereby “the person P11 wishes to speak”. Is input to the conference system 100.

  In response to such an icon operation, the computer 70 (70a) of the person P11 receives the input, and the input is transferred from the computer 70a to the conference management apparatus 10. When the desired speech information acquisition unit 24 of the conference management apparatus 10 receives and acquires the input information, the speech request information acquisition unit 24 recognizes the desired speech (request for speech) of the person P11 in response to the operation of receiving the input information. When the speech request of the person P11 is recognized, the display control unit 34 of the conference management apparatus 10 generates the display screen DP (see FIG. 11) in which the icon image D6 is added to the face image G11 in the display screen DP. . Then, the regenerated display screen DP is transmitted again to each computer 70 and displayed on the display unit of each computer 70. As a result, for example, a display screen DP as shown in FIG. 11 is displayed on the display unit of each computer 70.

  According to such a display, each participant (especially the chairperson) of the conference can easily grasp that the person P11 desires to speak. Therefore, the chairman can appropriately determine whether or not to give a speech opportunity to the person P11, and can appropriately give a speech opportunity to the person P11 as necessary.

<Question request display>
Next, a question request display operation will be described.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a display screen DP at yet another point in time. FIG. 12 shows a situation where the person P11 speaks. At this time, the face image G11 of the person P11 is enlarged and the speaker is clearly shown.

  In the situation of FIG. 12, the participants other than the person P11 display an intention to ask a question to the person P11, that is, display a “question request display” indicating that a question is desired in the display screen DP. be able to.

  In FIG. 12, among the face images of a plurality of participants, a “question requester display” indicating that a person wants to ask a question is added to the face image G34 of the person P34 who is a question requester (“Matsushita”). Has been. Here, by adding an icon image D7 that imitates a “question mark” in the vicinity of the face image G34, it is indicated that the person P34 corresponding to the face image G34 is a question applicant. According to such a question applicant display D7, it is possible to easily grasp which person is the question applicant.

  When a person desires a question during a meeting, the person drags his / her face image onto the question request icon image C4 and drops it onto the question request icon image C4. It is possible to input to the conference system 100 that he / she wants to speak.

  For example, the person P34 desires a question by dragging his / her face image G34 onto the question request icon image C4 and dropping it on the question request icon image C4 in the display screen DP. Can be input to the conference system 100.

  In response to such an icon operation, the computer 70 (70j) of the person P34 receives the input, and the input is transferred from the computer 70j to the conference management apparatus 10. When receiving and acquiring the input information, the question request information acquisition unit 25 of the conference management apparatus 10 recognizes the question request (question request) of the person P34 in response to the input information reception operation. When the question request of the person P34 is recognized, the display control unit 34 again generates the display screen DP in which the icon image D7 is added to the face image G34 in the display screen DP. Then, the regenerated display screen DP (see FIG. 12) is transmitted again to each computer 70 and displayed on the display unit of each computer 70. As a result, for example, a display screen DP as shown in FIG. 12 is displayed on the display unit of each computer 70.

  According to such a display, each participant (especially the chairperson) of the conference can easily grasp that the person P34 has a question item. Therefore, the chairman can appropriately determine whether or not to give a question opportunity to the person P34, and can appropriately give a question opportunity to the person P34 as necessary.

<Pros and cons confirmation operation>
Next, the approval / disapproval confirmation operation will be described.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a display screen DP at yet another point in time. FIG. 13 shows a situation where approval and disagreement regarding a specific matter, that is, approval or disapproval is displayed. Here, a situation is assumed in which the chairperson confirms the approval or disapproval of each participant for a certain matter (for example, a situation in which a decision is made regarding a certain proposal).

  When the chairperson prompts each participant to input approval or disapproval, each participant inputs his / her approval or disapproval. More specifically, each participant drags his / her face image onto the approval icon image C7 and drops it on the approval icon image C7, thereby confirming that the person is in favor of the matter. 100 can be entered. On the other hand, each participant inputs his / her face image to the opposite icon image C8 and drops it on the opposite icon image C8, thereby inputting that the person is against the matter to the conference system 100. Is possible.

  For example, the person P13 agrees to the matter by dragging his / her face image G13 onto the approval icon image C7 and dropping it on the approval icon image C7 in the display screen DP. Can be input to the conference system 100.

  In response to such an icon operation, the computer 70 (70c) of the person P13 receives the input, and the input is transferred from the computer 70c to the conference management apparatus 10. When the input / output information is received and acquired, the approval / disapproval information acquisition unit 23 of the conference management apparatus 10 recognizes that the person P13 is in favor of the case in response to the input information reception operation. When the “agree” of the person P13 is recognized, the display control unit 34 sets the color of the face image G13 in the display screen DP to “a color indicating a favor” (such as green) (indicated by sandy hatching in the drawing). The display screen DP is generated again.

  Also, another person P31 drags his face image G31 onto the opposite icon image C8 and drops it on the opposite icon image C8 in the display screen DP, so that the person P31 is against the matter. It can be input to the conference system 100.

  In response to such an icon operation, the computer 70 (70g) of the person P31 receives the input, and the input is transferred from the computer 70g to the conference management apparatus 10. When the input information is received and acquired, the approval / disapproval information acquisition unit 23 of the conference management apparatus 10 recognizes that the person P31 is against the case in response to the input information reception operation. When “opposite” of the person P31 is recognized, the display control unit 34 sets the color of the face image G31 in the display screen DP to “color indicating the opposite” (red, etc.) (indicated by oblique cross hatching in the figure). The display screen DP is generated again.

  Similarly, when each participant inputs his / her approval / disapproval, the approval / disapproval information acquisition unit 23 of the conference management apparatus 10 acquires approval / disapproval of each participant and changes the color of each face image according to the approval / disapproval. The display screen DP (see FIG. 13) is generated again.

  Then, the regenerated display screen DP is transmitted again to each computer 70 and displayed on the display unit of each computer 70. As a result, for example, a display screen DP as shown in FIG. 13 is displayed on the display unit of each computer 70.

  According to such a display, each participant (particularly the chairperson) of the conference can easily grasp the approval or disapproval of each participant. Therefore, the chairman can smoothly proceed with the voting operation.

  Further, such approval / disapproval confirmation operation may be executed in real time not only at the time of voting but also at an arbitrary time during the conference.

  Specifically, when a certain person speaks during a meeting, it is possible to display an intention for or against the contents of the comment. Specifically, the user can express his / her approval or disapproval by dragging his / her face image onto the approval icon image C7 or the opposite icon image C8 and dropping it on the icon image C7 or the opposite icon image C8. .

  In this manner, the conference system 100 can also display the intention of each participant for approval or disapproval at any time.

<Instructions for sending materials>
In the conference system 100, each participant can instruct (request) the material creator to send materials related to the conference as necessary. Hereinafter, such a material sending instruction operation will be described with reference to FIG.

  A participant (for example, a person P31) performs an operation of giving a material sending instruction to the material creator using the display screen DP (see FIG. 14) displayed on the display unit of his computer 70 (70g). be able to.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 14, the person (also referred to as a sending requester or sending instruction person) P31 uses a face image (G23) of a desired material creator (for example, person P23) as a material sending instruction icon image. By dragging onto C5 and dropping it on the material sending instruction icon image C5, it is possible to give a sending instruction that the material created by the material creator (P23) should be sent to himself (person P31) It is.

  Then, in response to such an icon operation (specifically, an operation input using the face image of the document creator P23), the computer 70g of the person P31 accepts the sending instruction, and the computer 70g transfers it to the conference management apparatus 10. The sending instruction is transferred. When the material sending instruction acquisition unit 26 of the conference management apparatus 10 receives and acquires the sending instruction, it recognizes the material sending instruction by the person P31. Further, in response to the receiving operation of the material sending instruction, the material sending control unit 36 stores the material (meeting material) created by the person P23 out of a plurality of materials (meeting materials) according to the material sending instruction. The meeting material extracted from the part 5c is sent to a predetermined destination corresponding to the sending instruction person P31. As a result, the sending instruction person P31 can obtain the material by accessing the predetermined sending destination. According to this, each participant can easily obtain the conference material. As a predetermined delivery destination, a predetermined folder in the computer 70 of the sending instruction person (P31), a mail address of the sending instruction person, or a predetermined user box in the MFP (user storage area for the sending instruction person) Etc. are exemplified.

  According to such a material sending operation, each participant in the conference can automatically acquire the conference material as necessary. Note that the material to be sent may be the material DM itself displayed in the material display area RG1, or may be another material in which more detailed contents are described.

<Mail creation instruction>
In this conference system 100, each participant can instruct (request) a mail transmission support operation (specifically, a mail creation operation) to other participants. Hereinafter, such a mail creation instruction operation will be described.

  A certain participant (for example, a person P31) can perform operations related to mail transmission to other participants using the display screen DP displayed on the display unit of his computer 70 (70g).

  Specifically, as in FIG. 14, the person (also called a requester or an instructor) P31 creates (but this time) a mail of the face image (G23) of a desired mail transmission destination (for example, person P23). By dragging onto the instruction icon image C6 and dropping it on the mail creation instruction icon image C6, it is possible to give an instruction to create an e-mail for the mail transmission destination (P23).

  Then, the computer 70g of the person P31 receives an email creation instruction for the destination person P23 in response to such an icon operation (specifically, an operation input using the face image of the email destination P23), and creates the email The instruction is transferred to the conference management apparatus 10.

  When the mail creation instruction acquisition unit 27 of the conference management apparatus 10 receives and acquires the mail creation instruction, it recognizes the mail creation instruction by the person P31. In addition, in response to the reception operation of the mail creation instruction, the mail creation control unit 37 collects various information for mail creation according to the mail creation instruction by the person P31 and generates mail creation data. Specifically, the mail creation control unit 37 acquires the mail address information and the like of the person P23 as the mail transmission destination from the person data storage unit 5b via the participant information acquisition unit 31, and generates mail creation data. In the mail creation data, the mail address of the person P23 is designated as the mail transmission destination address. Then, the mail creation control unit 37 cooperates with the communication control unit 38 and the like to transmit the mail creation data to the computer 70g of the person P31.

  Upon receipt of the mail creation data, the computer 70g generates a mail creation screen based on the mail creation data, displays the mail creation screen on the display unit of the computer 70g, and performs further operations by the person P31. Accept input. In this mail creation screen, the mail address of the person P23 has already been entered as the destination address.

  Thereafter, when the person P31 inputs appropriate text information on such a mail creation screen and completes the e-mail and then presses the send button, the computer 70g sends the mail to the mail transmission destination (the mail address of the person P23). And the e-mail is sent.

  According to such an email creation operation, email creation is started with the email address of the destination person P23 automatically filled in, so the effort for creating the email is reduced, and each participant in the conference can interact with each other. It is possible to facilitate communication between the two.

<Recording operation>
In this conference system, each operation described above is stored in association with conference recording data (voice data). Specifically, the time point at which each of the above operations is performed and the corresponding time point in the audio data are stored in association with each other. Note that such an association operation is executed by the audio data control unit 35.

  For example, the execution time of the “attended operation” by each participant is stored in association with the corresponding time in the audio data. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 15, the presence operation by the person P21 is executed at time T1 in the audio data, the presence operation by the person P11 is executed at time T2 in the audio data, and further at time T3 and the like. The fact that the attendance operation by another person was sequentially performed is recorded. Further, the fact that the absence operation (seating operation) by the person P33 at time T11 and the presence operation by the person P33 at time T12 are stored in association with the audio data.

  In addition, the execution time of the “approval operation” by each participant is also stored in association with the corresponding time in the audio data. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 15, an approval operation by the person P11 is executed at time T21 in the audio data, an opposite operation by the person P31 is executed at time T22, and an approval operation by another person at time T23 and the like. Alternatively, the fact that the opposite operations have been sequentially performed is recorded.

  Similarly, regarding other operations (specifically, a speech request display, a question request display, a material sending instruction, an email creation instruction, etc.), information related to the execution time of each operation is recorded in association with audio data. .

  Information about each utterance is also recorded in association with the audio data. Specifically, information (speaker name information) regarding who the speaker is is recorded together with the start time and end time of each speech.

  As described above, since the time of each operation and the like is recorded in association with the progress of the audio data, it is possible to leave the conference status in an easy-to-understand format. In particular, it is very useful when preparing the minutes after the meeting.

<2. Second Embodiment>
<2-1. Overview>
The second embodiment is a modification of the first embodiment. Below, it demonstrates centering on difference with 1st Embodiment.

  FIG. 16 is a system configuration diagram showing an overview of the conference system 100 (100B) according to the second embodiment. The conference system 100B includes a plurality of conference management devices 10 (specifically, 10a, 10b, 10c) and a plurality of display devices 80 (80a, 80b, 80c). Of the plurality of conference management devices 10, the conference management device 10b also functions as a server computer, and the conference management devices 10a and 10c also function as client computers. In other words, the conference management device 10b according to the second embodiment is the same as the conference management device 10b according to the first embodiment, and the conference management devices 10a and 10c and the display device 80 according to the second embodiment are Similar to the client computer 70 according to one embodiment.

  The plurality of conference management devices 10 and the plurality of display devices 80 are connected to each other via a network NW and can perform network communication.

  Here, each of the plurality of conference management apparatuses 10 is arranged in a different conference room. For example, the conference management device 10a is arranged in the conference room MRa in Kyoto, the conference management device 10b is arranged in the conference room MRb in Osaka, and the conference management device 10c is arranged in the conference room MRc in Kobe.

  In the second embodiment, each conference room (participation place) MRa, MRb, MRc is provided with a microphone (voice input unit) 91 (specifically, 91a, 91b, 91c). Specifically, a microphone 91a is provided in the conference room MRa, a microphone 91b is provided in the conference room MRb, and a microphone 91c is provided in the conference room MRc.

  Further, in each conference room (participation place) MRa, MRb, MRc, a speaker (audio output unit) 93 (specifically, 93a, 93b, 93c) is provided. Specifically, the speaker 93a is provided in the conference room MRa, the speaker 93b is provided in the conference room MRb, and the speaker 93c is provided in the conference room MRc.

  An audio input / output operation is performed using the microphone 91 and the speaker 93.

  Each of the plurality of display devices 80 (80a, 80b, 80c) is also arranged in each conference room MRa, MRb, MRc. Each display device 80 is configured to receive and display an image (particularly a still image) transmitted from the conference management device 10 and to accept an input operation with the fingers of each participant. Has been. That is, the display device 80 also functions as an input device. Such a display device 80 is also referred to as an interactive board or an input / output device.

  In the second embodiment, it is assumed that each participant participates in the conference without using his / her computer 70. Even in such a situation, the same operation as in the first embodiment is performed by using each conference management device 10 and each display device 80.

  In the second embodiment, the attendance confirmation operation, the speech request display operation, the question request display operation, the approval / disapproval confirmation operation, and the like are executed in the same manner as in the first embodiment. However, it is different from the first embodiment in that it is performed using the display device 80 provided in each conference room instead of using each computer 70.

  Specifically, the attendance confirmation operation, the speech request display operation, the question request display operation, the approval / disapproval confirmation operation, and the like in the second embodiment are executed using the display screen DP (see FIG. 17) displayed on the display device 80. Is done. Here, in the first embodiment, various types of information are transmitted and received between each computer 70 and the conference management apparatus 10b. In the second embodiment, various types of information are transmitted between each display device 80 and the conference management apparatus 10b. Information is sent and received.

  In FIG. 17, the icon images C5 and C6 are not displayed, and the material sending instruction operation and the mail creation instruction operation are not performed. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a material sending instruction operation and a mail creation instruction operation may also be executed. In this case, an operation for clearly indicating the request source of each instruction may be performed together.

<2-2. Attendance confirmation using the operation panel of the conference management device>
The attendance confirmation operation in the second embodiment can also be performed using each conference management apparatus 10. Below, the operation | movement which confirms attendance of the person P21 using the meeting management apparatus 10b is demonstrated, referring FIGS. 18-21.

  FIG. 18 is a diagram showing the display contents of the operation panel 63 of the conference management apparatus 10b. When the person P21 performs a menu selection operation or the like on the conference management apparatus 10b, a screen as shown in FIG. 18 is displayed on the operation panel 63.

  The person P21 selects a meeting (for example, “budget meeting”) in which the person P21 participates from the meeting list of FIG. When such a selection operation is performed, a screen as shown in FIG. 19 is displayed on the operation panel 63. On the screen of FIG. 19, a list of departments is displayed.

  The person P21 selects his / her department (for example, “development second group” of “Osaka Development Center”) from the department list of FIG. When such a selection operation is performed, a screen as shown in FIG. 20 is displayed on the operation panel 63. On the screen of FIG. 20, a list of conference participants who belong to the selected department is displayed. Specifically, the names of three persons (“Kawada”, “Kawamoto”, “Kawakami”) are displayed.

  The person P21 selects his / her personal name (“Kawada”) from the personal name list of FIG. When such a selection operation is performed, a screen as shown in FIG. 21 is displayed on the operation panel 63. In FIG. 21, the face image G21 of the selected person P21 is displayed.

  When the person P21 confirms the face image G21 and presses the confirmation button, the confirmation operation ends.

  And the attendance information acquisition part 22 of the meeting management apparatus 10b will recognize presence of the person P21 in response to this, if the attendance information (attended information) of the person P21 is acquired. When the presence of the person P21 is recognized, the display control unit 34 again generates the display screen DP in which the face image G21 in the display screen DP is changed from the gray-down display to the normal display. Then, the regenerated display screen DP (see FIG. 8) is transmitted to each display device 80 and displayed on each display device 80.

  The attendance confirmation is performed in the same manner for other participants. The attendance information (attendance information and the like) using the conference management devices 10a and 10c is once transmitted from the conference management devices 10a and 10c to the conference management device 10b, and the presence information acquisition unit 22 of the conference management device 10b. Obtained by That is, attendance information of each participant is centrally managed by the conference management apparatus 10b. The subsequent operation is the same as described above.

  Furthermore, in the second embodiment, it is possible to register as a “guest member” a person who has not yet been registered as a conference participant by using each conference management apparatus 10. Such a guest member registration operation will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, an operation of registering an external person P29 as a guest member in the conference system 100 will be described.

  Until FIG. 19, the same operation as that of the registered member is executed. Then, when “new registration” is selected in FIG. 19, a screen as shown in FIG. 22 is displayed on the operation panel 63. In FIG. 22, a new participant registration screen is shown.

  When the guest member name is input and the “register name” button is pressed on the screen of FIG. 22, the guest member name is registered. Thereafter, when the “image scan” button is further pressed, the screen of FIG. 23 is displayed on the operation panel 63.

  In the screen of FIG. 23, the characters “Scan the image. Place the employee ID on the mounting table and press the start button.” Are displayed. When the person P29 presses the start button on the mounting table of the conference management apparatus (MFP) 10b according to this instruction, the conference management apparatus 10b starts a scanning operation related to the employee ID of the person P29.

  The conference management apparatus 10b recognizes and extracts the face image G29 from the scan image related to the employee ID, and displays the face image G29 in the confirmation screen of FIG. When this face image G29 is confirmed and the confirmation button is pressed, the guest member registration operation is terminated. The face image G29 is stored in the person data storage 5b as part of the data of the person P29 (guest member).

  Further, an attendance confirmation operation is executed following the guest member registration operation. When the attendance information acquisition unit 22 of the conference management apparatus 10b regards the guest member registration operation of the person P29 as an attendance confirmation operation and acquires attendance information (attention information), in response to this, the presence information of the person P29 is acquired. recognize. Then, when the presence of the person P29 is recognized, the display control unit 34 generates a display screen DP (see FIG. 26) having the face image G29. Then, the generated display screen DP is transmitted to each display device 80 and displayed on each display device 80. Note that the display operation related to the person P29 in the display screen DP is performed using the face image G29.

  Here, the case where the guest member registration operation is performed in the second embodiment is illustrated, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the guest member is registered in each conference management apparatus 10 of the first embodiment. May be.

<2-3. Speaker display>
In the second embodiment, each conference room MRa, MRb, MRc is only provided with one microphone (voice input unit) 91. Therefore, it is usually difficult to specify the individual speaker. In such a case, a display screen DP as shown in FIG. 27 may be displayed instead of the display screen DP (FIG. 12) including the “speaking display” that enlarges and displays only the face image G11. . In FIG. 27, a face image G11 of a person corresponding to a microphone 91a in which an input level (volume level) equal to or higher than a predetermined level is detected among a plurality of microphones 91 (91a, 91b, 91c) arranged in different conference rooms. , G12, G13 are enlarged. Specifically, when a detection result indicating that the volume detected by the microphone 91a among the three microphones is equal to or higher than a predetermined level is notified to the speech information acquisition unit 28 of the conference management apparatus 10b, the display control of the conference management apparatus 10b is performed. Based on the detection result, the unit 34 generates a display screen DP in which the face images G11, G12, and G13 of the person in the conference room MRa in which the microphone 91a is installed are enlarged. Then, the display screen DP is transmitted to each display device 80 via the communication control unit 38 and displayed on each display device 80.

  As described above, the display control unit 34 of the conference management apparatus 10 uses the microphones 91a, 91b, 91c based on the volume information of the respective voices detected by the plurality of microphones 91a, 91b, 91c installed for each of the plurality of participation places. The display mode (here, size) of the participant's face image corresponding to the installation locations MRa, MRb, MRc of 91b, 91c is changed. For example, the face images G11, G12, and G13 of the participants P11, P12, and P13 corresponding to the installation location MRa of the microphone 91a in which a voice input greater than a predetermined level is detected are enlarged. On the other hand, the face images of other participants corresponding to the other installation locations MRb and MRc are displayed in a normal size. According to such a display, a speaker (strictly speaking, a place where the speaker exists) can be easily grasped.

<3. Modified example>
Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the contents described above.

  For example, in each of the above embodiments, the case where the participant information display area RG2 is arranged below the material display area RG1 on the display screen DP (see FIG. 6 and the like) is exemplified, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Other arrangements may be employed. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 28, the participant information display area RG2 is arranged on the left and right sides of the material display area RG1, and the command designation area RG3 is arranged below the material display area RG1. Also good.

  Moreover, in the said 1st Embodiment, although the case where each display apparatus 80 (FIG. 1) was directly connected with respect to the conference management apparatus 10 was illustrated, it is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 29, the display device 80 may be indirectly connected to the conference management device 10 via a computer 70 or the like.

  Moreover, in each said embodiment, although the case where the display control part 34 of the meeting management apparatus 10 produces | generates the display data of display screen DP is illustrated, it is not limited to this. For example, the client-side computer 70 (also referred to as a communication terminal device or simply a terminal device) may generate the display screen DP.

  FIG. 30 is a diagram showing functional blocks of the computer 70 (70B) according to such a modification. As shown in FIG. 30, the computer 70 </ b> B executes a predetermined program in its CPU 69, whereby a participant information acquisition unit 81, a conference material acquisition unit 82, a classification unit 83, a display control unit 84, and a communication control unit 88. Various processing units including the above are realized. The storage unit 65 in the computer 70B has a person data storage unit 65b and a material storage unit 65c. Various data (face image data and the like) in the person data storage unit 5b (FIG. 3) are transferred and stored in the person data storage unit 65b in advance. Further, the material data in the material storage unit 5c (FIG. 3) is previously transferred and stored in the material storage unit 65c.

  Then, the classification unit 83 of the computer 70B performs the same classification operation and the like as the classification unit 33 of the conference management apparatus 10b. In addition, the display control unit 84 of the computer 70B executes the same display control operation as the display control unit 34 of the conference management apparatus 10b (such as a process for generating display data for the display screen DP).

  In such a configuration, the computer 70B may generate the display screen DP using the classification unit 83 and the display control unit 84.

  Alternatively, the computer 70B receives the classification result obtained by the classification unit 33 of the conference management apparatus 10b, and the display control unit 84 of the computer 70B executes display data generation processing for the display screen DP using the classification result. You may do it.

  Moreover, in each said embodiment, although the meeting management apparatus 10b illustrated the case where the display data of the display screen DP were produced | generated, it is not limited to this. For example, the conference management apparatus 10b generates print data for the print output screen DPr (FIG. 31) in which the face images of the prospective participants are arranged in the same manner as in FIG. 6, and the print output is based on the print data. The printing may be performed by the unit 3. In FIG. 31, a material holding guidance display region RG4 is provided instead of the material display region RG1. Then, a printed output as shown in FIG. 31 may be distributed to attendees in advance as part of the conference material. Even with such a printed output, a conference participant can easily grasp the outline of the conference participant configuration.

10, 10a, 10b, 10c Conference management device (MFP)
70, 70a to 70j, 70B Client computer 80, 80a, 80b, 80c Display device 91, 91a, 91b, 91c Microphone (voice input unit)
93, 93a, 93b, 93c Speaker (audio output unit)
100, 100A, 100B Conference system C1-C8 Icon image DM Conference material DP Display screen G11-G13, G21-G23, G29, G31-G34 Face image L1, L2, L3, SC1, SC2, SC3, SC4 Group name display MRa , MRb, MRc Conference room N11-N13, N21-N23, N31-N34 Person name display RG1 Material display area RG2 Participant information display area RG3 Command designation area TB1 Meeting reservation data TB2 Person data

Claims (22)

A conference management device,
Participant information acquisition means for acquiring personal information of a plurality of participants related to the conference and including personal information including face images, personal names, and classification information;
Classification means for classifying the plurality of participants into a plurality of groups according to the classification information;
Display control means for generating display data for a display screen having a participant information display area in which the face images of the plurality of participants are classified and arranged in the plurality of groups together with the display of each person's name;
A conference management apparatus comprising: The conference management device according to claim 1,
The said participant information display area has the group name display which displays each group name of these groups, The meeting management apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. In the conference management apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
In addition to the participant information display area, the display screen also has a material display area for displaying meeting material. In the conference management device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The said classification | category means classify | categorizes the said several participant into the said several group according to the participating place regarding the said several participant, The meeting management apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. In the conference management device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The conference management apparatus, wherein the classifying unit classifies the plurality of participants into the plurality of groups according to departments related to the plurality of participants. The conference management device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The conference control apparatus, wherein the display control means adds a chairman display indicating the chairman of the conference to a face image of the chairman among the plurality of participants. The conference management device according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The conference control apparatus, wherein the display control unit adds a material creator display indicating that the material is a material creator regarding the conference to a face image of the material creator among the plurality of participants. The conference management device according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
The conference management apparatus, wherein the display control means adds a person-in-charge display indicating that the person in charge is in charge of a predetermined role to the face image of the person in charge among the plurality of participants. The conference management device according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
Presence information acquisition means for acquiring presence status information regarding each participant of the conference;
Further comprising
The display control means discriminates the presence person and the absence based on the presence status information, and among the plurality of face images related to the plurality of participants, the face image corresponding to the presence person and the absence A conference management apparatus that distinguishes and displays a face image corresponding to a person. The conference management device according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
Pros and cons information acquisition means for acquiring pros and cons information of each participant of the conference,
Further comprising
The display control means discriminates an approver and an opponent about a specific matter based on the approval / disapproval information, and among a plurality of face images related to the plurality of participants, a face image corresponding to the supporter and the opponent A conference management apparatus that distinguishes and displays a face image corresponding to. The conference management device according to any one of claims 1 to 10,
Saying request information acquisition means for acquiring the speech request information by a specific participant among the plurality of participants,
Further comprising
The conference management apparatus, wherein the display control unit adds a speech request display indicating that the user wishes to speak at the conference to the face image of the specific participant. The conference management device according to any one of claims 1 to 11,
A plurality of voice input means for inputting the speech sounds of the plurality of participants,
Further comprising
The display control means changes a display mode of a face image of a participant corresponding to each speech voice based on volume information of each speech voice detected by the plurality of voice input means. Management device. The conference management device according to any one of claims 1 to 12,
A plurality of voice input means installed for each participation place of the plurality of participants;
Further comprising
The display control means changes a display mode of a participant's face image corresponding to an installation location of each voice input means based on volume information detected by the plurality of voice input means. apparatus. The conference management device according to claim 1,
Material storage means for storing material data relating to the meeting;
In response to an operation input using the face image of the document creator, a document sending instruction acquisition means for acquiring a sending instruction for the document data;
In response to the material data sending instruction, material sending control means for sending the material data stored in the material storing means to a destination corresponding to the sending instruction person of the sending instruction;
A conference management apparatus further comprising: The conference management device according to claim 1,
Mail creation instruction acquisition means for acquiring a mail creation instruction for the specific participant in response to an operation input using a face image related to the specific participant;
In response to the email creation instruction, email creation control means for generating email creation data specifying an email address for the specific participant as a destination address;
A conference management apparatus further comprising: The conference management device according to any one of claims 1 to 15,
First association means for associating and storing presence information of each participant of the conference with the audio data of the conference;
A conference management apparatus further comprising: The conference management device according to any one of claims 1 to 16,
Second association means for associating and storing the approval / disapproval information of each participant of the conference with the audio data of the conference;
A conference management apparatus further comprising: a) obtaining personal information of a plurality of participants related to the meeting, including personal information including face images, personal names, and classification information;
b) classifying the plurality of participants into a plurality of groups according to the classification information;
c) generating display data for a display screen having a participant information display area in which the face images of the plurality of participants are classified and arranged in the plurality of groups together with each person name display;
A program that causes a computer to execute. A terminal device in a conference system,
Participant information acquisition means for acquiring personal information of a plurality of participants related to the conference and including personal information including face images and names,
Display control means for generating, based on the person information, display data for a display screen having a participant information display area in which the face images of the plurality of participants are classified and arranged in a plurality of groups together with respective person name displays When,
Display means for displaying the display screen based on the display data;
A terminal device comprising: a) obtaining personal information of a plurality of participants related to the conference and including facial images and personal names;
b) Generating display data for a display screen having a participant information display area in which the face images of the plurality of participants are classified and arranged in a plurality of groups together with the display of each person's name based on the person information. When,
A program that causes a computer to execute. A conference system,
Participant information acquisition means for acquiring personal information of a plurality of participants related to the conference and including personal information including face images, personal names, and classification information;
Classification means for classifying the plurality of participants into a plurality of groups according to the classification information;
Display means for displaying a display screen having a participant information display area in which the face images of the plurality of participants are classified into the plurality of groups and arranged together with the names of the persons;
A conference system comprising: A conference management device,
Participant information acquisition means for acquiring personal information of a plurality of participants related to the conference and including personal information including face images, personal names, and classification information;
Classification means for classifying the plurality of participants into a plurality of groups according to the classification information;
Print output means for printing out a print output screen having a participant information display area in which the face images of the plurality of participants are classified and arranged in the plurality of groups together with the display of each person's name;
A conference management apparatus comprising:

Images