JP2011090350A - Electronic conference system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To ask a question and to give an opinion as needed even in the middle of presentation, and also to efficiently respond to a question and an opinion concerning an electronic conference system including an electronic terminal for a presenter and a plurality of electronic terminals for participants. <P>SOLUTION: This system includes a first transmission means 41 for transmitting presentation document data, a display means 421 for displaying the presentation document data, an input means 523 for inputting the questions and opinions, a second transmission means 51 for transmitting the inputted question and opinion information together with questioner information, an editing means 432 for editing the question and opinion information transmitted from each terminal, and a display control means 431 for controlling the display of the edited question and opinion information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic conference system, and more particularly to an electronic conference system having an electronic terminal for presentation and a plurality of electronic terminals for participants.

  When a conference is held by connecting a conference room in a remote location via a communication line, the presentation material data is distributed to a personal computer (PC) held by each participant, and the presentation material data is displayed on the PC screen to advance the conference. Often there is. In such a meeting, when a question or opinion is given to the presenter, it is performed by voice through a sound collector such as a microphone.

  When speaking questions / opinions by voice, participants take notes while listening to the presenter's presentation, or take a look at the presentation data regardless of the presenter's presentation. , Taking these questions and opinions from time to time during or after the presentation.

  However, if participants present questions or opinions at any time during the presentation by the presenter, the presentation may be interrupted and the meeting may not proceed smoothly. In addition, if questions and opinions are described together after the presentation, the presenter may not be able to understand immediately what part of the presentation material data these questions and opinions belong to. On the other hand, from the point of view of the questioner, when a question / opinion is stated at the same time after the presentation, the question / opinion must be expressed by showing the various points of the presentation data for multiple questions in the presentation data. troublesome.

  In Patent Document 1, an indication mark and a conversation area that moves with the indication mark are displayed on the display screen, and the question / opinion for the question / opinion is confirmed while confirming which part of the presentation material data is the question / opinion. An apparatus is disclosed in which a response can be input to a conversation area by a character input means.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-199313

  However, in the proposed technique, the instruction mark and the conversation area are displayed on the display screen within the limited display area, so that it is difficult to view the presentation material data. In addition, it is complicated to respond to each question / opinion by inputting characters into the conversation area.

  The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, and an object thereof is to provide an electronic device capable of responding to questions / opinions efficiently while allowing questions / opinions to be made at any time even during presentation. To provide a conference system.

  To achieve the above object, according to the present invention, in an electronic conference system having an electronic terminal for presenter and a plurality of electronic terminals for participants, first transmission means for transmitting presentation material data, and presentation material Display means for displaying data, input means for inputting questions / opinions, second transmission means for transmitting the inputted question / opinion information together with the questioner information, and editing the question / opinion information transmitted from each terminal There is provided an electronic conference system comprising: an editing means for displaying and a display control means for controlling the display of edited question / opinion information.

  Here, response input means for inputting a response to the question / opinion information may be further provided.

  The editing means may edit the question / opinion information for each page of the presentation material data subject to the question / opinion, for each questioner, or for each conference room.

  The display control unit may display the question / opinion information on the target part of the question / opinion information of the presentation material data displayed on the display unit. When the displayed question / opinion information is selected on the display screen, an input screen for responding to the question / opinion information may be displayed on the display means.

  In the electronic conference system of the present invention, the presentation is not interrupted by questions / opinions from the participants, and smooth conference progress is possible. Participants can ask questions and opinions when they become aware. In addition, the presenter can visually understand which part of the presentation data is the question / opinion. Further, by arranging and editing the questions and opinions for each page of the presentation material data or for each questioner, the presenter can efficiently respond to the questions and opinions.

It is a schematic block diagram which shows an example of the electronic conference system which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware example of the electronic terminal used by this invention. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the electronic terminal used by this invention. It is a figure explaining the example of operation in case a participant asks a question. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of question input operation. It is a data example of the question and opinion information transmitted to the presenter's electronic terminal. It is an example of a question list displayed on the presenter's electronic terminal. It is a figure explaining the procedure which displays a question content display screen and an answer input screen from the question list of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the process procedure from reception of question and opinion information to list display. It is a figure which shows the example of a procedure of extraction edit of a question and opinion information. It is a figure which shows the example of the procedure of other extraction edit of question and opinion information. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of question and opinion information. It is a figure which shows the example of a procedure in the case of replying collectively with respect to question and opinion information. It is a figure which shows the example of a procedure of rearrangement edit of question and opinion information. It is a figure which shows the example of a procedure of grouping edit of question and opinion information.

  Hereinafter, although the electronic conference system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

  FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an embodiment of an electronic conference system according to the present invention. In the electronic conference system in this figure, a conference room X where a presenter is present and a conference room Y located at a remote location are connected via a network. The conference room X includes an electronic terminal (presenter electronic terminal) PC1 used by the presenter, electronic terminals (participant electronic terminals) PC2 and PC3 used by participants in the electronic conference, and video / audio. An output TV 11, a TV camera 12, and a microphone 13 are connected to a router 15 via a hub 14. Also, in the conference room Y, electronic terminals (participant electronic terminals) PC4 and PC5 used by participants of the electronic conference, a TV 21 for outputting video and audio, a TV camera 22, and a microphone 23 are provided in the hub 24. It is connected to the router 25 via The router 15 and the router 25 are connected by the network 10.

  Note that the video and audio may be output and displayed on each electronic terminal PC without using the TVs 11 and 21. In addition, the electronic conference system of the present invention is not limited to a conference that is performed by connecting remote locations as shown in FIG. 1, but as a system used in a single venue such as a lecture or a presentation, for example. Can also be used.

  FIG. 2 is a hardware diagram of a computer constituting the electronic terminals PC1 to PC5 used in the present embodiment. The electronic terminals PC1 to PC5 each have an input / output for connecting a CPU 31, a ROM 32, a RAM 33, an HDD controller 341 to which a hard disk drive (HDD) 342 is connected, a mouse 35 and a keyboard 36 provided as input means, and a display 37 as display means. A controller 38 and a network controller 39 provided as communication means are connected to the internal bus 30.

  The electronic terminals PC1 to PC5 in the present embodiment can use a conventional general-purpose computer as it is. Participants can input questions and opinions using the keyboard 36 and mouse 35 while viewing the presentation material data displayed on the display 37. When a so-called touch panel display is used as the display 37, a question / opinion can be input by pressing the display surface with a pen or a finger.

  FIG. 3 shows a block configuration diagram of each of the presenter electronic terminal PC1 and the participant electronic terminals PC2 to PC5 constituting the electronic conference system according to the present embodiment. First, the presenter electronic terminal PC1 includes a communication processing unit 41, a user interface unit 42, a conference control processing unit 43, and a presentation material data storage unit 44.

  The communication processing unit 41 receives electronic information for participants such as receiving question / opinion information sent from the electronic terminals PC2 to PC5 for participants, and distributing presentation material data to the electronic terminals PC2 to PC5 for participants. Data communication is performed between the terminals PC2 to PC5.

  The user interface unit 42 includes a display unit 421 and an instruction input unit 422. The display unit 421 corresponds to the display 37 (shown in FIG. 2), and displays information necessary for the electronic conference such as presentation material data and question / opinion information on the screen. The instruction input unit 422 is used by the presenter to input instructions such as displaying question / opinion information, opening / closing presentation data, and turning pages, and corresponds to the mouse 36 and the keyboard 35 (shown in FIG. 2).

  The conference control processing unit 43 controls the processing on the side of the presenter electronic terminal PC1 of the electronic conference system while operating in cooperation with the operation control of the communication processing unit 41 and the user interface unit 42 and the electronic terminals PC2 to PC5 for participants. The question / opinion information editing unit 432 included in the conference control processing unit 43 collectively manages the question / opinion information sent from the participant using the question / opinion information storage unit 433. Sort and edit question / opinion information for each page or for each questioner. Further, the display control unit 431 reads the presentation material data from the presentation material data storage unit 44 and displays it on the display unit 421, and displays the edited question / opinion information in accordance with the instructions of the presenter. The question / opinion information managed by the question / opinion information storage unit 433 is generated for each question / opinion, and includes identification information of the questioner, position information on the presentation material data, contents of the question / opinion, and the like.

  The constituent elements 41 to 44 in the presenter electronic terminal PC1 are realized by a cooperative operation of a computer forming the presenter electronic terminal PC1 and a program operating on a CPU mounted on the computer. The program used in this embodiment can be provided not only by communication means but also by storing it in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM. The storage units 44 and 433 are realized by a RAM 33 and an HDD 342 (shown in FIG. 2) included in the computer.

  In this embodiment, the presenter electronic terminal PC1 is provided with a presenter document data storage unit 44 for storing presentation material data, and the presenter data terminal PC1 distributes presentation material data to the participant electronic terminals PC2 to PC5. However, a configuration may be adopted in which a separate server is provided, the presentation material data is stored in the server, and the presentation material data is distributed to the presenter electronic terminal PC1 and the participant electronic terminals PC2 to PC5.

  On the other hand, the participant electronic terminals PC <b> 2 to PC <b> 5 have a communication processing unit 51, a user interface unit 52, a conference control processing unit 53, and a presentation material data storage unit 54. The communication processing unit 51 performs data communication with the presenter electronic terminal PC1 such as reception of presentation material data sent from the presenter electronic terminal PC1 and transmission of questions and opinion information from the participants. . The user interface unit 52 includes a display unit 521 and a question / opinion input unit 523. The question / opinion input unit 523 inputs a question or an opinion by designating a corresponding portion of the presentation material data, and corresponds to the mouse 36 and the keyboard 35 (shown in FIG. 2). The other constituent elements 53 and 54 have the same processing functions as those of the constituent elements provided in the presenter electronic terminal PC1, and therefore the description thereof is omitted here. In FIG. 3, the instruction input unit 422 and the question / opinion information editing unit 432 of the presenter electronic terminal PC1 are not described in the participant electronic terminals PC2 to PC5. The electronic terminals PC2 to PC5 are not provided with these functions, and are omitted because they are not necessary for describing the characteristic operation of the present embodiment.

  Next, a usage example of the electronic conference system of the present invention will be described. A case where a conference is performed in the conference room X and the conference room Y using the electronic conference system shown in FIG. 1 will be described. The video and audio in each conference room are sent to the TV in the other conference room by a TV camera and a microphone provided in each conference room.

  The presentation material data is distributed in advance to each participant, and the participant can listen to the explanation while viewing the presentation material data displayed on the screen of the PC. Participants can also read the presentation data regardless of the presentation. In addition, you can read the presentation data in advance. Hereinafter, a case where the participant asks the presenter a question will be described as an example, but the same operation can be performed when the participant states an opinion.

  When the participant wants to ask a question about the presentation material data, the question is transmitted to the presenter by operating the electronic terminal PC. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, when a participant B wants to ask the presenter about a predetermined location on the fifth page of the presentation material 1, the mouse cursor is placed on the location of the presentation material 1 where the question is to be asked, and a right click is performed. Then, a pull-down menu is displayed. When “question input” is selected from the items displayed in the menu, a question input screen is displayed next. Then, the question content is input to the question input screen from the keyboard. Then, when the “Send” button is clicked, the question is sent to the presenter. In addition, questions can be corrected or withdrawn from the question input screen. In addition, the PC screen of the participant B who has input the question is, for example, underlined or colored so that it can be understood which part of the presentation material 1 the question was asked.

  FIG. 5 shows a processing flow when a participant transmits a question / opinion for presentation material data to the presenter. First. It is determined whether the “question input screen” has been activated (step S101). Next, it is determined whether or not the input of the question is completed (step S102). Note that “completion of question input” is determined by clicking one of the “send”, “correct”, and “cancel” buttons on the “question input screen” shown in FIG. Then, the question / opinion information, the questioner information, the conference room information, and the like are combined and transmitted to the presenter (step S103).

  The question / opinion information includes the presentation material, the corresponding page, and the relevant part that were the subject of the question, and the questioner information includes the identification information of the questioner, the location of the meeting room, and the like. FIG. 6 shows an example of information transmitted from the electronic terminal PC of the questioner to the electronic terminal PC of the presenter. The transmission information is processed into a csv format in a predetermined arrangement order and transmitted to the presenter's electronic terminal PC1.

  On the other hand, the question / opinion information transmitted to the presenter's electronic terminal PC1 via the network is tabulated and stored in the question / opinion information storage unit 433 (shown in FIG. 3) of the presenter's electronic terminal PC1. The Then, it is edited by a question / opinion information editing unit 432 (shown in FIG. 3) in response to the request of the presenter, and displayed on the screen of the presenter's electronic terminal PC1 as a question list as shown in FIG.

  The presenter selects a desired question from the question list displayed on his / her electronic terminal PC1 and double-clicks it. Then, as shown in FIG. 8, the selected question is highlighted, the corresponding page of the presentation material data that is the target of the selected question is displayed, and the question part and the question content are associated with each other. Is displayed.

  When the presenter double-clicks the question content, an answer window is displayed. The inventor can answer the question by writing the answer to the question in the answer window. Of course, the response to the question may be made verbally. Moreover, it is preferable to transmit the question content and the answer to the question not only to the questioner but also to other participants.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a procedure for processing question / opinion information in the presenter electronic terminal PC1. When the question / opinion information from the participant is received (step S201), the management number is given in the order received, and the attribute of answer / unanswer is added, and the question / opinion information storage unit 433 (see FIG. 3). (Shown) is stored in a table (step S202). When the presenter requests to display the question list (step S203), the format required by the inventor is edited (step S204), and the question list is displayed on the screen of the presenter's electronic terminal PC1 (step S204). Step S205).

  Next, another embodiment of editing question / opinion information will be described. The question / opinion information from the participants received by the presenter's electronic terminal PC1 is, in principle, tabulated based on the question time and stored in the question / opinion information storage unit 433 (shown in FIG. 3). . Then, as shown in FIG. 10A, first, a question list based on the question time is displayed on the screen of the presenter's electronic terminal PC1. Therefore, for example, when the question / opinion information from the conference room Y is extracted and displayed, the mouse cursor is placed on the “conference room” in the item column of the question list and right-clicked. Then, a pull-down menu is displayed. When “extract” is selected from the displayed menu, “conference room X” and “conference room Y” are further displayed. When “conference room Y” is selected, a question list from “conference room Y” is displayed as shown in FIG. Similarly to the above, when a desired question is selected from the displayed question list and double-clicked, as shown in FIG. 10 (c), the content of the selected question becomes the target of the selected question. The corresponding page of the presentation material is displayed.

  In addition, in order to extract and display question / opinion information from a specific questioner, as shown in FIG. 11, a mouse cursor is placed on the “questioner” in the item column of the question list and right-clicked. Then, a pull-down menu is displayed. When “Extract” is selected from the displayed menu, the questioners A, B, C, and D are further displayed. When “questioner D” is selected, a list of questions from “questioner D” is displayed as shown in FIG. When a desired question is selected from the displayed question list and double-clicked, an answer window for the selected question is displayed. When an answer is input in this answer window and the “OK” button is pressed, the answer is transmitted to the questioner.

  When displaying all questions / opinions for the same page of the presentation material, as shown in FIG. 12, select a desired question from the question list displayed on the electronic terminal PC1 and double-click to select it. The corresponding page of the presentation material subject to the question is displayed (FIG. 12B). As described above, at this time, the question location and the question content are displayed in association with each other. Next, clicking on “Display other questions” in the lower right corner of the screen displays all the questions related to this page (FIG. 12C).

  Next, based on FIG. 13, the display of the question / opinion information for the same part and the answering method will be described. As shown in FIG. 12, when all questions related to the same page are displayed, there may be questions / opinion information for the same part. In such a case, the question / opinion information is grouped and displayed. For example, in this figure, two pieces of question / opinion information are displayed surrounded by a blue frame.

  To collectively answer these question / opinion information, click the “collective answer” button displayed at the bottom of the frame. Then, an answer window is displayed. When an answer is input to this answer window and the “OK” button is pressed, the answer is sent to each questioner at once. In addition, when sending individual answers to each of the questioners without replying in a batch, double-click each question as described above, and enter and send the answer in the displayed answer window. .

  Next, a case where the question / opinion information is rearranged will be described with reference to FIG. Click the “Sort” button at the top right of the list of questions displayed on the screen. Then, a sort condition input screen is displayed. Enter the sorting conditions from this screen. In the sorting example shown in FIG. 14, conditions are input in the priority order of “meeting place”, “presentation material”, and “page”. Note that the number of input conditions is not necessarily three, and may be one or four or more. However, when entering four or more conditions, click the “Add Condition” button displayed at the lower right of the sort condition input screen to display a screen for entering the fourth and subsequent conditions. It is necessary to let When the input of the sort condition is completed, the “sort execution” button is clicked. Then, the question / opinion information is rearranged according to the sorting condition, and the question list is displayed on the screen of the presenter's electronic terminal PC1.

  A case where question / opinion information is grouped will be described with reference to FIG. Click the “Group” button displayed in the upper right of the question list. Then, a grouping condition input screen is displayed. Enter the conditions for grouping from this screen. In the grouping shown in FIG. 15, “questioner” is used as a grouping condition. When the input of the grouping condition is completed, the “Group execution” button is clicked. Then, the question / opinion information is rearranged according to the grouping condition. In the grouping shown in FIG. 15, the question / opinion information is grouped for each questioner and displayed on the screen of the presenter's electronic terminal PC1. .

  In the electronic conference system of the present invention, the presentation is not interrupted by the questions and opinions from the participants, so that the conference can proceed smoothly, and the participants can ask questions and opinions without forgetting when they notice. It can be carried out. In addition, the presenter is useful because he / she can visually understand which part of the presentation material data is the question / opinion.

41 Communication processing unit (first transmission means)
51 Communication processing unit (second transmission means)
421,521 Display unit (display means)
523 Question / opinion input section (input means)
431 Display control unit (display control means)
432 Question / Opinion Information Editor (Editor)
PC1 Electronic terminals for presenters PC2-PC5 Electronic terminals for participants

Claims (5)

In an electronic conference system having an electronic terminal for presenters and a plurality of electronic terminals for participants,
A first transmission means for transmitting presentation material data;
Display means for displaying presentation material data;
An input means for inputting questions and opinions;
A second transmission means for transmitting the inputted question / opinion information together with the questioner information;
Editing means for editing question / opinion information sent from each terminal,
An electronic conference system comprising display control means for controlling display of edited question / opinion information.   2. The electronic conference system according to claim 1, further comprising response input means for inputting a response to the question / opinion information.   3. The electronic conference system according to claim 1, wherein the editing unit edits the question / opinion information for each page of the presentation material data subject to the question / opinion, for each questioner, or for each conference room.   The electronic conference system according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit displays the question / opinion information on a target part of the question / opinion information of the presentation material data displayed on the display unit.   5. The electronic conference system according to claim 4, wherein when the displayed question / opinion information is selected on a display screen, an input screen for responding to the question / opinion information is displayed on display means.