JP2015069136A - Communication conference device having sound volume adjustment function for each speaker - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication conference device capable of adjusting transmission sound volume level of a voice signal which is transmitted from the communication conference device to an other pair ground according to a request from the other pair ground side for each speaker.SOLUTION: The communication conference device comprises: speaker identification means for identifying a speaker in a communication conference; and sound volume adjustment request signal reception means for receiving, from an other pair ground, a sound volume adjustment request signal for requesting for level up or down of a transmission sound volume of a voice signal which is transmitted from an own device. During the transmission of the voice signal to the other pair ground, when the sound volume adjustment request signal is received, according to the request content, the transmission sound volume level of the voice signal transmitted to the other pair ground is increased or reduced by a predetermined amount.

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication conference apparatus having a function of automatically adjusting a transmission volume level of an audio signal transmitted to another ground for each speaker.

  In a teleconferencing device, when there are a large number of participants and the number of microphones is less than the number of participants, the transmission volume level of the audio signal to be transmitted to another site depending on the distance between the speaking participant (speaker) and the microphone Fluctuates. There are also individual differences in the speaker's own volume. For this reason, in general, in a communication conference in which a large number of participants participate, there is a case where there is a speaker whose contents are difficult to hear.

  As a method for solving this, there is a technique for specifying the position of a speaker using a device that outputs an electromagnetic wave or the like and a device that detects the electromagnetic wave (for example, Patent Document 1). By specifying the position of the speaker with this technique, it becomes possible to transmit a sound signal at an appropriate volume level for each speaker to another ground.

  However, the technique described in Patent Document 1 requires a special device (a device that outputs electromagnetic waves or the like and a device that detects the electromagnetic wave) in order to specify the position of the speaker, and is expensive.

  Also, even if a voice signal is transmitted from the teleconference device to the other ground at an appropriate transmission volume level, depending on the other ground environment receiving the voice signal or the volume and sound quality of the speaker, a specific talk In some cases, it is difficult to hear a person's voice (for example, a low-pitched received voice in a low-noise environment). In such a case, it is desirable that the transmission volume level of the audio signal transmitted from the communication conference apparatus to the other ground can be adjusted for each speaker according to a request from the other ground side.

JP 2011-199763 A

  Therefore, the problem of the present invention is that no special device is required to specify the position of the speaker, and the transmission volume level of the audio signal transmitted from the communication conference device to the other ground is determined by a request from the other ground side. An object of the present invention is to provide a communication conference apparatus that can be adjusted for each speaker.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention processes an audio signal input from a microphone connected to a self-device that collects the sounds of a plurality of speakers, or an audio signal received from one or more other grounds. A communication conferencing apparatus for transmitting a processed audio signal to another ground, and a voice signal transmitting / receiving means for transmitting or receiving a voice signal via each of the other grounds and a network; and a voice signal input by the microphone Speaker identifying means for identifying a speaker, volume level storing means for each speaker for storing information relating to a volume level for each speaker identified by the speaker identifying means, and volume level storing means for each speaker. A volume level adjusting means for each speaker that adjusts the volume level of the audio signal to be transmitted to the other ground with reference, and a volume adjustment request signal for requesting to increase or decrease the volume level of the audio signal transmitted from the other apparatus to the own device. Receiving A volume adjustment request signal receiving means for receiving the volume adjustment request signal from the other ground while the sound signal input by the microphone is being transmitted to the other ground. In this case, the speaker-specific volume level adjusting means increases or decreases the volume level of the audio signal transmitted to the other ground by a predetermined amount according to the request content of the received volume adjustment request signal. Information related to the volume level that is down is stored in the speaker-specific volume level storage unit in association with the speaker identified by the speaker identification unit.

  According to the present invention, there is no need for a special device for specifying the position of the speaker, and the transmission of the audio signal to be transmitted to the other ground in response to a request from the other ground side that actually receives the voice of the speaker. Since the speech volume level is adjusted for each speaker, it is possible to adjust the level appropriately in consideration of the environment on the receiving side. In addition, since the adjustment result is stored and can be used as it is for the next communication conference with the same other base, there is an advantage that the readjustment is light.

Block diagram of internal configuration of communication conference apparatus 1 according to the present invention Example of conference room at site A where the teleconference terminal 2A is installed Example of data stored in speaker-specific volume level storage unit 17 Operation flowchart of the communication conference apparatus 1 according to the present invention.

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

  FIG. 1 is an example of a block configuration diagram of a communication conference apparatus 1 (hereinafter abbreviated as this apparatus) having a speaker-specific volume adjustment function to which the present invention is applied. The apparatus 1 is connected to communication conference terminals 2A and 2C via a communication conference terminal 2A via a LAN (Local Area Network) 3 and via a WAN (Wide Area Network) 4. The apparatus 1 has a function of controlling a conference communication call and relaying a video signal and an audio signal to a plurality of communication conference terminals 2A, 2B, and 2C via a LAN 3 or a WAN 4. Here, for the sake of simplicity, the present embodiment has been described assuming that there are three communication conference terminals 2A, 2B, and 2C connected to the apparatus 1, but this is not a limitation.

  The apparatus 1 includes a communication control unit 11, a video signal transmission / reception unit 12, a speaker identification unit 13, an audio signal transmission / reception unit 14, a volume level adjustment unit 15 for each speaker, a volume adjustment signal reception unit 16, and a volume level storage for each speaker. The unit 17 is configured.

  The communication control unit 11 establishes a conference communication call according to a request from the communication conference terminals 2A, 2B, and 2C, and transmits and receives video signals and audio signals to and from each communication conference terminal.

  The video signal transmission / reception unit 12 performs a relay process for transmitting the video signals received from the communication conference terminals 2A, 2B, and 2C to another ground.

  The speaker identification unit 13 analyzes the video signal from the camera that captures the speaker received from each communication conference terminal via the video signal transmission / reception unit 12 and identifies the speaker of the communication conference.

  For the analysis of the video signal for identifying the speaker, a general face image recognition technique can be applied. For example, facial feature points are extracted, their positional relationship is analyzed, and data of each speaker registered in advance is analyzed. What is necessary is just to identify a speaker by collating with (not shown).

  Furthermore, when there are a plurality of people in the camera video, it is only necessary to recognize the movement of the mouth and determine that the person whose mouth is moving is the speaker.

  The audio signal transmission / reception unit 14 performs a relay process for transmitting the audio signal received from each of the communication conference terminals 2A, 2B, 2C to the other ground.

  The volume adjustment signal receiving unit 16 receives a volume adjustment request signal for requesting to increase or decrease the transmission volume level of the audio signal transmitted from the other ground.

  The speaker-specific volume level storage unit 17 stores the transmission volume level corresponding to the speaker identified by the speaker identification unit 13.

  The speaker-specific volume level adjustment unit 15 extracts the transmission volume level of the speaker identified by the speaker identification unit 13 from the speaker-specific volume level storage unit 17, and transmits the audio signal to the audio signal transmission / reception unit 14. Instruct the transmission volume level.

  Further, when the audio signal transmission / reception unit 14 is transmitting the audio signal, when the volume adjustment request signal receiving unit 16 receives the volume adjustment request signal from another ground, it is transmitted to the other ground according to the requested content. Instructing to increase or decrease the transmission volume level of the audio signal to be transmitted by a predetermined amount and associating the information related to the increased or decreased transmission volume level with the speaker identified by the speaker identification unit 13 And stored in the speaker-specific volume level storage unit 17.

  The communication conference terminals 2A, 2B, and 2C are installed at each site participating in the communication conference. The communication conference terminal in this embodiment includes a communication control unit 21, a video signal input unit 22, a video signal output unit 23, an audio signal input unit 24, an audio signal output unit 25, an operation unit 26, a camera 27, a monitor 28, and a microphone 29. , A video conference terminal composed of a speaker 30. The operation unit 26 is an operation unit that performs operations such as start and end of a communication conference.

  The video signal input unit 22 is a video signal input unit from the camera 27, and the input video signal is sent to the apparatus 1 via the communication control unit 21. The audio signal input unit 24 is an input unit for an audio signal from the microphone 29, and the input audio signal is sent to the apparatus 1 via the communication control unit 21.

  Further, the communication control unit 21 receives the video signal and audio signal of the other ground relayed by the apparatus 1, the video signal is sent to the monitor 28 via the video signal output unit 23, and the audio signal is the audio signal output unit 25. Is output to the speaker 30 via.

  FIG. 2 is an example of a conference room at the base A where the communication conference terminal 2A is installed. For a plurality of conference participants (participants A-1, A-2, A-3), there is one microphone of the communication conference terminal that collects the speaker's speech, and the participant A-1, the participant The person A-3 is participating in the conference at a position close to the microphone, and the participant A-2 is participating in the meeting at a position far from the microphone.

  FIG. 3 is an example of data stored in the speaker-specific volume level storage unit 17. For each participant (column 202) of the base (column 201) participating in the communication conference, the transmission volume level (column 203) of the audio signal transmitted to the other ground is stored.

  The speaker-specific volume level storage unit 17 can store the transmission volume level of each participant registered from the operation unit 26 of the communication conference terminal 2.

  If the transmission volume level of the participant is not registered from the operation unit 26 of the communication conference terminal 2, the initial value of the transmission volume level (column 203) may be 0, or the camera of the communication conference terminal 2 The position of the participant may be specified from the video imaged in 27, and the initial value of the transmission volume level (column 203) may be automatically determined according to the position of the participant.

  In FIG. 3, a participant A-2 (line 212) participating in the conference in the conference room of the base A where the communication conference terminal 2A shown in FIG. 2 is installed participates in the conference at a position far from the microphone. Therefore, the transmission volume level (column 203) of the audio signal transmitted to each site is stored as +3 dB for site B and +3 dB for site C.

  FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart of the communication conference apparatus 1 according to the present invention. In S300, this flow starts when the communication conference is started. Hereinafter, this flow will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The processing related to the communication conference related event such as the start and end of the communication conference is the same as that of a general communication conference apparatus, and the details thereof are omitted.

  The volume level adjusting unit 15 for each speaker monitors whether the sound of the audio signal transmitting / receiving unit 14 is voiced or silent, that is, the presence or absence of a speaker. If there is a speaker (YES in S302), the speaker It is confirmed whether or not the identification unit 13 has specified the speaker.

  When the speaker identification unit 13 specifies a speaker (YES in S303), the speaker-specific volume level adjustment unit 15 displays information related to the speaker volume level specified by the speaker identification unit 13 as a speaker-specific volume level. Obtained from the storage unit 17 and instructs the audio signal transmission / reception unit 14 of the transmission volume level (S305).

  For example, when the speaker identified by the speaker identifying unit 13 is the participant A-2 in FIG. 3, the speaker-specific volume level adjusting unit 15 includes the participant A-2 in the speaker-specific volume level storage unit 17. 3 is extracted (base B = + 3 dB, base C = + 3 dB) from the volume level information (line 212 in FIG. 3) of the voice signal to be transmitted to the other ground (column 203 in FIG. 3). The audio signal transmitting / receiving unit 14 is instructed to send a sound volume.

  Note that the speaker identification unit 13 may not be able to identify the speaker when the speaker is a member who has joined the conference halfway or moved.

  When the speaker-specific volume level adjustment unit 15 refers to the speaker identification unit 13 and the speaker cannot be identified (S303, NO), the speaker who is speaking is stored in the speaker-specific volume level storage unit 17. It is determined that the speaker is not stored, and the speaker who is speaking is newly registered in the speaker-specific volume level storage unit 17 (S304). The initial value of the transmission volume level of the speaker newly registered in the speaker-specific volume level storage unit 17 may be 0, or the position of the participant is specified from the video taken by the camera 27 of the communication conference terminal 2. The initial value of the transmission volume level (column 203) may be automatically determined according to the position of the participant.

  In the case of S302, NO, the process returns to S302, and monitoring is continued until one of the participating members of the communication conference starts speaking.

  Next, the volume level adjustment unit 15 for each speaker is configured so that the volume adjustment request signal receiving unit 16 receives the voice signal of the speaker identified by the speaker identifying unit 13 while the audio signal transmitting / receiving unit 14 is transmitting / receiving When a volume adjustment request signal from the ground is received (S306, YES), an instruction is given to increase or decrease the transmission volume level of the audio signal transmitted to the other ground by a predetermined amount according to the requested content (S307). The information related to the up or down transmission volume level is stored in the speaker-specific volume level storage unit 17 in association with the speaker identified by the speaker identification unit 13 (S308).

  Specifically, the volume adjustment signal receiving unit 16 receives a request to increase the transmission volume level from the base B while the audio signal transmitting / receiving unit 14 is transmitting / receiving the audio signal of the speaker (A-2). In this case, the speaker-specific volume level adjustment unit 15 instructs the audio signal transmission / reception unit 14 to increase the transmission volume level by a predetermined amount (for example, an instruction to change the transmission volume level to the base B from +3 dB to +6 dB). ) And the transmitted sound volume level is stored in the volume level storage unit 17 for each speaker.

  In the case of S306, NO, the process proceeds to S309.

In addition, when the volume adjustment request signal receiving unit 16 receives a volume adjustment request signal from any other ground, the following method is used as the control to increase or decrease the transmission volume level by a predetermined amount. is there.
・ Change only the volume level for sending to other grounds where requested.
(For example, only the transmission volume level of the audio signal to be transmitted to the requested other ground is increased by +3 dB.)
・ Change the transmission volume level for each other ground at once.
(For example, the transmission volume level of the audio signal sent to each other ground is increased by +3 dB in a lump.)
-Increase the variable amount only at the other-ground transmission volume level requested.
(For example, the transmission volume level of the audio signal transmitted to the other ground that has been requested is increased by +6 dB, and the transmission volume level of the other audio signal transmitted to the other ground is increased by +3 dB.)

  The control for raising or lowering the transmission volume level by a predetermined amount may be performed by any of the above methods, or may be selected by setting the apparatus.

  Further, in accordance with a volume adjustment request signal from another place, the fact that the transmission volume level has been increased or decreased by a predetermined amount may be displayed on a monitor or the like at each site. (Not shown)

Since the data stored in the speaker-specific volume level storage unit 17 can be used as it is for the next communication conference with the same other base, there is an advantage that readjustment can be made light.

  The speaker identification unit 13 monitors the end of the speaker's speech specified in S303, and when the speaker's speech has ended (S309, YES), notifies the speaker-specific volume level adjustment unit 15 to that effect. To do. In the case of S309, NO, the process returns to S306.

  Upon receiving the notification from the speaker identification unit 13, the speaker-specific volume level adjustment unit 15 instructs the voice signal transmission / reception unit 14 to clear the transmission volume level (return to the initial value 0) (S310), and then S302. Return to.

  As described above, according to the present invention, when it is difficult to hear the voice of a specific speaker on the other ground that receives the voice of the speaker, it is transmitted from the device to the other ground with a simple operation from the other ground side. It is possible to provide a communication conference apparatus having a speaker-specific volume adjustment function capable of adjusting a transmission volume level of a voice signal of a specific speaker.

  In the present embodiment, as means for identifying a speaker, a speaker is identified by analyzing a video signal from a camera that photographs the speaker. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the voice signal may be extracted by analyzing the received voice signal, and the speaker may be specified by collating with a voice fingerprint of each speaker registered in advance. In addition, an ID for identifying a speaker may be designated on the side requesting the volume level adjustment.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Communication conference apparatus 11 ... Communication control part 12 ... Video signal transmission / reception part 13 ... Speaker identification part 14 ... Voice signal transmission / reception part 15 ... Volume level adjustment part 16 classified by speaker ... Volume adjustment request signal receiving unit 17 ... Volume level storage unit for each speaker

2A: Communication conference terminal 2B: Communication conference terminal 2C: Communication conference terminal

21 ... Communication control unit 22 ... Video signal input unit 23 ... Video signal output unit 24 ... Audio signal input unit 25 ... Audio signal output unit 26 ... Operation unit 27 ... Camera 28 ... Monitor 29 ... Microphone 30 ... Speaker

3 ... LAN
4 ... WAN

Claims (2)

A communication conference that processes a voice signal input from a microphone connected to the own device that collects voices of a plurality of speakers or a voice signal received from one or more other grounds and transmits the processed voice signals to the other grounds A device,
Audio signal transmitting / receiving means for transmitting or receiving audio signals via each of the other grounds via a network, speaker identification means for identifying a speaker of the audio signal input by the microphone, and speaker identification means The volume level storage means for each speaker for storing information related to the volume level for each speaker, and the transmission volume level of the audio signal to be transmitted to another ground with reference to the volume level storage means for each speaker is adjusted. A volume level adjustment means for each speaker, and a volume adjustment request signal reception means for receiving a volume adjustment request signal for requesting an increase or a decrease in the transmission volume level of the audio signal transmitted by the own apparatus from another ground,
When the sound volume adjustment request signal receiving means receives the sound volume adjustment request signal from another ground while transmitting the audio signal input by the microphone to the other ground,
The volume level adjusting means for each speaker increases or decreases a transmission volume level of a voice signal to be transmitted to another ground by a predetermined amount in accordance with a request content of the received volume adjustment request signal. A communication conferencing apparatus having a volume control function for each speaker, characterized in that information related to the transmission volume level is stored in the speaker-specific volume level storage means in association with the speaker identified by the speaker identification means . The teleconference device according to claim 1,
A video signal input means for inputting a video signal from a video camera for photographing a plurality of speakers, and a video signal transmission means for processing the input video signal and transmitting it to another point;
The speaker identification means analyzes a video signal input from the video camera, or analyzes an angle of the video camera to identify a speaker of the audio signal, Communication conference device having.

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