JP2003169161A - Information processing terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processing terminal in which it is not necessary to control the directions of a photographing means and a video display means during the use. <P>SOLUTION: In the portable telephone terminal having a main body of a telephone set provided with a display part 20 which can be oriented in any arbitrary direction while locating a camera 21 and a display 22 in the same direction and an earphone/microphone connected to the main body of the telephone set by wireless communications, the main body of the telephone set has a control part 12 for acquiring location information by specifying the location of the earphone/microphone by analyzing an audio signal from the earphone/ microphone and a direction control part 14 for making the camera 21 and the display 22 face the earphone/microphone by changing the direction of the display part 20 on the basis of the location information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing terminal capable of automatically adjusting the directions of a photographing means and a video display means, and more particularly to an information processing terminal capable of transmitting and receiving a video signal together with an audio signal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a videophone having a built-in camera or the like in a telephone body, a camera for photographing a talker is provided integrally with the apparatus body, and a cable is used for the apparatus body when making a call. A method of connecting an earphone / microphone and a method of using a hands-free function were used.

In the method of connecting the earphone microphone to the main body of the apparatus using a cable, the speaker can move only within the range of the cable length. Moreover, the cable may be entangled or cut, which is inconvenient to handle. on the other hand,
With the method using the hands-free function, if the distance between the speaker and the main body of the device becomes wider, not only the microphone built into the main body of the device becomes difficult to detect the voice of the speaker, but also the volume of the speaker must be increased. Since it has to be done, there is a possibility that a third party may ask the contents of the call. As described above, the conventional videophone terminal has many restrictions when making a call.

Further, in the conventional video telephone, the caller himself or herself places the face of the caller in the center of the photographing range of the camera, and the caller himself or herself views the image displayed on the display or the like at an optimum angle. I had to move to or move the phone. That is, the speaker was forced to move even during a call, and the orientation of the camera and the display had to be adjusted.

As a conventional technique for reducing the effort of the caller, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 14881/1993 (hereinafter
The "videophone device" disclosed in the cited document 1) is mentioned. In this conventional technique, a wireless signal transmitted from a cordless slave unit is received by two antennas provided in the master unit to identify the position of the slave unit, and the camera is directed in that direction to adjust the shooting direction. There is. In addition, JP-A-5-
The "cordless video telephone" disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 252508 (hereinafter referred to as Cited Document 2) can be cited. In this conventional technique, the master unit detects the direction in which the cordless slave unit exists, and the display surface of the display device is made to face the direction. Alternatively, a “videophone device” disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-311508 (hereinafter referred to as Cited Document 3) may be mentioned.
In this conventional technique, the telephone body analyzes the position of the handset using the position signal transmitted from the handset, and controls the view direction of the camera based on the analysis result.

[0006]

However, according to the invention disclosed in the above cited document 1 or 3,
The speaker does not need to adjust the shooting direction of the camera,
It is necessary to adjust the display direction of the display device by itself.
Further, according to the invention disclosed in the above cited document 2, the speaker does not need to adjust the display direction of the display device, but needs to appropriately adjust the shooting direction of the camera. Therefore, each of the inventions disclosed in the above cited references has room for further improvement in order to reduce the effort of the caller.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing terminal in which it is not necessary to adjust the directions of the photographing means and the image display means during use.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the first aspect of the present invention is a photographing display member in which photographing means and image display means are arranged in the same direction and can be oriented in any direction. An information processing terminal having a terminal body provided with and a slave unit connected to the terminal body by wireless communication, wherein the terminal body analyzes a wireless signal from the slave unit to identify the position of the slave unit. Provided is an information processing terminal, comprising: a position analysis means for acquiring position information; and a means for changing the direction of a photographing display member based on the position information so that the photographing means and the display means face the slave unit. To do. According to the above configuration, the directions of the photographing means and the video display means are controlled so as to always face the slave unit, and it is not necessary to adjust the directions of the photographing means and the video display means, so that the labor of the user can be reduced. Further, since the image pickup means and the image presenting means are provided in the same member, only one system for changing their directions is required, so that the information processing terminal can be reduced in size and weight.

To achieve the above object, as a second aspect of the present invention, a photographing and displaying member in which the photographing means and the image displaying means are arranged in the same direction and can be oriented in any direction, and an external device. An information processing terminal, comprising: a terminal main body having means for communicating with a terminal, and a slave connected to the terminal by wireless communication, the terminal main body analyzing a wireless signal from the slave and A position analyzing unit for specifying the position of the slave unit and acquiring position information; and a unit for changing the direction of the photographing display member based on the position information so that the photographing unit and the display unit face the slave unit. The present invention provides an information processing terminal that does. According to the above configuration, it is not necessary to adjust the directions of the photographing means and the video display means during communication, so that the labor of the user can be reduced.

In order to achieve the above object, as a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the terminal body transmits a voice signal received from an external device to a slave unit. And a means for displaying on the video display means an image corresponding to the video signal received from the external device, and transmitting at least one of the audio signal received from the slave and the video signal generated by the photographing means to the external device. And a means for converting the voice signal received from the terminal body into a voice and emitting the voice signal, and a means for converting the collected voice into a voice signal and transmitting the voice signal to the terminal body. An information processing terminal characterized by the above is provided.
According to the above configuration, it is not necessary to adjust the directions of the photographing means and the video display means during communication with the external device. Also,
The slave unit uses the slave unit to talk to the external device because the slave unit restores the audio signal received from the external device to the voice and reproduces it This makes it possible to realize a videophone function that is easy to use.

To achieve the above object, the present invention, as a fourth aspect, in the first aspect of the present invention, further comprises a terminal main body, and a communication device connected to the terminal main body from an external device. Means for acquiring the received audio signal and video signal, means for transmitting the audio signal acquired from the communication device to the child device, means for displaying an image corresponding to the video signal acquired from the communication device on the video display means, An audio signal received from the terminal body, the audio signal received from the child device and a means for causing the communication device to transmit at least one of the video signal generated by the photographing means to the external device. The present invention provides an information processing terminal characterized in that it has means for converting the voice into a voice and emitting the voice, and means for converting the collected voice into a voice signal and transmitting the voice signal to the terminal body. According to the above configuration, it is not necessary to adjust the directions of the photographing unit and the image display unit when communicating with the external device via the communication device connected to the terminal body. Also,
Similar to the third aspect of the present invention described above, a user-friendly videophone function can be realized by making a call with an external device using a slave.

In the third or fourth aspect of the present invention described above, it is preferable that the position analyzing means obtains the position information by analyzing the voice signal received from the child device. According to the above configuration, the terminal body can specify the position of the child device by using the audio signal, and therefore the device for transmitting a signal for detecting the position of the child device does not need to be separately provided.

Further, in any of the aspects of the present invention,
The wireless communication between the terminal body and the child device is preferably communication by radio waves. According to the above configuration, even if an object exists between the terminal body and the child device, the terminal body can specify the position of the child device.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [First Embodiment] FIG. 1 shows an external view of a foldable mobile phone terminal according to a first embodiment in which an information processing terminal according to the present invention is preferably implemented. This mobile phone terminal has a phone body and an earphone microphone,
These are connected by radio communication. Further, the telephone body has an operation unit 10 and a display unit 20, and a pivot 30 serving as a center of rotation when the telephone body is folded is provided at a connection portion between these. The connecting portion is further provided with a pivot 40 that is orthogonal to both the pivot 30 and the display direction of the display 22, and serves as the rotation center of the display unit 20. The camera 21 and the display 22 are arranged in the same direction. In other words, the shooting direction of the camera 21 and the display direction of the image on the display 22 are the same.

FIG. 2 shows a functional configuration of the mobile phone terminal according to the present embodiment. The operation unit 10 has a telephone function unit 11, a control unit 12, a signal transmission / reception unit 13, a direction control unit 14, an antenna 15 for a handset, and an antenna 16 for a base station. The telephone function unit 11 administers a known function as a mobile phone, and communicates with a base station via the base station antenna 16. The control unit 12 controls the telephone body. For example, the signal received from the earphone microphone is analyzed, the position of the earphone microphone is specified, and the rotation amounts of the pivots 30 and 40 required to make the earphone microphone face the display unit 20 are calculated. Further, a command is issued to the direction control unit 14 to rotate the pivots 30 and 40 so that the earphone microphone and the display unit 20 face each other. Alternatively, the user's image is captured by the camera 21, or the image received from the device on the other end of the call is displayed on the display 22. Signal transmitter / receiver 13
Performs wireless communication by radio waves with the earphone microphone via the slave antenna 15. The direction control unit 14 includes the control unit 12
The pivots 30 and 40 are rotated by the rotation amount instructed by the display unit 20 so that the display unit 20 faces the earphone microphone. A motor or the like can be applied to the direction control unit 14. The base station antenna 16 is an antenna for communicating with the base station. The display unit 20 has a camera 21 and a display 22. The camera 21 shoots a user's video and generates a video signal. The display 22 displays the video received from the device on the other end of the call and presents it to the user. The earphone microphone includes a signal transmitting / receiving unit 71, an A / D conversion unit 72, a microphone 7
3, a control unit 74, a D / A conversion unit 75, an earphone 76, and an antenna 77. The signal transmission / reception unit 71 performs radio communication by radio waves with the telephone body via the antenna 77. The A / D converter 72 modulates the audio signal input from the microphone 73 from an analog signal to a digital signal. The microphone 73 is a device that collects the voice uttered by the user and converts it into a voice signal. The control unit 74 is a functional unit that controls each unit of the earphone microphone. The D / A converter 75
The voice signal received from the telephone body is demodulated from a digital signal to an analog signal. The earphone 76 is a device that restores a voice signal to voice by a sounding element such as a speaker and reproduces the voice of the other party's speaker in the ear hole of the caller. Antenna 77
Is an antenna for performing radio communication with the telephone body.

The operation of the mobile phone terminal according to the present embodiment will be described. When the signal transmitting / receiving unit 13 receives a signal from the earphone microphone during a call (step S101), the control unit 12 analyzes the signal and specifies the position of the earphone microphone (step S102). A known technique can be applied to the method of analyzing the received signal and specifying the position of the earphone microphone. When it is specified that the earphone microphone is present at a position not directly facing the display unit 20, the control unit 1
2 determines that it is necessary to adjust the orientation of the display unit 20 (step S103 / Yes), and instructs the direction control unit 14 to rotate the pivots 30 and 40 so that the earphone microphone and the display unit 20 face each other. . The direction control unit 14 rotates the pivots 30 and 40 in accordance with a command from the control unit 12, and causes the display unit 20 to directly face the earphone microphone (step S104). On the other hand, when it is specified that the earphone microphone is present at the position directly facing the display unit 20, the control unit 12 determines that it is not necessary to adjust the orientation of the display unit 20 (step S103 / No).

Thereafter, if the call is continued (step S105 / No), the process proceeds to step S101 and the same processing is repeatedly executed until the call is completed.

As described above, according to the portable telephone terminal of the present embodiment, the main body of the telephone monitors the position of the earphone microphone and adjusts the direction of the display section. There is no need to adjust the orientation of. Further, since the telephone body and the earphone microphone are connected by radio communication, the user can move freely without being restricted by the cable.

[Second Embodiment] FIG. 4 shows the appearance of a notebook computer terminal according to a second embodiment in which the videophone system according to the present invention is preferably implemented. In this notebook computer terminal, a computer body and an earphone microphone are connected by radio wave communication. Further, the computer main body has an operation unit 100 and a display unit 200, and a pivot shaft 300 which is a rotation center when the computer main body is folded is provided at a connecting portion of these. This connecting portion is further provided with a pivot 40 which is orthogonal to both the pivot 300 and the display direction of the display 202.
0 is provided, which is the center of rotation of the display unit 200. The camera 201 and the display 202 are arranged in the same direction. In other words, the camera 20
The shooting direction of 1 and the direction in which the display 202 displays an image are the same direction.

FIG. 5 shows a functional configuration of the notebook computer terminal according to the present embodiment. The operation unit 100 includes a communication unit 101, a control unit 102, a signal transmission / reception unit 103, a direction control unit 104, and a slave antenna 105. The communication unit 101 communicates via a public network. Control unit 102
Controls the computer body. For example, the signal received from the earphone microphone is analyzed, the position of the earphone microphone is specified, and the rotation amount of the pivots 300 and 400 required to make the earphone microphone face the display unit 200 is calculated. Further, a command is issued to the direction control unit 104 to rotate the pivots 300 and 400, so that the earphone microphone and the display unit 200 face each other. Alternatively, the image of the user is captured by the camera 201, or the image received from the device on the other end of the call is displayed on the display 202. The signal transmitting / receiving unit 103 is a functional unit that performs wireless communication by radio waves with the earphone microphone via the antenna 105. The direction control unit 104 rotates the pivots 300 and 400 by the rotation amount instructed by the control unit 102, and causes the display unit 200 to face the earphone microphone. The direction control unit 104 includes
A motor or the like can be applied. The antenna 105 is an antenna for performing radio wave communication with the earphone microphone. Display unit 20
0 has a camera 201 and a display 202.
The camera 201 captures a video of the user and generates a video signal. The display 202 displays the video received from the device on the other end of the call and presents it to the user. The earphone microphone includes a signal transmitting / receiving unit 71, an A / D conversion unit 72, a microphone 7
3, a control unit 74, a D / A conversion unit 75, an earphone 76, and an antenna 77. The signal transmission / reception unit 71 performs radio communication by radio waves with the computer main body via the antenna 77. The A / D converter 72 modulates the audio signal input from the microphone 73 from an analog signal to a digital signal. The microphone 73 is a device that collects the voice uttered by the user and converts it into a voice signal. The control unit 74 is a functional unit that controls each unit of the earphone microphone. D / A converter 7
Reference numeral 5 demodulates the audio signal received from the computer main body from a digital signal to an analog signal. Earphones 76
It is a device that restores a voice signal to a voice by a speaker or the like and emits the voice of the other speaker in the ear hole of the caller. Antenna 77
Is an antenna for performing radio communication with the computer body.

Since the functional configuration of the computer terminal according to the present embodiment is equivalent to that of the first embodiment, it is obvious that the same processing as the operation flow shown in FIG. 3 can be performed.

The above-described embodiments are examples of preferred embodiments of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to these. For example, in each of the above-described embodiments, the direction of the display unit is changed by using the biaxial hinge mechanism to face the earphone microphone, but the display unit and the terminal body (or the computer body) are flexible such as a flexible arm. It is also possible to connect with another member and bend it to control the orientation of the display unit. Alternatively, the display unit and the terminal body may be connected using a ball joint. Further, in each of the above embodiments, communication with the earphone microphone is performed by radio wave communication, but infrared communication can also be applied. Furthermore, in the second embodiment, the computer main body does not necessarily have to have the communication function,
The communication device may be externally attached. As described above, the present invention can be variously modified.

[0023]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, it is not necessary to adjust the orientations of the photographing means and the image display means during use, so the labor of the user can be reduced.
Further, since the image display means and the photographing means are installed on the same member, only one system for changing the direction is required, so that the information processing terminal can be made compact and lightweight.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outer appearance of a foldable mobile phone terminal according to a first embodiment in which an information processing terminal according to the present invention is preferably implemented.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a mobile phone terminal according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a flow of operations of the mobile phone terminal according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an external appearance of a notebook computer terminal according to a second embodiment in which an information processing terminal according to the present invention is preferably implemented.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a notebook computer terminal according to a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

10, 100 Operation unit 11 Telephone function section 12, 74, 102 Control unit 13, 71, 103 signal transmitter / receiver 14, 104 Direction controller 15 105 Antenna for handset 16 Base station antenna 20,200 Display 21,201 camera 22,202 display 30, 40, 300, 400 Axis 72 A / D converter 73 microphone 75 D / A converter 76 earphones

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 5D018 BB03                 5D062 CC13                 5K067 AA34 BB04 BB08 BB28 DD27                       DD52 DD54 EE03 EE10 HH01                       HH21                 5K101 KK04 LL12 NN06 NN07 NN14                       NN18 NN37

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A terminal main body provided with a photographing display member in which a photographing means and a video display means are oriented in the same direction and can be oriented in any direction, and a slave unit connected to the terminal main body by wireless communication. An information processing terminal having, wherein the terminal body analyzes a wireless signal from the slave unit, specifies a position of the slave unit, and acquires position information; and a position analysis unit that captures the image based on the position information. An information processing terminal, comprising: a means for changing the direction of a display member and causing the photographing means and the display means to face the slave unit. 2. The information processing terminal according to claim 1, wherein the terminal body further includes means for communicating with an external device. 3. The terminal body transmits the audio signal received from the external device to the slave unit, and displays the image according to the video signal received from the external device on the image display unit. Further comprising means for transmitting at least one of an audio signal received from the slave unit and a video signal generated by the photographing unit to the external device, wherein the slave unit receives an audio signal received from the terminal body. The information processing terminal according to claim 2, further comprising: a unit that converts a signal into a voice and emits the voice; and a unit that converts a collected voice into a voice signal and transmits the voice signal to the terminal body. 4. The terminal body further obtains a sound signal and a video signal received from an external device by a communication device connected to the terminal body, and the sound signal obtained from the communication device to the slave unit. At least one of a means for transmitting, a means for causing the video display means to display a video corresponding to the video signal acquired from the communication device, an audio signal received from the slave and a video signal generated by the imaging means. Means for causing the communication device to transmit the same to an external device, the handset further converting the voice signal received from the terminal body into a voice and emitting the voice signal, and collecting the voice as a voice signal. 2. The information processing terminal according to claim 1, further comprising means for converting the information into a message and transmitting it to the terminal body. 5. The information processing terminal according to claim 3, wherein the position analysis means acquires the position information by analyzing a voice signal received from the slave. 6. The information processing terminal according to claim 1, wherein the wireless communication is communication by radio waves.