JP2004192331A - Communication terminal device, communication server, communication method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve sense of reality in conversation when performing realtime conversation via a network such as chatting. <P>SOLUTION: Chatting is executed through pear-to-pear communication among personal computers 1A, 1B and 1C. A display control file for specifying how to display messages and avatars while chatting is transmitted from each personal computer to other personal computers with a message and an image of avatar. In each personal computer, a message and an image sent from the computer is processed by a display control file selected by the computer, a message and image received from another personal computer are processed with a display control file which is received at the same time and the message and the image sent from each personal computer are displayed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a communication terminal device, a communication server, a communication method, and a program for causing a computer to execute a communication method that provide an environment for exchanging messages in real time for dialogue.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A chat service is provided in which a plurality of users connect their own communication terminal devices such as personal computers via a network such as the Internet and exchange messages in real time between the plurality of communication terminal devices. In such a chat service, a plurality of communication terminal devices share a single virtual space, and a user can transmit a message at an arbitrary timing in the virtual space, that is, can speak, between users of a plurality of communication terminal devices. It is intended to be able to interact with.
[0003]
In such a chat service, there is also provided a chat service in which a user makes a substitute character called an avatar appear in a virtual space and performs a dialogue in real time using the avatar.
[0004]
Further, in such a chat service, in order to improve the realism of conversation, a communication system in which the avatar is moved according to a keyword included in the message based on the personality information of the avatar inputted in advance (see Patent Document 1). In addition, a communication system (see Patent Document 2) is proposed in which an avatar operation corresponding to an input message is retrieved from a correspondence table, and the avatar performs the retrieved operation. In these systems, for example, when a message “Good morning” is input, an avatar performing an operation such as greeting with a hand raised can be displayed.
[0005]
Also, by preparing multiple avatars with different facial expressions and attitudes corresponding to multiple emotion expressions for one type of avatar, and inputting the emotion expression level of the user, the emotion expression avatar corresponding to that level can be A system for displaying is also proposed (see Patent Document 3).
[0006]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-230801
[Patent Document 2]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-307137
[Patent Document 3]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-190034
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the systems described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, since the avatar's movement is associated with a preset keyword, the avatar performing a greeting with his hand raised is “ When the character string “good morning” is associated, the display of the avatar is not changed by inputting the character string “good morning” or “oh good”. In this case, it is enough to associate the character strings “Ohayo” or “Ohha” with the action of greeting by raising your hand, but since there are various ways of greeting in actual chat, Even if it is a character string that greets the same, the display of the avatar cannot be changed unless the character string is associated with the gesture of raising the hand. Further, even in the system described in Patent Document 3, the expression and movement of the avatar are limited to those prepared in advance. For this reason, there is a case where the avatar is not changed to the avatar desired by the user during the chat, and as a result, there is a problem that the realism of the chat is impaired.
[0010]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to further improve the realistic sensation of a dialog when performing a dialog in real time via a network like a chat.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
A communication terminal apparatus according to the present invention is connected to a network and provides an environment for performing a real-time conversation with at least one other communication terminal apparatus connected to the network.
Input means for receiving input of character strings and / or images for the dialogue;
Display that defines how to display the character string and / or the image data input from the input means from a plurality of previously created display control files that define how to display the character string and / or the image A selection means for accepting control file selection;
Storage means for storing text data representing the character string and / or image data representing the image together with the selected display control file;
Transmitting means for transmitting the text data and / or the image data and the selected display control file to the other communication terminal device;
Receiving means for receiving at least one other text data and / or other image data and another display control file transmitted from the other communication terminal device;
A display control file that controls and displays a character string represented by the other text data and / or an image represented by the other image data based on the other display control file, and that is stored in the storage unit And a display control means for controlling and displaying the character string represented by the text data stored in the storage means and / or the image represented by the image data.
[0012]
The “display control file” may be common for character strings and images, or may be separate for character strings and images.
[0013]
In the communication terminal device according to the present invention, the display control means performs display control processing of the other text data and / or the other image data, and display of the stored text data and / or the image data. It may be a means for performing control processing in parallel.
[0014]
A communication server according to the present invention is connected to a plurality of communication terminal devices via a network, and provides a communication environment in real time for the plurality of communication terminal devices.
The text data representing the character string for the dialogue and / or the image data representing the image for the dialogue and the way of displaying the character string and / or the image transmitted from each of the plurality of communication terminal devices Receiving means for receiving a display control file defining
Display control means for performing display control of the text data and / or the image data transmitted from each of the plurality of communication terminal devices based on the display control file transmitted from each of the plurality of communication terminal devices; ,
And transmitting means for transmitting the text data and / or the image data subjected to the display control to all of the plurality of communication terminal devices.
[0015]
In the communication server according to the present invention, the display control means may be means for performing parallel display control processing of the text data and / or the image data transmitted from each of the plurality of communication terminal devices. .
[0016]
The communication method according to the present invention is a communication method in a communication terminal device that provides an environment for real-time interaction with at least one other communication terminal device connected to a network.
Accepts input of character strings and / or images for the dialogue;
Selection of a display control file that defines how to display the input character string and / or the image from a plurality of previously created display control files that define how to display the character string and / or the image Accept
Storing text data representing the character string and / or image data representing the image together with the selected display control file;
Transmitting the text data and / or the image data and the selected display control file to the other communication terminal device;
Receiving at least one other text data and / or other image data and another display control file transmitted from the other communication terminal device;
Based on the stored display control file, the character string represented by the other text data and / or the image represented by the other image data are displayed while being controlled based on the other display control file. The character string represented by the stored text data and / or the image represented by the image data are displayed while being controlled.
[0017]
In the communication method according to the present invention, the display control process for the other text data and / or the other image data and the display control process for the stored image data and / or the image data are performed in parallel. You may make it perform.
[0018]
In addition, you may provide as a program for making a computer perform the communication method by this invention.
[0019]
【The invention's effect】
According to the communication terminal device, the communication method, and the program of the present invention, a character string and / or image input for interaction is accepted, and a character string and / or an image display method is defined in advance. Selection of a display control file that defines how to display an input character string and / or image is accepted from a plurality of display control files. Text data representing a character string and / or image data representing an image and a display control file are stored. On the other hand, other text data and / or other image data and other display control files transmitted from other communication terminal devices are received. Then, based on the received other display control file, the character string represented by the other text data and / or the image represented by the other image data are displayed while being controlled, and are stored in the stored display control file. Based on this, the character string represented by the stored text data and / or the image represented by the image data are displayed while being controlled.
[0020]
Further, according to the communication server of the present invention, the text data and / or image data and the display control file transmitted from each of the plurality of communication terminal devices connected to the communication server via the network are received, and the received display is received. Display control of text data and / or image data is performed based on the control file, and the text data and / or image data subjected to display control is transmitted to all of the plurality of communication terminal devices. In each of the plurality of communication terminal devices, a character string represented by text data transmitted from all communication terminal devices connected to the communication server, including text data and / or image data transmitted by itself, and / or Alternatively, the image represented by the image data is displayed under display control.
[0021]
For this reason, the user of the communication terminal device can chat by displaying the character string and / or image input by the user in the desired display manner by selecting the desired display control file. . Therefore, the presence of chat can be improved.
[0022]
Further, if display control processing of all text data and / or all image data is performed in parallel, a character string and / or an image represented by the text data as if a normal conversation is being performed. Since the image represented by the data can be displayed, the realism of chat can be further improved.
[0023]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing a configuration of a communication system to which a communication terminal apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of (in this embodiment, three) personal computers 1A, 1B, and 1C connected via the Internet 2 and communicating with each personal computer 1A by peer-to-peer communication. , 1B, 1C users chat in real time.
[0024]
Each of the personal computers 1A, 1B, and 1C includes a monitor 11 that performs various displays, an input unit 12 including a keyboard and a mouse, and a personal computer main body 13. The personal computer main body 13 includes the communication terminal device according to the present embodiment.
[0025]
FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of the communication terminal apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the communication terminal device according to the present embodiment is connected to a network and communicates with a communication interface 21 that transmits and receives text data representing a character string of a message and image data representing an image, and various programs such as a chat program. A hard disk 22 that stores data, a memory 23 that is a work area, and a CPU 24 that executes processing based on a chat program are connected by a bus 25. Note that the monitor 11 and the input means 12 are connected to the bus 25.
[0026]
FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of the chat program. Here, in order to simplify the description, processing of a program between two personal computers will be described. The chat program includes a transmission client 3A and a display client 4A. The transmission client 3A accepts input of a message, input of an image to be displayed, and selection of a display control file that defines how to display the message and the image, and the input message is displayed as display data X, and the input image is displayed as display data Y. The selected display control file is transmitted as control data C to all connected personal computers. The display data X and Y and the control data C are also transmitted to its own display client 4A.
[0027]
In the display control file, a description defining how to display a message and how to display an image is made.
[0028]
Examples of how to display a message include the position on the screen where the message is displayed, the color of the character used in the message, the display speed of the character, the size of the character, and the number of times of display. If the character size and color are not defined in the display control file, a message is displayed with characters having a predetermined default size and color.
[0029]
Examples of how to display an image include the position on the screen where the image is displayed, the type of image data used for display, the display time, the display size, and the number of times of display.
[0030]
The timing defines the speed at which a message is displayed (for example, message characters are displayed every 300 ms, or displayed at once), the time for displaying each image when a plurality of images are displayed, and the like.
[0031]
The display client 4A receives the display data X, Y and control data C transmitted from its own input client 3A and the display data X ', Y' and control data C 'transmitted from the input client 3B of another personal computer, and displays them. Data X and Y and display data X ′ and Y ′ are temporarily stored in temporary T and T ′. The control data C and C ′ are loaded into the content manager M.
[0032]
The control data C loaded in the content manager M is interpreted and executed under the multitask management N in cooperation with the control data C ′. At this time, display data X and Y and display data X ′ and Y ′ are loaded from temporary T and T ′ as necessary. The execution result of the control data C and C ′ is output to the display area D and displayed on the monitor 11.
[0033]
Next, processing performed by such a chat program will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing performed by the chat program. The transmission client 3A only performs processing for transmitting the display data X, Y and control data C respectively corresponding to the message and image data input by the user and the selected display control file. Data reception processing, temporary T processing, multitask management N processing, and display area D processing will be described.
[0034]
First, in the data reception process, it is determined whether or not display data X, Y, X ′, Y ′ has arrived (step S1). If step S1 is affirmed, the control data C, C ′ are not transmitted. Considering the case, it is determined whether or not the control data C, C ′ arrives simultaneously with the display data X, Y, X ′, Y ′ (step S2). Subsequent to step S2, the display data X, Y, X ', Y' received by the temporary T is temporarily stored (step S3). Following the processing in steps S1, S2, and S3, the multitask management N starts parallel processing (step S4). This parallel processing is processing in which processing for displaying messages and images is performed in parallel for the number of connected personal computers for chatting.
[0035]
In the parallel processing, it is first determined whether or not a screen update is necessary (step S5). If step S5 is affirmed, the display data X and Y temporarily stored in the temporary T are read (step S6). If the control data C is received, a process for controlling the display of the display data X and Y is performed (step S7), and output to the display area D to update the screen (step S8). If control data C has not arrived, the screen is updated by performing a process for controlling the display so that the display data X and Y are directly output to the display area D in step S7.
[0036]
The processes in steps S5 to SS8 are performed in parallel for the number of connected personal computers (step S9), and the process returns to step S1.
[0037]
Next, specific examples in the present embodiment will be described. During the chat, a chat screen is displayed on the monitor 11 of the personal computers 1A, 1B, 1C. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a chat screen. As shown in FIG. 5, the chat screen 30 includes a display area 31 for displaying characters and images, a message input box 32 for inputting a message, an image drag area 33 for dragging an image to be displayed, and a display control file for the message. A pull-down menu 34 for selecting the image, a pull-down menu 35 for selecting a display control file for the image, and a transmission button 36.
[0038]
The display area 31 displays messages and images for which display control has been performed.
[0039]
The message input box 32 displays a message that the user of the personal computer 1A, 1B, 1C inputs from the input means 12 and transmits.
[0040]
The image drag area 33 is an area where the user of the personal computers 1A, 1B, and 1C drags image data that the user wants to display in the display area 31, and an image represented by the image data that is dragged and transmitted here is displayed in the display area 31. Is displayed. As the image data, data representing an image desired by the user stored in the personal computers 1A, 1B, and 1C can be used. The dragged image data is sequentially displayed in the image drag area 33.
[0041]
The pull-down menus 34 and 35 display display control file types (for example, file 1, file 2...) That define how to display messages and image data.
[0042]
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the description of the display control file. The first line of the display control file 41 shown in FIG. 6A is a message that displays the start of the display control file, the second line is an instruction to set the display position to “upper left”, and the third line is a message that displays “upper left”. An instruction for setting the file name (member_a.txt) is shown, and the fourth line represents the end of the display control file. For example, the content of the message is “Where are you going this Sunday?”, And the character_member. If the file name txt is given, the message “Where are you going on this Sunday?” is displayed at the top left of the display area 31 by executing the display control file 41 at a time. The file name of the message is automatically assigned by the transmission client 3A according to the personal computers 1A, 1B, and 1C to be transmitted.
[0043]
The first line of the display control file 42 shown in FIG. 6B displays the start of the display control file, the second line displays an instruction to set the display position to “lower right”, and the third line displays “lower right”. An instruction to set the file name (member_b.txt) of the message to be sent and an instruction to set the character display speed to 300 ms per character, and the fourth line represents the end of the display control file. For example, the content of the message is “Why don't you go to cool Mt. Fuji because it is hot?”, And the character string contains “member_b. If the file name txt is given, the display control file 42 is executed, and a message “Wouldn't you go to cool Mt. Fuji from the hot?” is displayed one character at a time in the lower right of the display area 31.
[0044]
In the display control files 41 and 42, the character size of the message is not defined. In such a case, the message is displayed with a predetermined default character size (for example, 8 points).
[0045]
The first line of the display control file 43 shown in FIG. 6C is a message for displaying the start of the display control file, the second line is an instruction for setting the display position to “lower left”, and the third line is a message for displaying “lower left”. For the file name (member_c.txt), an instruction for setting the character size to 12 points, and an instruction for setting the character display time to 500 ms. The fourth line is the file name (face_c1.face) of the image data to be displayed. jpg) and an instruction to set the display time of the image data to 500 ms, the fifth line sets the file name (member_c.txt) of the message to be displayed in the “lower left” after the processing of the third line is completed And the setting for setting the character size to 24 points, the sixth line is the file name of the image data to be displayed after the processing of the fourth line is completed ( An instruction for setting the ace_c2.jpg), 7 line respectively represent the end of the display control file.
[0046]
Next, a state where each of the three users A, B, and C performs chat using the personal computers 1A, 1B, and 1C will be described. Here, an example in which the users A, B, and C use the display control files 41, 42, and 43 shown in FIGS. 6A to 6C will be described.
[0047]
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display state of the display area 31 during chat. As shown in FIG. 7A, avatars of three users A, B, and C are displayed in the display area 31. This is selected in advance by the users A, B, and C. Then, when the user A inputs a message “Where to go next Sunday?” In the message input box 32, selects a file type corresponding to the display control file 41 in the pull-down menu 34, and presses the send button 36. The text data representing the message and the display control file 41 are transmitted from the personal computer 1A to the personal computers 1B and 1C, and the display control file 41 is executed in each of the personal computers 1A, 1B and 1C, as shown in FIG. The message “Where are you going next Sunday?” Is displayed as if the avatar was speaking at the position of A's avatar.
[0048]
On the other hand, in response to this, the user B inputs a message “Do you not go to cool Mt. Fuji from the heat?” In the message input box 32 and selects the file type corresponding to the display control file 42 in the pull-down menu 34. When the transmission button 36 is pressed, text data representing a message and the display control file 42 are transmitted from the personal computer 1B to the personal computers 1A and 1C, and the display control file 42 is executed in each of the personal computers 1A, 1B and 1C. As shown in (c), as if the avatar is speaking at the position of the avatar of the user B, a message “Wouldn't you go to cool Mt. Fuji from the heat?” Is displayed character by character. FIG. 7C shows a state in which a message inputted by the user B halfway through is displayed as “Hot to cool Fuji”.
[0049]
In response to user A's message, user C also inputs the message “sea” in the message input box 32, and the image drag area 33 displays two image data (images 51A and 51B as shown in FIG. (face_c1.jpg, face_c2.jpg), dragging the file type corresponding to the display control file 43 in the pull-down menu 34 or 35 and pressing the send button 36 displays the message from the personal computer 1C to the personal computers 1A and 1B. The text data, the image data representing the images 51A and 51B, and the display control file 43 are transmitted, and the display control file 43 is executed in each of the personal computers 1A, 1B, and 1C. As shown in FIG. Messe of "the sea" as if the avatar is speaking in the position of Di is 500ms displayed by the character size of 12 points. In addition, the avatar is changed to the image 51A and is displayed for 500 ms in the same manner as the “sea” message.
[0050]
Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 7E, the character size is enlarged to 24 points, the message “Sea” is displayed, and the avatar is changed to an image 51B. Thereby, it can be seen that the user C strongly desires to go to the sea.
[0051]
As described above, in this embodiment, the message is input and the image data is dragged, and the display control file that defines the display method is selected to control the display method of the message and the image. Therefore, a user who performs chat can select a desired display control file to display a message or image input by the user in a desired display form and perform chat. Therefore, the presence of chat can be improved.
[0052]
In addition, if the display control files transmitted from the personal computers 1A, 1B, and 1C are executed in parallel, messages and images can be displayed as if a normal conversation is being performed, thereby further improving the realism of chatting. be able to.
[0053]
In the above embodiment, the chat is performed by communicating the personal computers 1A, 1B, and 1C by peer-to-peer. However, as shown in FIG. 9, the personal computers 1A, 1B, and 1C and the communication server 5 that manages the chat are provided. It is also possible to connect via the Internet 2 and to chat with the communication terminal device included in the personal computers 1A, 1B, and 1C in the above embodiment. In this case, the chat program is installed in the communication server 5, the display control file is executed by chat, and the messages and images of the users of the personal computers 1A, 1B, and 1C are displayed on the personal computers 1A, 1B, and 1C. Is done.
[0054]
Moreover, in the said embodiment, although chatting is performed, this invention can be applied besides chat. For example, data for reading a novel is transmitted from the personal computer 1A, and the novel is slowly displayed by the display control file. The users of the other personal computers 1B and 1C read the novel displayed in real time while reading the novel. It can also be applied to applications such as exchanging impressions.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing a configuration of a communication system to which a communication terminal apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing a configuration of a communication terminal apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing performed by the chat program. FIG. 5 is a chat screen. FIG. 6 is an example of display control file description. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display state of a display area at the time. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an image used for an avatar. FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram showing a configuration of a communication system including a communication terminal device according to another embodiment of the present invention. Explanation of symbols]
1A, 1B, 1C Personal computer 2 Internet 3A, 3B Communication client 4A Display client 5 Communication server 11 Monitor 12 Input means 13 Personal computer body 21 Communication interface 22 Hard disk 23 Memory 24 CPU

Claims (8)

In a communication terminal device connected to a network and providing an environment for performing real-time dialogue with at least one other communication terminal device connected to the network,
Input means for receiving input of character strings and / or images for the dialogue;
Display that defines how to display the character string and / or the image data input from the input means from a plurality of previously created display control files that define how to display the character string and / or the image A selection means for accepting control file selection;
Storage means for storing text data representing the character string and / or image data representing the image together with the selected display control file;
Transmitting means for transmitting the text data and / or the image data and the selected display control file to the other communication terminal device;
Receiving means for receiving at least one other text data and / or other image data and another display control file transmitted from the other communication terminal device;
A display control file that controls and displays a character string represented by the other text data and / or an image represented by the other image data based on the other display control file, and that is stored in the storage unit And a display control means for controlling and displaying the character string represented by the text data stored in the storage means and / or the image represented by the image data. The display control means is means for performing the display control processing of the other text data and / or the other image data and the display control processing of the stored text data and / or the image data in parallel. The communication terminal device according to claim 1. In a communication server that is connected to a plurality of communication terminal devices via a network and provides an environment for performing a real-time dialogue with the plurality of communication terminal devices,
The text data representing the character string for the dialogue and / or the image data representing the image for the dialogue and the way of displaying the character string and / or the image transmitted from each of the plurality of communication terminal devices Receiving means for receiving a display control file defining
Display control means for performing display control of the text data and / or the image data transmitted from each of the plurality of communication terminal devices based on the display control file transmitted from each of the plurality of communication terminal devices; ,
A communication server comprising: transmission means for transmitting the text data and / or the image data subjected to the display control to all of the plurality of communication terminal devices. 4. The communication according to claim 3, wherein the display control means is means for performing parallel display control processing of the text data and / or the image data transmitted from each of the plurality of communication terminal devices. server. In a communication method in a communication terminal device connected to a network and providing an environment for performing a real-time dialogue with at least one other communication terminal device connected to the network,
Accepts input of character strings and / or images for the dialogue;
Selection of a display control file that defines how to display the input character string and / or the image from a plurality of previously created display control files that define how to display the character string and / or the image Accept
Storing text data representing the character string and / or image data representing the image together with the selected display control file;
Transmitting the text data and / or the image data and the selected display control file to the other communication terminal device;
Receiving at least one other text data and / or other image data and another display control file transmitted from the other communication terminal device;
Based on the stored display control file, the character string represented by the other text data and / or the image represented by the other image data are displayed while being controlled based on the other display control file. A communication method comprising: controlling and displaying a character string represented by the stored text data and / or an image represented by the image data. 6. The display control process for the other text data and / or the other image data and the display control process for the stored image data and / or the image data are performed in parallel. Communication method. In a program for causing a computer to execute a communication method in a communication terminal device that is connected to a network and provides an environment for performing real-time dialogue with at least one other communication terminal device connected to the network,
A procedure for receiving input of a character string and / or an image for the dialogue;
Selection of a display control file that defines how to display the input character string and / or the image from a plurality of previously created display control files that define how to display the character string and / or the image The procedure to accept
Storing text data representing the character string and / or image data representing the image together with the selected display control file;
Transmitting the text data and / or the image data and the selected display control file to the other communication terminal device;
Receiving at least one other text data and / or other image data and another display control file transmitted from the other communication terminal device;
Based on the stored display control file, the character string represented by the other text data and / or the image represented by the other image data are displayed while being controlled based on the other display control file. A program comprising: a character string represented by the stored text data and / or a procedure for displaying an image represented by the image data while controlling the character string. The displaying procedure is a procedure of performing the display control processing of the other text data and / or the other image data and the display control processing of the stored image data and / or the image data in parallel. The program according to claim 7, wherein:

Images