JP2006203837A - Voice chat system having call-significance function - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a voice chat with the opposite party having matched significance, by setting transmission significance and the degree of importance of receiving. <P>SOLUTION: A significance comparison means 15 for a voice-chat terminal 10 compares the call reception significance set by a receiving-significance set means 13 and the transmission significance of the voice data received. Voice is output from a voice output means 17, when "the call reception significance ≤ the transmission significance". <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a system that enables voice chat with a partner whose importance matches, by setting a transmission importance and a reception importance.

  Conventional voice chat is a conversation between terminals using a plurality of terminals such as personal computers connected to a network.

  Instant messengers currently offered by providers, etc. invite people who know their email addresses to chat only with specific people, or create public chat rooms to chat with an unspecified number of people Can be performed.

  However, since conversations in a chat room can be heard by all users in the same chat room, there are various cases such as “I want to listen only to important conversations” and conversely “I want to talk to someone who is associated with a silly story”. Unable to respond to user requests.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a voice chat system that can listen to a conversation of an importance level that the user wants to listen to and can specify the importance level of the other party to listen to when speaking.

In view of the above object, a voice chat system according to the present invention is a voice chat system configured by a plurality of voice chat terminals connected via a network,
When the voice chat terminal receives voice data, there is provided a means for comparing the importance level set on the receiving side voice chat terminal with the importance level set on the transmitting side voice chat terminal.
The received voice is output only when the transmission importance and the reception importance are the same or the transmission importance is higher.

  Furthermore, in the above-described voice chat system, authentication can be performed in order to connect to the chat room selected by the voice chat terminal or the selected voice chat terminal.

  Furthermore, in the above-mentioned voice chat system, when connecting to the chat room selected by the voice chat terminal or the selected voice chat terminal, the voice chat terminal successfully authenticated is allowed to send and receive, and the other voice A chat conversation can also be made public by permitting only an incoming call to the chat terminal.

  Furthermore, in the above-described voice chat system, the video of another user participating in the chat can be displayed on the chat terminal.

Furthermore, a voice chat terminal according to the present invention is a voice chat terminal provided with a reception importance level setting means, a transmission importance level setting means, a voice input means, a voice output means,
When the voice chat terminal receives voice data, there is provided a means for comparing the importance level set on the receiving side voice chat terminal with the importance level set on the transmitting side voice chat terminal.
The received voice is output only when the transmission importance and the reception importance are the same or the transmission importance is higher.

  Further, in the voice chat terminal described above, the voice input method includes the button-pressed transmission mode in which voice input is possible only while the speaker presses the voice input button in the voice chat terminal on the sender side, and the button is pressed. It is also possible to select a continuous transmission mode in which voice input can be continuously performed even without this.

  Further, the above-described voice chat terminal can be provided with means for displaying video of other users participating in the chat on the chat terminal.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the voice chat system which can hear the conversation of the importance which wants to hear and can set importance to a talk when speaking can be provided.

  Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, the same reference number is attached | subjected to the same element shown in drawing, and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted. First, the voice chat method according to the present invention using the transmission importance and the reception importance will be described.

[Voice chat using the importance of sending and receiving]
An example of an embodiment of a voice chat system according to the present invention is shown in FIG. Multiple voice chat terminals are connected to the network. A server system (not shown) may perform user management, chat room management, authentication processing, and the like. The main connection methods currently used for voice chat include a server / client method and a peer-to-peer (P2P) method. An example of the connection method is shown in FIG.

  In the server / client system, each client connects via a server to perform voice chat. On the other hand, there are various forms of the P2P system, which can be roughly classified into a hybrid P2P type and a pure P2P type. The hybrid P2P type is a method of connecting to a server in order to find a connection partner, but does not use a server for communication between clients. The pure P2P type is a method that does not use a server for searching for a connection partner or for communication between clients.

  The voice chat of the present invention is not limited to the above connection method, and other connection methods may be used. Further, the network to be used is not limited to the IP network, and a public line network, a mobile phone network, and other networks may be used.

  For convenience, the voice chat terminal for sending speech will be described as "sending voice chat terminal", and the voice chat terminal for receiving voice will be described separately as "receiving voice chat terminal". Transmission and reception can be performed at the same time.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of a voice chat terminal. FIG. 4 is a transmission flow.

  In the voice chat terminal on the transmission side, the transmission importance level is set by the transmission importance level setting means 14 (S10, S11). If you want to send voices to more people, set the sending importance level high, and if it is not so important, you only need to listen to the person you want to hear. Set the sending importance level low. The transmission importance can be changed at any time during the voice chat.

  Two types of transmission methods, “continuous transmission mode” and “button-pressed transmission mode”, may be prepared. When the continuous speech selection button 21 is pressed to select the continuous speech mode (S12), voice is input from the microphone 16 (S14), and other voices in which voice data including the importance of transmission participate in the same chat are input. It is transmitted to the chat terminal (S15). When the button-pressing transmission mode is selected, only when the button is pressed, the voice data including the transmission importance is transmitted to other voice chat terminals participating in the same chat (S13).

  Next, reception will be described using the flow of FIG.

  In the receiving side voice chat terminal, the receiving importance level is set by the receiving importance level setting means 13 (S20, S21). When it is desired to listen to more voices of the other party, the reception importance level is set low. When it is desired to listen only to important voices, the reception importance level is set high. The receiving importance can be changed at any time during the voice chat. When the voice data is received, the importance level comparison means 15 compares the transmission importance level (A) included in the voice data with the reception importance level (B) set in the receiving side voice chat terminal (S22), and A ≧ B Sometimes the audio received from the speaker 17 is output (S23).

  FIG. 6 shows an example of an embodiment of voice chat in which the sending importance level and the receiving importance level are set.

  Voice chat terminals A, B, C, and D are connected via a network to perform voice chat. As an example, the minimum value of the transmission importance level and the reception importance level is set to 0, and the maximum value is set to 10. When the user A sends the voice chat terminal A with the transmission importance level set to “5”, the voice is output at the voice chat terminal with the reception importance level set to “5” or less. In this case, the voice transmitted from the voice chat terminal A is output from the speaker in the voice chat terminal C in which the receiving importance is set to “5” and the voice chat terminal D in which “3” is set. In the voice chat terminal B whose reception importance is set to “8” which is larger than “5”, the voice transmitted from the voice chat terminal A is not output.

FIG. 7 shows an example in which the transmission importance level of the voice chat terminal A in FIG. 6 is changed. When the user A changes the transmission importance level of the voice chat terminal A from “5” to the maximum value “10”, the voice transmitted from the voice chat terminal A is also output at the voice chat terminal B. The example of FIG. 7 is an example in which only the transmission importance is changed, but only the reception importance can be changed, or the transmission importance and the reception importance can be changed at the same time. Of course, these changes can be made in advance, but can also be freely changed during the talk in which the chat is started.
[Chat publishing and authentication]
Next, authentication for connecting to the public of the chat will be described. The chat organizer may be able to set whether to open / close the chat. There are two methods for chatting: creating a chat room on a server connected to the network and allowing users to connect to the chat room, and chatting between networked clients without going through the server. It may be used. FIG. 8 shows an example of a setting screen for chat publishing. If chat is set to "private", authentication is required to connect. FIG. 9 is a flow of chat authentication set to be private. When the authentication means 41 receives the authentication information transmitted from the voice chat terminal 10 (S01), authentication is performed with reference to the authentication information storage means 42 (S02), and the voice chat terminal 10 is connected to the chat (S03). The voice chat terminal 10 can start a voice chat.

  If chat is set to “listen only”, you can listen to the chat conversation even if you are not authenticated. FIG. 10 is a flow of chat authentication set to the reception-only opening. When the authentication means 41 receives the authentication information transmitted from the voice chat terminal 10 (S31), authentication is performed with reference to the authentication information storage means 42 (S32). If the authentication information is correct, the voice chat terminal 10 is chatted. (S33) The voice chat terminal 10 starts voice chat. When the authentication information is not correct, the voice chat terminal 10 is connected to the chat, but the transmission control means 43 controls the voice data transmitted from the voice chat terminal 10 and does not transmit the voice data to other voice chat terminals. (S34). That is, only reception is possible.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a chat that is set to receive-only. When authentication information such as a user ID and a password is transmitted to the authentication server 40 from the voice chat terminals 10A and 10B of the paying members in the chat room for English conversation set as the private reception only, the authentication means 41 performs the authentication process. Do. When authenticated by the authenticating means 41, the voice chat terminals 10A and 10B can both transmit and receive, and can ask the instructor or have a conversation with other members. On the other hand, the voice chat terminals 10C and 10D of free members who do not have authentication information are only allowed to receive a call by the authentication server 40 and can listen to the conversation, but they cannot ask a question or talk. Can not.

  If you set chat to “public,” you can connect to the chat without authentication.

  The authentication means 41 may be provided in the authentication server 40 connected via the network, or may be provided in the voice chat terminal of the connection partner.

Current authentication methods include authentication using a password or an IC card, biometric authentication for verifying the identity of a person using biometric features such as a fingerprint or an iris. Password authentication is low cost, but there is a risk that the password is stolen by illegally installed software. An IC card is more secure than a password, but has a risk of theft, loss, damage, forgery, etc., and costs high. Biometrics authentication is highly secure because it is difficult to counterfeit, but it is expensive. Although password authentication seems to be appropriate for voice chat authentication, a more secure authentication method may be used when the present invention is used for a meeting or the like.
[Video display]
The voice chat terminal may be provided with video input means and video display means so that the video of the user participating in the chat can be displayed.

FIG. 12 shows a voice chat terminal of the present invention provided with video input means and video display means. The video input by the video input means 22 is transmitted to other voice chat terminals participating in the same chat. The received video data is divided according to the number of people participating in the chat and displayed on the video display means 23.
[Voice chat terminal configuration]
FIG. 3 shows an example of a voice chat terminal. However, if voice chat software is installed in a personal computer and a microphone and a speaker are provided, similar functions can be provided. In addition, a similar function can be provided in a telephone or a mobile phone. In any case, the present invention is not limited to this.
As mentioned above, although embodiment concerning the voice chat system concerning the present invention was described, the above description is illustration and it should be understood that the present invention is not limited at all by this description. Modifications and improvements that can be made by those skilled in the art are within the technical scope of the present invention. The technical scope of the present invention is defined based on the description of the appended claims.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a voice chat system.   FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a connection method of the voice chat system.   FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a voice chat terminal.   FIG. 4 is a flowchart of voice chat system transmission.   FIG. 5 is a flowchart of receiving a voice chat system.   FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between transmission importance and reception importance.   FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the transmission importance level of FIG. 6 is changed.   FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen for setting whether to open / close a chat.   FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining authentication of connection to a chat set as private.   FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining authentication of connection to the chat set to the reception-only opening.   FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the reception limited public chat using authentication.   FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a voice chat terminal provided with video display means.

Explanation of symbols

10, 10A, 10B, 10C, 10D: voice chat terminal,
11A: Chat room selection means,
11B: User ID selection means,
12: Selected chat room display means, selected user ID display means,
13: means for setting the importance of receiving,
14: Transmission importance setting means
15: Importance comparison means,
16: Voice input means,
17: Audio output means,
18: Send button,
19: Volume control means,
20: Power button,
21: Continuous transmission selection button,
22: Video input means,
23: Video display means,
30: Network,
40: Authentication server,
41: Authentication means,
42: Authentication information storage means 43: Transmission control means

Claims (7)

A voice chat system composed of a plurality of voice chat terminals connected via a network,
When the voice chat terminal receives voice data, there is provided a means for comparing the importance level set on the receiving side voice chat terminal with the importance level set on the transmitting side voice chat terminal.
A voice chat system that outputs a received voice only when the importance of sending is equal to the importance of receiving or the importance of sending is higher. The voice chat system according to claim 1,
A voice chat system characterized by performing authentication in order to connect to a chat room selected by a voice chat terminal or a selected voice chat terminal. The voice chat system according to claim 2,
When connecting to the chat room selected by the voice chat terminal or the selected voice chat terminal, the voice chat terminal that is successfully authenticated is allowed to send and receive, and other voice chat terminals are allowed to receive only A voice chat system that makes chat conversations public. The voice chat system according to claim 1,
A voice chat system that displays video of other users participating in the chat on the chat terminal. A voice chat terminal equipped with a reception importance setting means, a transmission importance setting means, a voice input means, and a voice output means,
When the voice chat terminal receives voice data, there is provided a means for comparing the importance level set on the receiving side voice chat terminal with the importance level set on the transmitting side voice chat terminal.
A voice chat terminal that outputs a received voice only when the transmission importance and the reception importance are the same or the transmission importance is higher. The voice chat terminal according to claim 5,
The voice input method is a button-pressed transmission mode that allows voice input only while the speaker is pressing the voice input button on the voice chat terminal on the speaker side, and continuous voice input without pressing the button. Voice chat terminal characterized by being able to select a continuous transmission mode that can be used. The voice chat terminal according to claim 5,
A voice chat terminal comprising means for displaying on a chat terminal the video of another user participating in the chat.

Images