JP2006229602A - Terminal apparatus for processing voice signals of multiple speakers, server device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a user belonging to a plurality of groups to make a conversation with a member in one group, and to simultaneously know that a conversation is being made between members in the other group. <P>SOLUTION: Terminal apparatus 11 transmits the voice signal of the user of the present apparatus to another terminal apparatus 11 being the member of a conversation group. The terminal apparatus 11 receives the voice signal of the user of the other terminal apparatus 11 from the other terminal apparatus 11. The voice signals received from the terminal apparatus 11 are distributed to a mixer 117 when the transmission origin of the voice signal is the member of the conversation group, and distributed to a working part 115 when the transmission origin of the voice signal is the member of a monitor group by a dividing part 114. The working part 115 operates working bringing the missing of information to the voice signal received from the dividing part 114, and transfers it to the mixer 117. The mixer 117 mixes and outputs the voice signals received from the dividing part 114 and the working part 115. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for processing voice signals of a plurality of speakers.

There is a technology that enables conversation between persons in different spaces. For example, in Patent Document 1, a user terminal that is arranged in a different space and capable of transmitting a user's voice signal and a plurality of video cameras that respectively photograph situations in different spaces are connected to each other via a video server. A system is disclosed. According to the system disclosed in Patent Literature 1, a video signal indicating a situation in a space where the other user is present is transmitted to the user terminal used by one user via the video server. If the user desires, the audio signal of the user is transmitted to the terminal device of the other user via the video server. As a result, one user in different spaces can offer a conversation while taking into account the current situation of the other user.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 09-200716

  By the way, people belong to multiple groups in society. For example, the same person may be a member of a different project in the company. In each of these different projects, conversations between members may occur at the same time.

  In the case of the system disclosed in Patent Document 1 above, the situation of a plurality of people in the same space can be grasped by video, but in the first place, like a plurality of conversations in different spaces and a conversation in an audio conference, It is impossible to grasp the state of conversation between speakers in different spaces. Therefore, for example, while participating in a conversation between members of a certain project, a meaningful conversation has progressed between members of another project, but the inconvenience of not being aware of it has occurred.

  In view of the above situation, the present invention enables a user belonging to a plurality of groups to know that a conversation is taking place between members of another group while talking to members of one group. To provide means.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention converses with one group including one terminal device as a member among the plurality of groups in a situation where a plurality of groups each having one or more terminal devices are set. Conversation group designating means for designating as a group, and monitor group designating means for designating one or more groups from among the plurality of groups that are not designated as the conversation group as monitor groups. Voice signal input means for receiving the voice signal of the user of the terminal device of the own terminal, and a voice signal for transmitting the voice signal received by the voice signal input means to another terminal device that is a member of the conversation group Transmission means and a member of either the conversation group or the monitor group An audio signal receiving unit that receives an audio signal that is transmitted from a certain other terminal device, and an audio signal received by the audio signal receiving unit is transmitted to the conversation group and the monitor by the terminal device that transmits the audio signal. A classification means for classifying the voice signal into a conversation voice signal or a monitor voice signal according to which member of the group, and the voice signal has the voice signal classified into the monitor voice signal by the classification means Processing means for performing processing for missing or concealing a part of information, an audio signal classified into the conversation voice signal by the classification means, and an audio signal for outputting the audio signal processed by the processing means An output means is provided. A terminal device is provided.

  According to the terminal device having such a configuration, a user can monitor a conversation in another group without being disturbed by the conversation while participating in the conversation of one of a plurality of groups to which the user belongs. can do.

  In a preferred aspect, the audio signal transmitting means of the terminal device transmits the audio signal to a terminal device that is a transmission destination via a server device that relays the audio signal in a communication network, and the audio signal receiving means May be configured to receive an audio signal from a terminal device that is a transmission source via the server device.

  In another preferable aspect, the terminal device further includes an operation unit for the user to input data, and the conversation group designating unit and the monitor group designating unit are responsive to an operation of the user by the user. The group designated as the conversation group and the monitor group may be changed.

  According to the terminal device having such a configuration, the user can switch between the conversation and the monitor at any time, or can participate in the conversation of the group being monitored.

  In another preferable aspect, the terminal device may further include a processing degree changing unit that changes a degree of processing by the processing unit.

  According to the terminal device having such a configuration, the user can adjust the processing state of the sound for monitoring according to the preference and the environment.

  In another preferred embodiment, the terminal device includes: management data receiving means for receiving attribute data indicating an attribute of another terminal device that is a member of the conversation group or a member of the monitor group; and the management data receiving means Notification means for notifying the user of the attribute indicated by the received attribute data may be further provided.

  According to the terminal device having such a configuration, the user can know the status of other users in the group to which the user belongs.

  Moreover, in the preferable aspect of the said terminal device, the said attribute data are the connection status of the said other terminal device, the user's state of the said other terminal device, the group designated as a conversation group in the said other terminal device, and The data is related to at least one of the groups designated as the monitor group in the other terminal device.

  In another preferable aspect, the terminal device further includes management data transmission means for transmitting request data for requesting transmission of a voice signal of a user of the other terminal device, with the other terminal device as a transmission destination. It may be configured.

  According to the terminal device having such a configuration, the user can request participation of another user who has not participated in the conversation in the conversation.

  In a preferred aspect of the terminal device, the terminal device further includes management data receiving means for receiving refusal data indicating that the terminal device does not respond to a voice signal transmission request, and the management data transmitting means includes the management data transmitting means. Only for the terminal device that is not the transmission source of the reject data received by the data receiving means, the request data is transmitted with the terminal device as the transmission destination.

  According to the terminal device having such a configuration, other users can reject a request for participation in a conversation in advance, and for example, there is no problem of inconvenience by making a request for participation to another user who is taking in.

  In another preferred aspect, the terminal device further includes management data receiving means for receiving request data for requesting transmission of the user's voice signal, and the conversation group specifying means is received by the management data receiving means. The group designated as the conversation group in the terminal device that is the transmission source of the requested data may be designated as the conversation group.

  According to the terminal device having such a configuration, a user can participate in a conversation in response to a request for participation of another user in the group to which the user belongs.

  Further, in a preferred aspect of the terminal device, the terminal device receives an operation means for the user to input data and an input of approval data indicating approval of the request by the request data received by the management data receiving means. Notification means for performing a notification prompting the user, wherein the conversation group specifying means is received by the management data receiving means only when an input operation of the consent data is performed on the operation means by the user. A group designated as a conversation group in the terminal device that has transmitted the requested data is designated as the conversation group.

  According to the terminal device having such a configuration, the user can select whether or not to participate in the conversation in response to the participation request.

  In another preferred embodiment, the terminal device includes management data transmitting means for transmitting request data requesting permission to designate one group as the conversation group, and approval data indicating approval of the request by the request data. The conversation group designating unit is configured to designate the one group as the conversation group only when consent data is received by the management data receiving unit. May be.

  According to the terminal device having such a configuration, the user can participate in the conversation with the consent of another user of the group to which the user belongs.

  In another preferred embodiment, the terminal device receives operation data for the user to input data and request data requesting permission to designate one group as a conversation group in the other terminal device. Management data receiving means; notification means for prompting the user to input consent data indicating acceptance of the request based on the request data received by the management data receiving means; and input operation of the consent data by the user When it is performed on the operation means, it may be configured to further comprise management data transmission means for transmitting the consent data.

  According to the terminal device having such a configuration, the user can select whether or not to allow participation when another user in the group to which the user belongs wants to participate in the conversation.

  In a preferred aspect of the above terminal device, the management data receiving means receives prohibition data for prohibiting permission to designate one group as a conversation group in another terminal device, and the management data transmitting means The consent data is transmitted only when the prohibition data is not received by the management data receiving means at the time when the input operation of the consent data is performed on the operation means by the user.

  According to the terminal device having such a configuration, when it is not desirable for a new member to participate in the conversation from the middle, it is possible to exclude participation of the member who has not participated in the conversation in the conversation.

  Further, according to the present invention, for each of a plurality of groups, the member data indicating a terminal device that is a member of the group and the one terminal device among the groups including the one terminal device as a member are designated as a conversation group. Storage means for storing conversation group data indicating a group and monitor group data indicating a group designated as a monitor group by the one terminal device, and a terminal device which is a member of any of the plurality of groups is transmitted An audio signal receiving unit that receives an original audio signal, and a terminal device that is a transmission source of the audio signal received by the audio signal receiving unit includes a group indicated by the conversation group data and a group indicated by the monitor group data. If it is any member, the audio signal is sent to the terminal device of 1 as a destination. Further comprising an audio signal transmitting means for transmitting Te provides a server apparatus characterized by.

  According to the server device having such a configuration, the user can monitor the conversation of another group while participating in the conversation of one group to which the user belongs by using the terminal device.

  Moreover, this invention provides the program which makes a computer perform the process performed by the said terminal device or the said server apparatus.

  According to such a program, the user can realize the terminal device or the server device by a computer.

[Embodiment]
[1. Audio system configuration]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an audio system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The voice system 1 is a terminal device 11-k that is used by a user 19-k (k = 1 to n, where n is an arbitrary natural number; the same applies hereinafter) used by the voice system 1 to monitor conversation and voice. The keyboard 12 for the user 19-k to perform various operations on the terminal device 11-k, the display 13 for the terminal device 11-k to perform various notifications with characters and the like to the user 19-k, and the user 19 The microphone 14 that collects the sound of −k and converts it into a sound signal, the speaker 15 that converts the sound signal input from the terminal device 11-k into sound and generates the sound, and the different terminal device 11 transmit and receive. The server device 16 relays the voice signal and the various management data. The keyboard 12, the display 13, the microphone 14, and the speaker 15 are connected to the terminal device 11-k. Further, the terminal device 11-k and the server device 16 can be connected to each other via the network 10. The network 10 may connect the terminal device 11-k and the server device 16 to each other by wire, or may connect a part or all of the connection path wirelessly.

  The terminal device 11-k (hereinafter referred to as “terminal device 11” when there is no need to distinguish between different terminal devices 11-k) includes a control unit 111 that controls processing of each component of the terminal device 11, and a server A transmission unit 112 that transmits various data to the device 16, a reception unit 113 that receives various data from the server device 16, and a voice signal received by the reception unit 113 based on the transmission source of the conversation state group and the monitor state A dividing unit 114 for dividing into groups, and a processing unit 115 for performing processing for missing or concealing a part of information included in the audio signal with respect to the audio signals divided into groups in the monitoring state by the dividing unit 114; The processing level changing unit 116 that changes the level of processing by the processing unit 115, and the voice signal and processing unit 115 that are classified into conversational groups by the classification unit 114. Ri and mixer 117 for mixing the audio signals subjected to the processing, a storage unit 118 for storing various data used by the program and the configuration unit for instructing the control process of the controller 111.

  A terminal ID (Identifier) for identifying the terminal device 11-k in the network 10 is assigned in advance to the terminal device 11-k and is stored in the storage unit 118. Similarly to the terminal device 11-k, a server ID for identifying the server device 16 in the network 10 is assigned to the server device 16 in advance. The terminal device 11 and the server device 16 send data to which the terminal ID or server ID is added as information specifying the transmission destination to the network 10. Each network node included in the network 10 sequentially transfers the data to the destination terminal device 11 or the server device 16 based on the terminal ID or server ID added to the data. Since the mechanism in which the network 10 delivers the data to the transmission destination based on the ID added to the data is the same as in the prior art, the description thereof will not be given.

  The transmission unit 112 transmits to the server device 16 an audio signal indicating the audio of the user 19-k output from the microphone 14 (hereinafter referred to as “user 19” when it is not necessary to distinguish between different users 19-k). And a management data transmission unit 1122 that transmits various management data generated by the control unit 111 to the server device 16. The receiving unit 113 receives an audio signal from the server device 16 as a transmission source from the other terminal device 11 and delivers it to the sorting unit 114, and receives various management data from the server device 16. A management data receiving unit 1132 that is handed over to the control unit 111 is provided.

  The storage unit 118 stores a group DB 1181 (hereinafter, “database” is abbreviated as “DB”) and a user DB 1182. The user 19-k belongs to one of a plurality of groups registered in advance. However, since the voice system 1 cannot directly recognize the user 19-k, the terminal device 11-k used by the user 19-k is managed as a group. The group DB 1181 is a DB for that purpose. Hereinafter, the terminal devices 11 belonging to a specific group are referred to as “members”. However, for convenience of explanation, in the following, the user 19 who uses the terminal device 11 belonging to a specific group may be referred to as a “member”.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating data in the group DB 1181. The group DB 1181 includes “group name”, “user name”, “online”, “user status”, “management member”, “participation request authority type”, “participation permission authority type”, “lock authority type”, and “lock”. "Is stored. “Group name” indicates the name of the group. The same group name is not used repeatedly in the group DB 1181. Hereinafter, for example, group data whose “group name” is “Iroha Group” is called group data “Iroha Group”.

  “User name” indicates the user name of the user 19 belonging to the group, and the number thereof may be plural. The order of the user names shown in the “user name” column indicates the priority order used when determining the leader of the group to be described later. “Online” indicates “Yes” indicating that each of the terminal devices 11 indicated by “terminal ID” currently establishes a communication connection with the server device 16 or indicates that a communication connection is not established. No ". “User status” indicates that the user 19 of the user name indicated in the “user name” column is currently being taken in and cannot receive a request for participation in the conversation, and is currently being taken out of the conversation. "Exiting" indicating that participation in or monitoring of conversation is not performed, or "Normal" indicating that neither taking in nor leaving. “Management member” is either “Yes” indicating that each of the terminal devices 11 indicated by “Terminal ID” is a management member in the group or “No” indicating that it is not a management member.

  “Participation request authority type” indicates a member who has authority to make a participation request when requesting participation of a person who has not participated in the conversation among the members of the group. Specifically, “participation request authority type” is “all members” indicating that all members of the group have the authority to request participation, “leaders” indicating that only the group leader has the authority to request participation, group management “Management member” indicating that only the member has participation request authority and “impossible” indicating that any member of the group does not have participation request authority.

  “Participation permission authority type” indicates a member who has authority to permit participation when a person who does not participate in the conversation among the members of the group wants to participate in the conversation. Specifically, “participation permission authority type” is either “leader” indicating that only the leader of the group has permission to participate, or “management member” indicating that the management member of the group has participation permission authority alone. “One person”, “Match all” indicating that all members of the group need to consent to participate in order to be allowed to join, and all members of the group have permission to join alone. It is either “any one” indicating that it has, or “free participation allowed” where participation is allowed unconditionally.

  “Lock authority type” indicates a member who has the authority to start and cancel a state in which a new application for participation in a group conversation is not accepted (hereinafter referred to as “lock state”). Specifically, they are “all members”, “leaders”, “management members”, and “impossible”, and their meanings are the same as those described for “participation request authority type”. “Lock” is either “Yes” indicating that the group is locked or “No” indicating that the group is not locked.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating data in the user DB 1182. The user DB 1182 is a DB that stores data indicating various attributes of the user 19-k and the terminal device 11-k. The “user name”, “password”, “online”, “terminal ID”, “affiliation group name”, A plurality of user data consisting of “conversation group name”, “monitor group name” and “user status” fields are stored. “User name” indicates the user name of the user 19-k. The same user name is not used repeatedly in the user DB 1182. Hereinafter, for example, user data whose “user name” is “K.Imai” is called user data “K.Imai”.

  “Password” indicates a character string used for authenticating that the user 19-k is a correct user based on the combination with the user name. “Online” is “Yes” indicating that the user 19-k is communicating with the server device 16 using any one of the terminal devices 11, or “not online”. One of “No” shown. “Terminal ID” indicates the terminal ID of the terminal device 11-k. Since the terminal device 11 used by the user 19-k varies from time to time, the “terminal ID” field for the user 19 who is not using any of the terminal devices 11, that is, the user 19 whose “online” is “No”. Is blank.

  “Affiliated group name” indicates a group name of a group to which the user 19-k belongs as a member, and the number may be plural. In the voice system 1, the user 19-k designates one of the groups indicated by the “affiliation group name” as a conversation mode group (hereinafter, referred to as “conversation group”), whereby a member of the designated group. You can have a conversation with “Conversation group name” indicates the group name of the conversation group. Further, the user 19-k designates one of the groups indicated by the “affiliation group name” as a group in the monitor mode (hereinafter referred to as “monitor group”), so that other members of the designated group You can monitor conversations in

  “Monitor group name” indicates the group name of the monitor group. The user 19-k can designate a plurality of groups as monitor groups at the same time. Therefore, the “monitor group name” can include a plurality of group names. The “user state” indicates the current state of the user 19-k, and is “busy”, “leaving away”, or “normal”, similar to the “user state” of the group data.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the configuration of the server device 16 will be described. The server device 16 includes a control unit 161 that controls processing of each component of the server device 16, a receiving unit 162 that receives various data from each of the terminal devices 11, and a transmission that transmits various data to each of the terminal devices 11. Used by the unit 163, a selection unit 164 that selects an audio signal to be transmitted to the terminal device 11-k among the audio signals received by the reception unit 162, a program that instructs the control processing of the control unit 161, and each component unit A storage unit 165 for storing various data to be processed is provided. Further, as described above, a server ID for identifying the server device 16 in the network 10 is assigned in advance to the server device 16 and stored in the storage unit 165.

  The receiving unit 162 receives an audio signal from each of the terminal devices 11 and delivers it to the selection unit 164, and receives management data from each of the terminal devices 11 and delivers it to the control unit 161 Part 1622 is provided. The transmission unit 163 generates the audio signal transmission unit 1631 that transmits the audio signal selected by the selection unit 164 to be transmitted to the terminal device 11-k to the terminal device 11-k, and the control unit 161 generates the audio signal. The management data transmission part 1632 which transmits various management data to each of the terminal device 11 is provided.

  The storage unit 165 of the server device 16 stores a group DB 1651 and a user DB 1652. The group DB 1651 and the user DB 1652 are DBs that store data having the same contents as the group DB 1181 (see FIG. 2) and the user DB 1182 (see FIG. 3) stored in the storage unit 118 of the terminal device 11-k, respectively. As will be described later, when the data included in the group DB 1181 or the user DB 1182 is updated in the terminal device 11-k, the update request to the group DB 1181 or the user DB 1182 stored in the other terminal device 11 is requested. Update request data is transmitted from the terminal device 11-k to the other terminal device 11 via the server device 16. The server device 16 updates the group DB 1651 or the user DB 1652 stored in the storage unit 165 when relaying transmission / reception of update request data performed between the terminal devices 11. As a result, the group DB 1181 and user DB 1182 stored in the terminal device 11 that has established a communication connection with the server device 16 and the group DB 1651 and user DB 1652 stored in the server device 16 always maintain the same contents. Will do.

[2. Voice system operation]
Next, the operation of the audio system 1 will be described by taking the case where the user 19-1 uses the audio system 1 as an example. The user 19-1 is notified in advance of the user name “K.Imai” and the password “c4HAh &” from the administrator of the voice system 1, and the terminal device 11-1 used by the user 19-1 has the terminal ID “0103”. "Is assigned. Unless otherwise specified in the following description, the contents of the group DB 1181 and the group DB 1651 are those illustrated in FIG. 2, and the contents of the user DB 1182 and the user DB 1652 are those illustrated in FIG.

  First, when using the voice system 1, the user 19-1 inputs a user name “K.Imai” and a password “c4HAh &” to the terminal device 11-1 using the keyboard 12 of the terminal device 11-1. The control unit 111 generates authentication data including the user name and password input by the user, and the management data transmission unit 1122 transmits the authentication data to the server device 16. The management data receiving unit 1622 of the server device 16 receives the authentication data and passes it to the control unit 161. The control unit 161 searches the user DB 1652 (see FIG. 3) for user data including the user name included in the authentication data. When the search is successful, the control unit 161 determines whether or not the “password” of the searched user data matches the password included in the authentication data. If they match, the control unit 161 determines the user 19-1. Judge as correct user. In this case, the server device 16 establishes a communication connection for transmitting and receiving audio signals with the terminal device 11-1. In this case, since the user data “K.Imai” includes the password “c4HAh &”, the control unit 161 succeeds in the authentication. At this time, the “terminal ID” of the user data “K.Imai” is blank, and “online” is “No”.

  On the other hand, if the search fails, or if the “password” of the searched user data does not match the password included in the authentication data, the control unit 161 determines that the user 19-1 is an incorrect user. In that case, the control unit 161 displays a message prompting the user to re-enter the password on the display 13 and does not perform the following processing.

  When the control unit 161 of the server device 16 succeeds in the authentication of the user 19-1 and establishes a communication connection for transmission and reception of an audio signal with the terminal device 11-1, the terminal device 11-1 performs the terminal connection. The terminal ID “0103” of the device 11-1 is acquired. When acquiring the terminal ID, the control unit 161 updates the “terminal ID” of the user data “K.Imai” included in the user DB 1652 to “0103” and the “online” to “Yes”. Further, the control unit 161 extracts the group data included in the group DB 1651 (see FIG. 2) and includes “K.Imai” in the “user name”, and the “online” data included in the extracted group data. The data corresponding to “K.Imai” is updated to “Yes”.

  When the control unit 161 performs any update to the group DB 1651 or the user DB 1652 as described above, the control unit 161 generates update request data including the updated data, and the management data transmission unit 1632 transmits the generated update request data to all the terminal devices 11. Send to. In each terminal device 11, the management data receiving unit 1132 receives update request data, and the control unit 111 updates data included in the group DB 1181 or the user DB 1182 according to the received update request data.

  When the authentication process of the user 19-1 and the establishment of the communication connection between the terminal device 11-1 and the server device 16 are completed as described above, the control unit 111 of the terminal device 11-1 displays an operation screen on the display 13. Let FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an operation screen. On the operation screen, various information for the user 19-1 to perform conversation or monitoring regarding each of the “Iroha Group”, “ABC Group”, and “Kototsuji Group”, which are groups including the user 19-1 as members, are displayed. The operation panels 131-1 to 13-3 are displayed and include operation elements for receiving various operations by the user 19-1. The operation screen includes a display window 141 for displaying the status of the members of the group selected by the user 19-1, an option button 142 for instructing the user 19-1 to change the status, and a display window 141. A button 143 for requesting the member selected by the user 19-1 to participate in the conversation, and all of the members displayed in the display window 141 that are online and are not talking and not capturing. Button 144 for requesting the user to participate in the conversation, and a check box 145 for selecting whether or not the request to participate in the conversation performed using the button 143 or the button 144 is compulsory. ing.

  The control unit 111 extracts group data and user data including “K.Imai” in the “user name” from the group DB 1181 and the user DB 1182, and generates the above-described operation screen display data based on the extracted data. To do.

  Hereinafter, the display and operation elements included in the operation panel 131 will be described. A label 132 displays a group name corresponding to the operation panel 131. The label 133 is not designated as a “conversation mode” indicating that this group is designated as a conversation group, a “monitor mode” indicating that this group is designated as a monitor group, or a conversation group or a monitor group. One of “Off” indicating “” is displayed. The label 134 displays either “Yes” indicating that this group is locked or “No” indicating that this group is not locked.

  The button 135 is a button for the user 19-1 to designate this group as a conversation group or to cancel the group when it has already been designated. When this group has already been designated as a conversation group, “Conversation Off” is displayed on the button 135, and when it is not designated as a conversation group, “Conversation On” is displayed on the button 135. The button 136 is a button for the user 19-1 to designate this group as a monitor group or to release the group when it is already designated. When this group is already designated as a monitor group, “Monitor Off” is displayed on the button 136, and when not designated as a monitor group, “Monitor On” is displayed on the button 136.

  The slider 137 is a slider for the user 19-1 to adjust the volume of conversation voice or monitor voice in this group. The slider 137 is not displayed when this group is not designated as a conversation group or a monitor group. The slider 138 is a slider for the user 19-1 to adjust the level of processing of monitor sound in this group. As described above, the monitoring sound in the sound system 1 is processed so that the conversation content is not understood by the listener but the conversation is performed. By the way, how much the monitor sound is convenient for the listener may vary depending on the listener's preference and environment. Therefore, a slider 138 is provided so that the user 19-1 can adjust the degree of monitor processing to a preferable one. The slider 138 is not displayed when this group is not designated as a monitor group.

  The button 139 is a button used by the user 19-1 to display the status of the members of this group on the display window 141. The button 140 is a button for the user 19-1 to start and release the locked state of this group. As described above, the person who has the authority to start and release the locked state is designated by the “lock authority type” of the group data. Therefore, the button 140 is displayed only when the user 19-1 has the lock authority. The above is the display and operation elements included in the operation panel 131.

  In the display window 141, “user name”, “online”, and “conversation” are displayed on the display window 141 for each member of the group corresponding to the operation panel 131 on which the user 19-1 has pressed the button 139. And “user status” are displayed. However, “Yes” indicating that the member is participating in the conversation of this group or “No” indicating that the member is not participating is displayed in “in conversation”. For example, when the state of the member of “Iroha Group” is displayed in the display window 141, “Iroha Group” is designated as “Conversation Group Name” in the user data, “Conversation” in the display window 141 indicates “ “Yes” is displayed, otherwise “No” is displayed.

  As already described, the person who has the authority to request participation for members who have not participated in the conversation is designated by the “participation request authority type” of the group data. Accordingly, the button 143, the button 144, and the check box 145 are displayed only when the user 19-1 has the participation request authority.

  In the situation where the operation screen shown in FIG. 4 is displayed, the user 19-1 can have a normal conversation with the members of “Iroha Group” and between the other members of “ABC Group”. It is possible to monitor the state of whether a conversation is being performed and how active the conversation is with the processed voice.

  When the user 19-1 speaks into the microphone 14, the voice signal of the user 19-1 is transferred from the microphone 14 to the voice signal transmission unit 1121, and the voice signal transmission unit 1121 transmits the received voice signal to the terminal device 11-. 1 is transmitted to the server device 16 together with the terminal ID of 1. When the audio signal receiving unit 1621 of the server device 16 receives an audio signal from the terminal device 11-1, the selection unit 164 uses the terminal ID added to the received audio signal as a search key to search for user data “K.Imai” from the user DB 1652. ”To obtain the group names“ Iroha Group ”,“ ABC Group ”, and“ Kototou Group ”included in“ Affiliation Group Name ”of the user data“ K.Imai ”. The selection unit 164 includes, from the user DB 1652, “conversation group name” or “monitor group name” including any one of “Iroha group”, “ABC group”, and “Kou-Oto group”, and “Online” is “Yes”. Extract some user data. The terminal device 11 corresponding to the user data extracted in this way is the terminal device 11 that needs the voice signal received by the server device 16 from the terminal device 11-1 for conversation or monitoring. The selection unit 164 adds the “terminal ID” included in the group data extracted as described above to the audio signal received from the terminal device 11-1 and passes it to the audio signal transmission unit 1631. The audio signal transmission unit 1631 transmits the audio signal received from the selection unit 164 to each of the terminal devices 11 specified by the added terminal ID.

  By the way, the selection unit 164 receives the audio signal from each of the terminal devices 11 and selects the terminal device 11 that is the transmission destination of the received audio signal as described above, but the procedure is not limited to the above. For example, the selection unit 164 can obtain a result similar to the above by the following procedure. The selection unit 164 acquires the group name included in the “conversation group name” or “monitor group name” of the user data “K.Imai” from the user DB 1652 and includes either of the acquired group names in the “affiliation group name”. And user data whose “online” is “Yes” is extracted from the group DB 1651. The user data thus extracted indicates the terminal device 11 that is the transmission source of the audio signal to be transmitted to the terminal device 11-1. Accordingly, when the selection unit 164 receives the audio signal to which the terminal ID indicated by the “terminal ID” of the user data extracted from the audio signal reception unit 1621 as described above is received, the selection unit 164 receives the audio signal as a transmission destination terminal ID. The terminal ID “0103” of the terminal device 11-1 is added and delivered to the audio signal transmission unit 1631.

  As described above, the audio signal originating from the terminal device 11-1 is transmitted to all the terminal devices 11 that require the audio signal of the user 19-1 for conversation or monitoring via the server device 16, The terminal device 11-1 receives the audio signal from the terminal device 11 of the member of “Iroha group” and the member of “ABC group” via the server device 16.

  When receiving the audio signal from the server device 16, the audio signal receiving unit 1131 of the terminal device 11-1 delivers the received audio signal to the sorting unit 114. The sorting unit 114 searches for user data from the user DB 1182 using the terminal ID of the transmission source terminal device 11 added to the voice signal received from the voice signal receiving unit 1131 as a search key. When “Iroha group” is included in the “affiliation group name” of the retrieved user data, the sorting unit 114 determines that the voice signal received from the voice signal receiving unit 1131 is a voice signal for conversation and passes it to the mixer 117. On the other hand, when “ABC group” is included in the “affiliation group name” of the retrieved user data, the classification unit 114 determines that the audio signal received from the audio signal reception unit 1131 is an audio signal for monitoring, and the processing unit 115. To hand over. Since the same group is not designated as both a conversation group and a monitor group in the same terminal device 11, the audio signal received by the sorting unit 114 from the audio signal receiving unit 1131 is supplied to both the mixer 117 and the processing unit 115. It will not be handed over.

  The processing unit 115 processes the audio signal received from the sorting unit 114. As described above, the processing unit 115 does not fully convey the content of the conversation to the listener by deleting or concealing a part of the information included in the audio signal, but how active the conversation is. The audio signal is processed so that the atmosphere is communicated to the listener. The degree of processing may be such that the content of the conversation can be heard if the listener pays attention according to the listener's preference and the environment in which the listener is placed, or the content of the conversation no matter how careful the listener is It may be of a level that cannot be heard.

As a specific example of the processing unit 115, for example, the following filter can be considered.
(A) A filter that reduces the level of an input audio signal. (The level of processing changed by the processing level changing unit 116 is the level of the audio signal.)
(B) A filter that amplifies a specific frequency band component of an input audio signal and reduces a specific frequency band component. (The degree of processing changed by the processing degree changing unit 116 is a range of a specific frequency band for amplifying or reducing components and a degree of amplification or reduction.)
(C) A filter that lowers the sampling frequency of waveform data by thinning out samples when the input audio signal is waveform data obtained by digitally sampling audio. (The degree of processing changed by the processing degree changing unit 116 is the sampling frequency.)
(D) A filter that lowers the quantization resolution when the input audio signal is waveform data obtained by digitally sampling audio. (The degree of processing changed by the processing level changing unit 116 is quantization resolution.)
(E) A filter that detects only the pitch change of the audio signal and converts it to a sound signal of a different tone color having the detected pitch change. (The degree of machining changed by the machining degree changing unit 116 is, for example, detection accuracy of pitch change.)
(F) A filter that detects only a change in volume of an audio signal and converts it to a sound signal of a different timbre having the detected change in volume. (The degree of processing changed by the processing level changing unit 116 is, for example, detection accuracy of volume change.)

  As a preferable specific example of the above (b), for example, a low-pass filter having a cutoff frequency of 400 Hz can be considered. It is generally said that the fundamental frequency of female voice is around 225 Hz and that of male voice is around 120 Hz ("Sound acoustic analysis" by Ray D. Kent, Kaibundo). Has the effect of weakening the formant, which is its harmonic component, while conveying the fundamental frequency of the voice. Therefore, the audio signal processed by such a low-pass filter is suitable for notifying the listener of the content of the conversation but transmitting the conversation. In addition, since the low-pass noise is generally annoying to the listener of the sound processed by the low-pass filter, a noise reduction filter may be further applied to the low-pass filter.

  The processing unit 115 delivers the audio signal obtained by performing the above processing on the audio signal received from the sorting unit 114 to the mixer 117. The mixer 117 mixes the audio signals received from the sorting unit 114 and the processing unit 115 and outputs the resulting audio signal to the speaker 15. The speaker 15 converts the sound signal input from the mixer 117 into sound and generates a sound. As a result, the user 19-1 can listen to the voices of the members of “Iroha Group” as normal voices, and at the same time, can hear the voices of the members of “ABC Group” in the processed state.

  Summarizing the results of the processing by the voice system 1, the speech of the user 19-1 is transmitted to the members of “Iroha Group” as normal speech, and the speech of the other members of “Iroha Group” is transmitted to the user 19-1. Since the user 19-1 can communicate with the other members of the “Iroha group”, the speech of the other members of the “ABC group” is transmitted to the user 19-1. Therefore, the user 19-1 can know that some kind of conversation is being performed in the “ABC group”.

  By the way, the user 19-1 can join or leave the conversation by performing an operation of pressing the button 135 using the keyboard 12 on the operation screen (see FIG. 4). For example, when the button 135 of the operation panel 131-1 is pressed on the operation screen shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 111 updates the user data so that the “conversation group name” of the user data “K.Imai” is blank. I do.

  When the user data is updated as described above, the control unit 111 performs processing such as hiding the slider 137 of the operation panel 131-1 and generates update request data including the updated data. The management data transmission unit 1122 transmits the update request data generated by the control unit 111 to the server device 16. When the management data receiving unit 1622 of the server device 16 receives the update request data from the terminal device 11-1, the control unit 161 updates the user DB 1652 according to the received update request data. Further, the control unit 161 transfers update request data to all the terminal devices 11 other than the terminal device 11-1 in the online state via the management data transmission unit 1632.

  In the terminal device 11 that has received the update request data from the server device 16 by the management data receiving unit 1132, the control unit 111 updates the user DB 1182 according to the received update request data. As a result, the contents of the user DB 1182 and the user DB 1652 are kept the same in all the terminal devices 11 and server devices 16 in the online state. When the user DB 1182 and the group DB 1181 are updated in accordance with the user's operation, the update process similar to the above is performed, and therefore the description thereof will not be repeated below.

  As a result of updating the user DB 1182 and the user DB 1652 as described above, the voice of the user 19-1 is not transmitted to the other users 19, and the “Iroha Group” conversation is transmitted to the user 19-1. It will not happen. That is, the user 19-1 can leave the conversation of “Iroha Group”.

  Further, when the button 135 is pressed by the user 19-1 while the display of the button 135 on the operation panel 131-1 is "Conversation On", the control unit 111 first sets the "participation permission right" of the group data "Iroha Group" If the type is confirmed and the content is “free participation allowed”, the user data is updated so that the “conversation group name” of the user data “K.Imai” included in the user DB 1182 becomes “Iroha group”. .

  On the other hand, when the “participation permission authority type” of the group data “Iroha Group” is other than “free participation permission”, the control unit 111 is a member who has a permission permission to participate and whose “online” is “Yes”. Participation application data whose destination is the device 11 is generated. When the data example shown in FIG. 2 is followed, the “participation permission authority type” of the group data “Iroha Group” is “leader”. “Leader” indicates a leader of the group. In principle, the leader is a member registered at the highest level in the group data. However, if the leader so determined is offline, taking in or leaving, the member cannot play the role of leader, so the next rank member in the group data will act as the leader To do. If the surrogate leader is in an offline state, taking in or leaving the seat, the next ranked member will act as the surrogate.

  By the way, in this case, since the leader of “Iroha Group” is a member of the user name “K.Imai” and the leader has applied for participation in the conversation, the control unit 111 does not transmit participation application data. The user data is updated so that the “conversation group name” of the user data “K.Imai” becomes “Iroha Group”.

  When the participation application data is generated by the control unit 111, the management data transmission unit 1122 transmits the generated participation application data to the server device 16, and the participation application data is sent to the member having permission to participate through the server device 16. It is received by the terminal device 11. In the terminal device 11 that has received the participation application data, the control unit 111 confirms the approval of the participation permission on the display 13, for example, “K. Imai wants to participate in the group conversation. Do you want to permit?”. Display a prompt message. When the user 19 performs an acceptance operation in response to the message, the control unit 111 generates participation consent data, and the management data transmission unit 1122 uses the generated terminal approval data as the transmission destination. It transmits to the server device 16.

  When the “participation permission authority type” is “leader”, “any one of the management members”, or “any one”, the terminal device 11-1 receives participation consent data from one terminal device 11. I got permission to participate. When the “participation permission authority type” is “match all”, the terminal device 11-1 obtains permission to participate when receiving the participation consent data from all the terminal devices 11 designated as the transmission destinations of the participation application data. That's right. When the terminal apparatus 11-1 obtains permission to participate, the user data is updated so that the “conversation group name” of the user data “K.Imai” becomes “Iroha group”. As a result, the user 19-1 can participate in the “Iroha Group” conversation.

  Further, when the user 19-1 presses the button 136 on the operation panel 131-1, for example, the control unit 111 of the terminal device 11-1 causes the “conversation group name” of the user data “K.Imai” to be blank. The user data is updated so that the “monitor group name” includes “ABC group” and “Iroha group”. As a result, the voice of the user 19-1 is not transmitted to the other user 19, and the conversation of other members of “Iroha Group” is processed and then transmitted to the user 19-1. . That is, the user 19-1 can monitor the conversation of “Iroha Group”.

  When the user 19-1 operates the slider 137 of the operation panel 131-1, for example, the mixer 117 of the terminal device 11-1 responds to the operation by, for example, the audio signal of the member of “Iroha Group” during the mixing process. Change the volume level. For example, when the user 19-1 operates the slider 138 of the operation panel 131-2, the processing degree changing unit 116 of the terminal device 11-1 performs the “ABC group” performed by the processing unit 115 according to the operation. Change the degree of processing of a member's audio signal.

  When the user 19-1 presses the button 139 on the operation panel 131-2, for example, the control unit 111 displays the display on the display window 141 based on the group DB 1181 and the user DB 1182 to indicate the status of the members of the “ABC group”. Change to

  When the user 19-1 presses the button 140 on the operation panel 131-1, for example, the control unit 111 updates the group data so that the “lock” of the group data “Iroha Group” becomes “Yes”. . As a result of this update being reflected in the group DB 1651 of the server device 16 and the group DB 1181 of all other terminal devices 11 in the online state, the terminal device 11 used by the user 19 who is a member of “Iroha Group” When the display of the button 135 on the operation panel 131 corresponding to “Iroha Group” is “Conversation On”, the button 135 cannot be pressed. That is, members who have already participated in the “Iroha Group” conversation can continue to participate in or leave the conversation, but members who have not participated in the conversation cannot newly participate in the conversation.

  When the selection on the option button 142 is changed by the user 19-1, the control unit 111 searches the group DB 1181 and the user DB 1182 for the group data or user data including “K.Imai” in the “user name”. The “user state” (data corresponding to “K.Imai” included in the “user state” with respect to the group data) of the selected data is updated to be data indicating the selected user state. Further, when the user 19-1 selects “busy” on the option button 142, the user 19-1 is automatically removed from the conversation of the group designated as the conversation group at that time. That is, the control unit 111 updates the user data so that the “conversation group name” of the user data “K.Imai” is blank. Further, when “dismissed” is selected on the option button 142 by the user 19-1, the user 19-1 is automatically withdrawn from the conversation of the group designated as the conversation group at that time, and at that time The monitoring of the group that was specified as the monitor group is stopped. That is, the control unit 111 updates the user data so that both “conversation group name” and “monitor group name” of the user data “K.Imai” are blank.

  In addition, when the button 143 and the button 144 are displayed on the operation screen, the user 19-1 is “Yes” for “Online” and “No” for “Conversation” among the members displayed on the display window 141. One or more members whose user status is “normal” can be selected, and the selected members can be requested to participate in the conversation. It should be noted that members whose “online” is “No” in the display window 141 cannot be selected because they cannot participate in the conversation. In addition, members whose “conversation” is “Yes” cannot be selected because they are already participating in the conversation. In addition, a member whose user status is “normal” or “withdrawn” cannot be selected because the user 19 has previously expressed that he / she cannot receive a request for participation in the conversation.

  When one of the members displayed on the display window 141 is selected by the user 19-1 and the button 143 is pressed, the control unit 111 receives user data from the user DB 1182 using the user name of the selected member as a search key. Search is performed, and participation request data having the terminal device 11 specified by the “terminal ID” of the searched user data as a transmission destination is generated. At this time, if the check box 145 is checked, the control unit 111 includes data indicating forced participation in the participation request data. The participation request data thus generated is transmitted from the management data transmission unit 1122 to the terminal device 11 of the user 19 selected by the user 19-1 via the server device 16.

  When the participation request data includes data indicating compulsory participation, the control unit 111 of the terminal device 11 that has received the participation request data indicates that the “conversation group name” of the user data corresponding to the own device in the user DB 1182 is “Iroha Group”. The user data is updated so that “ As a result, the user 19 requested to participate by the user 19-1 participates in the “Iroha Group” conversation.

  On the other hand, if the participation request data does not include data indicating compulsory participation, the control unit 111 of the terminal device 11 that has received the participation request data displays, for example, a request for participation in the conversation of the Iroha group on the display 13. "Do you want to participate?" Only when the user 19 performs a consent operation in response to the message, the control unit 111 updates the user data. As a result, the user 19 requested to participate by the user 19-1 participates in the “Iroha Group” conversation. If the user 19 requested to participate performs an operation of refusing participation or does not perform an acceptance operation within a predetermined time, the user data is not updated, and the user 19 requested to participate by the user 19-1. Will not participate in the “Iroha Group” conversation.

  The user 19-1 presses the button 144, and among the members displayed in the display window 141, “Online” is “Yes”, “Conversation” is “No”, and the user status is “Normal”. Requests to participate in the conversation can be made to all members who are. At this time, the processing performed in the voice system 1 is the same as the processing when the button 143 is pressed, but the user 19-1 needs to select all the members who can request participation in the conversation one by one. There is no convenience.

  As described above, according to the voice system 1, the user can monitor whether a conversation is being performed in another group to which the user belongs while participating in the conversation of the group to which the user belongs. At that time, the monitor voice is processed so that the linguistic meaning is not transmitted to the listener, so that the conversation performed by the listener is not disturbed so much. Furthermore, the user can participate in the conversation being monitored with a simple operation. As a result, a more free conversation opportunity is expected between users.

  In the above description, the processing of the audio signal is performed by the processing unit 115 provided in each terminal device 11, but the sorting unit 114, the processing unit 115, and the processing degree changing unit 116 are replaced with the server device 16. The server device 16 may perform processing on the monitor audio signal and then transmit it to each of the terminal devices 11. Further, although the sorting unit 114 is provided in the server device 16, the processing unit 115 and the processing level changing unit 116 are provided in the terminal device 11, and after the server device 16 classifies the voice signal for conversation and the voice signal for monitoring. These audio signals may be transmitted to the terminal device 11.

  In the above description, the classification of the audio signal by the classifying unit 114 is performed based on the terminal ID of the terminal device 11 that is the transmission source. For example, attribute data of the terminal device 11 that is the transmission source is added to the audio signal. Then, the terminal device 11 that has received the audio signal may classify the audio signal based on the added attribute data.

  Further, in the above description, the data between the terminal devices 11 is assumed to be performed via the server device 16, but each of the terminal devices 11 includes the selection unit 164, and the selection unit 164 of the terminal device 11 includes the group DB 1181. Alternatively, the terminal device 11 to which the user's own voice signal should be transmitted may be selected based on the user DB 1182. In that case, the terminal device 11 can directly transmit the audio signal and the management data to the other terminal device 11 without going through the server device 16, and the server device 16 becomes unnecessary.

  Further, in the above description, the notification from the terminal device 11 to the user 19 is based on the display on the display 13, but the notification may be performed by sound.

  The terminal device 11 and the server device 16 may be realized by causing a computer to perform processing according to an application program, or may be realized by dedicated hardware.

1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an audio system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the figure which showed the structure of group DB which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the structure of user DB which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the operation screen which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Voice system, 10 ... Network, 11 ... Terminal device, 12 ... Keyboard, 13 ... Display, 14 ... Microphone, 15 ... Speaker, 16 ... Server device, 111 * 161 ... Control part, 112 * 163 ... Transmission part, 113 162 ... receiving unit, 114 ... sorting unit, 115 ... processing unit, 116 ... processing degree changing unit, 117 ... mixer, 118/165 ... storage unit, 164 ... selection unit, 1121/1631 ... audio signal transmission unit, 1122 ... 1632: Management data transmission unit, 1311, 1621 ... Audio signal reception unit, 1132, 1622 ... Management data reception unit, 1181-1651: Group DB, 1182, 1652 ... User DB.

Claims (15)

In a situation where a plurality of groups having one or more terminal devices as members are set,
A conversation group designating unit for designating one group including the terminal device as a member among the plurality of groups as a conversation group;
A monitor group designating unit for designating one or more groups as a monitor group from a group not including the own terminal device among the plurality of groups as a member and not designated as the conversation group;
An audio signal input means for receiving an audio signal of a user of the terminal device of the terminal device;
Audio signal transmission means for transmitting the audio signal received by the audio signal input means to another terminal device that is a member of the conversation group;
Audio signal receiving means for receiving an audio signal originating from another terminal device that is a member of either the conversation group or the monitor group;
The voice signal received by the voice signal receiving means is either a conversation voice signal or a monitor voice signal depending on whether the terminal device that is the transmission source of the voice signal is a member of the conversation group or the monitor group. Sorting means to categorize,
Processing means for performing processing for missing or concealing part of the information included in the audio signal with respect to the audio signal classified into the monitor audio signal by the classification means;
A terminal device comprising: a voice signal classified into the conversation voice signal by the sorting means; and a voice signal output means for outputting a voice signal processed by the processing means. The voice signal transmitting means transmits a voice signal to a terminal device that is a transmission destination via a server device that relays the voice signal in a communication network,
The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the audio signal receiving unit receives an audio signal from a terminal device that is a transmission source via the server device. The apparatus further comprises an operation means for the user to input data,
2. The terminal according to claim 1, wherein the conversation group designating unit and the monitor group designating unit respectively change a group designated as a conversation group and a monitor group in accordance with an operation performed on the operation unit by the user. apparatus. The terminal device according to claim 1, further comprising a processing degree changing unit that changes a degree of processing by the processing unit. Management data receiving means for receiving attribute data indicating attributes of other terminal devices that are members of the conversation group or members of the monitor group;
The terminal device according to claim 1, further comprising notification means for notifying a user of an attribute indicated by the attribute data received by the management data receiving means. The attribute data is specified as a connection group of the other terminal device, a user state of the other terminal device, a group designated as a conversation group in the other terminal device, and a monitor group in the other terminal device. The terminal device according to claim 5, wherein the terminal device is data relating to at least one of the groups. The terminal device according to claim 1, further comprising management data transmission means for transmitting request data for requesting transmission of a voice signal of a user of the other terminal device, with the other terminal device as a transmission destination. Management data receiving means for receiving refusal data indicating that it does not respond to the user's voice signal transmission request,
The said management data transmission means transmits the said request data only for the terminal device which is not a transmission source of the refusal data received by the said management data reception means by making the said terminal device into a transmission destination. Terminal equipment. Management data receiving means for receiving request data for requesting transmission of the user's voice signal,
The said conversation group designation | designated means designates the group designated as a conversation group in the terminal device of the transmission origin of the request data received by the said management data receiving means as the said conversation group. Terminal equipment. Operating means for the user to input data;
Notification means for notifying the user to input acceptance data indicating acceptance of the request based on the request data received by the management data receiving means, and
The conversation group specifying means is a conversation group in the terminal device that is the transmission source of the request data received by the management data receiving means only when the input operation of the consent data is performed on the operation means by the user. The terminal group according to claim 9, wherein a designated group is designated as the conversation group. Management data transmitting means for transmitting request data for requesting permission to designate one group as the conversation group;
Management data receiving means for receiving acceptance data indicating acceptance of the request by the request data, and
The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the conversation group designating unit designates the one group as the conversation group only when consent data is received by the management data receiving unit. Operating means for the user to input data;
Management data receiving means for receiving request data for requesting permission to designate one group as a conversation group in another terminal device;
Notification means for notifying the user to input consent data indicating acceptance of the request by the request data received by the management data receiving means;
The terminal device according to claim 1, further comprising management data transmission means for transmitting the consent data when the user performs an input operation of the consent data on the operation means. The management data receiving means receives prohibition data prohibiting permission to designate one group as a conversation group in another terminal device;
The management data transmitting means transmits the consent data only when prohibited data is not received by the management data receiving means when the consent data input operation is performed on the operation means by the user. The terminal device according to claim 12. Member data indicating a terminal device which is a member of the group with respect to each of a plurality of groups, and conversation group data indicating a group designated by the first terminal device as a conversation group among groups including one terminal device as a member Storage means for storing monitor group data indicating a group designated as a monitor group by the one terminal device;
Audio signal receiving means for receiving an audio signal whose source is a terminal device that is a member of any of the plurality of groups;
When the terminal device that is the transmission source of the audio signal received by the audio signal receiving means is a member of either the group indicated by the conversation group data or the group indicated by the monitor group data, the audio signal is And a voice signal transmitting means for transmitting the terminal device as a transmission destination. In a situation where a plurality of groups having one or more computers functioning as terminal devices are set,
A process of designating one group including the computer as a member among the plurality of groups as a conversation group;
A process of designating one or more groups as a monitor group from a group that includes a computer of the plurality of groups as a member and is not designated as the conversation group;
Receiving the audio signal of the user of his computer,
A process of transmitting the voice signal of the user as a transmission destination to another computer that is a member of the conversation group;
A process of receiving an audio signal originating from another computer that is a member of either the conversation group or the monitor group;
A process of classifying the received audio signal into either a conversation audio signal or a monitor audio signal according to whether the computer from which the audio signal is transmitted is a member of the conversation group or the monitor group;
A process for performing processing for missing or concealing part of information included in the audio signal for the audio signal divided into the monitor audio signal;
A program for causing a computer to execute a voice signal classified into the conversation voice signal and a process of outputting the processed voice signal.

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