JP2009302824A - Voice communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique capable of communicating a situation when an error or noise, etc. occur during a remote conference, etc. using a plurality of communication terminals. <P>SOLUTION: Voice uttered by a participant 1A is collected by a microphone 15 connected to a conference terminal 10A, and voice data expressing the collected voice is transmitted to a conference terminal 10B. The conference terminal 10B outputs the voice data to be received from the conference terminal 10A to a speaker 17. A microphone 35 collects the voice to be emitted from the speaker 17 to output a voice signal. A text converter 30 performs A/D conversion of the voice signal to be output from the microphone 35 to generate voice data, performs text conversion of the generated voice data to generate text data, and transmits the generated text data to a text display device 40. The text display device 40 receives the text data from the text converter 30, and displays a text indicated by the received text data on a display device 43. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a voice communication system.

In recent years, a remote conference system that performs a conference using a plurality of communication terminals connected via a communication network has become widespread. In such a remote conference system, since the speaker and the listener do not directly face each other, the speaker may feel anxious about whether his / her voice is properly delivered to the other party. Patent Document 1 proposes a technique for displaying in real time on the transmission side what kind of state the transmitted voice / image data has reached on the reception side in order to eliminate the anxiety of the speaker. In addition, a technique for converting the contents of a conversation into text for confirmation after meeting (preparation of minutes) has been proposed (Patent Documents 2, 3, etc.). In recent years, devices such as mobile phones that emit warning sounds such as “Peep-Peep” when connection is unstable have been used.
JP 2005-269498 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 04-362769 JP 2003-283694 A

By the way, when performing voice communication such as a remote conference, the voice may be obscured due to noise mixed in the voice, the voice being faint, or reverberation such as echo. However, although the above-mentioned conventional technology can recognize a fatal problem in the communication situation, even if such voice is unclear, the situation can be recognized by the speaker. There wasn't.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described background. When voice communication such as a remote conference is performed using a plurality of communication terminals, if an error or noise occurs in the middle of a conversation, The purpose is to provide technology that can communicate the situation.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the present invention is an audio communication system having first and second terminals connected to each other via a communication network, wherein the first terminal represents collected sound. A first audio input terminal to which audio data output from a sound collection device that outputs audio data is input; a video output terminal that outputs data to a display device that displays an image according to the supplied data; Voice data transmitting means for transmitting voice data input to the first voice input terminal to the second terminal, text data receiving means for receiving text data from the second terminal, and the text data receiving means Text data output means for outputting the text data received by the video output terminal to the video output terminal, wherein the second terminal emits sound according to the supplied audio data. A sound output terminal for outputting sound data to the device, and sound data output from the sound collecting device for collecting the sound emitted by the sound emitting device and outputting the sound data representing the collected sound are input. A second voice input terminal, second voice data receiving means for receiving voice data transmitted from the first terminal, and voice data received by the second voice data receiving means, An output means for outputting to the voice output terminal; a text conversion means for generating text data by converting the voice data input to the second voice input terminal; and text data generated by the text conversion means, There is provided a voice communication system comprising text data transmitting means for transmitting to the first terminal.

  The present invention is also an audio communication system having first and second terminals connected to each other via a communication network, wherein the first terminal outputs audio data representing the collected audio. A first audio input terminal to which audio data output from the sound device is input, a video output terminal for outputting data to a display device that displays an image corresponding to the supplied data, and the first audio input terminal Voice data transmitting means for transmitting voice data input to the second terminal, text data receiving means for receiving text data from the second terminal, and text data received by the text data receiving means Is output to the video output terminal, and the second terminal receives second audio data transmitted from the first terminal. Voice data receiving means; text conversion means for generating text data by text-converting the voice data received by the second voice data receiving means; and text data generated by the text conversion means, A voice communication system comprising: text data transmitting means for transmitting to the terminal.

  The present invention is also an audio communication system having first and second terminals connected to each other via a communication network, wherein the first terminal outputs audio data representing the collected audio. A first audio input terminal to which audio data output from the sound device is input, a video output terminal for outputting data to a display device that displays an image corresponding to the supplied data, and the first audio input terminal Voice data transmitting means for transmitting voice data input to the second terminal, and first text conversion for generating text data by text-converting voice data input to the first voice input terminal Means, text data receiving means for receiving text data from the second terminal, text data received by the text data receiving means and the first text conversion means At least a first audio output terminal connected to the video output terminal and a sound emitting device that emits a message according to the difference between the text data generated by Message output means for outputting to any one of the above, the second terminal, a second voice output terminal for outputting voice data to a sound emitting device that emits sound according to the supplied voice data; A second sound input terminal for receiving sound data output from the sound collecting device for collecting sound emitted by the sound emitting device and outputting sound data representing the collected sound; A second voice data receiving means for receiving voice data transmitted from the terminal; and an output means for outputting the voice data received by the second voice data receiving means to the second voice output terminal; The second text conversion means for generating text data by text-converting the voice data input to the second voice input terminal, and the text data generated by the second text conversion means for the first text There is provided a voice communication system comprising text data transmission means for transmitting to a terminal.

  Also, in a preferred aspect of the present invention, the first terminal converts the voice data input to the first voice input terminal into text and generates second text data; and The text data received by the text data receiving means is compared with the second text data generated by the second text converting means, and a message corresponding to the difference between the two is sent to the video output terminal and the supplied audio. A message output means for outputting to at least one of the audio output terminals connected to the sound emitting device that emits sound in response.

  Further, in a further preferred aspect of the present invention, the second terminal converts the voice data received by the voice data receiving means into text and generates third text data; and 3rd text data transmission means which transmits 3rd text data produced | generated by the 3rd text conversion means to the said 1st terminal, The said 1st terminal is said 3rd text data. A third text data receiving unit configured to receive the third text data transmitted by the transmitting unit, wherein the message output unit of the first terminal receives the third text data received by the third text data receiving unit; 3 is compared with at least one of the text data and the second text data, and a message corresponding to the comparison result is obtained. It may be output over di.

  Further, in a further preferred aspect of the present invention, the text data transmitting means of the second terminal transmits text data generated by the text converting means and identification information for identifying the terminal to the first terminal. The text data receiving means of the first terminal receives the text data and the identification information from the second terminal, and the text data output means of the first terminal receives the text data The text data and identification information received by the means may be output to the video output terminal.

  Further, in a further preferred aspect of the present invention, the first terminal comprises storage means for storing the correspondence between the identification information and the display form, and the text data output means is received by the text data receiving means. The text indicated by the text data may be displayed on the display device in a display mode corresponding to the identification information received by the text data receiving means.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, when performing voice communications, such as a teleconference, using a some communication terminal, when an error, a noise, etc. generate | occur | produce in the middle of a conversation, the situation can be conveyed to the speaker side.

<First Embodiment>
<Configuration of First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a remote conference system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. This remote conference system 100 is installed corresponding to a plurality of conference terminals 10A and 10B installed at each of a plurality of bases, a text display device 40 installed corresponding to the conference terminal 10A, and a conference terminal 10B. The text conversion device 30 is connected to each other via a communication network 20 such as the Internet. In FIG. 1, two conference terminals 10A and 10B, one text conversion device 30 and one text display device 40 are illustrated, but the number of conference terminals and the like is not limited to this, There may be more. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the remote conference is realized by the participants 1A and 1B of the remote conference performing voice communication using the conference terminals 10A and 10B, respectively. In the following description, for convenience of description, when it is not necessary to distinguish between the conference terminals 10A and 10B, they will be referred to as “conference terminals 10”.

  The text conversion device 30 is a device that generates text data by converting the voices of the participants in the conference into text, and is a personal computer, for example. The text display device 40 is a device that receives text data transmitted from the text conversion device 30 via the communication network 20 and displays text (characters) indicated by the received text data, and is a personal computer, for example.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the conference terminal 10. In the figure, the control unit 11 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access Memory), and reads and executes a computer program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 12. Control each part of the conference terminal 10 via the bus BUS. The storage unit 12 is a storage unit for storing a computer program executed by the control unit 11 and data used at the time of execution, and is, for example, a hard disk device. The video output terminal 13 a is an output terminal that is connected to the display device 13 and outputs data to the display device 13. The display device 13 includes a liquid crystal panel and displays various images according to supplied data. The operation unit 14 outputs a signal corresponding to an operation by a user of the conference terminal 10. The microphone 15 collects sound and outputs a sound signal (analog signal) representing the collected sound. The audio input terminal 16a is an input terminal that is connected to the microphone 15 via an audio cable and receives an audio signal output from the microphone 15. The audio output terminal 16 b is an output terminal that is connected to the speaker 17 via an audio cable and outputs an audio signal to the speaker 17. The audio processing unit 16 converts an audio signal (analog signal) output from the microphone 15 into digital data by A / D conversion. The audio processing unit 16 converts the supplied digital data into an analog signal by D / A conversion and supplies the analog signal to the speaker 17. The speaker 17 emits sound with an intensity corresponding to the analog signal output from the sound processing unit 16. The communication unit 18 is a communication unit for performing communication with another conference terminal 10 via the communication network 20. The imaging device 19 captures and outputs video data representing the captured video. The video input terminal 19a is an input terminal to which data output from the photographing device 19 is input.

  In this embodiment, the case where the conference terminal 10 includes an input terminal and an output terminal and the conference terminal 10 is connected to the microphone 15 and the speaker 17 via an audio cable will be described. 10 may include a microphone 15 and a speaker 17. The same applies to the display device 13 and the photographing device 19, and the conference terminal 10 may include a display unit and a photographing unit.

  Next, the configuration of the text conversion device 30 will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the text conversion device 30. In the figure, the control unit 31 includes a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and controls each unit of the text conversion device 30 via the bus BUS by reading and executing a computer program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 32. . The storage unit 32 is a storage unit for storing a computer program executed by the control unit 31 and data used at the time of execution, and is, for example, a hard disk device. The microphone 35 collects sound and outputs an audio signal (analog signal) representing the collected sound. The audio input terminal 36a is connected to the microphone 35 via an audio cable, and is an input terminal to which an audio signal output from the microphone 15 is input. The audio processing unit 36 converts an audio signal (analog signal) output from the microphone 35 into digital data by A / D conversion. The communication unit 38 is a communication unit for performing communication with other devices via the communication network 20. In this embodiment, a configuration in which the text conversion device 30 is connected to an external microphone 35 via an audio cable will be described, but a configuration in which the microphone 35 is built in the text conversion device 30 may be used.

  Next, the configuration of the text display device 40 will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the text display device 40. In the figure, the control unit 41 includes a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and controls each unit of the text display device 40 via the bus BUS by reading and executing a computer program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 42. . The storage unit 42 is a storage unit for storing a computer program executed by the control unit 41 and data used at the time of execution, and is, for example, a hard disk device. The video output terminal 43 a is an output terminal that is connected to the display device 43 and outputs data to the display device 43. The display device 43 includes a liquid crystal panel and displays various images under the control of the control unit 11. The communication unit 48 is a communication unit for performing communication with other devices via the communication network 20. In this embodiment, a configuration in which the text display device 40 is externally connected to the display device 43 will be described. However, the text display device 40 may have a configuration in which the display device 43 is incorporated.

<Operation of First Embodiment>
Next, the operation of the conference terminal 10 according to the present embodiment will be described. The conference terminal 10 transmits data including audio data representing the sound collected by the microphone 15 and video data representing the video captured by the imaging device 19 (hereinafter referred to as “conference data”) to the other conference terminals 10. To do. In addition, the conference terminal 10 captures the voice data representing the voice collected by the microphone 15 that collects the voice of the user of each conference terminal 10 and the photographing device 19 for each of the plurality of other conference terminals 10. The conference data including the video data representing the received video is received via the communication network 20, and the audio data included in the received conference data is emitted as sound from the speaker 17 and included in the received conference data. The video data is output to the display device 13 to display the video. Thereby, the remote conference is realized.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the system according to the present embodiment. Here, an example of an operation when the participant 1A using the conference terminal 10A speaks and the participant 1B using the conference terminal 10B listens to the speech of the participant 1A will be described. When the participant 1A speaks, the voice uttered by the participant 1A is picked up by the microphone 15 connected to the conference terminal 10A. The control unit 11 of the conference terminal 10A transmits the audio data input to the audio input terminal 16a to the conference terminal 10B.

  The conference terminal 10B receives the audio data from the conference terminal 10A, and outputs the received audio data to the audio output terminal 16b. Thereby, the voice represented by the received voice data is emitted from the speaker 17 of the conference terminal 10B. At this time, the microphone 35 connected to the text conversion device 30 collects the sound emitted from the speaker 17 and outputs a sound signal representing the collected sound. The text conversion device 30 D / A converts the audio signal output from the microphone 35 to generate audio data, and analyzes the generated audio data to convert the audio data to text to generate text data. The text conversion device 30 transmits the generated text data to the text display device 40. That is, the text conversion device 30 transmits text data representing the sound collected by the microphone 35 to the text display device 40. At this time, the text conversion device 30 detects the sound pressure of the sound signal output from the microphone 35, and detects a time interval in which the sound pressure is below a predetermined threshold for a predetermined time length or more as a sound break. To do. The text conversion device 30 detects breaks in speech as phrases, and performs text conversion processing each time a phrase is detected.

  The text display device 40 receives text data from the text conversion device 30 and outputs the received text data to the video output terminal 43a, thereby causing the display device 43 to display text (characters) indicated by the received text data. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed on the display device 43. As shown in the drawing, the display device 43 displays characters indicating the result of text conversion of the sound collected by the text conversion device 30. The control unit 41 of the text display device 40 updates the display content of the display device 43 every time text data is received. That is, during the teleconference, the characters displayed on the display device 43 are updated in real time.

  Participants of the conference can hold the conference while confirming the screen displayed on the display device 43. For example, when the speaker's voice does not enter the microphone well, the speaker's voice may not reach the conference terminal 10 on the other side accurately. Specifically, for example, even if the participant 1A says “This is 100 yen”, the listener 1B can hear a part or all of the statements such as “This is a yen”. There may not be. Even in such a case, according to the present embodiment, the text conversion device 30 converts the sound collected by the microphone 35 into text, generates text data, and transmits the text data to the text display device 40. Since the display device 40 displays the text represented by the text data, the participant 1A who is the speaker can thereby understand to some extent how his / her speech is transmitted to the listener. . At this time, if the user confirms the screen displayed on the display device 43 and finds that his / her speech is not accurately transmitted, the participant 1A who is the speaker approaches the microphone 15 a little more and speaks. Various actions can be taken such as going to, raising the voice, repeating the content of the talk, and the remote conference can proceed more smoothly.

  By the way, it is possible to give feedback to the speaker to understand how the speaker's voice is heard on the listener side. However, when feedback is performed by voice, echo and howling occur. In some cases, the voice becomes unclear and difficult to hear. On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, the speaker can objectively determine the state of transmission of his / her speech by converting the voice into text and notifying it as characters. Further, by notifying the situation as text instead of voice, the amount of data fed back to the speaker can be reduced and the response can be improved.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, even if an error / noise or the like occurs in the middle of a conversation (sentence), the situation can be conveyed to the speaker side. The speaker side can recognize the part and situation in real time and take countermeasures. As specific countermeasures, for example, approaching a microphone, increasing the voice (increasing the volume / level of the microphone), repeating the content of the talk, and the like can be considered.

  In the present embodiment, the conference terminal 10A and the text display device 40 are configured as separate devices, but the conference terminal 10A and the text display device 40 may be configured as a single device. That is, a device having the function of the conference terminal 10A according to the present embodiment and the function of the text display device 40 according to the present embodiment may be used. Similarly, in the present embodiment, the conference terminal 10B and the text conversion device 30 are configured as separate devices, but the conference device 10B and the text conversion device 30 may be configured as one device. That is, a device having the function of the conference terminal 10B according to the present embodiment and the function of the text conversion device 30 according to the present embodiment may be used.

Second Embodiment
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the remote conference system 200 according to the present embodiment. The remote conference system 200 is configured by connecting a plurality of conference terminals 10C and 10D installed at a plurality of bases to each other via a communication network such as the Internet. Although two conference terminals 10C and 10D are illustrated in FIG. 7, the number of conference terminals is not limited to this, and may be larger than this.

  The conference terminals 10C and 10D according to the present embodiment differ from the conference terminals 10A and 10B described in the first embodiment described above in that the operation performed by the control unit of the conference terminal 10C is different from the conference terminal 10D. The operation performed by the control unit is different, and the hardware configuration of the conference terminals 10C and 10D is the same as the configuration of the conference terminal 10 described in the first embodiment. Therefore, description of the configuration of each device is omitted below. In the following description, for convenience of description, when it is not necessary to distinguish between the conference terminals 10C and 10D, they will be referred to as “conference terminals 10”.

  Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the conference terminal 10C and the conference terminal 10D according to the present embodiment. In the figure, a transmission control unit 111, a text conversion unit 112, a reception control unit 117, a text comparison unit 118, and a message output unit 119 read out and execute a computer program stored in the storage unit 12 by the control unit 11 of the conference terminal 10C. It is realized by doing. In the figure, the reception control unit 113, the text conversion unit 114, the transmission control unit 115, and the text conversion unit 116 read and execute the computer program stored in the storage unit 12 by the control unit 11 of the conference terminal 10D. It is realized by. The arrows in the figure schematically show the flow of data.

  In the figure, the transmission control unit 111 transmits audio data output from the audio processing unit 16, that is, audio data representing audio collected by the microphone 15 to the conference terminal 10 </ b> D via the communication unit 18. The text conversion unit 112 converts the voice data output from the voice processing unit 16, that is, voice data representing the voice collected by the microphone 15 into text, generates text data, and generates the generated text data (hereinafter “text data”). T1 ”) is stored in a predetermined storage area of the storage unit 12.

  The reception control unit 113 of the conference terminal 10D receives audio data from the conference terminal 10C via the communication unit 18, supplies the received audio data to the audio processing unit 16, and emits sound as sound from the speaker 17. Further, the reception control unit 113 supplies the received voice data to the text conversion unit 114. The text conversion unit 114 converts the audio data supplied from the reception control unit 113 into text, generates text data, and outputs the generated text data (hereinafter referred to as “text data T2”) to the transmission control unit 115.

  The text conversion unit 116 converts the voice data supplied from the voice processing unit 16, that is, voice data representing the voice collected by the microphone 15 into text, generates text data, and generates the generated text data (hereinafter “text data”). T3 ”) is output to the transmission control unit 115. Note that the text conversion unit 112, the text conversion unit 114, and the text conversion unit 116 are the same so that the processing results of the text conversion processing performed by the text conversion unit 112, the text conversion unit 114, and the text conversion unit 116 do not vary. It is preferable to perform the text conversion process using the algorithm. Note that the text conversion processing performed by the conference terminal 10C and the conference terminal 10D may use a conventional text conversion technology, and a detailed description of the processing is omitted here. The transmission control unit 115 receives the voice data output from the voice processing unit 16, the text data T2 supplied from the text conversion unit 114, and the text data T3 supplied from the text conversion unit 116 via the communication unit 18. Transmit to the conference terminal 10C.

  The reception control unit 117 of the conference terminal 10C receives the voice data and the text data T2 and T3 from the conference terminal 10D via the communication unit 18, and supplies the received text data T2 and T3 to the text comparison unit 118. The reception control unit 117 emits the received audio data as sound by supplying the received audio data to the speaker 17 via the audio processing unit 16, but the flow of this audio data is to prevent the drawing from becoming complicated. In FIG. 8, the illustration is omitted.

  The text comparison unit 118 compares the text data T1, the received text data T2, and the text data T3 stored in the storage unit 12, and generates a message according to the comparison result. Specifically, for example, when there is a difference between the text data T1 and the text data T2, the text comparison unit 118 determines that data is missing due to a network problem, and indicates that fact. Generate a message to indicate. Further, for example, when there is a difference between the text data T2 and the text data T3, the text comparison unit 118 has a problem in sound emission of the speaker 17 or sound collection of the microphone 15, or the microphone 15 It is determined that noise is generated by ambient noise, and a message indicating that is generated. The text comparison unit 118 supplies the generated message to the message output unit 119.

  The message output unit 119 outputs the message data supplied from the text comparison unit 118 to the display device 13. At this time, the message output unit 119 may display texts indicated by the text data T1, T2, and T3 by outputting the text data T1, T2, and T3 to the display device 13, respectively.

  Participants of the conference can hold the conference while confirming the screen displayed on the display device 13. As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to clearly indicate to the speaker side which route the noise has occurred by performing text conversion of speech at a plurality of points and comparing the respective conversion results. Thus, by notifying the speaker of the point or route where the noise occurs, the speaker can take measures against the noise (in real time or as the next preparation).

<Modification>
As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above, It can implement with another various form. An example is shown below. In addition, you may combine each following aspect suitably.
(1) In the above-described embodiment, the case where a remote conference is performed using the communication terminal according to the present invention has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, when a lecture or lecture is performed via a communication network. The present invention can also be applied.

(2) In the second embodiment described above, the text data T1 generated by the text converter 112, the text data T2 generated by the text converter 114, and the text data T3 generated by the text converter 116 are compared. However, the message is generated according to the comparison result. However, it is not necessary to compare all the three text data with each other. For example, the text comparison unit 118 of the conference terminal 10C may select the text data T1 and the text data T3. And a message corresponding to the difference between the two may be output. In short, the text comparison unit 118 may compare at least any two of the text data T1, T2, and T3 and output a message according to the comparison result.

(3) In the second embodiment described above, the message output unit 119 outputs the message data generated by the text comparison unit 118 to the video output terminal 13a. However, the message output mode is not limited to this. Instead, you may make it alert | report to a speaker as a sound. An example of the configuration of the conference terminal 10 in this case is shown in FIG. In FIG. 9, the message output unit 119a converts the message data (data indicating the comparison result) generated by the text comparison unit 118 into voice data and outputs the voice data to the voice output terminal 16b. In short, the message output unit 119 (or the message output unit 119a) may output data representing a message to at least one of the video output terminal 13a and the audio output terminal 16b.

(4) In the second embodiment described above, in addition to the conference terminal 10C outputting a message indicating the comparison result of the text data, at least one of the text data T1, T2, and T3 is displayed on the display device 13. You may make it output.
In the second embodiment described above, the conference terminal 10C may output at least one of the text data T1, T2, and T3 to the display device 13 without outputting a message indicating the comparison result. Good. Specifically, for example, the conference terminal 10C outputs the text data T2 received from the conference terminal 10D (that is, data converted from voice to text by the text conversion unit 114) to the display device 13, thereby the text data T2 May be displayed on the display device 13.
In displaying the text data T1, T2, and T3, the meanings of defects are different. For example, in the case of text data T1, a microphone pickup system malfunction on the conference terminal 1C side, in the case of text data T2, a malfunction in communication, and in the case of text data T3, sound is collected from sound emission on the conference terminal 1D side. It becomes a malfunction of the system. Therefore, when the conference terminal 10D displays the text data, it is preferable to display the text data in a format in which information indicating what kind of trouble is occurring in which system.

(5) In the first embodiment described above, the text conversion device 30 transmits the generated text data and identification information for identifying the conference terminal 10B (or the text conversion device 30) to the text display device 40. You may do it. In this case, the text display device 40 receives the text data and the identification information transmitted from the text conversion device 30, and outputs the received text data and the identification information to the video output terminal. Thereby, the display device 43 connected to the text display device 40 displays the characters indicated by the received text data and the identification information for identifying the conference terminal 10B (or the text conversion device 30). For example, in a case where a remote conference is performed using a plurality of conference terminals 10 of 3 or more, text data and identification information (terminal ID) corresponding to each text data are displayed. The communication status with other conference terminals 10 (whether an error or noise has occurred) can be grasped for each conference terminal 10. That is, the speaker can confirm what kind of problem has occurred at which site by referring to the displayed screen.

  In this aspect, the storage unit 42 of the text display device 40 is configured to store the correspondence between the identification information and the display mode in advance, and the control unit 41 of the text display device 40 stores the text data and the identification information. , The display device 43 may be controlled so that the text indicated by the received text data is displayed in a display mode corresponding to the received identification information. By doing in this way, in the conversation with many points, the speaker can grasp the situation of each base, and can respond according to the importance.

The same applies to the second embodiment described above. The conference terminal 10D transmits the generated text data and identification information for identifying the conference terminal 10D to the conference terminal 10C, and the conference terminal 10C displays the comparison result. A message and identification information may be output. An example of the screen displayed on the display device 13 of the conference terminal 10C in this case is shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 10, the control unit 11 of the conference terminal 10C displays the texts P1, P2,... Indicated by the received text data T2 for each base (conference terminal 10C), and displays the comparison result of the text data. The corresponding message M1 is displayed on the display device 13.
In addition, the correspondence relationship between the identification information and the display mode is stored in advance in the storage unit 12 of the conference terminal 10C, and the control unit 11 of the conference terminal 10C converts the message indicating the comparison result into the received identification information. The display device 13 may be controlled to display in a corresponding display mode.

(6) In the second embodiment described above, the conference terminal 10C compares the text data and outputs a message indicating the comparison result during the remote conference, but the comparison result is displayed in real time. Not only the output but also the comparison result may be accumulated as a log in a predetermined storage area of the storage unit 12. By doing so, participants of the conference can take measures against loss (environmental maintenance, examination of the contents of hearing), etc. at the next conference.

(7) In the above-described embodiment, the program executed by the control unit 11 of the conference terminal 10 includes a magnetic recording medium (magnetic tape, magnetic disk, etc.), an optical recording medium (optical disk, etc.), a magneto-optical recording medium, and a semiconductor memory. It can be provided in a state where it is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. It is also possible to download to the conference terminal 10 via a network such as the Internet. In the second embodiment described above, the transmission control unit 111, the text conversion unit 112, the reception control unit 113, the text conversion unit 114, the transmission control unit 115, the text conversion unit 116, the reception control unit 117, shown in FIG. Each unit of the text comparison unit 118 and the message output unit 119 is realized as software by the control unit 11 executing a computer program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 12. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and each unit is hardware. It may be comprised.

It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of a remote conference system. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of a conference terminal. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a text conversion device 30. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a text display device 40. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement of a remote conference system. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen displayed on a display apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of a remote conference system. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement of a remote conference system. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement of a remote conference system. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen displayed on a display apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Conference terminal, 11, 31, 41 ... Control part, 12, 32, 42 ... Memory | storage part, 13, 43 ... Display apparatus, 14 ... Operation part, 15, 35 ... Microphone, 16, 36 ... Voice processing part, 17 ... Speaker, 18, 38, 48 ... communication unit, 19 ... imaging device, 20 ... communication network, 30 ... text conversion device, 40 ... text display device, 100,200 ... remote conference system, 111,115 ... transmission control unit, 112, 114, 116 ... text conversion unit, 113, 117 ... reception control unit, 118 ... text comparison unit, 119 ... message output unit.

Claims (7)

A voice communication system having first and second terminals connected to each other via a communication network,
The first terminal is
A first sound input terminal to which sound data output from a sound collecting device that outputs sound data representing collected sound is input;
A video output terminal that outputs data to a display device that displays an image according to the supplied data;
Audio data transmitting means for transmitting audio data input to the first audio input terminal to the second terminal;
Text data receiving means for receiving text data from the second terminal;
Text data output means for outputting the text data received by the text data receiving means to the video output terminal,
The second terminal is
An audio output terminal for outputting audio data to a sound emitting device that emits sound according to the supplied audio data;
A second sound input terminal for receiving sound data output from the sound collecting device for collecting sound emitted by the sound emitting device and outputting sound data representing the collected sound;
Second audio data receiving means for receiving audio data transmitted from the first terminal;
Output means for outputting the audio data received by the second audio data receiving means to the audio output terminal;
Text conversion means for generating text data by text-converting voice data input to the second voice input terminal;
A voice communication system comprising: text data transmission means for transmitting text data generated by the text conversion means to the first terminal. A voice communication system having first and second terminals connected to each other via a communication network,
The first terminal is
A first sound input terminal to which sound data output from a sound collecting device that outputs sound data representing collected sound is input;
A video output terminal that outputs data to a display device that displays an image according to the supplied data;
Audio data transmitting means for transmitting audio data input to the first audio input terminal to the second terminal;
Text data receiving means for receiving text data from the second terminal;
Text data output means for outputting the text data received by the text data receiving means to the video output terminal,
The second terminal is
Second audio data receiving means for receiving audio data transmitted from the first terminal;
Text conversion means for generating text data by text-converting the voice data received by the second voice data receiving means;
A voice communication system comprising: text data transmission means for transmitting text data generated by the text conversion means to the first terminal. A voice communication system having first and second terminals connected to each other via a communication network,
The first terminal is
A first sound input terminal to which sound data output from a sound collecting device that outputs sound data representing collected sound is input;
A video output terminal that outputs data to a display device that displays an image according to the supplied data;
Audio data transmitting means for transmitting audio data input to the first audio input terminal to the second terminal;
First text conversion means for converting text data of voice data input to the first voice input terminal into text data;
Text data receiving means for receiving text data from the second terminal;
The text data received by the text data receiving means is compared with the text data generated by the first text converting means, and a message corresponding to the difference between them is determined according to the video output terminal and the supplied audio. Message output means for outputting to at least one of the first audio output terminals connected to the sound emitting device for emitting sound,
The second terminal is
A second audio output terminal that outputs audio data to a sound emitting device that emits sound according to the supplied audio data;
A second sound input terminal for receiving sound data output from the sound collecting device for collecting sound emitted by the sound emitting device and outputting sound data representing the collected sound;
Second audio data receiving means for receiving audio data transmitted from the first terminal;
Output means for outputting the audio data received by the second audio data receiving means to the second audio output terminal;
Second text conversion means for converting text data of voice data input to the second voice input terminal to generate text data;
A voice communication system, comprising: text data transmission means for transmitting text data generated by the second text conversion means to the first terminal. The first terminal is
Second text conversion means for generating text data by converting voice data input to the first voice input terminal;
The text data received by the text data receiving means is compared with the second text data generated by the second text converting means, and a message corresponding to the difference between the two is supplied to the video output terminal. The voice communication system according to claim 1, further comprising: message output means for outputting to at least one of voice output terminals connected to a sound emitting device that emits sound according to voice. The second terminal is
Third text conversion means for converting the voice data received by the voice data receiving means into text to generate third text data;
Third text data transmission means for transmitting the third text data generated by the third text conversion means to the first terminal, and
The first terminal is
A third text data receiving means for receiving the third text data transmitted by the third text data transmitting means;
The message output means of the first terminal compares the third text data received by the third text data receiving means with at least one of the text data and the second text data; The voice communication system according to claim 4, wherein a message corresponding to the comparison result is output. The text data transmission means of the second terminal transmits the text data generated by the text conversion means and identification information for identifying the terminal itself to the first terminal,
The text data receiving means of the first terminal receives the text data and the identification information from the second terminal;
The text data output means of the first terminal outputs the text data and identification information received by the text data receiving means to the video output terminal. The voice communication system according to item. The first terminal is
Storage means for storing the correspondence between the identification information and the display mode;
The text data output means displays the text indicated by the text data received by the text data receiving means on the display device in a display mode corresponding to the identification information received by the text data receiving means. The voice communication system according to claim 6.

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