JP2010026876A - Display system and display method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a display system which performs processing, in a distributed manner, related to display of various kinds of information using a plurality of display devices, and to provide a display method thereof. <P>SOLUTION: The display system is provided with: a plurality of space managing means which are connected together hierarchically and manage a predetermined space area as a space area to be managed; a content managing means which manages one or more contents; and a plurality of display means which display the various kinds of information on a display area. Each of the space managing means obtains information including the size of the display area from a display means as the space information when the display means is connected below the space managing means. When another space managing means is connected below the space managing means, each of the space managing means obtains the information including the size of the management space area from the other space managing means as space information, arranges the obtained space information in the management space area managed as a partial space, and outputs the information including the size of the management space area to another space management means at a higher level as the space information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a display system that displays various information using a plurality of display devices, and a display method thereof.

  There is known a system in which members existing remotely are communicated with each other using video or audio using communication means. An example of such a system is a video conference system. In a video conference system, for example, a conference room is configured in a pseudo manner by displaying materials used in a conference on a display unit that is located at a remote location, or displaying a video of a conference partner with a video camera. .

Regarding such a video conference system, a technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known. This system is composed of a plurality of member-side terminals equipped with videophones and a host-side terminal connected to the plurality of member-side terminals. During a meeting, one image of attendees at each member-side terminal is displayed. Split it on one screen.
JP-A-4-140990

  However, the conventional techniques have the following problems.

  Since a plurality of member-side terminals are connected to one host-side terminal, transactions are concentrated on the host-side terminal, which becomes a bottleneck. This makes it difficult to increase the number of member-side terminals that can participate in the conference. For example, when a plurality of video conferences are held simultaneously, it is difficult to integrate them into one conference.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a display system and a display method thereof in which processing related to display of various information using a plurality of display devices is performed in a distributed manner. Objective.

  To achieve the above object, a display system according to an aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of space management units that are hierarchically connected and manage a predetermined space area as a management space area, and content that manages one or more contents. A plurality of display means for displaying various types of information on the display area, and each of the plurality of space management means is connected to the display means when the display means is connected to its lower level. When the first acquisition means for acquiring information including the size of the display area as spatial information and other space management means connected to the subordinate thereof, the management space area is transferred from the other space management means. A second acquisition means for acquiring information including the size of the space as spatial information, and a management space area that is managed as a partial space by the first acquisition means or the spatial information acquired by the second acquisition means. The content management means, and an output means for outputting information including the size of the management space area to other space management means connected to a higher rank as spatial information. A management space area acquisition means for acquiring a management space area managed by the space management means from any one of the space management means, and a content placement means for arranging content in the management space area acquired by the management space area acquisition means Each of the plurality of display means displays content arranged in a partial space corresponding to its own display area in the management space area.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, a plurality of space management units that are hierarchically connected and manage a predetermined space region as a management space region, a content management unit that manages one or a plurality of contents, and a display region A display method of a display system comprising a plurality of display means for displaying various information, wherein each of the plurality of space management means is connected to the display means when the display means is connected to its lower level. The first acquisition step of acquiring information including the size of the display area as spatial information, and when another space management means is connected to the subordinate of the first acquisition step, the management space area from the other space management means A second acquisition step of acquiring information including the size of the space information as spatial information, and a spatial space acquired in the first acquisition step or the second acquisition step as a partial space in a management space region that is managed by itself Arrangement The content management means, and the content management means includes: an output process for outputting information including a size of the management space area to other space management means connected to a higher level as spatial information; A management space area obtaining step for obtaining a management space area managed by the space management means from any one of the space management means, and a content placement step for placing content in the management space area obtained in the management space area obtaining step In each of the plurality of display means, content arranged in a partial space corresponding to its own display area in the management space area is displayed.

  According to the present invention, processing related to display of various information using a plurality of display devices can be distributed.

  Embodiments of a display system and display method according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(Embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a display system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The display system includes one or more computers. The computer includes, for example, main control means such as a CPU and storage means such as ROM (Read Only Memory) and RAM (Random Access Memory). Further, the computer may be provided with communication means such as a network card, input / output means such as a keyboard, a display, or a touch panel. These constituent units are connected by a bus or the like, and are controlled by the main control unit executing a program stored in the storage unit.

  Here, the display system includes a display unit (101-1 to 101-6) 101, a partial space management unit (102-1 to 102-6) 102, and a content management unit 103 as functional configurations. . In the case of FIG. 1, a plurality of display units 101 and partial space management units 102 are provided.

  The display unit 101 displays various information (for example, video) such as a still image and a moving image on a display area (screen). Each display unit 101 is connected to a partial space management unit 102. The display unit 101 outputs the spatial information (for example, the size of a displayable area on the display unit 101) to the partial space management unit 102. In FIG. 1, a plurality of display units 101 are provided, but each display unit 101 may have different performances such as displayable area, resolution, and color expressive power.

  The partial space management units 102 are hierarchically connected and configured with a tree structure. A plurality of display units 101 and other partial space management units 102 are connected to the partial space management unit 102. Spatial information is input to the subspace management unit 102 from the display unit 101 and the subspace management unit 102 connected to the subspace management unit 102. Note that the spatial information is information related to the spatial area possessed by each of the display unit 101 and the partial space management unit 102 and is information including at least the size.

  Here, an example of a functional configuration in the partial space management unit 102 is shown in FIG. The partial space management unit 102 includes a partial space arrangement unit 201, a partial space information holding unit 202, a spatial information output unit 203, a connection detection unit 204, and a spatial information acquisition unit 205 as functional configurations.

  The spatial information acquisition unit 205 acquires spatial information input from the display unit 101 and the partial space management unit 102 connected to (subordinate to) itself. That is, information including the size of the display area is acquired as spatial information from the display unit 101 (first acquisition), and information including the size of the management space area is acquired as spatial information from the partial space management unit 102. Acquire (second acquisition). For example, in the case of the partial space management unit 102-4, the spatial information is input from the partial space management units (102-1, 102-2) and acquired.

  The partial space arrangement unit 201 arranges partial spaces based on the input spatial information. Thus, the partial space management unit 102 configures a management space area managed by itself.

  The partial space information holding unit 202 holds information related to one or a plurality of partial spaces (hereinafter referred to as partial space information) arranged in the management space area by the partial space arrangement unit 201. An example of the data format of this partial space information is shown in FIG.

  The partial space information is held corresponding to each partial space arranged in the management space area managed by the partial space management unit 102. In the partial space information, a space area ID 601, a space area coordinate 602, a space area X size 603, and a space area Y size 604 are stored corresponding to each partial space. The space area ID 601 indicates an identifier for identifying each partial space. Spatial area coordinates 602 indicate the arrangement coordinates of each partial space. The space area X size 603 indicates the size in the X direction in each partial space, and the space area Y size 604 indicates the size in the Y direction in each partial space. The space area X size 603 and the space area Y size 604 are held based on the space information input to the partial space management unit 102.

  The connection detection unit 204 detects whether or not there is another partial space management unit 102 connected to itself (the partial space management unit 102). This detection is performed with respect to the subspace management unit 102 that is higher than itself. For example, in the case of the partial space management unit 102-4, the partial space management unit 102-6 is detected.

  The spatial information output unit 203 calculates the size of the management space area managed by itself (partial space management unit 102), and outputs the result as new spatial information. The spatial information output unit 203 outputs the spatial information to the partial space management unit 102 that is higher than itself. The spatial information is output based on the detection result by the connection detection unit 204. Specifically, when no other partial space management unit 102 is connected, the spatial information is not output. For example, in the case of the partial space management unit 102-4, spatial information is output to the partial space management unit 102-6. For example, in the case of the partial space management unit 102-6, the output of the spatial information is It will not be done.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the spatial information output by the spatial information output unit 203. The spatial information is composed of, for example, two fields. Specifically, a space area X size 501 indicating the size of the management space area managed by itself (partial space management unit 102) in the X direction, and a space indicating the size of the management space area managed by itself (Y direction). An area Y size 502 is formed.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a management space area managed by the partial space management unit 102.

  Here, the partial space 402 (402-1, 402-2) is a spatial region created by the partial space management unit 102 based on the spatial information input from the display unit 101 or the partial space management unit 102. The partial space management unit 102 arranges one or a plurality of partial spaces 402 in the partial space arrangement unit 201, and configures a management space region 401 managed by itself (the partial space management unit 102).

Returning to FIG. 1, the content management unit 103 arranges one or a plurality of contents 104 in the unified coordinate system. The content management unit 103 is logically connected to the partial space management unit 102. The content is digital data including a wide range of sentences (text), music, images, videos, and the like.
An example of a functional configuration in the content management unit 103 is shown in FIG. The content management unit 103 includes a content acquisition unit 301, a management space area acquisition unit 302, a content arrangement unit 303, a content information holding unit 304, and a content information output unit 305 as functional configurations.

  The content acquisition unit 301 acquires the content 104. The content 104 acquired here may be the content itself or may include other information.

  The management space area acquisition unit 302 acquires a management space area managed by the partial space management unit 102 from the partial space management unit 102. In this management space area acquisition, a partial space included in the management space area is also acquired.

  The content arrangement unit 303 arranges the content in the management space area, more specifically, in the partial space.

  The content information holding unit 304 holds information related to content (hereinafter referred to as content information). FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data format of content information held by the content information holding unit 304. Content information is held corresponding to each content. In the content information, a content ID 801, a content format 802, a content arrangement coordinate 803, a content X size 804, and a content Y size 805 are stored corresponding to each content. The content ID 801 indicates an identifier for identifying each content. The content format 802 indicates the data format of each content. The content arrangement coordinates 803 indicate the arrangement coordinates of each content. The content X size 804 indicates the spatial size of each content in the X direction, and the content Y size 805 indicates the spatial size of each content in the Y direction.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the content 104 placed in the management space area by the content placement unit 303. The management space area 701 is a space area acquired by the management space area acquisition unit 302. Reference numeral 702 (702-1 to 702-3) denotes content arranged by the content arrangement unit 303.

  The content information output unit 305 outputs the content and its arrangement information. Each display unit 101 displays content arranged in a partial space to which the display unit 101 corresponds based on information output from the content information output unit 305. For example, the partial space management unit 102 that has received the input of the content and its arrangement information from the content information output unit 305 provides the information to the partial space management unit 102 connected to the lower level. By repeating this, content and its arrangement information are input to the partial space management unit 102 provided in the lowest layer. The subspace management unit 102 provided in the lowest layer creates display information based on the input information and outputs it to the display unit 101. As a result, the display unit 101 displays the above-described content. The display information input to each display unit 101 may be realized by other methods, and the method is not particularly limited. For example, a processing unit that creates display information based on information related to the management space area held by the partial space management unit 102 and information output from the content information output unit 305 is provided to realize the above-described display. It may be.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example when the content having the arrangement shown in FIG. 8 is mapped to the management space area shown in FIG.

  Reference numeral 902 (902-1 to 902-3) denotes a partial space. Each partial space 902 corresponds to a space area (display area, management space area) included in the display unit 101 or the partial space management unit 102 connected to a lower level than the partial space management unit 102 constituting the management space area 901. Reference numeral 903 (903-1 to 903-3) denotes content arranged in the management space area 901. An area where the partial space 902 and the content 903 overlap is output to the display unit 101, for example. If the partial space 902-2 is a space area corresponding to the display unit 101-1, a part of the content 903-2 is displayed on the display unit 101-1.

  Here, an example of the operation in the display system shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 10, 11, and 12. First, the operation in the partial space management unit 102 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 10, description will be given focusing on the operation of a certain partial space management unit 102. As shown in FIG. 1, the display system is configured by connecting a plurality of partial space management units 102 in a hierarchical manner. That is, the operation of the display system is realized by the operation of a plurality of partial space management units 102 connected in a hierarchical manner. Therefore, the operation of the display system in the present embodiment will be obvious by describing the operation of a certain partial space management unit 102.

  This process is started, for example, when the partial space management unit 102 is activated (may be when the display system is activated). When this processing is started, the partial space management unit 102 first causes the spatial information acquisition unit 205 to receive spatial information (501, 502) from the display unit 101 or other partial space management unit 102 connected to (subordinate to) itself. ) Is acquired (S100). This process is repeated, and space information is acquired from all connected display units 101 and partial space management units 102 (NO in S101).

  After the acquisition of the spatial information, the partial space management unit 102 arranges the partial space in the partial space arrangement unit 201 based on the acquired space information. Thus, the partial space management unit 102 configures a management space area managed by itself (S102). Then, the partial space management unit 102 holds the arrangement information related to one or more partial spaces, that is, the partial space information in the data format described with reference to FIG. 3 in the partial space information holding unit 202 (S103).

  Here, the partial space management unit 102 calculates the size of the management space area managed by itself (S104). When this calculation is completed, the partial space management unit 102 detects the presence / absence of another partial space management unit 102 connected to itself (higher level) in the connection detection unit 204 (S105). As a result, if there is no other connected partial space management unit 102 (NO in S105), this process is terminated. If there is another connected partial space management unit 102 (YES in S105), the partial space management unit 102 outputs spatial information in the spatial information output unit 203 (S106), and ends this process.

  Next, an example of an operation when the configuration of the management space area managed by the partial space management unit 102 is changed will be described with reference to FIG. The management space area can be changed by, for example, adding or deleting the display unit 101 to the management space area managed by itself (partial space management unit 102), or changing the management space space managed by itself. It is implemented when making changes. That is, this process is started in accordance with a change in the spatial information input from the display unit 101 or other partial space management unit 102.

  When this process is started, the subspace management unit 102 determines whether the display unit 101 or another subspace management unit 102 connected to (subordinate to) itself has been deleted. For this determination, for example, the input destination of the spatial information input before (for example, immediately before) may be held and compared with the information.

  As a result, if the display unit 101 or the partial space management unit 102 is not deleted (NO in S200), it is determined that the display unit 101 or the partial space management unit 102 is added or changed. Then, spatial information is acquired from the display unit 101 or the partial space management unit 102 that has been newly connected or whose size has been changed (S201). The acquisition of the spatial information is repeated until the acquisition of the spatial information from all the display units 101 or the partial space management unit 102 in which the spatial information has been changed (NO in S202).

  When acquisition of all the changed spatial information is completed, the partial space management unit 102 reads the existing partial space information held in the partial space information holding unit 202 (S203). Here, the partial space management unit 102 performs the partial space rearrangement processing in the partial space arrangement unit 201 based on the read partial space information and the changed space information acquired in S201, and is managed by itself. The management space area to be reconfigured is reconfigured (S204). Then, the partial space management unit 102 holds the partial space information in the data format described with reference to FIG. 3 in the partial space information holding unit 202 (S205).

  Here, the partial space management unit 102 calculates the size of the management space area managed by itself (S206). When this calculation is completed, the partial space management unit 102 determines whether or not there is a change in the size of the management space area managed by the subspace management unit 102. If there is no change (NO in S207), the process ends. If there is a change, the connection detection unit 204 detects the presence / absence of another partial space management unit 102 connected to itself (higher level). As a result, if there is no other connected partial space management unit 102 (NO in S208), this process ends. If there is another connected partial space management unit 102 (YES in S208), the spatial information output unit 203 outputs information including the size of the management space area as spatial information (S209), and this process Exit.

  In the process of S200, when it is determined that the display unit 101 or another partial space management unit 102 is deleted (YES in S200), the partial space management unit 102 holds the partial space information holding unit 202. The read partial space information is read (S211). Then, the partial space management unit 102 deletes the arrangement information of the partial space corresponding to the deleted display unit 101 or the partial space management unit 102 from the partial space information (S212). Since the subsequent processing is the same as the above processing, the description thereof is omitted.

  Next, the arrangement processing of the content 104 by the content management unit 103 will be described using FIG. This process is performed after the process described with reference to FIG.

  When this processing is started, the content management unit 103 causes the management space region acquisition unit 302 to acquire the management space region configured by the processing described with reference to FIG. 10 from the partial space management unit 102 (S300). In addition, the content management unit 103 selectively acquires one of the plurality of contents 104 in the content acquisition unit 301 (S301). Then, the content placement unit 303 places the acquired content in the management space area acquired in S300 (S302). The processing in S301 and S302 is repeated until the processing for arranging all the acquired contents is completed (NO in S303).

  When the content arrangement is completed (YES in S303), the content management unit 103 holds the information related to the content, that is, the content information in the data format described with reference to FIG. 7 in the content information holding unit 304 (S304). Then, the content information output unit 305 outputs the content and its arrangement information (S305), and then ends this process. Although description is omitted here, when the arrangement of content is changed or added, the content information output unit 305 outputs information reflecting the change or addition corresponding to the change or addition. It will be.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the partial space management unit 102 manages the display space area of each display unit 101, and constructs a system by hierarchically connecting the partial space management units 102. For this reason, processing related to the display of various information using a plurality of display devices can be realized by being distributed (for example, distributed to a plurality of devices). For example, it can be shared without being restricted by hardware resources. A coordinate system can be constructed.

  As a result, for example, information is conventionally shared by a physical communication line, but it is possible to share information by disconnecting from a physical medium. In addition, for example, since the unified coordinate system is configured by a plurality of partial space management units 102, processing related to shared display can be performed by being distributed by the plurality of partial space management units 102. Is resolved. Further, for example, when a plurality of video conferences are held in a common coordinate system, the video conferences being held at the same time can be constructed as one video conference.

  The above is an example of a typical embodiment of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above and shown in the drawings, and can be appropriately modified and implemented without departing from the scope of the present invention. .

  It should be noted that the present invention can take the form of, for example, a system, apparatus, method, program, or recording medium. Specifically, the present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices, or may be applied to an apparatus composed of a single device.

  Further, the present invention achieves the functions of the embodiments by supplying a software program directly or remotely to a system or apparatus, and reading and executing the supplied program code by a computer incorporated in the system or apparatus. This includes cases where In this case, the supplied program is a computer program corresponding to the flowchart shown in the drawings in the embodiment.

  Accordingly, since the functions of the present invention are implemented by computer, the program code installed in the computer also implements the present invention. In other words, the present invention includes a computer program itself for realizing the functional processing of the present invention. In that case, as long as it has the function of a program, it may be in the form of object code, a program executed by an interpreter, script data supplied to an OS (Operating System), or the like.

  Examples of the computer-readable recording medium for supplying the computer program include the following. For example, floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, MO, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, DVD (DVD-ROM, DVD- R).

  As another program supply method, a client computer browser is used to connect to a homepage on the Internet, and the computer program of the present invention is downloaded from the homepage to a recording medium such as a hard disk. In this case, the downloaded program may be a compressed file including an automatic installation function. It can also be realized by dividing the program code constituting the program of the present invention into a plurality of files and downloading each file from a different homepage. That is, a WWW server that allows a plurality of users to download a program file for realizing the functional processing of the present invention on a computer is also included in the present invention.

  Further, the program of the present invention may be encrypted, stored in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM, and distributed to users. In this case, a user who has cleared a predetermined condition is allowed to download key information for decryption from a homepage via the Internet, execute an encrypted program using the key information, and install the program on the computer. You can also.

  In addition to the functions of the above-described embodiment being realized by the computer executing the read program, the embodiment of the embodiment is implemented in cooperation with an OS or the like running on the computer based on an instruction of the program. A function may be realized. In this case, the OS or the like performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

  Furthermore, the program read from the recording medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, so that part or all of the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized. May be. In this case, after a program is written to the function expansion board or function expansion unit, the CPU (Central Processing Unit) provided in the function expansion board or function expansion unit is a part of the actual processing or based on the instructions of the program. Do everything.

It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the display system concerning one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a functional structure in the partial space management part 102 shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the data format of the partial space information hold | maintained by the partial space information holding | maintenance part 202 shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the spatial information output by the spatial information output part 203 shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the management space area | region managed by the partial space management part 102 shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of a functional structure in the content management part 103 shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the data format of the content information hold | maintained by the content information holding | maintenance part 304 shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the content 104 arrange | positioned in the management space area | region by the content arrangement | positioning part 303 shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example at the time of mapping the content by which arrangement | positioning shown in FIG. 8 was made | formed with respect to the management space area | region shown in FIG. It is a 1st flowchart which shows an example of operation | movement in the display system shown in FIG. 4 is a second flowchart illustrating an example of an operation in the display system illustrated in FIG. 1. 6 is a third flowchart showing an example of the operation in the display system shown in FIG. 1.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Display part 102 Partial space management part 103 Content management part 104 Content 201 Partial space arrangement | positioning part 202 Partial space information holding part 203 Spatial information output part 204 Connection detection part 205 Spatial information acquisition part 301 Content acquisition part 302 Management space area acquisition part 303 Content arrangement unit 304 Content information holding unit 305 Content information output unit

Claims (5)

A plurality of space management means connected in a hierarchical manner and managing a predetermined space area as a management space area;
Content management means for managing one or more contents;
A plurality of display means for displaying various information on the display area;
Each of the plurality of space management means includes:
First display means for acquiring, as spatial information, information including the size of the display area from the display means when the display means is connected to the display device;
A second acquisition unit that acquires, as spatial information, information including the size of the management space area from the other space management unit when another space management unit is connected to the subordinate thereof;
Arranging means for arranging the spatial information acquired by the first acquiring means or the second acquiring means in a management space area managed by itself as a partial space;
Output means for outputting information including the size of the management space area to other space management means connected to the higher level as spatial information;
The content management means includes
Management space area acquisition means for acquiring a management space area managed by the space management means from any of the space management means;
Content placement means for placing content in the management space area acquired by the management space area acquisition means,
In each of the plurality of display means,
A display system in which content arranged in a partial space corresponding to its own display area in the management space area is displayed. The arrangement means includes
If the spatial information acquired by the first acquisition unit or the second acquisition unit is different from the previously acquired spatial information, one or more parts in the management space area managed by the device itself The display system according to claim 1, wherein the space is rearranged. The space management means includes
It further comprises detection means for detecting the presence or absence of other space management means connected to its own upper level,
The output means includes
The display system according to claim 1, wherein the spatial information is output when another spatial management unit is detected by the detection unit. In each of the plurality of display means,
2. The display system according to claim 1, wherein when the content arrangement is changed or added to the management space area by the content arrangement unit, display associated with the change or addition is performed. A plurality of space management means that are hierarchically connected and manage a predetermined space area as a management space area, a content management means that manages one or a plurality of contents, and a plurality of display means that display various information on the display area A display method for a display system comprising:
Each of the plurality of space management means includes:
A first acquisition step of acquiring, as spatial information, information including the size of the display area from the display unit when the display unit is connected to the display unit;
A second acquisition step of acquiring, as spatial information, information including the size of the management space area from the other space management means when another space management means is connected to the subordinate thereof;
An arrangement step of arranging the spatial information acquired in the first acquisition step or the second acquisition step in a management space area managed by itself as a partial space;
An output step of outputting the information including the size of the management space area to other space management means connected to the higher level of itself as spatial information,
The content management means includes
A management space area acquisition step of acquiring a management space area managed by the space management means from any of the space management means;
A content placement step of placing content in the management space region acquired in the management space region acquisition step,
In each of the plurality of display means,
A display method of a display system, wherein content arranged in a partial space corresponding to its own display area in the management space area is displayed.

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