JP2013232124A - Electronic conference system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce a load on a conference control server when data written by a presenter and data written by a participant are stored in a database.SOLUTION: Data of an annotation written in a whiteboard by a presenter in a client terminal 4 is stored in a database 22 by a meeting controller 16a. Meanwhile, data of an annotation written in a whiteboard by a participant in a client terminal 6 is stored in the database 22 by a web server 12.

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic conference system for conducting an electronic conference.

  Conventionally, many systems for conducting an electronic conference have been proposed. As an example, Patent Document 1 discloses a multimedia document conference participation system including a data communication network connected to a plurality of client stations, a meeting server, and a presentation server. Further, in Patent Literature 2, the information processing apparatus transmits write information and display / non-display information to a server, and the server transmits the transmitted write information and display / non-display information to a storage unit as an information processing apparatus as a transmission destination. An electronic conference system that stores data every time is disclosed.

Special table hei 11-506595 (announced June 8, 1999) JP2011-138438A (released on July 14, 2011)

  Patent Document 1 does not mention anything about writing on images of presentations by conference participants in a client station. On the other hand, in Patent Document 2, since all the writing in each information processing apparatus is received by one server and stored in the storage unit, the load on the server is high. As a result, there arises a problem that processing by the server of the electronic conference is delayed.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems. The object is to provide an electronic conference system that reduces the load on the conference control server when data written by a presenter and data written by a participant are stored in a database.

  In order to solve the above problems, an electronic conference system according to the present invention includes a database, a web server, and a first user having a role of a presenter in an electronic conference, and includes a first display unit. A first terminal; a second terminal used by a second user having a role of a participant in the electronic conference; the second terminal having a second display; the first terminal; and the second terminal; A conference control server for controlling the electronic conference by communicating, the electronic conference system for performing the electronic conference, wherein the first terminal is the first display unit by the first user 1st data representing the first writing on the screen is generated, the first writing is displayed on the screen of the first display unit using the first data, and the first data is displayed. The above conference control The second terminal creates second data representing second writing on the screen of the second display unit by the second user, and is transmitted from the conference control unit. The first data is received, the received first data is used to display the writing by the first user on the screen on the second display unit, and the second data is used to The second writing is displayed on the screen on the second display unit, the second data is transmitted to the web server, and the conference control server transmits the first data transmitted from the first terminal. Data is received, the received first data is transmitted to the second terminal, the received first data is stored in the database, and the web server receives the second data The received second data is converted into the above-mentioned data. It is characterized in that to save the database.

  According to the above configuration, in the electronic conference system according to the present invention, the writing on the screen of the first terminal by the presenter is also displayed in synchronization with the screen of the second terminal. On the other hand, the writing on the screen of the second terminal by the participant is not displayed on the screen of the first terminal. That is, writing by the presenter is shared by the presenter and participants, but writing by the participants is not shared. Thereby, in the electronic conference system of the present invention, the participant can perform his / her own writing while confirming the writing by the presenter during the electronic conference.

  Here, in the electronic conference system according to the present invention, data representing writing by the presenter is stored in a database through the conference control server. On the other hand, data representing writing by participants is stored in a database through a web server. Thereby, it is possible to reduce the load on the conference control server when the data written by the presenter and the data written by the participant are stored in the database.

  In the electronic conference system 1 according to the present invention, the second terminal further displays the conference material or whiteboard used for the electronic conference on the first layer, and the second writing is performed on the second conference. It is preferable to display on a second layer arranged above one layer, and display the first writing on a third layer arranged above the second layer.

  According to said structure, it displays on a screen of a 2nd terminal so that a meeting material or a white board, the writing by a participant, and the writing by a presenter may overlap in order from the bottom.

  In the electronic conference system according to the present invention, the first terminal further displays an whiteboard on the first display unit and transmits an instruction signal instructing to operate in the collaboration mode to the conference control server. The second data transmitted from the conference control server is received, the second writing is displayed on the first display unit using the received second data, and the conference control server Receives the instruction signal, transmits the received instruction signal to the second terminal, receives the second data transmitted from the second terminal, and receives the received second data. , Transmitted to the first terminal, the second terminal displays a whiteboard on the second display unit, receives the instruction signal transmitted from the conference control unit, and receives the instruction signal received Based on the above Set to operate in collaboration mode, when the second terminal is operating in the collaboration mode, it is preferable to transmit the second data to the conference control server.

  According to said structure, when the 2nd terminal is operate | moving in collaboration mode, the writing to the screen of the 1st terminal by a participant is also displayed synchronously on the screen of a 2nd terminal. On the other hand, the writing on the screen of the second terminal by the participant is also displayed in synchronization with the screen of the first terminal. Therefore, in the electronic conference system of this configuration, it is possible to give an impression as if the presenter and the participant are simultaneously writing on the same whiteboard.

  According to the electronic conference system of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the load on the conference control server when the data written by the presenter and the data written by the participant are stored in the database.

It is a block diagram which shows the principal part structure of the electronic conference system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the principal part structure of the 1st client terminal which comprises the electronic conference system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. (A) is a figure which shows an example of the Deep Zoom data of the level 12 in this embodiment. (B) is a figure which shows an example of the Deep Zoom data of the level 11 in this embodiment. (C) is a figure which shows an example of the Deep Zoom data of the level 10 in this embodiment. (D) is a figure which shows an example of the Deep Zoom data of the level 10 in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the meeting window containing the user interface for a presenter displayed during the meeting using a meeting material. It is a figure which shows the meeting window containing the user interface for a participant displayed during the meeting using a meeting material. It is a figure which shows a mode that the tool bar was overwritten and displayed on the meeting window. It is a figure which shows a mode that the icon for selecting the thickness and color of a line was overwritten and displayed on the meeting window. It is a figure which shows the meeting window which displays the meeting material in which the annotation was written. It is a figure which shows a mode that the "eraser" sub icon and the "erasure" icon were overwritten and displayed on the meeting window. It is a figure which shows the meeting window containing the user interface for a presenter displayed during the meeting using a whiteboard. It is a figure which shows the meeting window containing the user interface for a participant displayed during the meeting using a whiteboard. It is a figure which shows a mode that the tool bar was overwritten and displayed on the meeting window. It is a figure which shows a mode that the icon for selecting the thickness of a line was overwritten and displayed on the meeting window. It is a figure which shows a mode that the location which the presenter selected from the meeting window was overwritten and displayed on the meeting window.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

(Configuration of electronic conference system 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of an electronic conference system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the electronic conference system 1 includes a cloud system 2, a client terminal 4 (first terminal), a client terminal 6 (second terminal), and a client terminal 8. The cloud system 2 includes a web server 12, a file conversion server 14, a meeting server 16 (conference control server), a file providing server 18, a video conference server 20, a database 22, and a file system 24. The meeting server 16 includes a meeting controller 16a (conference control unit). The meeting controller 16a comprehensively controls a conference (electronic conference) in the electronic conference system 1.

  In the electronic conference system 1, the client terminals 4, 6, and 8 are connected to each other via the cloud system 2 and the communication line 10. The communication line 10 is, for example, an internet line. With such a configuration, the electronic conference system 1 provides a network-type electronic conference to the user.

(Client terminals 4, 6, 8)
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the client terminals 4, 6, and 8 constituting the electronic conference system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in this figure, the client terminal 4 includes a meeting client 4a, an input unit 40, and a display unit 42. On the other hand, the client terminal 6 includes a meeting client 6a, an input unit 60, and a display unit 62. The client terminal 8 includes a meeting client 8a, an input unit 80, and a display unit 82. In the present embodiment, the client terminal 4 is a terminal used by a conference presenter. On the other hand, the client terminal 6 and the client terminal 8 are terminals used by conference participants.

  The meeting client 4 a is in charge of processing on the client terminal 4 side in the conference in the electronic conference system 1. The input unit 40 is an input device such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a touch panel. The user uses the input unit 40 when operating the client terminal 4 or inputting predetermined information into the client terminal 4. The display unit 42 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display device or an organic EL display device. The meeting client 4 a displays a conference screen on the display unit 42. In addition, the function of each member with which the client terminal 6 and the client terminal 8 are provided is the same as the function of each member with which the client terminal 4 is provided.

(Outline of electronic conference system 1)
The electronic conference system 1 is a network system for conducting an electronic conference. Each server in the cloud system 2 and each client terminal connected to the cloud system 2 can cooperate with each other to perform an electronic conference. The main function for performing the conference is provided by the cloud system 2. Therefore, the user of the electronic conference system 1 does not need to install special hardware for holding a conference. The user uses the electronic conference system 1 simply by installing special software for accessing the electronic conference system 1 in a terminal device that is generally distributed in the market such as a personal computer, a smartphone, or a tablet terminal. can do.

  In the electronic conference system 1, participants of the conference participate in the conference using a client terminal that can be connected to the cloud system 2. Therefore, each participant can participate in the conference at a desired place without gathering in a specific conference room.

  In the electronic conference system 1, materials used for the conference are provided as electronic data. Each participant in the conference can share the conference material in real time during the conference. Specifically, during the conference, each participant can view the same location in the same conference material at the same time on the screen of his / her client terminal. In addition, if a specific user (user with presenter authority) during the meeting changes the display state of the conference material, the screen of the client terminal of another user (user who does not have presenter authority) follows it. The display state of the conference material is changed in the same way. That is, the operation performed by the presenter on the client terminal is also reproduced in real time on the participant's client terminal. Accordingly, each attendee of the conference can participate in the conference without preparing paper materials.

  Data necessary for the conference is basically provided from the cloud system 2 to each client terminal. In addition, the writing to the conference material, the writing to the whiteboard, and the keyboard memo input by the user through each client terminal during the meeting are all provided to the cloud system 2 and stored in the cloud system 2. After the conference, all data used by each client terminal during the conference is deleted from the client terminal. In order to view data related to the conference after the conference ends, it is necessary to separately access the electronic conference system 1 and download the data.

  For each user who uses the electronic conference system 1, an authority corresponding to the role of the user in the conference is set for each conference. In the present embodiment, there are three types of roles: a moderator, a presenter, and a participant. The moderator has the authority to create a meeting. The presenter has the authority to present using specific meeting materials during the meeting. Participants do not have any of these powers and are in a position to hear the presenters present during the meeting.

  In a memory (not shown) of the client terminals 4, 6, and 8, a role table that defines functions that can be executed for each role is stored. This role table contains information that identifies the functions that the moderator, presenter, and participant can perform. For example, the moderator can add conference participants, but the presenter and participants include information indicating that conference participants cannot be added. In addition, presenters can present, but presenters and participants include information indicating that they are unable to present.

  The database 22 stores personal information of each user registered in the electronic conference system 1. This personal information includes at least an identifier (user ID) for uniquely identifying the user, an authentication password for logging in to the electronic conference system 1, a user's e-mail address, and a user's name.

(Conference flow)
When a conference is performed in the electronic conference system 1, the following procedure is followed. First, a conference organizer creates a conference in the electronic conference system 1. Any user registered in the electronic conference system can be a conference organizer. The role of the moderator is automatically set for the user who created the meeting. A user (moderator) who creates a conference inputs information regarding the conference, uploads conference materials used for the conference to the cloud system 2, and selects a user to participate in the conference. The moderator sets the role (authority) of each user in the conference.

  After the creation of the conference is completed, when it is time to start the conference, each user logs in to the electronic conference system 1 using his / her client terminal and participates in the conference. Even during the meeting, the user can participate in the meeting. Each user can write to the meeting material during the meeting. Writing to the conference material may be referred to as annotation in the present embodiment.

  Writing to the conference material by the presenter is automatically shared by the client terminals of all participants in the conference. On the other hand, writing on the conference material by the participant is handled as information unique to the participant. That is, it is not shared with other participants. Writing to the conference material by the presenter (shared annotation) is automatically performed in the database 22 in association with information (meeting ID, material ID, page ID) for identifying the corresponding conference, the conference material, and the page of the conference material. Saved in. On the other hand, the writing (individual annotation`) by the participant to the conference material is automatically stored in the database 22 in association with the corresponding conference ID and the user ID of the participant.

  During the meeting, each attendee (including presenters and participants) of the meeting can enter a keyboard note on each page of the meeting material. A keyboard memo is text information input using a keyboard. The keyboard memo entered by the presenter is handled as information included in the minutes, and is distributed to each participant in the form included in the minutes after the meeting. On the other hand, the keyboard memo entered by the participant is stored in the database 22 and can be downloaded only by the entered participant.

  The electronic conference system 1 can also hold a conference using a whiteboard instead of the conference material. In this meeting, a whiteboard is displayed on the screen of each client terminal. Each user can write on the whiteboard during the meeting.

  Writing on the whiteboard by the presenter is automatically shared by the client terminals of all participants in the conference. On the other hand, writing on a whiteboard by a participant is treated as information unique to the participant. That is, it is not shared with other participants. The writing (shared annotation) on the whiteboard by the presenter is automatically stored in the database 22 in association with information (meeting ID, page ID) that specifies the corresponding conference and the corresponding whiteboard page. On the other hand, the writing (individual annotation) on the whiteboard by the participant is automatically associated with the information (meeting ID, page ID) for identifying the corresponding conference and the corresponding whiteboard page, and the user ID of the participant. Are stored in the database 22.

  During the meeting, each attendee (including presenters and participants) of the meeting can enter keyboard notes on each page of the whiteboard. A keyboard memo is text information input using a keyboard. The keyboard memo entered by the presenter is handled as information included in the minutes, and is distributed to each participant in the form included in the minutes after the meeting. On the other hand, the keyboard memo entered by the participant is stored in the database 22 and can be downloaded only by the entered participant.

  After the meeting, the cloud system 2 creates a minutes of the meeting. In addition, the conference material, the writing to the conference material, and the writing to the whiteboard are managed in association with the minutes. By logging into the electronic conference system 1 after the conference ends, the user of the client terminal can download and browse the minutes of conferences that have participated in the past to his / her client terminal.

(Details of data and information)
After the creation of the conference, conference information, participant information, conference material information, page information, agenda information, and voting item information are stored in the database 22 in association with each other. If the conference material is uploaded when the conference is created, the deep zoom data of the conference material is stored in the file system 24 in association with the corresponding conference ID, the corresponding material ID, and the corresponding page ID. Also stored in the file providing server 18. The electronic conference system 1 uses these data and information during the conference.

  In addition, after the creation of the conference, the JPEG data of level 12 before being divided into tiles is stored in the file system 24 in association with the corresponding conference ID, the material ID to be displayed, and the corresponding page ID. This level 12 JPEG data is used when data for storage related to a conference is created after the conference ends. Note that the JPEG data at level 12 remains stored in the file system 24 even after the conference ends.

  The conference information indicates the conference ID, the conference creator's user ID, the conference title, the conference date, the scheduled start time of the conference, the scheduled end time of the conference, the purpose of the conference, the status of the conference, and whether it is a confidential conference. Contains information and conference access code. The conference ID is an identification value for identifying a conference, and is given for each conference. The web server 12 generates and includes an individual and unique conference ID for each conference information. The information indicating the status of the conference indicates a status of being created, not held, being held, or being ended. Information indicating whether it is a confidential meeting takes a value of either true or false.

  The participant information includes at least a user ID of each user who participates in the conference and role information indicating the role of the participant. The role information indicates at least one of a presenter, a participant, and a presenter. A user may have the roles of presenter and participant in a conference. For example, there is a plurality of agendas for one conference, and a user has a presenter role in one agenda and a participant role in another agenda.

  The meeting material information includes at least a meeting material ID. The conference material ID is information for uniquely identifying the conference material uploaded to the web server 12. The conference material information is created when the conference material is uploaded to the web server 12 when the conference is created.

  The page information includes at least a page ID. The page ID is an identifier for uniquely identifying each page of the conference material uploaded to the web server 12.

  The agenda information includes, for each agenda set for the conference, the agenda name, the presenter's user ID, the presentation time, the conference material ID of the conference material used for the announcement, and the presentation order.

  The voting item information includes at least a question (voting item) set for each announcement. At the end of the presentation, the presenter presents the questions included in the voting item information to each participant and prompts them to vote whether or not they agree with the questions. The voting results by each participant are aggregated and stored in the database 22 in association with the corresponding conference ID as voting result information including the voting results.

(Deep Zoom data)
The deep zoom data is data generated from the original data of the conference material. In the present embodiment, the deep zoom data is generated once from the original data of the conference material through predetermined intermediate data (vector data). The format of vector data is PDF or XPS format. Deep Zoom data is created for each page of the conference material. As the deep zoom data, four data having different resolutions are prepared for each page of the conference material. In the present embodiment, each Deep Zoom data is composed of level 9 to level 12 JPEG data having different resolutions.

  FIG. 3A is a diagram showing an example of deep zoom data of level 12 in the present embodiment. FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating an example of deep zoom data of level 11 in the present embodiment. FIG. 3C shows an example of level 10 deep zoom data in the present embodiment. FIG. 3D is a diagram illustrating an example of deep zoom data of level 9 in the present embodiment.

  In this embodiment, the number of horizontal dots in the level 12 JPEG data is 4096 dots. On the other hand, the number of dots in the vertical direction in the JPEG data is a number corresponding to the ratio of the portrait and landscape in the original data. Specifically, the ratio between the number of vertical dots and the number of horizontal dots in JPEG data is equal to the ratio of the vertical length and the horizontal length in the original data.

  In this embodiment, the resolution of level 11 JPEG data is half that of level 12 JPEG data. That is, the number of horizontal dots in the level 11 JPEG data is 2048. The resolution of level 10 JPEG data is half that of level 11 JPEG data. That is, the number of horizontal dots in the level 10 JPEG data is 1028. The resolution of level 9 JPEG data is half that of level 10 JPEG data. That is, the number of horizontal dots in the level 9 JPEG data is 512.

  Each JPEG data is divided into tiles of a certain size. The size of the tile is one eighth of the size of the level 12 JPEG data. That is, it is equal to the size of level 9 JPEG data. Therefore, the number of horizontal dots in the tile is 512. However, this is only an example, and the tile size can be set arbitrarily. Individual tiles are preferably similar to the original JPEG data.

(How to use Deep Zoom data)
Each client terminal acquires the data of the conference material to be displayed on the display unit from the file providing server 18. At that time, the file providing server 18 provides Deep Zoom data of the conference material to the client terminal. The client terminal only needs to obtain from the file providing server 18 a tile that covers a portion that is actually displayed on the screen of the display unit among the plurality of tiles constituting the Deep Zoom data. For example, it is assumed that the conference material needs to be enlarged when the conference material is displayed using the level 11 deep zoom data shown in FIG. At this time, if the enlargement ratio is within 2 times, only 16 tiles indicated by reference numeral 100 in FIG. This is because if the enlargement ratio is within 2 times, the entire image shown in FIG. 3B is completely covered by 16 tiles indicated by reference numeral 100 in FIG.

  In this way, each client terminal acquires only deep zoom data necessary for display from the file providing server 18. Therefore, since the amount of data to be downloaded can be reduced, the display of the conference material can be switched more quickly.

(Write to meeting materials)
When a conference is performed in the electronic conference system 1, first, a conference organizer creates a conference in the electronic conference system 1. Any user registered in the electronic conference system can be a conference organizer. The role of the moderator is automatically set for the user who created the meeting. The moderator can select participants in the conference and can give the moderator or presenter authority to the attendee.

  The electronic conference system 1 can hold a conference using conference materials. Below, the case where the user of the client terminal 4 announces as a presenter about the meeting using the meeting material in the electronic conference system 1 is explained as an example. Note that both the user of the client terminal 6 and the user of the client terminal 8 participate as participants in this conference.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a conference window including a user interface for a presenter displayed during a conference using conference materials. The user of the client terminal 4 has a presenter role. Therefore, the meeting client 4a displays the conference window shown in FIG. 4 on the display unit 42 during the conference using the conference material. In the conference window of FIG. 4, the color of the “presentation” button in the user interface is the one corresponding to the presenter (orange). In addition, an “up share” button is displayed below the “announce” button.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a conference window including a user interface for participants displayed during a conference using conference materials. The user of the client terminal 6 has a participant role. Therefore, the meeting client 6a displays the conference window shown in FIG. In the conference window of FIG. 5, the color of the “presentation” button in the user interface is a gray color corresponding to the presenter. In addition, a “Raise Hand Button” is displayed below the “Announcement” button. In addition, when the user of the client terminal 6 has a role of a participant and a moderator, the color of the “presentation” button corresponds to that role (blue). Accordingly, the user of each client terminal can easily know his / her role by confirming the color of the “presentation” button.

  In the electronic conference system 1, the presenter can write in the conference material during the conference using the conference material. In this embodiment, writing to the conference material may be expressed as annotation. The writing of the conference material by the presenter is displayed synchronously on the client terminals of all participants other than the presenters participating in the conference.

  The flow of processing in the electronic conference system 1 when the presenter writes in the conference material during the conference will be described below. Note that both the user of the client terminal 6 and the user of the client terminal 8 participate as participants in this conference. The input unit 40 is a touch panel.

  When the presenter writes an annotation on the conference material page, the presenter first presses the “toolbar” button in the user interface of the conference window. As a result, the meeting client 4a displays a toolbar as shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the toolbar is overwritten on the conference window. The toolbar includes a pen icon, an eraser icon, a cancel icon, a cut icon, and a dynamic window icon in order from the top. When the presenter selects the pen icon, the meeting client 4a displays three icons for selecting the line thickness and color as shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a state in which an icon for selecting a line thickness and a color is overwritten and displayed on the conference window. The user selects any one of these icons. Then, handwriting input is performed on the screen of the client terminal 4 using a pen or a finger. The input unit 40 receives this input.

(Annotation display on client terminal 4)
The input unit 40 informs the meeting client 4a of the coordinate information of the location handwritten by the user. Based on the received coordinate information, the meeting client 4a handles one continuous line generated by a series of continuous handwritten input from when the user touches the screen until it is released as one annotation. Then, annotation data representing the annotation is created. In the present embodiment, the annotation data has vector information. The vector information includes, for example, information on the start point, end point, thickness, and color of the line. The starting and ending values of the line indicate relative coordinates on the page where the annotation is written.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the meeting client 4 a displays the annotation written by the presenter on the conference material on the display unit 42 using the annotation data. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a conference window that displays conference material in which annotations are written. In the present embodiment, the layer in which the conference material is displayed and the layer in which the annotation is displayed are separated separately, and the latter is arranged on the former. The meeting client 4a displays the annotation written by the presenter on the conference material on a layer (third layer) above the layer (first layer) for displaying the conference material. As a result, the annotation is overwritten and displayed on the conference material on the display unit 42. When displaying the annotation, the meeting client 4a does not process any Deep Zoom data on the conference material page. That is, the display of the conference material and the display of the annotation are performed independently using different data.

  The meeting client 4a transmits the created annotation data to the meeting controller 16a. At that time, the corresponding material ID and page ID are associated with the transmission annotation data. The meeting controller 16a holds the received annotation data inside and transmits it to the client terminals of all participants other than the presenters participating in the conference. In this embodiment, the destination is the meeting client 6a and the meeting client 8a.

(Display of annotation on the client terminal 6)
The meeting client 6a displays the annotation represented by the annotation data on the display unit 62 using the received annotation data. At that time, the meeting client 6a uses the resolution (level) of the Deep Zoom data currently used for displaying the conference material and the position of the annotation to be displayed on the layer by using the starting point and ending point information included in the annotation data. Is calculated. Then, the annotation is displayed at the calculated position on the layer. As a result, the display positions of the annotations on the conference material page are the same between the client terminal 4 and the client terminal 6. Even if the resolution of the display unit 42 and the resolution of the display unit 62 are different from each other, there is no substitute for the display position of the annotation. That is, the display of the annotation on the client terminal 4 is reflected on the client terminal 6 synchronously.

  When displaying the presenter's annotation, the meeting client 6a does not process any Deep Zoom data on the conference material page. That is, the display of the conference material and the display of the annotation are performed independently using different data.

(Annotation display on client terminal 8)
The meeting client 8a displays the annotation represented by the annotation data on the display unit 82 using the received annotation data. The details of the processing performed at that time are the same as the processing when the client terminal 6 displays the annotation using the annotation data, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted. Also in the client terminal 4 and the client terminal 8, the display positions of the annotations on the conference material page match each other.

(Add annotation)
When the presenter newly writes an annotation in the conference material, the meeting client 4a creates new annotation data corresponding to the new annotation and stores it in the inside thereof. While continuing to display the same page of the conference material, the meeting client 4a continues to accumulate newly created annotation data. For example, when the presenter performs three separate writings on a page, the meeting client 4a holds three annotation data corresponding to these three writings.

  Each time the meeting client 4a newly creates annotation data, the meeting client 4a transmits only the annotation data to the meeting controller 16a. That is, annotation data accumulated before that time is not transmitted to the meeting controller 16a.

  While the same page of the conference material is continuously displayed, the annotation data newly received from the meeting controller 16a is continuously accumulated. For example, when the presenter performs three writings for a certain page, the meeting client 6a holds three annotation data corresponding to these three writings.

(Eraser function)
The presenter can partially erase the annotation displayed on the display unit 42. At that time, the presenter selects the “eraser” icon in the toolbar. As a result, as shown in FIG. 9, the meeting client 4 a displays the “eraser” sub-icon and the “erase” icon on the display unit 42. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the “eraser” sub-icon and the “erase” icon are overwritten and displayed on the conference window. The presenter presses the “eraser” sub-icon. Thereafter, the user selects a portion to be erased on the screen of the display unit 42. For example, use your fingertip to trace the part of the screen where you want to delete the annotation. The input unit 40 receives this input.

  The input unit 40 informs the meeting client 4a of the coordinate information of the location traced by the user with the fingertip. Based on the received coordinate information, the meeting client 4a creates a delete command for instructing deletion of a location selected by the user on the screen. In the present embodiment, the delete command includes position information and range information of the selected location. The meeting client 4a uses the delete command to delete the annotation displayed in the range selected by the presenter from the display unit 42. At that time, the meeting client 4a does not delete any annotation data accumulated so far. That is, the annotation display in the range selected by the presenter is simply deleted from the layer for displaying the annotation. This is a measure for redoing the annotation deletion process later.

  The meeting client 4a accumulates the created delete command in its own association with the corresponding material ID and page ID. The delete command is transmitted to the meeting controller 16a in association with the corresponding material ID and page ID. The meeting controller 16a accumulates the received deletion command in association with the corresponding material ID and page ID. Furthermore, it transmits to the client terminal of all the participants other than the presenter who is participating in the meeting. In this embodiment, the destination is the meeting client 6a and the meeting client 8a.

  Using the received delete command, the meeting client 6a deletes the annotation displayed in the range selected by the presenter from the display unit 62. At that time, the meeting client 6a does not delete any annotation data accumulated so far. That is, the annotation display in the range selected by the presenter is simply deleted from the layer for displaying the annotation. This is a measure for redoing the annotation deletion process later.

  The meeting client 8a deletes the annotation displayed in the range selected by the presenter from the display unit 82 using the received delete command. At that time, the meeting client 8a does not delete any annotation data accumulated so far. That is, the annotation display in the range selected by the presenter is simply deleted from the layer for displaying the annotation. This is a measure for redoing the annotation deletion process later.

(Delete all annotations)
When the presenter selects the “erase” icon in the tool bar, the meeting client 4a creates an instruction command for instructing to erase the display of all annotations displayed on the corresponding page. The meeting client 4a stores the created instruction command. Further, all the annotations currently displayed on the display unit 42 are deleted using the instruction command. At that time, the meeting client 4a does not delete any annotation data accumulated so far. That is, the annotation display is simply deleted from the layer for displaying the annotation. This is a measure for redoing the “erase” process later.

  The meeting client 4a transmits the created instruction command to the meeting controller 16a. At that time, the corresponding material ID and page ID are included in the instruction command. The meeting controller 16a accumulates the received instruction command in itself and transmits it to the client terminal 6 and the client terminal 8.

  The client terminal 6 erases all annotations currently displayed on the display unit 62 using the received instruction command. At that time, the meeting client 6a does not delete any annotation data accumulated so far. That is, the annotation display is simply deleted from the layer for displaying the annotation. This is a measure for redoing the “erase” process later.

  The client terminal 8 erases all annotations currently displayed on the display unit 82 using the received instruction command. At that time, the meeting client 8a does not delete any annotation data accumulated so far. That is, the annotation display is simply deleted from the layer for displaying the annotation. This is a measure for redoing the “erase” process later.

(Redo annotation)
When the presenter selects the “redo icon” in the toolbar, the meeting client 4a creates an instruction command that instructs to redo the annotation display. At that time, the presenter can specify the level of the annotation display to be redone. The meeting client 4a includes information indicating the stage designated by the presenter in the instruction command. The meeting client 4a stores the created instruction command. Further, using the instruction command, a process of redoing the annotation display to the stage designated by the presenter is executed. Note that the above-described annotation deletion (eraser function) and all annotation deletion (erasure function) are also included in the “redo” target.

  The meeting client 4a transmits the created instruction command to the meeting controller 16a. At that time, the corresponding material ID and page ID are included in the instruction command. The meeting controller 16a accumulates the received instruction command in itself and transmits it to the client terminal 6 and the client terminal 8.

  Using the received instruction command, the client terminal 6 executes a process of redoing the annotation display until the stage designated by the presenter. Thereby, the redo of the annotation display on the client terminal 4 is also reproduced on the client terminal 6 in synchronization. The client terminal 6 stores the received instruction command in association with the corresponding material ID and page ID.

  Using the received instruction command, the client terminal 8 executes processing for redoing the annotation display to the stage designated by the presenter. Thereby, the redoing of the annotation display on the client terminal 4 is also reproduced on the client terminal 8 in synchronization. The client terminal 8 stores the received instruction command in association with the corresponding material ID and page ID.

(Save annotation)
When the presenter performs an operation of switching the page of the conference material, the meeting client 4a uses the annotation data for one page currently displayed on the display unit 42 using all the annotation data and instruction commands currently stored. One annotation basic data representing is generated. At that time, individual annotations and instruction commands are calculated in order from the oldest accumulated annotation data.

  The meeting client 4a executes the page switching process and deletes all annotation data and instruction commands stored in itself. The meeting client 4a transmits the created annotation basic data to the meeting controller 16a together with the page switching signal in association with the corresponding material ID and page ID.

  The meeting controller 16a stores the received annotation basic data in the database 22 in association with the corresponding conference ID, material ID, and page ID, and also holds it itself. The meeting controller 16a transmits the received page switching signal to the meeting client 6a and the meeting client 8a. However, the annotation basic data is not transmitted to the meeting client 6a and the meeting client 8a.

  When the meeting client 6a receives the page switching signal, the meeting client 6a executes page switching processing. When the meeting client 8a receives the page switching signal, the meeting client 8a also executes page switching processing.

  Through the above processing, when the presenter performs an operation of switching the page of the conference material, annotation basic data representing the annotation for one page displayed on the current page is stored in the database 22.

(Independent mode)
When the client terminals 6 and 8 are operating in the independent mode, the participants can write annotations independently on the conference material. Annotations that participants write on meeting materials are not shared with presenters and other participants. That is, it is treated as an annotation unique to the participant. In the following, the annotation that the participant wrote in the conference material may be referred to as personal annotation.

  The flow of processing in the electronic conference system 1 when the participant writes personal annotations in the conference material will be described below. Hereinafter, a case where the user of the client terminal 6 writes a personal annotation in the conference material when the client terminal 6 is operating in the independent mode will be described as an example.

  When the participant writes a new personal annotation in the conference material, the meeting client 6a creates new personal annotation data corresponding to the written personal annotation, associates it with the corresponding material ID and page ID, and creates his own personal annotation data. Accumulate inside. In addition, the meeting client 4a displays the personal annotation on the layer (second layer) for displaying the personal annotation using the created personal annotation data. This layer is separate from the layer for displaying shared annotations (third layer) and the layer for displaying meeting materials (first layer), and is between these layers. . That is, in the client terminal 6 operating in the independent mode, the layers have a three-layer structure. First, there is a meeting material layer, on top of which there is a personal annotation layer, on top of which there is a shared annotation layer.

  The meeting client 6a does not transmit the created personal annotation data to the meeting controller 16a. Therefore, this personal annotation data is not provided to the client terminal 4 and the client terminal 8. As a result, the personal annotation written by the user of the client terminal 6 is displayed only on the display unit 62.

  The meeting client 6a continues to receive the annotation data and the instruction command transmitted from the meeting controller 16a while the client terminal 6 operates in the independent mode. In the independent mode, when the page displayed on the client terminal 6 and the page displayed on the client terminal 4 of the presenter are the same, the client terminal 6 displays the participant's annotation and presents the presenter. Display the annotations in sync.

(Page switching by participants)
When the client terminal 6 operates in the independent mode and the participant performs an operation to switch the page of the conference material, the meeting client 6a uses all the personal annotation data and instruction commands currently stored, One piece of personal annotation basic data representing one page of personal annotation displayed on the display unit 62 is created. At that time, the individual annotations and instruction commands are calculated in order from the oldest accumulated personal annotation data.

  The meeting client 6a transmits the created personal annotation basic data to the web server 12 in association with the user ID of the user of the client terminal 6 and the corresponding conference ID, material ID, and page ID. The web server 12 stores the received personal annotation basic data in the database 22 in association with the corresponding user ID, conference ID, material ID, and page ID.

(Release independent mode)
When the participant performs an operation of canceling the independent mode, the meeting client 6a uses the personal annotation data for one page currently displayed on the display unit 62 using all the personal annotation data and instruction commands currently stored. One piece of personal annotation basic data representing the above is created. At that time, the individual annotations and instruction commands are calculated in order from the oldest accumulated personal annotation data.

  The meeting client 6a transmits the created personal annotation basic data to the web server 12 in association with the user ID of the user of the client terminal 6 and the corresponding conference ID, material ID, and page ID. The web server 12 stores the received personal annotation basic data in the database 22 in association with the corresponding user ID, conference ID, material ID, and page ID.

  The client terminal 6 switches the page of the conference material based on the page switching signal received most recently when operating in the independent mode. Furthermore, the shared annotation data and instruction commands stored inside itself when operating in the independent mode are processed in order from the oldest. Thus, the annotation written by the presenter on the conference material while the client terminal 6 is operating in the independent mode is reflected in the conference material displayed on the screen of the client terminal 6.

(Participation during the meeting)
Other participants can join the conference on the way. For example, it is assumed that the user (other participant) of the client terminal 6 ′ participates in the conference on the way. The presenter may have annotated the meeting material before other participants join the meeting. In the electronic conference system 1 of this embodiment, this annotation is also automatically reflected on the client terminal 6 ′. At that time, the meeting controller 16a, when other participants join the conference, the annotation stored in the meeting controller 16a corresponding to the conference material page displayed on the display unit 42 of the client terminal 4. The basic data is transmitted to the meeting client 6a ′ provided in the client terminal of another participant. Further, individual annotation data and instruction commands stored in the meeting controller 16a when other participants join the conference are also transmitted to the meeting client 6a ′. The meeting client 6a ′ is displayed on the screen of the client terminal 4 when other participants join the conference halfway using the annotation basic data, individual annotations, and individual instruction commands received from the meeting controller 16a. The shared annotation for one page is reproduced on the screen of the client terminal 6 ′.

(Conference using whiteboard)
How to proceed with the conference using the whiteboard in the electronic conference system 1 will be described. Below, the case where the user of the client terminal 4 announces as a presenter is mentioned as an example. Note that both the user of the client terminal 6 and the user of the client terminal 8 participate as participants in this conference.

  In a conference using a whiteboard, the presenter presents while writing on the whiteboard. In this embodiment, writing on the whiteboard may be referred to as annotation. The writing on the whiteboard by the presenter is displayed synchronously on the client terminals of all participants other than the presenters participating in the conference. In the following, annotations written on the whiteboard by the presenter may be referred to as shared annotations.

  At the start of the conference, the first page of the whiteboard is displayed on each screen of the client terminals 4, 6 and 8. The meeting clients 4a, 6a, and 8a hold predetermined data for displaying the whiteboard in advance, and display each page of the whiteboard using this data.

(Meeting window)
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a conference window including a user interface for a presenter displayed during a conference using a whiteboard. The user of the client terminal 4 has a presenter role. Therefore, the meeting client 4a displays a conference window shown in FIG. 10 on the display unit 42 during the whiteboard conference. In the conference window of FIG. 10, the color of the “presentation” button in the user interface is the one corresponding to the presenter (orange). In addition, an “up share” button is displayed below the “announce” button.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a conference window including a user interface for participants displayed during a conference using a whiteboard. The user of the client terminal 6 has a participant role. Therefore, the meeting client 6a displays a conference window shown in FIG. 11 on the display unit 62 during the whiteboard conference. In the conference window of FIG. 11, the color of the “presentation” button in the user interface is in accordance with the presenter (gray). In addition, a “Raise Hand Button” is displayed below the “Announcement” button. When the user of the client terminal 6 has the role of a participant and a moderator, the “presentation” button has a color corresponding to the role (blue). Accordingly, the user of each client terminal can easily know his / her role by confirming the color of the “presentation” button.

  When the presenter writes annotation on the whiteboard page, the presenter first presses the “toolbar” button in the user interface of the conference window. Thereby, the meeting client 4a displays a toolbar as shown in FIG. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a state where the toolbar is overwritten and displayed on the conference window. The toolbar includes a pen icon, an eraser icon, a redo icon, a cut icon, and a dynamic window icon in order from the top. When the presenter selects the pen icon, the meeting client 4a displays three icons for selecting the line thickness and color as shown in FIG. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a state in which an icon for selecting a line thickness and a color is overwritten and displayed on the conference window. The user selects any one of these icons. Then, handwriting input is performed on the screen of the client terminal 4 using a pen or a finger. The input unit 40 receives this input. Since the subsequent processing is basically the same as when writing is performed on the conference material, detailed description thereof is omitted.

(Conference window cutout display)
When the presenter selects the “Cut icon” in the toolbar, the meeting client 4a asks the presenter to select the area that he wants to cut in the conference window. The presenter selects a cut location in the conference window. Thereby, the meeting client 4a creates annotation data for displaying the location selected by the presenter.

  Next, the presenter specifies the position on the conference window where the selected cut-out location should be displayed. As a result, the meeting client 4a creates position information representing the position designated by the presenter. The meeting client 4a displays the location of the conference window selected by the presenter on the annotation layer using the created annotation data and position information. As a result, as shown in FIG. 14, the location selected by the presenter from the conference window is overwritten and displayed on the whiteboard in the conference window. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a state in which the location selected by the presenter from the conference window is displayed overwritten in the conference window.

  This annotation data is also provided to the meeting client 6a and the meeting client 8a through the meeting controller 16a. Therefore, the location selected by the presenter is also displayed on the client terminal 6 and the screen of the client terminal 6 in synchronization.

  The location selected by the presenter is treated as an annotation written on the whiteboard page. Therefore, once the selected portion is displayed on the page, the display position cannot be changed in the page thereafter. Further, when the whiteboard page is switched, the selected portion displayed on the page before switching is not displayed on the page after switching.

(Participation during the meeting)
Other participants can join the conference on the way. For example, it is assumed that the user (other participant) of the client terminal 6 ′ participates in the conference on the way. The presenter may have annotated the whiteboard before other participants join the conference. In the electronic conference system 1 of this embodiment, this annotation is also automatically reflected on the client terminal 6 ′. At that time, the meeting controller 16a, when other participants participate in the conference, the annotation stored in the meeting controller 16a corresponding to the whiteboard page displayed on the display unit 42 of the client terminal 4. The basic data is transmitted to the meeting client 6a ′ provided in the client terminal of another participant. Further, individual annotation data and instruction commands stored in the meeting controller 16a when other participants join the conference are also transmitted to the meeting client 6a ′. The meeting client 6a ′ is displayed on the screen of the client terminal 4 when other participants join the conference halfway using the annotation basic data, individual annotations, and individual instruction commands received from the meeting controller 16a. The shared annotation for one page is reproduced on the screen of the client terminal 6 ′.

(Collaboration mode)
In a conference using a whiteboard, the presenter can select a collaboration mode. In the collaboration mode, the information written by the presenter on the whiteboard is shared among all participants (including the presenter) of the conference. In addition, the information written by participants on the whiteboard is shared among all participants in the conference (including presenters). Specifically, the information written on the whiteboard by the participant is displayed on the screen of the client terminal of the participant and is automatically displayed in synchronization with the screens of the client terminals of all participants in the conference. . That is, in the collaboration mode, information written on the whiteboard by any participant in the conference is shared among all participants. This allows each participant to write simultaneously on one whiteboard.

  The operation of the electronic conference system 1 in the collaboration mode will be described below. First, the presenter performs an operation on the input unit 40 so that the client terminal 4 operates in the collaboration mode. For example, a whiteboard collaboration mode button in the conference window is pressed. In response, the meeting client 4a transmits an instruction signal instructing to operate in the collaboration mode to the meeting controller 16a. The meeting controller 16a transmits the received instruction signal to the meeting client 6a and the meeting client 8a.

  When the meeting client 6a receives the instruction signal, the meeting client 6a changes the user interface of the conference window to the one corresponding to the collaboration mode.

  When operating in the collaboration mode, when the user of the client terminal 6 writes an annotation on the page of the whiteboard, the meeting client 6a creates annotation data representing the written annotation. Then, the annotation written by the user of the client terminal 6 is displayed on the display unit 62 using the created annotation data. At that time, the annotation is displayed not on the layer for displaying the annotation written by the participant but on the layer for displaying the annotation of the presenter. The meeting client 4a transmits the created annotation data to the meeting controller 16a in association with the corresponding page ID of the whiteboard. The meeting controller 16a transmits the received annotation data to the meeting client 4a and the meeting client 8a.

  The meeting client 4a stores the received annotation data therein. In addition, the annotation represented by the annotation data is displayed on the display unit 42. At that time, the meeting client 4a displays the annotation on the layer for displaying the annotation for the presenter. As a result, the annotation newly added to the whiteboard displayed on the screen of the client terminal 6 is also displayed synchronously on the whiteboard displayed on the screen of the client terminal 4.

  The meeting client 8a accumulates the received annotation data therein. In addition, the annotation represented by the annotation data is displayed on the display unit 82. At that time, the meeting client 8a displays the annotation on the layer for displaying the annotation for the presenter, not on the layer for displaying the annotation of the participant. As a result, the annotation newly added to the whiteboard displayed on the screen of the client terminal 6 is also displayed synchronously on the whiteboard displayed on the screen of the client terminal 8.

  The annotation written by the user of the client terminal 8 on the whiteboard is also synchronized with the whiteboard displayed on the screen of the client terminal 4 and the whiteboard displayed on the screen of the client terminal 6 in the same manner. Is displayed.

(Save annotation)
In the collaboration mode, when the presenter performs an operation of switching the whiteboard page, annotation basic data for one page displayed on the current page is stored in the database 22. At that time, the meeting client of the client terminal to which the page switching operation is input takes charge of creating the annotation basic data and transmitting it to the meeting controller 16a. For example, when the user of the client terminal 6 performs an operation of switching the whiteboard page, the meeting client 6a creates annotation basic data and transmits it to the meeting controller 16a. The meeting controller 16a transmits the received annotation basic data to the database 22 in association with the corresponding conference ID and page ID of the whiteboard, regardless of which meeting client has transmitted.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. Those skilled in the art can make various modifications to the present invention within the scope of the claims. That is, a new embodiment can be obtained by combining appropriately changed technical means within the scope of the claims.

  The present invention can be widely used as various electronic conference systems for conducting an electronic conference.

1 electronic conference system 2 cloud system 4 client terminal (first terminal)
4a meeting client 6 client terminal (second terminal)
6a meeting client 8 client terminal 8a meeting client 10 communication line 12 web server 14 file conversion server 18 file providing server 16 meeting server 16a meeting controller (conference control unit)
20 video conference server 40 input unit 42 display unit (first display unit)
60 input unit 62 display unit (second display unit)
80 Input section 82 Display section

Claims (3)

A database,
A web server,
A first terminal used by a first user having a role of presenter in an electronic conference and provided with a first display;
A second terminal with a second display used by a second user having the role of a participant in the electronic conference;
A conference control server including a conference control unit including a conference control unit configured to control the electronic conference by communicating with the first terminal and the second terminal, and an electronic conference system for performing the electronic conference,
The first terminal is
Creating first data representing a first writing on the screen of the first display by the first user;
Using the first data, display the first writing on the screen of the first display unit,
Sending the first data to the conference controller;
The second terminal is
Creating second data representing second writing on the screen of the second display unit by the second user;
Receiving the first data transmitted from the conference controller;
Using the received first data, the writing by the first user is displayed on the screen on the second display unit, and the second writing is performed by using the second data. Displayed on the screen of
Sending the second data to the web server;
The conference control server
Receiving the first data transmitted from the first terminal;
The received first data is transmitted to the second terminal,
The received first data is stored in the database,
The web server
Receiving the second data,
The electronic conference system, wherein the received second data is stored in the database. The second terminal is
Display the meeting materials or whiteboard used for the electronic conference on the first layer,
Displaying the second writing on a second layer disposed above the first layer;
The electronic conference system according to claim 1, wherein the first writing is displayed on a third layer disposed above the second layer. The first terminal is
Display the whiteboard on the first display,
An instruction signal instructing to operate in the collaboration mode is transmitted to the conference control server,
Receiving the second data transmitted from the conference control server;
Using the received second data, the second writing is displayed on the first display unit,
The conference control server
Receiving the above instruction signal,
The received instruction signal is transmitted to the second terminal,
Receiving the second data transmitted from the second terminal;
The received second data is transmitted to the first terminal,
The second terminal is
Display the whiteboard on the second display,
Receiving the instruction signal transmitted from the conference controller;
Based on the received instruction signal, set to operate in the collaboration mode,
3. The electronic conference system according to claim 1, wherein when the second terminal is operating in the collaboration mode, the second data is transmitted to the conference control server. 4.

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