JP2023028249A - Information processing system, communication method, and information processing terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

To promote information exchange by a chat function between players using different languages.SOLUTION: An information processing system in which a plurality of information processing terminals operated by a plurality of players respectively provides a chat function to the plurality of players includes a translation processing unit for translating chat contents by the chat function, a chat processing unit for reproducing the chat contents by voice or displays them by characters, and a privilege granting unit for granting a privilege to a first player and a second player when a first language used by a first player who has spoken the chat contents and a second language used by a second player who reproduces or displays the chat contents are different.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present disclosure relates to an information processing system, communication method, and information processing terminal.

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, in cooperative play games in which users play cooperatively, for example, chatting is used to exchange information and communicate with other users (see Patent Document 1, for example). Chat functions for exchanging information between a plurality of users include a text chat function for exchanging chat contents by text and a voice chat function for exchanging chat contents by voice.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2020-22668

For example, in an information processing system that provides a chat function to a plurality of players, such as a worldwide online game, even players using different languages and cultures can exchange information using the chat function. However, in an information processing system that provides a chat function to a plurality of players, there has been a tendency to avoid exchanging information with players who use different languages and cultures because it is difficult to communicate.

For example, in a mass-participation type MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) game, which is an example of an information processing system that provides a chat function to a plurality of players, securing the number of players to play at the same time is one of the problems. Therefore, in MMO games, by eliminating barriers to information exchange with players who use different languages and cultures, it is possible to promote information exchange between players who use different languages and cultures using the chat function, and revitalize the game. There is expected. Note that Patent Literature 1 does not describe communication by translating chat content using a translator.

An object of the present disclosure is to promote information exchange using a chat function between players using different languages.

According to the present disclosure, an information processing system in which a plurality of information processing terminals operated by a plurality of players respectively provide a chat function to the plurality of players, and a translation processing unit that translates chat content by the chat function , a chat processing unit that reproduces the chat content by voice or displays it in characters; a first language used by a first player who has said the chat content; and a second player that reproduces or displays the chat content. An information processing system is provided that includes a privilege granting unit that grants a privilege to the first player and the second player when the second language used is different.

Advantageous Effects of Invention According to the present disclosure, it is possible to promote information exchange using a chat function between players using different languages.

1 is a configuration diagram of an example of an information processing system according to an embodiment; FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the computer which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure showing an example of functional composition of an information processing terminal concerning this embodiment, and a translator. It is a figure showing an example of functional composition of an information processing terminal concerning this embodiment. FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of an example of a player table; FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of an example of a culture table; 4 is a flowchart of an example of processing of the information processing system according to the present embodiment; 4 is a flowchart of an example of processing of the information processing system according to the present embodiment;

Hereinafter, embodiments for implementing the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.

[System configuration]
First, an example of a game system will be described as an example of an information processing system that implements a communication method according to an embodiment. An information processing system that implements the communication method according to one embodiment may be other than a game system, and may be, for example, a social networking service (SNS) system.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an example of an information processing system according to this embodiment. The information processing system 1 of this embodiment shown in FIG. 1 has a configuration including a server device 10, information processing terminals 12a to 12c, translators 14a to 14b, and a network 18 for data communication. The network 18 is a LAN (Local Area Network), the Internet, a communication network, or the like.

The translator 14a is communicably connected to the information processing terminal 12a. Translator 14b is communicably connected to information processing terminal 12b. Note that the translators 14a and 14b may be collectively referred to as the translator 14 below. The translator 14 is communicably connected to the information processing terminal 12a or 12b by wire or wirelessly. For example, the translator 14 communicates with the information processing terminal 12a or 12b using short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) or Wifi (registered trademark).

The information processing terminal 12a of FIG. 1 is operated by the player A. FIG. The information processing terminal 12b is operated by the player B. FIG. The information processing terminal 12c is operated by the player C. FIG. The information processing system 1 of FIG. 1 provides a chat function to the players A to C by having the information processing terminals 12a to 12c transmit and receive chat contents spoken by the players A to C. FIG. Transmission and reception of chat content may be performed via the server device 10 or may be performed without the server device 10 .

The information processing terminal 12a cooperates with the translator 14a, and translates the chat content using the translation function of the translator 14a. The information processing terminal 12b cooperates with the translator 14b, and translates the chat content using the translation function of the translator 14b. In addition, the information processing terminal 12c translates chat contents by a translation function realized by executing a translation program installed in the information processing terminal 12c. Note that the information processing terminals 12a to 12c may translate the chat contents by a translation function implemented by a translation program installed in the server device 10. FIG.

The translator 14 may be, for example, a handy-type dedicated terminal having a translation function, or a general-purpose terminal installed with a translation program. The translator 14 may be placed near the player for use, or may be a clip-side device attached to a headset or the like for use. The translation function can utilize existing technology, and can be implemented using, for example, the technology described in International Publication No. WO2019/111346.

The information processing terminals 12a-12c are computers operated by the players A-C. The information processing terminals 12a to 12c are PCs, tablet terminals, smartphone terminals, game devices, and the like. The information processing terminals 12a to 12c receive operations from the players A to C using, for example, touch panels, controllers, mice, or keyboards, execute information processing according to the operations, and display execution results.

Also, the server device 10 can be realized by a computer. The server device 10 transmits and receives data to and from the information processing terminals 12a to 12c, executes information processing according to the operations of the players A to C received by the information processing terminals 12a to 12c, and processes the execution results. provided to the terminals 12a-12c.

The server device 10 may be realized by a cloud computer. Note that the number of server devices 10 in FIG. 1 is not limited to one, and distributed processing may be performed by two or more. For example, the server device 10 may be used for download processing of programs (applications) to the information processing terminals 12a to 12c, login processing for players A to C, processing for managing various databases, and the like.

Note that the system configuration in FIG. 1 is an example. In the following description, information processing terminals 12a to 12c may be collectively referred to as information processing terminal 12. FIG. At least part of the functions of the server device 10 may be implemented as functions of the information processing terminal 12 . Some of the functions of the information processing terminal 12 may be implemented as functions of the server device 10 . Also, the number of information processing terminals 12 in FIG. 1 is not limited to three, and may be two or four or more.

[Hardware configuration]
The information processing terminal 12 according to this embodiment is realized by, for example, a computer 500 having the configuration shown in FIG. Similarly, the server apparatus 10 is realized by a computer 500 having the configuration shown in FIG. 2, for example. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a computer according to this embodiment.

The computer 500 in FIG. 2 has a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 100, a storage device 102, a communication device 104, an input device 106, and an output device 108, for example. CPU 100 controls computer 500 according to a program. The storage device 102 is, for example, a memory such as ROM (Read Only Memory) or RAM (Random Access Memory), or a storage such as HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or SSD (Solid State Drive). A storage device 102 stores programs and data to be executed by the CPU 100 .

The communication device 104 is a communication device such as a network circuit that controls communication. The input device 106 is an input device such as a touch pad, controller, mouse, keyboard, camera, and microphone. Also, the output device 108 is an output device such as a display and a speaker. A touch panel is realized by combining a touch pad as an example of the input device 106 and a display as an example of the output device 108 . The hardware configuration of FIG. 2 is an example.

[Function block]
Below, in cooperation with the translator 14, the function block for translating the chat content with the translation function of the translator 14 and the translation function realized by executing the translation program installed are used to translate the chat content. The functional block in the case and the case will be described separately.

For example, the functional block in the case of cooperating with the translator 14 and translating chat contents by the translation function of the translator 14 is as shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of functional configurations of an information processing terminal and a translator according to this embodiment. Note that the functional configuration of FIG. 3 is an example, and for example, at least a part of the functional configuration of the information processing terminal 12 shown in FIG. good too.

Information processing terminal 12 in FIG. Storage unit 210 stores game program 212 , player table 214 , and culture table 216 . The storage unit 210 may be implemented by the storage device 102 or may be implemented by a storage device connected via the network 18 or the like.

The game program 212 is an example of a program for game processing and chat processing executed by the CPU 100 . The player table 214 stores information about players such as the language used by the player and the country or region to which the player belongs, as will be described later. The language used by the player is, for example, the native language. The culture table 216 stores information about national and regional cultures as described below.

In this embodiment, when a player uses the chat function while playing a game to communicate with another player, the content of the chat can be translated by the translator 14, so that the languages used are different. Communication is possible even between players. However, communication performed by translating the chat content with the translator 14 is more difficult than communication between players who use the same language, such as their native language, or the culture of the country or region to which they belong, and tends to be avoided. .

Therefore, in this embodiment, when communication is performed by the chat function between players who use different languages or different cultures of the countries and regions to which they belong, by giving benefits to the players, Promote communication between players with different national and regional cultures to which they belong.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to promote communication between players who use different languages or different cultures of countries or regions to which they belong, thereby promoting cooperative play and activating cooperative play games. .

The control unit 200 controls the entire information processing terminal 12 . The overall control of the information processing terminal 12 includes a game process of receiving an operation for a game being executed from a player and generating and displaying a game image according to the operation. Also, the overall control of the information processing terminal 12 includes processing for providing a chat function to a plurality of players. Further, in the overall control of the information processing terminal 12, there is a process of giving a privilege to a player when communication is performed by a chat function between players who use different languages or different cultures of the countries or regions to which they belong. included.

Control unit 200 is implemented by CPU 100 executing processing described in a program such as game program 212 . The control unit 200 in FIG. 3 has a configuration including a game control unit 230 and an information processing terminal side cooperation processing unit 232 . The game control unit 230 performs game-related processing such as game processing and chat processing. Further, the information processing terminal side cooperation processing unit 232 performs processing related to cooperation with the translator 14 .

For example, the game control unit 230 executes game processing, generates a game image according to the game processing being executed, and causes the output device 108 to display it as a game screen. The game control unit 230 also executes chat processing for providing a chat function to the player. If it is necessary to translate the content of the chat uttered by the player, the game control unit 230 can cause the translator 14 to translate the content of the chat via the information processing terminal side cooperation processing unit 232 that cooperates with the translator 14 . can. Furthermore, the game control unit 230 can perform a process of giving benefits to the players when the players who use different languages or the cultures of the countries and regions to which they belong communicate with each other using the chat function.

The game control unit 230 in FIG. 3 has a configuration including a chat processing unit 240 , an image generation unit 242 , a privilege provision unit 244 and a group processing unit 246 .

The chat processing unit 240 receives speech of chat content from a player, and transmits the chat content to the information processing terminals 12 of other players. The chat processing unit 240 receives chat contents spoken by other players. The chat processing unit 240 causes the translator 14 to translate the chat content as necessary. In addition, the chat processing unit 240 reproduces the chat content translated by the translator 14 in voice or displays it in text. The image generator 242 generates game and chat images according to the game processing and chat processing.

The privilege granting unit 244 performs a process of granting a privilege to a player when communication is performed by a chat function between players who use different languages or different cultures of the countries or regions to which they belong.

For example, if the language used by the first player who said the chat content is different from the language used by the second player who reproduces or displays the chat content, the privilege granting unit 244 A privilege is given to the first player and the second player. In addition, the privilege granting unit 244 differs in the culture of the country or region to which the first player who said the chat content belongs and the culture of the country or region to which the second player who reproduces or displays the chat content belongs. If so, a privilege is given to the first player and the second player.

The group processing unit 246 performs processing related to the group to which the player belongs to perform cooperative play with other players in the game. A group may be a group of players for cooperative play, such as a party, a guild, a team, a circle, or an army, although the name differs depending on the game. The group processing unit 246 provides a privilege to the group to which the player belongs when players who belong to a group and who have different languages or different cultures of the countries or regions to which they belong play cooperatively. You may make it give. For example, a benefit given to a group is an advantageous effect such as an increase in a value associated with the group (aggressive power, defensive power, resistance, etc. of the group).

The operation reception unit 202 receives various operations performed by the player on the input device 106 . The output control unit 204 displays various screens on the output device 108 under the control of the control unit 200 . The operation reception unit 202 is implemented by the CPU 100 controlling the input device 106 according to a program. Also, the output control unit 204 is implemented by the CPU 100 controlling the output device 108 according to a program.

Various operations performed by the player on the input device 106 refer to operations performed by the player on the operation reception unit 202 in order to cause the CPU 100 to execute processing. The output control unit 204 displays various screens and outputs sounds under the control of the control unit 200 . The communication unit 206 performs processing related to communication. Communication unit 206 is implemented by CPU 100 executing a program and controlling communication device 104 according to the program.

The translator 14 of FIG. 3 has a translation processing section 250 , a translation result output section 252 , and a translation machine side cooperation processing section 254 . The translation processing unit 250 executes processing for translating the chat content by the chat function. The translation result output unit 252 outputs the translated chat contents to the information processing terminal 12 . The translator-side cooperation processing unit 254 performs processing related to cooperation with the information processing terminal 12 . For example, the translator 14 translates chat contents via a translator-side cooperation processing unit 254 that cooperates with the information processing terminal 12 .

Next, functional blocks for translating chat contents by a translation function realized by executing a translation program installed will be described. FIG. 4 shows functional blocks for translating chat contents by means of a translation function realized by executing a translation program installed. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the information processing terminal according to this embodiment. Note that the functional configuration of FIG. 4 is an example, and for example, at least part of the functional configuration of the information processing terminal 12 shown in FIG.

Information processing terminal 12 in FIG. Note that the functional configuration of the information processing terminal 12 in FIG. 4 is the same as the functional configuration of the information processing terminal 12 in FIG. 3 except for some parts, and thus the description of the same parts will be omitted as appropriate. The information processing terminal 12 of FIG. 4 has a configuration in which the information processing terminal side cooperation processing section 232 of the information processing terminal 12 of FIG. 3 is replaced with a translation processing section 234 .

For example, the game control unit 230 executes chat processing for providing a chat function to the player. If it is necessary to translate the content of the chat uttered by the player, the game control unit 230 can cause the translation processing unit 234 to translate the content of the chat. The chat processing unit 240 causes the translation processing unit 234 to translate chat contents as necessary. Since other functional configurations are the same as those in FIG. 3, descriptions thereof are omitted.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of an example of a player table. The player table 214 stores information as shown in FIG. 5, for example, as information about the player, such as the language used by the player and the country or region to which the player belongs. The player table 214 of FIG. 5 associates and stores player names, languages used, and countries or regions.

A player name is an example of information that identifies a player. The used language is an example of information identifying the language used by the player. The country or region is an example of information identifying the country or region to which the player belongs. By using the information stored in the player table of FIG. 5, the information processing terminal 12 can discriminate the difference in language between the player who speaks the chat content and the player who reproduces or displays the chat content. Further, by using the information stored in the player table of FIG. 5, the information processing terminal 12 can determine the country or region to which the player who made the chat content belongs and the player who reproduces or displays the chat content belongs. You can distinguish the country or region where you are.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of an example of the culture table. The culture table 216 stores information as shown in FIG. 6, for example, as information on the culture of a country or region. The culture table 216 in FIG. 6 associates and stores countries or regions with cultures. Culture is a system of ideas and values shared in the country or region to which the player belongs, such as customs, traditions, or values. The culture table 216 in FIG. 6 is an example, and may be stored by associating countries or regions with cultural components (clothing, food, housing, systems, etc.).

By using the information stored in the player table 214 of FIG. 5 and the culture table 216 of FIG. 6, the information processing terminal 12 can determine the culture of the country or region to which the player belongs.

[process]
An example in which a player communicates with other players using the chat function while playing a game in the information processing system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described below. Here, an example of the information processing system 1 of FIG. 1 will be described. It is assumed that the languages used by the players A to C and the countries or regions to which the players A to C belong are different. Also, here, an example of reproduction will be described among the reproduction and display of chat contents.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an example of processing of the information processing system according to this embodiment. For example, players A to C start chatting in step S10 in order to communicate in the game they are playing. The information processing terminals 12a to 12c repeat the processing of steps S12 to S20 until it is determined in step S22 that the chat has ended.

Players A to C, if there is content that they wish to communicate with other players, say the content (chat content) by voice from an input device 106 such as a microphone. Here, the explanation is continued assuming that player A speaks the chat content and player B reproduces the chat content. The chat content uttered by player A is transmitted from information processing terminal 12a to information processing terminal 12b.

In step S12, the information processing terminal 12b receives the chat content from the information processing terminal 12a, determines that player A has made a statement, and performs steps S14 to S20. If the information processing terminal 12b does not receive the chat content from the other information processing terminal 12, it determines that the other player has not made a statement, and skips steps S14 to S20.

In step S14, the information processing terminal 12b cooperates with the translator 14b, and translates the content of the chat spoken by the player A using the translation function of the translator 14b. In step S16, the information processing terminal 12b reproduces the chat contents translated in step S14 by voice.

In step S18, the information processing terminal 12b refers to the player table 214 to identify whether the language used by the player A who said the chat content and the language used by the player B who reproduced the chat content are the same or different. The determination of the languages used by the players A and B in step S18 may be performed based on the information set in the player table 214 of FIG. 5, or may be performed by the translation function.

If the language used by player A who said the chat content is different from the language used by player B who reproduced the chat content, the information processing terminal 12b gives a privilege in the game to player B in step S20. Similarly, the information processing terminal 12a gives the player A a privilege in the game. The benefits given to the players A and B are items usable in the game, points, currency, characters, experience points, and the like. The privilege given in step S20 may be a privilege given to a group such as a guild to which the players A and B belong.

As described above, in the present embodiment, benefits are given by communicating with each other using the chat function between players using different languages. Therefore, in this embodiment, it can be expected to promote communication by chat between players using different languages.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an example of processing of the information processing system according to this embodiment. Since the processing of the flowchart in FIG. 8 is the same as that in FIG.

Since the processing of steps S30 to S36 is the same as the processing of steps S10 to 16 in FIG. 7, description thereof is omitted. In step S38, the information processing terminal 12b checks whether the culture of the country or region to which the player A who has spoken the chat content belongs and the culture of the country or region to which the player B who reproduces the chat content belongs is checked in the player table 214 and It is specified by referring to the culture table 215 .

If the culture of the country or region to which player A belongs differs from the culture of the country or region to which player B who reproduces the chat content belongs, the information processing terminal 12b gives a privilege in the game to player B in step S40. do. Similarly, the information processing terminal 12a gives the player A a privilege in the game. The privilege given in step S40 may be a privilege given to a group such as a guild to which the players A and B belong.

If the culture table 216 in FIG. 6 stores the country or region and the elements of the culture in association with each other, the information processing terminal 12b may indicate the country or region to which the player A who made the chat content belongs. The similarity or difference between the culture and the culture of the country or region to which the player B who reproduces the chat content belongs may be specified by the degree of matching, such as the number of matches or the matching rate of the components of the culture.

As described above, in the present embodiment, players A and B, who belong to different countries or regions and have different cultures, communicate with each other using the chat function, thereby giving benefits to players A and B. FIG. Therefore, in this embodiment, promotion of communication by chat can be expected between players with different cultures in the countries or regions to which they belong.

The information processing system 1 of the disclosed embodiment should be considered illustrative and not restrictive. The embodiments described above can be modified and improved in various ways without departing from the scope and spirit of the appended claims. In addition, the items described in the above-described multiple embodiments can be configured in other configurations within a consistent range, and can be combined within a consistent range.

1 information processing system 10 server devices 12a to 12c information processing terminals 14a to 14b translation machine 232 information processing terminal side cooperation processing section 234 translation processing section 240 chat processing section 244 privilege provision section 246 group processing section 250 translation processing section 254 translation machine side Coordination processing part

Claims (8)

An information processing system in which a plurality of information processing terminals operated by a plurality of players respectively provides a chat function to the plurality of players,
a translation processing unit that translates chat content by the chat function;
a chat processing unit that reproduces the content of the chat by voice or displays it in text;
When the first language used by the first player who said the chat content is different from the second language used by the second player who reproduces or displays the chat content, the first player and a privilege granting unit that grants a privilege to the second player;
An information processing system having When the first culture of the country or region to which the first player belongs is different from the second culture of the country or region to which the second player belongs, the privilege granting unit performs the first 2. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein a privilege is given to the player of said second player and said second player. 3. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the privilege granting unit grants a privilege as the privilege to a group to which the first player and the second player belong. 4. The information processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the translation processing unit is realized by a translator capable of communicating with the information processing terminal. 4. The information processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said translation processing unit is realized by a translation program installed in said information processing terminal. A communication method for an information processing system in which a plurality of information processing terminals operated by a plurality of players respectively provides a chat function to the plurality of players,
a translation step of translating chat content by the chat function;
a chat processing step of reproducing the chat content by voice or displaying it in text;
When the first language used by the first player who said the chat content is different from the second language used by the second player who reproduces or displays the chat content, the first player and a privilege granting step of granting a privilege to the second player;
method of communication. An information processing terminal communicably connected to an information processing terminal operated by another player and capable of communicating with the other player using a chat function,
a translation processing unit that translates chat content by the chat function;
a chat processing unit that reproduces the content of the chat by voice or displays it in text;
When the first language used by the first player who said the chat content is different from the second language used by the second player who reproduces or displays the chat content, the first player and a privilege granting unit that grants a privilege to the second player;
Information processing terminal having An information processing terminal communicably connected to an information processing terminal operated by another player and capable of communicating with the other player using a chat function,
a cooperation processing unit that cooperates with a translation device that translates chat content by the chat function;
a chat processing unit that reproduces the content of the chat by voice or displays it in text;
when the first language used by the first player who said the chat content is different from the second language used by the second player who reproduces or displays the chat content, the first player and a privilege granting unit that grants a privilege to the second player;
Information processing terminal having

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