JP4489729B2 - Audiovisual conference system and terminal device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a system for conducting a conference via a network. In particular, it relates to a control technology for the right to speak or the right to refuse.

  In a conference system that conducts a remote conference via a network, video of some conference participants is reproduced in a limited number of windows based on a change in state such as a speech of the conference participant. In such a conference system, it is determined whether the conference organizer or the terminal device that is speaking alone is speaking based on a change in state such as volume.

JP 2005-311916 A JP-A-7-154863

  In the conventional conference system, for example, there is a form in which the organizer who operates the conference determines a state change such as a conference participant's speech and grants the right to speak according to the development of the conference. The right to speak may be granted regardless of the intention of each participant. Participants were forced to defend their privacy by substituting still images and silent signals when the right to speak was granted against their intention.

  Alternatively, there is a form in which the terminal device itself assigned to each conference participant individually judges a state change such as a speech of the conference participant. In this case, for example, video and audio are transmitted if speech is being made. However, since the video and audio are stopped (mute) when not speaking, it is inevitable that many of the statements jumped randomly and the conference was confused.

  The present invention has been made under such circumstances, and a video / audio conference system and a terminal device that can solve the conventional problems related to privacy and conference management by appropriately handling the right to speak. The purpose is to provide.

  The present invention is a video / audio conference system in which a plurality of terminal devices are connected to a mutually communicable network, and the video or audio of the terminal device that has acquired the right to speak is reproduced by the plurality of terminal devices, Characteristically, the terminal device performs a vote for giving a right to speak to a predetermined terminal device, and the plurality of video or audio streams of the terminal device in which the number of votes as a result of the voting exceeds a predetermined value Are being played by the terminal device.

  Furthermore, the terminal device performs voting on granting a veto right to a predetermined terminal device, and reproduction of video or audio streams of the terminal device that exceeds the predetermined number of votes as a result of this voting is prohibited. Is desirable. In this case, when the refusal right in the predetermined terminal device is valid, the right to speak in the predetermined terminal device becomes invalid.

  According to this, it is possible to make remarks according to the intention of each conference participant, and it is possible to avoid the confusion of the conference due to many remarks and to protect privacy.

  In addition, it is possible to provide a terminal device or a server that aggregates the votes and distributes information of the terminal device to which the aggregation result or the right to speak or the refusal specified from the aggregation result is given to other terminal devices.

  For example, if the organizer's terminal device is provided with a vote counting function and a distribution function such as a counting result, the terminal devices of other conference participants do not need to have these special functions. Hardware resources for realizing the video / audio conference system can be simplified. Or, if you have a dedicated terminal device or server that has only the vote counting function and the distribution function such as the counting result, these special functions will be provided to the terminal devices of the conference participants including the organizer. It is not necessary to provide hardware resources for realizing the video / audio conference system of the present invention.

  Further, the present invention can be viewed from the viewpoint of a terminal device. That is, the present invention is applied to a video / audio conference system in which a plurality of terminal devices are connected to a mutually communicable network and the video or audio of the terminal device that has acquired the right to speak is reproduced by the plurality of terminal devices. The present invention is characterized in that the feature of the present invention is that means for carrying out voting for giving a right to speak to a predetermined terminal device including its own terminal device, and the number of votes as a result of this voting exceeds a predetermined value. And a means for reproducing the video or audio stream of the terminal device.

  Furthermore, means for voting for granting a veto right for a given terminal device including its own terminal device, and reproduction of video or audio streams of the terminal device whose number of votes as a result of this voting exceeds a predetermined value is prohibited It is desirable to provide the means to do. In this case, the right to speak at the terminal device for which the right to reject is valid is invalidated.

  In addition, it is possible to provide means for counting the votes and distributing information of the terminal device to which the counting result or the right to speak or refuse specified from the counting result is given to other terminal devices.

  Further, the present invention can be viewed from the viewpoint of a program. That is, the present invention is a program that, when installed in a general-purpose information processing apparatus, causes the general-purpose information processing apparatus to realize a function corresponding to the function of the terminal device of the present invention. By recording the program of the present invention on a recording medium, the general-purpose information processing apparatus can install the program of the present invention using this recording medium. Alternatively, the program of the present invention can be directly installed on the general-purpose information processing apparatus via a network from a server that holds the program of the present invention.

  Thereby, the terminal device of this invention is realizable using a general purpose information processing apparatus.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately handle the right to speak, and it is possible to protect the privacy by avoiding the confusion of the conference due to a lot of remarks that are conventional issues related to privacy and conference management.

(First Example)
The first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5 and FIGS. 13 to 17. First, a simple conference using two terminal devices 1 and 2 will be described as an example. Each of the terminal devices 1 and 2 has one window for reproducing the participant, and the video and audio stream of the terminal device that is speaking is reproduced. Although an embodiment using only a video stream or only an audio stream can be employed, an embodiment using both a video stream and an audio stream will be described here.

  The configuration of the terminal device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 13 is a block diagram of the terminal device according to this embodiment. The input means 10 is means for the user to input a right to speak or a refusal (such as a mouse or a keyboard). The transmission / reception means 11 is a means for exchanging count results via a network. The storage means 12 is a device for storing the total results, and corresponds to a memory or HDD. The determination unit 13 determines the reproduction of the stream based on the information stored in the storage unit. Although omitted in FIG. 13, the terminal device includes a device (such as a display or a speaker) that reproduces video or audio.

  As shown in FIG. 1, it is assumed that both the right to speak and the right to refuse are approved if 50% of votes are obtained. Both the terminal devices 1 and 2 have 1 vote. When there is a conflict between the right to speak and the right to refuse, the right to refuse is given priority. Here, the right to speak or refusal of the terminal device 1 will be described, but the same applies to the terminal device 2.

  First, as shown in FIG. 2, it is assumed that the terminal device 1 puts a vote in its speaking right and does not put it in a refusing right. Further, it is assumed that the terminal device 2 has not voted for both the right to speak and the right to refuse. The total results are exchanged with each other via the network.

  Each terminal device 1 and 2 aggregates the right to speak and the right to reject based on the received aggregation results. In the example of FIG. 2, since a vote with a floor of 50% is obtained, only the floor is valid. Then, the video and audio stream of the terminal device 1 can be reproduced. The overall process flow is as shown in the sequence diagram of FIG.

  In the example of FIG. 3, the terminal device 1 does not vote for both the right to speak and the right to refuse, and the terminal device 2 places a vote for the right to speak. As before, we will exchange the results with each other. Also in this example, since a vote with a floor of 50% is obtained, only the floor is valid, and the video and audio streams of the terminal device 1 are reproduced. The overall processing flow is as shown in the sequence diagram of FIG.

  In the example of FIG. 4, the terminal device 2 has voted for the right to speak, but the terminal device 1 has voted for the veto right. This corresponds to a situation in which the terminal device 2 wants to hear the opinion of the terminal device 1, but the terminal device 1 refuses to speak. In this example, since 50% of votes are given for both the right to speak and the right to reject, the right to reject is given priority, and the video and audio streams of the terminal device 1 are not reproduced. The overall processing flow is as shown in the sequence diagram of FIG.

  In the example of FIG. 5, the terminal device 1 has voted for the right to speak, but the terminal device 2 has voted for the veto right. This is a situation where the terminal device 1 wants to speak but the terminal device 2 wants to keep quiet. In this example, since 50% of votes are given for both the right to speak and the right to reject, the right to reject is given priority, and the video and audio streams of the terminal device 1 are not reproduced. The overall process flow is as shown in the sequence diagram of FIG.

(Second embodiment)
As a second embodiment, a conference using five terminal devices 1 to 5 will be described as an example with reference to FIGS. 6 to 12 and FIGS. 18 to 23. Similar to the first embodiment, the right to speak and the right to refuse of the terminal device 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 6, it is assumed that the right to speak is 40% and the right to reject is 33%. In this example, as shown in FIG. 7, the number of votes held by each terminal device is differentiated. The terminal device 1 sets the rights of the terminal device 1 so as to have a large number of votes. Further, the terminal device 2 is set as a meeting organizer, and more votes are given than a normal terminal.

  In this case, the terminal device 2 of the meeting organizer performs counting of the votes, and the information of the terminal device to which the right to speak or refuse specified from the counting result or the counting result is given to the other terminal device. It will be distributed. Alternatively, separately from the terminal devices 1 to 5, the voting is totaled, and the information on the terminal device to which the right to speak or the refusal right specified from the total result or the total result is distributed is distributed to other terminal devices. An embodiment in which a terminal device or a server is separately provided may be employed. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the terminal device 2 counts votes and distributes count results.

  First, it is assumed that each terminal device 1 to 5 has voted as shown in FIG. The aggregation results are exchanged with each other via the network. This example is a case in which the terminal device 1 displays an intention to speak. Since the voting rate for the right to speak is 33% and the voting rate for the veto right is 0%, both the right to speak and the veto right are invalid, and the video and audio streams of the terminal device 1 are not reproduced. The overall process flow is as shown in the sequence diagram of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 8, it is assumed that each terminal device 1-5 has voted. This is a case where the terminal device 3 has voted in addition to the terminal device 1. The terminal device 1 has obtained consent from another person (the terminal device 3 needs to know the request for speech from the terminal device 1 but can know by looking at the total result of the terminal device 1). Since the voting rate of the floor is 42% and the voting rate of the refusal is 0%, the floor is valid and the video and audio streams of the terminal device 1 are reproduced. The overall processing flow is as shown in the sequence diagram of FIG.

  Assume that each terminal device 1 to 5 has voted as shown in FIG. This is an example in which the terminal device 2 that is the organizer prompts the terminal device 1 to speak. Since the voting rate of the floor is 40% and the voting rate of the refusal is 0%, the floor is valid, and the video and audio streams of the terminal device 1 are reproduced. The overall process flow is as shown in the sequence diagram of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 10, it is assumed that each terminal device 1-5 has voted. The terminal device 2 that is the organizer prompts the terminal device 1 to speak, but the terminal device 1 refuses to speak. The right to vote is 40%, the right to reject is 33%, and both the right to speak and the right to reject are valid. However, since the right to reject is given priority, the video and audio streams of the terminal device 1 are not reproduced. . The overall process flow is as shown in the sequence diagram of FIG.

  Assume that each terminal device 1 to 5 has voted as shown in FIG. The terminal device 1 is displaying the intention to speak, and the terminal device 3 is instructing it, but the terminal device 2 which is the organizer refuses (for example, the organizer is the terminal device 4 Etc.) The vote rate for the floor is 42% and the vote for the veto right is 40%. Both the floor and the veto right are valid, but the video and audio stream of the terminal device 1 is not reproduced because the veto right is given priority. . The overall process flow is as shown in the sequence diagram of FIG.

  Assume that each terminal device 1 to 5 has voted as shown in FIG. The terminal device 2 that is the organizer prompts the terminal device 1 to speak, but the terminal devices 3 to 5 refuse. Since the voting rate for the floor is 40% and the voting rate for the refusal is 27%, and only the floor is valid, the video and audio streams of the terminal device 1 are reproduced. The overall process flow is as shown in the sequence diagram of FIG.

  Further, the present embodiment can be implemented as a program that, when installed in a general-purpose information processing apparatus, causes the general-purpose information processing apparatus to realize a function corresponding to the function of the terminal device of the present embodiment. The program is recorded on a recording medium and installed in a general-purpose information processing apparatus, or installed in the general-purpose information processing apparatus via a communication line, whereby the input means 10 and the transmission / reception means are included in the general-purpose information processing apparatus. 11, functions corresponding to the functions of the storage unit 12 and the determination unit 13 can be realized. The general-purpose information processing apparatus is, for example, a general-purpose personal computer.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately handle the right to speak, and it is possible to protect the privacy by avoiding the confusion of the conference due to the many remarks that are the conventional issues related to privacy and conference management. It is possible to contribute to smoothly proceeding with a conference held via a network.

  Thereby, the convenience of a network user can be improved. In addition, the network operator can acquire many users who use a conference held via the network.

The figure which shows the voting conditions in a 1st Example. The figure which shows the voting result (the 1) in a 1st Example. The figure which shows the voting result (the 2) in a 1st Example. The figure which shows the vote result (the 3) in a 1st Example. The figure which shows the voting result (the 4) in a 1st Example. The figure which shows the voting conditions in a 2nd Example. The figure which shows the voting result (the 1) in a 2nd Example. The figure which shows the vote result (the 2) in a 2nd Example. The figure which shows the vote result (the 3) in a 2nd Example. The figure which shows the voting result (the 4) in a 2nd Example. The figure which shows the voting result (the 5) in a 2nd Example. The figure which shows the voting result (the 6) in a 2nd Example. The block block diagram of the terminal device in a present Example. The figure which shows the sequence (the 1) in a 1st Example. The figure which shows the sequence (the 2) in a 1st Example. The figure which shows the sequence (the 3) in a 1st Example. The figure which shows the sequence (the 4) in a 1st Example. The figure which shows the sequence (the 1) in a 2nd Example. The figure which shows the sequence (the 2) in a 2nd Example. The figure which shows the sequence (the 3) in a 2nd Example. The figure which shows the sequence (the 4) in a 2nd Example. The figure which shows the sequence (the 5) in a 2nd Example. The figure which shows the sequence (the 6) in a 2nd Example.

Explanation of symbols

1 to 5 Terminal device 10 Input means 11 Transmission / reception means 12 Storage means 13 Determination means

Claims (7)

In a video / audio conference system in which a plurality of terminal devices are connected to a mutually communicable network and video or audio of the terminal device that has acquired the right to speak is reproduced by the plurality of terminal devices,
The terminal device conducts a first vote for giving a floor to a predetermined terminal device,
A video or audio stream of the terminal device in which the number of votes as a result of the first vote exceeds a predetermined value is reproduced by the plurality of terminal devices ,
The terminal device conducts a second vote for granting a veto right to a predetermined terminal device,
A video / audio conference system , wherein reproduction of a video or audio stream of a terminal device whose number of votes as a result of the second vote exceeds a predetermined value is prohibited . In a video / audio conference system in which a plurality of terminal devices are connected to a mutually communicable network and video or audio of the terminal device that has acquired the right to speak is reproduced by the plurality of terminal devices,
The terminal device conducts a first vote for giving a floor to a predetermined terminal device,
A video or audio stream of the terminal device in which the number of votes as a result of the first vote exceeds a predetermined value is reproduced by the plurality of terminal devices,
When the right of refusal in a given terminal device is valid, the right to speak in the given terminal device becomes invalid
A video / audio conference system. A terminal device or a server that aggregates the first or second vote and distributes information of the terminal device to which the speaking result or the refusal right specified from the counting result or the counting result is given to other terminal devices The video / audio conference system according to claim 1 or 2 . In a terminal device that is applied to a video / audio conference system in which a plurality of terminal devices are connected to a network capable of mutual communication and video or audio of the terminal device that has acquired the right to speak is reproduced by the plurality of terminal devices,
Means for carrying out a first vote on the right to speak for a predetermined terminal device including its own terminal device;
Means for reproducing the video or audio stream of the terminal device in which the number of votes as a result of the first vote exceeds a predetermined value ;
Means for carrying out a second vote for granting a veto right to a predetermined terminal device including its own terminal device;
A terminal device comprising: means for prohibiting reproduction of a video or audio stream of a terminal device whose number of votes as a result of the second vote exceeds a predetermined value . In a terminal device that is applied to a video / audio conference system in which a plurality of terminal devices are connected to a network capable of mutual communication and video or audio of the terminal device that has acquired the right to speak is reproduced by the plurality of terminal devices,
Means for carrying out a first vote on the right to speak for a predetermined terminal device including its own terminal device;
Means for reproducing a video or audio stream of a terminal device in which the number of votes as a result of the first vote exceeds a predetermined value;
With
Disabling the right to speak on a terminal device for which the right to refuse is valid
A terminal device characterized by that . And a means for summing up the first and second votes, and distributing information of the terminal device to which the summation result or the right to speak or the refusal specified from the summation result is given to another terminal device. The terminal device according to 4 or 5 . A program that, when installed in a general-purpose information processing apparatus, causes the general-purpose information processing apparatus to realize a function corresponding to the function of the terminal device according to any one of claims 4 to 6 .

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