JP4889690B2 - Conversation display method and server apparatus - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a conversational display side Ho及 beauty server device that displays a log of the conversation avatar in the virtual space emitted.

  In recent years, in a virtual space (also referred to as a virtual world) created by a server device on a computer network, communication using an avatar (Avatar) which is a user's alternation in a terminal connected to the server device on the computer network is performed. . Generally, chat is used for communication using an avatar. Note that chat is a one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many conversation with characters, and the conversation content is displayed as a caption near the speaker avatar.

  In a virtual space, a user who accidentally sees a caption of a conversation being performed near his avatar may be interested in the conversation. In such a case, there is an apparatus that allows the user to know the content of the conversation without allowing his / her avatar to participate in the conversation with interest (Patent Document 1).

The apparatus described in Patent Literature 1 also transmits a message to a third-party avatar user arranged near a place where a plurality of avatars performing message exchange are located. In other words, by sending a message to a third-party avatar user who has not participated in the message exchange, in the real world, he / she is not actually participating in the conversation, but is conversing when he / she is nearby. This creates a state that is similar to the state in which the content of the content can be heard.
JP 2003-67317 A

  In the device described in Patent Literature 1, the user can know the content of the conversation from the time when the user's own avatar is arranged in the vicinity of the place where the conversation is performed. However, since the conversation is continuous, there is a problem that it is difficult to understand the content of the conversation only by knowing the content of the conversation from the time when the own avatar is arranged. In some cases, the content of the conversation prior to the time when the own avatar is arranged is the content that the user wants to know.

  Therefore, in order to solve the above problems, there is a need for a device or system that displays a conversation log until a user is interested in conversation and takes some action to know the content of the conversation.

  Also, it is difficult to determine the conversation partner for the speaker in the virtual space. This is because the avatars who are talking are not necessarily facing each other, and it is difficult to judge other captions corresponding to the captions of the speaker from the content in places where avatars and captions are crowded. Because there is. For this reason, there is a problem in that an avatar user who joined the conversation later cannot follow the conversation because the conversation partner is not known.

  Therefore, in order to solve the above problems, there is a need for an apparatus or system that determines the speaker and conversation partner of a conversation in which the user is interested and displays the conversation to the user.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a conversation display method and a server device that determine a conversation partner with respect to a speaker of a conversation that an avatar utters in a virtual space and display a conversation log that clearly indicates the speaker and the conversation partner.

  The present invention provides the following solutions.

(1) In a virtual space provided via a network, a server device that controls a conversation performed by an avatar in the virtual space, and a conversation display method executed by a terminal connected to be communicable with the server device,
A user identification step for identifying a user corresponding to the avatar in the virtual space;
A speech acceptance step for accepting speech from the identified user;
A conversation partner determination step for determining a user who is a conversation partner of the received speech;
A conversation log storage step for storing the received utterance, the uttered user, and the user as the conversation partner in association with each other and storing it as a conversation log;
A conversation display step for displaying the remarks together with an avatar corresponding to the reciting user;
Conversation selection reception step for receiving selections from other users in response to the displayed remarks;
A conversation log extracting step of extracting a conversation log corresponding to the utterance that accepted the selection;
A conversation log display step for displaying the extracted conversation log in a conversation format with the determined conversation partner ;
A conversation display method comprising:

  According to the configuration of (1), in response to the displayed utterance being selected by another user, the conversation log corresponding to the selected utterance is extracted, and the extracted conversation log is displayed in an interactive format. Can do. For example, when the user C selects the speech of the avatar A conversation at his / her terminal, the past conversation log of the avatar A is displayed. The displayed conversation log is, for example, a conversation between the avatar A and the avatar B displayed in an interactive form when the avatar A has a conversation with the avatar B. Accordingly, the conversation log corresponding to the selected utterance is displayed in an interactive form in which the utterer and the conversation partner are clearly indicated, so that other users who have selected the utterance can easily know the conversation contents and the conversation participants. it can.

(2) a moving step of moving the avatar in the virtual space in response to a user operation instruction corresponding to the avatar;
A position determining step of determining a position in the virtual space of an avatar corresponding to the speaking user;
Further comprising
From the determined position of the avatar in the virtual space, it is determined whether another avatar is positioned within a predetermined distance, and whether the other avatar is positioned within the predetermined range for a predetermined time or more is determined. The conversation display method according to (1), wherein a user corresponding to the other avatar is determined to be a user who is a conversation partner of the received speech.

  According to the configuration of (2), the other user who is the conversation partner of the conversation that the speaking user is performing via the avatar based on the position of the avatar corresponding to the speaking user and the other avatar in the virtual space Can be determined. For example, in a virtual space where a plurality of avatars exist, when there is a user A who is having a conversation via his / her own avatar, the user A is located within a predetermined range from the position of the avatar and The avatar B located within the range of a predetermined time or more is determined as the conversation partner of the avatar A. Here, “within a predetermined range” means a range equidistant from the avatar A, for example, within a range of 5 m from the avatar A, that is, within a circle with a radius of 5 m centering on the avatar A. The predetermined time is, for example, a fixed time after the conversation display server apparatus receives the message, and specifically, is five minutes after the server apparatus receives the message of the avatar A. . Therefore, when avatars are talking in a virtual space where there are multiple users, the avatar that is the conversation partner of the avatar corresponding to the user who spoke is appropriately identified based on the positional relationship between the avatars for a certain period of time. By doing so, it is possible to appropriately determine the user who is the conversation partner of the speaking user.

(3) When there are a plurality of the other avatars within a predetermined distance from the position of the avatar in the virtual space,
The position determining step determines a position of the moved avatar or the plurality of other avatars in accordance with a user operation instruction corresponding to the avatar or the plurality of other avatars within a predetermined time. ,
Based on the determined position of the avatar and the position of each of the plurality of other avatars, the user corresponding to the avatar that is the plurality of other avatars and is approaching the avatar within the predetermined time (2) The conversation display method according to (2), wherein it is determined that the user is a conversation partner of the received speech.

  According to the configuration of (3), when there are a plurality of avatars determined as conversation partners of the avatar corresponding to the user who has spoken by the configuration described in (2) (hereinafter, the configuration described in (2) A plurality of avatars determined to be conversation partners of the avatar corresponding to the user are referred to as conversation partner candidate avatars), and within a predetermined time, in accordance with user operation instructions corresponding to each of the user who made a statement or the conversation partner candidate avatar, The position of each moved avatar is determined. Based on the determined positions of the avatar corresponding to the user who made the speech or the conversation partner candidate avatar, the avatar approaching the avatar corresponding to the user who made the speech among the conversation partner candidate avatars within a predetermined time. The user corresponding to is determined to be a user who is a conversation partner of the speaking user. Therefore, when conversations between avatars are conducted in a virtual space where a plurality of users exist, the change in the distance between the avatars is used as a criterion for determining the conversation partner, so that the conversation partner of the speaking user can be more appropriately Can be identified.

(4) When there are a plurality of the other avatars within a predetermined distance from the position of the avatar in the virtual space,
Storing a plurality of avatars having a friendship relationship with the avatar as a list;
The conversation display method according to (2) or (3 ), wherein a plurality of other avatars and users corresponding to the avatars stored in the list are determined as users who are conversation partners of the accepted speech.

  According to the configuration of (4), when there is a conversation partner candidate avatar, a plurality of avatars having a friend relationship with the avatar corresponding to the speaking user are stored as a list. Among the conversation partner candidate avatars, the user corresponding to the avatar stored in the list can be determined as the user who is the conversation partner of the speaking user. Therefore, when conversations between avatars are conducted in a virtual space where there are a plurality of users, the conversation partner corresponding to the user who spoke is more appropriate by adding the friendship between the avatars to the judgment of the conversation partner. Can be specified.

(5) When there are a plurality of the other avatars within a predetermined distance from the position of the avatar in the virtual space,
A time reception step for receiving a speech time when the user made a speech;
A time storage step of storing the utterance time in association with the utterance, the uttered user, and the conversation partner user;
Further comprising
A user corresponding to each of a plurality of the other avatars, users who have the talk from speech time of the user associated with the speech time is within the predetermined time, the conversation partner of the accepted remarks The conversation display method according to any one of (2) to (4), wherein the user is determined to be a user.

  According to the configuration of (5), when there is a conversation partner candidate avatar, the speech time spoken by the user is stored in association with the speech or the like, and among the users corresponding to the conversation partner candidate avatar, a predetermined time is determined from the speech time. A user who has spoken within the time can be determined as a user who is a conversation partner of the user who has spoken. For example, an avatar of another user who has spoken immediately after the speaking time of the user who has spoken is determined as a conversation partner. Therefore, when avatars are talking in a virtual space where a plurality of users are present, the conversation partner corresponding to the speaking user can be selected by using the timing of the conversation catch ball as a criterion for the conversation partner. Can be identified appropriately.

(6) When there are a plurality of the other avatars within a predetermined distance from the position of the avatar in the virtual space,
An extraction step of extracting feature values by morphological analysis of a statement made by a user of the avatar and the plurality of other avatars;
A user who corresponds to a plurality of the other avatars and who makes a comment related to the utterance made by the avatar user and the feature amount is determined as a user who is a conversation partner of the accepted utterance (2) To 5. The conversation display method according to any one of (5).

  According to the configuration of (6), when there is a conversation partner candidate avatar, a feature amount of each of the utterances is extracted by performing morphological analysis on the utterance input by the user who has spoken and the user of the conversation partner candidate avatar, The user of the conversation partner candidate avatar who has input a remark related to the user's remark and the extracted feature amount is determined to be a user who is a conversation partner of the remarked user. Therefore, when avatars have conversations in a virtual space where multiple users exist, it is possible to respond to the users who have spoken by using the content of the speech, that is, the relationship between the speeches, as the criteria for determining the conversation partner. The conversation partner to be able to be identified can be identified more appropriately.

(7) A conversation display server device that controls a conversation performed by an avatar in a virtual space in a virtual space that is communicably connected to a terminal and provided via a network,
User identification means for identifying a user corresponding to an avatar in the virtual space;
A speech accepting means for accepting speech from the identified user;
A conversation partner determination means for determining a user who is a conversation partner of the received speech;
Conversation log storage means for storing the received utterance, the uttered user, and the user who is the conversation partner in association with each other, and storing it as a conversation log;
Conversation display means for displaying the remarks together with an avatar corresponding to the reciting user;
Conversation selection accepting means for accepting selections from other users in response to the displayed remarks;
A conversation log extracting means for extracting a conversation log corresponding to the utterance that accepted the selection;
A conversation log display means for displaying the extracted conversation log in a conversation format with the determined conversation partner ;
A conversation display server device comprising:

(8) moving means for moving the avatar in the virtual space in response to an operation instruction of a user corresponding to the avatar;
Position determining means for determining a position of the avatar corresponding to the user in the virtual space in the virtual space;
Further comprising
The conversation partner determination means determines whether another avatar is located within a predetermined distance from the determined position of the avatar in the virtual space, and the other avatar is within the predetermined range for a predetermined time. The conversation display server device according to (7), wherein it is determined whether or not the user is located and the user corresponding to the other avatar is determined to be a user who is a conversation partner of the received speech.

(9) When there are a plurality of the other avatars within a predetermined distance from the position of the avatar in the virtual space,
The position determining means determines the position of the moved avatar or the plurality of other avatars in accordance with a user operation instruction corresponding to the avatar or the plurality of other avatars within a predetermined time. ,
The conversation partner determination unit, based on the discriminated said other avatar position of each position and the plurality of the avatar, within the predetermined time, a plurality of the other avatar closer to the avatar (8) The conversation display server device according to (8), wherein a user corresponding to the avatar is determined to be a user who is a conversation partner of the received speech.

(10) When there are a plurality of the other avatars within a predetermined distance from the position of the avatar in the virtual space,
A friend storage means for storing a plurality of avatars having a friendship relationship with the avatar as a list;
The conversation partner determination means determines that the user corresponding to the avatar stored in the list as a plurality of other avatars is the user who is the conversation partner of the received speech (8) or (9 ). The conversation display server device described.

(11) When there are a plurality of the other avatars within a predetermined distance from a position in the virtual space of the avatar,
The speech accepting means accepts the speech time when the user made a speech,
The conversation log storage means stores the speech time in association with the speech, the user who made the speech, and the user who is the conversation partner,
The conversation partner determination means is a user corresponding to each of a plurality of other avatars, and accepts the user who has said the speech that is associated with a speech time that is within a predetermined time from the speech time of the user. The conversation display server device according to any one of (8) to (10), wherein the user is determined as a user who is a conversation partner of the remark.

(12) When there are a plurality of the other avatars within a predetermined distance from the position of the avatar in the virtual space,
The conversation partner determining means is a user corresponding to a plurality of the other avatars by extracting a feature amount by morphological analysis of a statement made by the user of the avatar and the plurality of other avatars, and the user of the avatar is The conversation display server device according to any one of (8) to (11), wherein a user who made a comment related to the received comment by the feature amount is determined to be a user who is a conversation partner of the received comment.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the conversation display method and server apparatus which determine the conversation partner with respect to the speaker of the conversation which the avatar utters in virtual space, and display the conversation log which specified the speaker and the conversation partner can be provided.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. This is merely an example, and the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to this.

(First embodiment)
[Overall Configuration of the meeting talking about Display System]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a conversation display server device 1 (hereinafter referred to as “server device 1”) and a terminal 2 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated, the server device 1 according to the present embodiment is connected to the terminal 2 so as to exchange data via a communication line of a network 3 represented by the Internet or an intranet. Here, the terminal 2 is a terminal used by a user who operates an avatar in the virtual space, and may be any device that can exchange data with other devices or the like via the network 3, for example, A personal computer may be mentioned. In addition, the server apparatus 1 in this structure is not necessarily one unit, and may be composed of a plurality of units. The server device 1 includes a conversation manager 1 0及 beauty storage means 30. The conversation management means 10 manages avatar conversation logs and provides conversation logs in the virtual space. The storage unit 30 stores information used by the conversation management unit 10.

Functional Configuration of the meeting talking Display Server]
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the server device 1 according to the first embodiment of this invention. The conversation management unit 10 includes a caption reception unit 11 as a conversation selection reception unit, a conversation log extraction unit 12, a conversation log transmission unit 13 as a conversation log display unit, a speech reception unit 14, a user identification unit 15, and a caption display transmission as a conversation display unit. comprising means 16, position determination means 17, the conversation partner determination unit 18, the operation reception unit 1 9及 beauty moving means 20. The storage unit 30 includes the conversation as the conversation log storage unit log DB31, avatar DB 32, includes a friends DB34 as the position history DB3 3及 beauty friends storage means.

  When the caption displayed on the screen of the terminal 2 is selected by the user, the caption receiving unit 11 receives information on the selected caption. The selected caption information may be a speech ID corresponding to the speech of the caption, or an avatar ID of the avatar to which the speech is linked. The conversation log extraction means 12 acquires a past utterance and the user ID of the user who made the utterance from the conversation log DB 31 based on the selected caption information. The conversation log transmission unit 13 transmits the past utterance acquired by the conversation log extraction unit 12 and the user ID of the user who made the utterance to the terminal 2 as a conversation log. As a result, the conversation log is displayed on the screen of the terminal 2 that has received the conversation log.

The speech receiving means 14 receives the speech of the conversation input by the user of the terminal 2 and the user ID of the user who made the speech, and stores them in the conversation log DB 31. The user identification means 15 uses the avatar DB 32 to convert a user ID into a corresponding avatar ID and vice versa. Captioning transmitting means 16, the avatar ID of the user who entered the originating mention beauty utterance acquired by speaking receiving unit 14, and transmits a different terminal 2 user entering remarks. The originating mention beauty remarks terminal 2 receives the avatar ID of the user who entered the screen, speaking as a caption are displayed in the vicinity of the avatar corresponding to the received avatar ID.

Position determining means 17 acquires a position in the virtual space of the avatar of the conversation partner candidate user Abba data及 Bisono avatar enter remarks received by speech reception means 14 from the avatar DB 32. The conversation partner determination unit 18 determines a conversation partner based on the position of the user's avatar who has input the speech acquired by the position determination unit 17. Further, the conversation partner determined based on the position of the avatar of the user who has input the speech is set as a conversation partner candidate, and the conversation partner is determined from the conversation partner candidates under other conditions.

  The operation accepting unit 19 accepts an operation instruction for the avatar input by the user at the terminal 2, for example, an operation instruction for moving the avatar from the A point to the B point. The moving unit 20 moves the avatar of the server device 1 based on the operation received by the operation receiving unit 19 and stores the moved position in the avatar DB 32. Accordingly, the avatar can be moved also in the terminal 2 other than the avatar moving operation.

  The conversation log DB 31 stores an utterance input by the user at the terminal 2, that is, an avatar utterance in the virtual space, in association with a user ID or the like that identifies the user who has input the utterance. The avatar DB 32 stores information related to the avatar. The information related to the avatar includes, for example, an avatar ID that identifies the avatar, a user ID that identifies the avatar user, avatar position information, an avatar image, and the like. It is. When the operation accepting unit 19 receives an avatar movement operation from the terminal 2, the avatar DB 32 is updated. The position history DB 33 stores the position of the avatar within a predetermined time in order for the conversation partner determination means 18 to determine the conversation partner for the speech. When the opponent determination is completed, the stored avatar position is deleted. The friend DB 34 stores the avatar ID of the avatar having a friendship relationship with the avatar or the user ID of the user for the avatar as a list for each avatar. Note that the friendship can be arbitrarily set based on an agreement between users, as in the case of an existing SNS (Social Network Service). Hereinafter, this list is referred to as a friend list.

[Hardware Configuration of the meeting talking Display Server]
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of the server device 1 according to each embodiment of the present invention. In the following, an overall configuration of an information processing apparatus typified by a computer will be described. Needless to say, in the case of a dedicated machine or an embedded apparatus, a minimum required configuration can be selected according to the environment.

The server device 1 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 310 (a plurality of CPUs such as a CPU 320 may be added in a multiprocessor configuration), a bus line 200, and a communication I / F (I / F: interface) that configure the control unit 300. ) 330, a main memory 340, BIOS (Basic input Output system ) 350, a display device 360, I / O controller 370, an input device 380 such as a keyboard and a mouse, a hard disk 390, a semiconductor memory 420 to 40 0 parallel beauty optical drive Is provided. Incidentally, the hard disk 390, optical disk drives 40 0 and the semiconductor memory 420 are collectively referred to as storage device 430.

  The control unit 300 is a part that controls the server device 1 in an integrated manner. By appropriately reading and executing various programs stored in a hard disk 390 (described later), the control unit 300 cooperates with the hardware described above. Various functions according to the invention are realized.

Communication I / F330, the server apparatus 1 is a network adapter for sending and receiving other information processing apparatus and the information via the network 3. The communication I / F 330 may include a modem, a cable modem, and an Ethernet (registered trademark) adapter.

BIOS350 a boot program that CPU310 at the time of start-up of the server device 1 is executed, the program dependent on the hardware of the servers apparatus 1 will be recorded.

  The display device 360 includes a display device such as a cathode ray tube display device (CRT) or a liquid crystal display device (LCD).

The I / O controller 370 may connect the hard disk 390, optical disk drives 40 0及 beauty storage device 430 such as a semiconductor memory 420.

  The input device 380 receives input from the user of the server device 1.

  The hard disk 390 stores various programs and various data, and corresponds to the storage unit 30 in FIG. The server device 1 can also use a hard disk (not shown) separately provided as an external storage device.

  As the optical disk drive 400, for example, a DVD-ROM drive, a CD-ROM drive, a DVD-RAM drive, or a CD-RAM drive can be used. In this case, the optical disk 410 corresponding to each drive is used. A program or data may be read from the optical disk 410 by the optical disk drive 400 and provided to the main memory 340 or the hard disk 390 via the I / O controller 370.

  The computer referred to in the present invention refers to an information processing device including a storage device, a control unit, and the like, and the server device 1 includes an information processing device including a storage device 430, a control unit 300, and the like. The processing device is included in the concept of the computer of the present invention.

The conversation management unit 10 is realized by executing a program by the control unit 300. In addition, the conversation log DB31, avatar DB32, position history DB3 3及 beauty friend DB34 is mainly implemented in the hard disk 390.

[Device hardware configuration]
The terminal 2 has the same configuration as the server device 1 described above. In the above-described example, an example realized by a so-called computer has been described. Furthermore, as long as the principle of the present invention is applicable, it can be realized by various terminals such as a mobile phone, a PDA (Personal Data Assistant), and a game machine. It's okay.

[Outline of processing of conversation display server device]
The server device 1 performs two processes. One is a conversation log storage process for recording a conversation input by an avatar user. The other one, the user's avatar not participating in the conversation, the conversation among the stored conversation log in the log storage processing, Ru conversation log display processing der see the conversation by going to log the user requests. Each process will be described below.

[Conversation Log DB]
First, the conversation log DB 31 used in the conversation log storage process and the conversation log display process will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the conversation log DB 31 stored in the storage unit 30 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The conversation log DB 31 includes a speech ID 40a, a speech time 40b, a speaker user ID 40c, a conversation partner user ID 40d, and a speech content 40e. In the speech ID 40a, a symbol uniquely indicating a speech is stored. This symbol is appropriately given when the message reception means 14 receives a message indicating that the server apparatus 1 is talking from the terminal 2 and stores it in the conversation log DB 31. The time when the utterance is made is stored in the utterance time 40b. The time when the utterance is made may be, for example, the time when the utterance is input to the terminal 2 or the time when the utterance is displayed as a caption near the avatar.

  The speaker user ID 40c stores a user ID that is a symbol for uniquely specifying a user who has input a message at the terminal 2 (hereinafter referred to as “speaker user”). The conversation partner user ID 40d includes an avatar (hereinafter referred to as “conversation partner avatar”) user (hereinafter referred to as “conversation partner avatar”) who is a conversation partner of the speaker user avatar (hereinafter referred to as “speaker avatar”). A user ID, which is a symbol for uniquely identifying the user ID, is stored. One of the user IDs stored in the avatar DB 32 is stored in the speaker user ID and the conversation partner user ID. The speaker user ID and the conversation partner user ID are used in the conversation log display process to extract one or more comments constituting the display target conversation from a plurality of comments stored in the conversation log DB 31.

[Location history DB]
Next, the position history DB 33 used when determining the conversation partner of the speaker in the conversation log storage process will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the position history DB 33 stored in the storage unit 30 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The position history DB 33 stores the positions of the operation accepting unit 19 when the operation accepting unit 19 accepts that the speaker avatar or another avatar that is a conversation partner of the speaker avatar is operated. Alternatively, the positions may be stored at regular time intervals regardless of the operation of the avatar. The position history DB 33 includes a time 41a, a position 41b of the avatar 1, a position 41c of the avatar 2, and a distance 41d.

The time 41a stores the time when the position 41b of the avatar 1 and the position 41c of the avatar 2 are acquired. The position 41b of the avatar 1, the position 41c of the avatar 2, the position of the conversation partner candidate avatar it is determined that the conversation phase hand at speaker avatars and conversation partner determination unit 18 is stored. Avatar 1 may be a speaker avatar, and avatar 2 may be a conversation partner candidate avatar, or vice versa. In the distance 41d, the distance between the avatar 1 and the avatar 2 obtained from the position 41b of the avatar 1 and the position 41c of the avatar 2 is stored. In addition, when there are a plurality of conversation partner candidate avatars, the position and the like are stored in correspondence with avatar 1 and each of the plurality of conversation partner candidate avatars.

[Flowchart of conversation log storage processing]
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the conversation log storage process according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the conversation log storage process, the conversation input by the avatar user in the virtual space is stored in the conversation log DB 31. Note that this process starts, for example, by receiving a program start command and ends by receiving a program end command.

  S1: When the speech accepting unit 14 accepts a speech indicating a conversation from the terminal 2 and the user ID of the speaker user, the speech receiving unit 14 acquires the speech received from the terminal 2 and the user ID of the speaker user. Note that the speech receiving means 14 may receive and acquire information related to speech and speech other than the user ID of the speaker user, for example, speech time.

S2: The speech accepting unit 14 assigns a speech ID to the speech acquired in S1 , and stores the speech ID, the speech, and the user ID of the speaker user in the conversation log DB 31. Specifically, the speech is stored in association with the speech ID and the speaker user ID.

S3: The caption display transmitting means 16 transmits caption display information for causing the terminal 2 to display the speech acquired in S1 as a caption in the vicinity of the speaker avatar. Here, the transmitting terminal 2 is different from the terminal 2 that has input a message indicating a conversation in S1 . This is because the terminal 2 that has input a message indicating a conversation already has caption display information for displaying the message as a caption, and thus does not need to be transmitted.

  S4: The conversation partner determination means 18 determines that another avatar that exists for a certain period of time in a range equidistant from the speaker avatar is the conversation partner of the speaker avatar, and acquires the avatar ID of the avatar as the conversation partner avatar ID. . Thereafter, the user identification unit 15 converts the conversation partner avatar ID into the conversation partner user ID based on the avatar DB 32. Details will be described later. The predetermined distance from the speaker avatar determined as the conversation partner can be arbitrarily set by the administrator of the server device 1 or the like.

S5: conversation partner determination unit 18, a conversation the user it is determined that the conversation partner in S 4, in association with the predetermined time remarks have been speaker users within for judging the conversation partner in S 4 log DB31 As a conversation partner user. Specifically, with respect to the data corresponding to the time and speaker user ID is determined conversation partner was done in S 4, it stores the acquired conversation partner user ID.

  In this manner, by storing the speech indicating the conversation in the virtual space in association with the speaker user and the conversation partner user, the conversation can be extracted from the stored speech. This is because a person who has a conversation is both a speaker and a conversation partner. For example, when avatar A and B are talking, if avatar A is a speaker, avatar B is a conversation partner, and if avatar B is a speaker, avatar A is a conversation partner. In this example, a conversation between avatars A and B can be extracted by acquiring a comment that designates the user of avatar A as a speaker user or a conversation partner user.

[Conversation partner determination process flowchart]
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing conversation partner determination processing according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the conversation partner determination process, the conversation partner of the speaker avatar is determined, and the user ID corresponding to the avatar is acquired as the conversation partner user ID. Note that this process starts, for example, by receiving a program start command and ends by receiving a program end command.

  S11: The position determination means 17 acquires the positions of the speaker avatar and the conversation partner candidate avatar in the virtual space. Specifically, first, the user identification unit 15 acquires an avatar ID associated with the speaker user ID in the avatar DB 32, and the position determination unit 17 determines the speaker avatar's ID based on the avatar ID. Get the position. Note that the position in the virtual space is specified by coordinates, for example, in the XYZ coordinates in the three-dimensional virtual space. The coordinates include an absolute coordinate system and a user coordinate system, and any of them may be used. Next, the position discriminating means 17 determines other avatars that are equidistant from the acquired speaker avatar position as conversation partner candidate avatars, and acquires these avatar IDs as conversation partner candidate avatar IDs. At this time, the position of the conversation partner candidate avatar is also acquired.

S12: position determining means 17, acquired at S 11, the position of the conversation partner candidate avatar speaker avatar, in association with the time acquired their positions are stored in the position history DB 33. When there are a plurality of conversation partner candidate avatars, the information is stored for each conversation partner candidate avatar. Further, the position determination means 17 calculates the distance between the speaker avatar and the conversation partner candidate avatar based on the position of the speaker avatar and the position of the conversation partner candidate avatar, for example, using the formula for the distance between the two points. And stored in the position history DB 33.

S13: The conversation partner determination means 18 determines whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the positions of the speaker avatar and the conversation partner candidate avatar were first acquired. That is, it is determined whether the positions of the speaker avatar and the conversation partner candidate avatar have been acquired for a predetermined time. The predetermined time is a value arbitrarily set by the administrator of the server device 1 or the like. When conversation partner determination unit 18 determines that the predetermined time has passed, the process proceeds to S 14. On the other hand, the conversation when partner determination unit 18 determines that the predetermined time has not elapsed, repeats the processing of S 11 and S12. In the case where the process is repeated S 11 and S12, to the speaker avatars and conversation partner candidate avatar may obtain the position for each move, the position of the speaker avatars and conversation partner candidate avatar at regular intervals may be Tokushi taken.

  S14: The conversation partner determination means 18 calculates the time during which the conversation partner candidate avatar is within the equidistant range from the speaker avatar based on the data stored in the position history DB 33. Specifically, the time during which the distance in the position history DB 33 is equal to or less than a predetermined distance is calculated. For example, when the time values in the position history DB 33 are 12:00, 12:01, and 12:02, the distance value is equal to or smaller than a predetermined distance, and the distance value of 12:03 is equal to or larger than the predetermined distance. The 2 minutes from 12:00 to 12:02 is the time during which the conversation partner candidate avatar is in the equidistant range from the speaker avatar.

S15: conversation partner determination unit 18, based on the time being in the range calculated avatar from speaker avatar equidistant in S 14, to determine the conversation partner from the conversation partner candidate avatar, it is determined that the conversation partner The avatar ID of the avatar is acquired as the conversation partner avatar ID. As a method for determining a conversation partner from among the conversation partner candidate avatars, for example, a method of determining an avatar having a time equal to or greater than a predetermined value as a conversation partner within the equidistant range from the speaker avatar can be cited.

S16: conversation partner determination unit 18, converts the conversation partner avatar ID acquired in S 15 the conversation partner user ID. Specifically, first, the user identification means 15, in the avatar DB 32, the user ID associated with the conversation partner avatar ID acquired in S 15, and acquires as a conversation partner user ID.

  In this way, an avatar that is within a certain distance from the speaker avatar is determined to be a conversation partner, and avatars that are within the same distance from the speaker avatar are spoken at a time such as when a speech is made. The accuracy of the conversation partner determination is improved as compared with the partner determination. For example, an avatar passing through an equidistant range from the speaker avatar can be excluded.

[Outline of conversation partner judgment]
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing conversation partner determination according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8A is a diagram illustrating a positional relationship between the avatar A and the avatars B, D, and E when the avatar A speaks. FIG. 8A shows that when avatar A speaks, avatars B, E, and D exist within a predetermined equidistant range 42 from avatar A. The conversation partner candidate avatars are avatars B, E, and A, respectively. D means. Note that a predetermined equidistant range 42 from the speaker avatar A is a circle centered on the speaker avatar A. FIG. 8B is a diagram showing the positional relationship between the avatar A and the avatars B, D, E acquired immediately before the predetermined time elapses. The avatar B is within a predetermined equidistant range 42 from the avatar A. It is only present.

The position history DBs 33 of the avatar A and the avatars B, D, and E in this case are shown in FIGS. Based on FIGS. 8C to 8E, the time in each range 42 of the avatars B, E and D is calculated to be 1.5 minutes, 1 minute and 0.5 minutes. For example, when it is determined that an avatar that has been in the range 42 for one minute or longer is a conversation partner, avatars B and E are determined as conversation partners. Since the avatar D is in the range 42 for a short time, it is likely that the avatar D is a user who has accidentally passed the range 42 and is not a conversation partner. However, if the conversation partner is determined only at the time of FIG. 8A, the avatar D is also determined as the conversation partner, and the avatar that is highly likely not to be the conversation partner is also determined as the conversation partner. On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, since the avatar D is in the range 42 for a short time, it can be determined that the avatar D is not likely to be a conversation partner, and can be excluded from the conversation partner.

[Conversation log display processing flowchart]
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a conversation log display process according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The conversation log display processing displays a conversation log including the utterance of the caption based on the selection of the caption. When a user selects a caption displayed on his / her terminal 2 with a mouse or the like, a conversation log display process starts. This process ends when a conversation log is displayed on the terminal 2.

S21: Caption accepting means 11 obtains the avatar ID of the avatar who is the speaker of the selected caption when accepting that the caption displayed on user's terminal 2 is selected. Although may be remark ID to obtain that case, without performing the processing of S 22, by using the conversation log DB31, it is necessary to obtain the speaker ID corresponding to the utterance ID.

S22: user identification means 15 obtains the user ID corresponding to the avatar ID acquired in S 21 from the avatar DB 32.

S23: conversation log extracting unit 12 based on the user ID acquired in S 22, extracts the speech and speaker user ID from the conversation log DB 31. Specifically, speaker user ID40c user ID acquired in S 22, or to extract the speaker user ID corresponding to the speech and utterance including the conversation partner user ID 40d. In addition, all the utterances that meet the conditions and the speaker user ID corresponding to the utterances may be extracted, or until a predetermined time before the caption utterance, for example, up to 10 minutes before In the meantime, the uttered comment and the speaker user ID corresponding to the utterance may be extracted, or the number of extracted comments may be designated.

S24: conversation log transmitting section 13, the vicinity of the avatar of the conversation log summarizing side by side speaker user ID corresponding to the speech and speech extracted by S 23 in time series, a speaker of the selected caption The conversation log information to be displayed on the terminal 2 is transmitted with a caption different from the remark. The conversation log may be displayed on all the terminals 2 on which the avatar who is the speaker of the selected caption is displayed, or may be displayed only on the terminal 2 of the user who has selected the caption.

As described above, by selecting a caption that is displayed on the terminal 2 and that is part of another avatar's conversation that happens to be in the eyes with a mouse or the like, An interactive conversation log clearly indicating the user who made the statement can be displayed on the terminal 2. Thereby, it is possible to know the past contents of the conversation that the user does not participate in and the participants of the conversation, and it becomes easy to participate in the conversation even from the middle. In addition, since the conversation log is an interactive conversation log, it is possible to easily grasp the progress of the conversation and the roles of the conversation participants. Furthermore, in the past, if the avatar was not placed near the place where the conversation was taking place, the contents of the conversation that did not participate could not be known, but in this way, only one caption was selected. , You can easily know the content of the conversation.

[Overview of conversation log display]
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an outline of the conversation log display process according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 10, the user of avatar D who wants to know the past conversation contents of avatars A, B, and E having a conversation selects caption 43 of avatar A with a mouse or the like. As a result, it is shown that the conversation log 44 of the conversation that the avatar A who is the speaker of the selected caption is performing with the avatars B and E is displayed on the screen. Thus, by selecting a caption, past conversations can be easily known and participation in the conversation is facilitated. Also, by displaying the conversation log with a caption different from the caption of the speech, it is possible to know both the current conversation and the past conversation. Note that the case where the user of Avatar D wants to know the content of the past conversation is, for example, that the user of Avatar D is avatar A who has accidentally entered Avatar A's caption “I think so!” You may be interested in participating conversations.

  As shown in the conversation log 44, past conversations are displayed in a dialogue format in which the utterance and the speaker user of the utterance correspond. As a result, it is possible to know that the participants of the conversation are avatars A, B, and E, and to know that the conversation has been developed in the direction of agreeing with the remarks from the remarks of avatar A. It is possible to grasp the progress of the conversation and the role of the participant in the conversation, such as the central person of the conversation and the topic provider.

(Second Embodiment)
The second embodiment will be described focusing on the differences from the first embodiment. The conversation partner determination process is different between the first embodiment and the second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an outline of conversation partner determination according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The case where avatar A is a speaker avatar and a conversation partner of avatar A according to the second embodiment is determined will be described with reference to FIG.

[Outline of Conversation Partner Determination According to Second Embodiment]
FIG. 11A is a diagram showing a positional relationship between the avatar A and the avatars B, D, and E when the avatar A speaks. Hereinafter, the respective positions of the avatars A, B, D, and E shown in FIG. FIG. 11A shows that avatars B, E, and D are within a predetermined equidistant range 45 from avatar A when avatar A speaks, as in the first embodiment. , Avatars B, E, and D. From the state of FIG. 11A, as in the first embodiment, the positions of the avatar A and the conversation partner candidate avatars B, D, E are acquired for a predetermined time, and based on the acquired results, The distance to each of the avatars B, D, and E is calculated.

  FIG. 11B is a diagram illustrating a positional relationship between the avatar A and the avatars B, D, and E after a predetermined time has elapsed since the avatar A spoke. FIG. 11B also shows how the avatar moves during a predetermined time. FIG. 11B shows that the avatar B has moved from the initial position in the direction of the arrow 46 and has moved to the position shown in FIG. The dotted line avatar B indicates the initial position of the avatar B. FIG. 11B shows that the avatar B is moving in a direction away from the avatar A. Therefore, the distance between the avatars calculated from the positions of the avatar A and the avatar B acquired during the predetermined time is , Grows over time.

  Similarly, it shows that the avatar E has moved from the initial position in the direction of the arrow 47 and has moved to the position shown in FIG. The dotted line avatar E, like the dotted line avatar B, indicates the initial position of the avatar E. Since FIG. 11B shows that the avatar E is moving in a direction approaching the avatar A, the distance between the avatar calculated from the positions of the avatar A and the avatar E acquired during a predetermined time is Smaller as time passes. On the other hand, the avatar D has not moved from the initial position for a predetermined time.

  The second embodiment is an embodiment in which the movement of the avatar in the predetermined equidistant range 45 from the avatar A is reflected in the conversation partner determination. Specifically, in the second embodiment, for each of the avatars determined as the conversation partner in the first embodiment, here each of the avatars B, D, and E, the “conversation partner degree” with the avatar A is calculated, and the conversation partner Use "conversation partner" for judgment.

  The “conversation partner level” indicates the degree of possibility of being a conversation partner and is determined based on a change in the distance between the conversation partner avatar and the speaker avatar, and the distance between the conversation partner avatar and the speaker avatar is determined. In the case of a change that approaches, the “conversation partner” is large, and conversely, in the case of a change that increases the distance, the “conversation partner” decreases. Here, the value of the “conversation partner degree” is the amount of change per unit time of the distance between the conversation partner avatar and the speaker avatar, and the value when the distance between the conversation partner avatar and the speaker avatar approaches is “ The “conversation partner” is expressed as a positive value, and the “conversation partner” is expressed as a negative value in the case of a change in distance.

  In the example shown in FIG. 11, “conversation partner degree” is negative for avatar B, and “conversation partner degree” is positive for avatar E. Since the avatar D is not moving, the “degree of conversation partner” is 0. In the second embodiment, for example, when an avatar having a positive “conversation partner level” is determined as the conversation partner, only the avatar E is determined as the conversation partner.

  By using “conversation partner degree” for conversation partner determination, it is possible to reflect the movement of the avatar within a predetermined equidistant range from the speaker avatar in the conversation partner determination. Thereby, even if it is within the range for a predetermined time, it is possible to appropriately determine a conversation partner except for an avatar that is highly likely not to be a conversation partner.

[Flowchart of conversation partner determination processing according to second embodiment]
FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing conversation partner determination processing according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Incidentally, S3 4及 beauty S38 from S 31 is omitted from the S 11 that put in FIG. 7 S1 4 treatment 及 beauty S16 and is for each same.

  S35: The conversation partner determination means 18 narrows down the conversation partner candidates based on the time during which the avatar calculated in S34 is in the equidistant range from the speaker avatar.

  S36: The conversation partner determination means 18 calculates the “conversation partner degree” with each speaker avatar of each conversation partner candidate avatar. Specifically, the amount of change per unit time is calculated based on the time stored in the position history DB 33 and the distance between the speaker avatar and the conversation partner candidate avatar, To do.

  A method of obtaining the “conversation partner level” will be described using the position history DB 33 shown in FIG. Note that the records are data 1, 2, 3,. First, a change amount for each data at adjacent times such as data 1 and data 2, data 2 and data 3,... Is calculated, and an average of the calculated change amounts is calculated. For example, in the case of data 1 and data 2, the distance: (44.72−38.08) ÷ time: 30 seconds = 0.22, but in the case of data 2 and data 3, the distance: (38.08) -26.93) ÷ Time: 30 seconds = 0.37 is calculated as the amount of change for each data, and (0.22 + 0.37) ÷ 2 = 0.295 is the amount of change per unit time, that is, “conversation It becomes "degree of opponent".

S37: conversation partner determination unit 18, based on the calculated at S 36 "conversation partner level" determines the conversation partner from the conversation partner candidate avatar, conversation avatar ID of an avatar that has been determined to conversation partner Acquired as the partner avatar ID. As a method for determining a conversation partner from among the conversation partner candidate avatars, for example, a method of determining an avatar having a positive “conversation partner degree” as a conversation partner can be cited.

  Specifically, the conversation partner is determined to be based on a change in the distance between the conversation avatar and the speaker avatar as well as being equidistant from the speaker avatar. By using the “conversation partner degree” indicating the degree of possibility for the conversation partner determination process, the accuracy of the conversation partner determination can be increased.

(Third embodiment)
The third embodiment will be described focusing on the differences from the first embodiment. The conversation partner determination process is different between the first embodiment and the third embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an outline of conversation partner determination according to the third embodiment of the present invention. A case where avatar A is a speaker avatar and a conversation partner of avatar A according to the third embodiment is determined will be described with reference to FIG.

[Outline of Conversation Partner Determination According to Third Embodiment]
FIG. 13A is a diagram showing the positional relationship between avatar A and avatars B and E when avatar A speaks. FIG. 13 (a) shows that avatars B and E exist within a predetermined equidistant range 48 from avatar A when avatar A speaks, as in the first embodiment. It means avatars B and E.

  FIG. 11B is a diagram showing an example of the avatar A's friend list stored in the friend DB 34. The friend list of avatar A is a list of avatars of users who have agreed with the user of avatar A and have made a friendship like the existing SNS. As shown in FIG. 11B, the avatar A and the avatar G that have a friendship with the avatar A are registered in the friend list of the avatar A.

The third embodiment is an embodiment in which an avatar having a friendship with a speaker avatar among the avatars in a predetermined equidistant range 48 from the avatar A is determined as a conversation partner. Specifically, it is determined whether or not each of avatars B and E determined as conversation partners in the first embodiment is registered in the friend list of avatar A, and the avatar E registered in the friend list is conversed. Judge as opponent.

  By using the “friend list” for the conversation partner determination, it is possible to determine the avatar that is a friend from the conversation partner candidate avatars as the conversation partner. Thereby, a conversation partner can be determined appropriately. This is because the speaker avatar has a high possibility of talking with the friend's avatar when the friend's avatar is nearby.

[Flowchart of Conversation Partner Determination Process According to Third Embodiment]
FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing conversation partner determination processing according to the third embodiment of the present invention. Incidentally, S4 4及 beauty S49 from S 41, the processing and, S 45 of S 11 from S1 4及 beauty S16 that put in FIG. 7, omission processing S 35 in FIG. 12, a description is respectively the same To do.

S46: The conversation partner determination means 18 acquires the friend list of the speaker avatar from the friend list, and determines whether there is an avatar stored in the friend list among the conversation partner candidate avatars. If it is determined that there are avatars that are stored in the friends list in the conversation partner candidate avatar, the processing to S 47 is advanced. On the other hand, if it is determined that no, the process to S 48 proceeds.

  S47: The conversation candidate avatar stored in the friend list is determined as the conversation partner, and the avatar ID of the avatar determined as the conversation partner is acquired as the conversation partner avatar ID.

  S48: All conversation candidate avatars are determined as conversation partners, and the avatar ID of the avatar determined as the conversation partner is acquired as the conversation partner avatar ID. In this case, the avatar determined as the conversation partner is the same as in the first embodiment.

  The accuracy of the conversation partner determination can be increased by determining whether or not the conversation partner is a friend of the speaker avatar.

(Fourth embodiment)
The fourth embodiment will be described with a focus on differences from the first embodiment. The conversation partner determination process differs between the first embodiment and the fourth embodiment.

[Outline of conversation partner determination according to the fourth embodiment]
The fourth embodiment is an invention in which another avatar that speaks is determined as a conversation partner within a predetermined time from the time when the speaker avatar finishes speaking. This is because there is a high possibility that other avatars who are speaking at the timing when the speaker avatar has finished speaking have a conversation with the speaker avatar.

[Flowchart of Conversation Partner Determination Process According to Fourth Embodiment]
FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing conversation partner determination processing according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. Incidentally, S54 from S 51 is to S14 from S 11 that put in FIG. 7, S55 is omitted because it is same as respectively the processing of S 35 of FIG 12.

  S56: The conversation partner determination means 18 acquires a speaker user ID associated with a time from a speaker avatar's speaking time to a lapse of a predetermined time. This process is desirably performed a plurality of times. This is because, since there are many avatars in the virtual space, conversations that have been made accidentally are excluded from the time when the speaker avatar speaks until a predetermined time elapses. Note that the number of times is arbitrary set by the administrator of the server device 1, and the second and subsequent processing may be performed when the speech accepting unit 14 accepts the speech of the speaker avatar, or is recorded in the conversation log DB 31. You may go to the timing.

S57: conversation partner determination unit 18 determines that the user a large number of times obtained among the acquired user ID in S 56 is the user of the conversation partner avatar, acquires a partner user ID.

  By using the timing of conversation for the determination of the conversation partner, the accuracy of the conversation partner determination can be improved.

(Fifth embodiment)
The fifth embodiment will be described with a focus on differences from the first embodiment. The conversation partner determination process is different between the first embodiment and the fifth embodiment.

[Outline of conversation partner determination according to the fifth embodiment]
The fifth embodiment is an invention in which other avatars who have made a statement in which the content, category, etc. of the statement of the statement avatar match are determined as conversation partners. This is because other avatars who have analyzed the content of the speech of the speech avatar and made a speech that matches the content or category of the speech obtained as a result are likely to have a conversation with the speaker avatar.

[Flowchart of conversation partner determination process according to fifth embodiment]
FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing conversation partner determination processing according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. Incidentally, S64 from S 61 is to S14 from S 11 that put in FIG. 7, S 65 is omitted because it is same as respectively the processing of S 35 of FIG 12.

  S66: The conversation partner determination means 18 acquires the speech of the speaker user and the conversation partner candidate user from the conversation log DB 31.

S67 : Morphological analysis of each of the statements acquired in S66 is performed. The morpheme analysis may be performed by using an existing technique and providing a morpheme analysis unit in the server device 1 or by connecting to an external connection device having the morpheme analysis unit.

S68 : Based on the word subjected to morphological analysis in S67, a pre-stored category DB is searched to obtain a category of speech. A plurality may be acquired. The category DB stores a plurality of categories and a plurality of words related to each category. Also S 67 similar for S68, it may be performed at there are connected to the external connection device.

  S69: The conversation partner determination means 18 compares the speech category of the speaker user with the conversation category of the conversation partner candidate user, determines that the conversation partner candidate user whose category matches is the conversation partner user, and the conversation partner user. Obtained as an ID.

  The accuracy of conversation partner determination can be increased by determining the conversation partner in consideration of the content of the conversation, that is, by determining the conversation partner from the relevance of the speech.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the conversation log DB 31 before and after the conversation partner determination process according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 17A shows the conversation log DB 31 before the conversation partner determination process in which the conversation partner has not yet been determined. FIG. 17B shows the conversation partner in which the conversation partner is determined and the conversation partner user is updated and registered. It is conversation log DB31 after a determination process. The conversation partner determination according to the fifth embodiment will be specifically described by taking as an example the comment “It is summer and I want to lose weight” of the speaker user ID “A”.

Speaker Yu over The ID "A", conversation partner candidate user ID "B", "C", in the case of "D", the user ID "A", "B", "C", "D" The morphological analysis is performed on the utterances, and the category of the utterance is acquired. For example, for the utterance of the speaker user ID “A” “It's summer, I want to lose weight”, “Summer” and “Diet”, and the speaker user ID “C” “I want to lose weight too. For the remarks that "I'll eat a snack", "Diet" and "Sweets", and for the remark "I am also a diet diary!" Of the speaker user ID "D", "Diet" As described above, the category of the message is acquired using the category DB.

  Since the conversation partner of the speaker user ID “A” is determined, the user ID “C” and the user ID “D” who have made a statement including the category “summer” or “diet” of the speaker user ID “A”. Is determined as the conversation partner of the user ID “A” and stored in the conversation log DB 31. FIG. 17B shows a diagram in which the conversation partner is determined and stored in the conversation log DB 31 in this way. In addition, when a name or the like is included in an utterance, the name is extracted by morphological analysis, and a conversation partner can be determined based on the extracted name. In FIG. 17, since the name “Mr. E” is included in the utterance of the utterance ID 111, the conversation partner of the utterance ID 111 is E as shown in FIG.

It is a figure which shows the whole structure of the conversation display server apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention, and a terminal. It is a figure which shows the function structure of the server apparatus of 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the server apparatus which concerns on each embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows conversation log DB stored in the memory | storage means which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows location log | history DB stored in the memory | storage means which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the conversation log storage process which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the conversation other party determination process which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the conversation other party determination which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the conversation log display process which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the conversation log display process which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the conversation partner determination which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the conversation other party determination process which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the conversation other party determination which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the conversation other party determination process which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the conversation other party determination process which concerns on 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the conversation other party determination process which concerns on 5th Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows conversation log DB before and behind the conversation other party determination process which concerns on 5th Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 meeting story Display server device 10 the conversation manager 11 caption receiving unit 12 conversation log extracting unit 13 conversation log transmitting unit 14 speech reception means 15 user identifying unit 16 captioning transmitting means 17 position determining means 18 conversation partner determination unit 19 operation receiving Means 20 Moving means 30 Storage means 31 Conversation log DB
32 Avatar DB
33 Location history DB
34 Friends DB

Claims (10)

In a virtual space provided via a network, a server device that controls a conversation performed by an avatar in the virtual space, and a conversation display method executed by a terminal connected to be communicable with the server device,
A user identification step for identifying a user corresponding to the avatar in the virtual space;
A speech acceptance step for accepting speech from the identified user;
A conversation partner determination step for determining a user who is a conversation partner of the received speech;
A conversation log storage step for storing the received utterance, the uttered user, and the user as the conversation partner in association with each other and storing it as a conversation log;
A conversation display step for displaying the remarks together with an avatar corresponding to the reciting user;
Conversation selection reception step for receiving selections from other users in response to the displayed remarks;
A conversation log extracting step of extracting a conversation log corresponding to the utterance that accepted the selection;
A conversation log display step for displaying the extracted conversation log in a conversation format with the determined conversation partner;
A moving step of moving the avatar in the virtual space in response to a user operation instruction corresponding to the avatar;
A position determining step of determining a position in the virtual space of an avatar corresponding to the speaking user;
Equipped with a,
When there are a plurality of the other avatars within a predetermined distance from the position of the avatar in the virtual space,
A time reception step for receiving a speech time when the user made a speech;
A time storage step of storing the utterance time in association with the utterance, the uttered user, and the conversation partner user;
Further comprising
A user corresponding to each of a plurality of other avatars, the user who has said a speech that is associated with a speech time that is within a predetermined time from the user's speech time becomes a conversation partner of the accepted speech conversation display how to determine the user. In a virtual space provided via a network, a server device that controls a conversation performed by an avatar in the virtual space, and a conversation display method executed by a terminal connected to be communicable with the server device,
A user identification step for identifying a user corresponding to the avatar in the virtual space;
A speech acceptance step for accepting speech from the identified user;
A conversation partner determination step for determining a user who is a conversation partner of the received speech;
A conversation log storage step for storing the received utterance, the uttered user, and the user as the conversation partner in association with each other and storing it as a conversation log;
A conversation display step for displaying the remarks together with an avatar corresponding to the reciting user;
Conversation selection reception step for receiving selections from other users in response to the displayed remarks;
A conversation log extracting step of extracting a conversation log corresponding to the utterance that accepted the selection;
A conversation log display step for displaying the extracted conversation log in a conversation format with the determined conversation partner;
A moving step of moving the avatar in the virtual space in response to a user operation instruction corresponding to the avatar;
A position determining step of determining a position in the virtual space of an avatar corresponding to the speaking user;
With
When there are a plurality of the other avatars within a predetermined distance from the position of the avatar in the virtual space,
An extraction step of extracting a feature amount by morphological analysis of a statement made by a user of the avatar and the plurality of other avatars;
A user corresponding to a plurality of the other avatars, conversational users who have the relevant statements, it determined that user as a conversation partner of the accepted speech by saying to the feature amount the user was the avatar Display method. When there are a plurality of the other avatars within a predetermined distance from the position of the avatar in the virtual space,
The position determining step determines a position of the moved avatar or the plurality of other avatars in accordance with a user operation instruction corresponding to the avatar or the plurality of other avatars within a predetermined time. ,
Based on the determined position of the avatar and the position of each of the plurality of other avatars, the user corresponding to the avatar that is the plurality of other avatars and is approaching the avatar within the predetermined time The conversation display method according to claim 1 , wherein the user is determined to be a user who is a conversation partner of the received speech. When there are a plurality of the other avatars within a predetermined distance from the position of the avatar in the virtual space,
Storing a plurality of avatars having a friendship relationship with the avatar as a list;
The conversation according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein a plurality of other avatars and users corresponding to the avatars stored in the list are determined as users who are conversation partners of the received speech. Display method. In the conversation log extraction step, the user who made the utterance that accepted the selection from the stored conversation log is associated with the utterance user or the conversation partner user, and the utterance as a speaker. The conversation display method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the associated user is extracted as a conversation log corresponding to the utterance for which the selection has been accepted. In a virtual space that is communicably connected to a terminal and provided via a network, a conversation display server device that controls a conversation performed by an avatar in the virtual space,
User identification means for identifying a user corresponding to an avatar in the virtual space;
A speech accepting means for accepting speech from the identified user;
A conversation partner determination means for determining a user who is a conversation partner of the received speech;
Conversation log storage means for storing the received utterance, the uttered user, and the user who is the conversation partner in association with each other, and storing it as a conversation log;
Conversation display means for displaying the remarks together with an avatar corresponding to the reciting user;
Conversation selection accepting means for accepting selections from other users in response to the displayed remarks;
A conversation log extracting means for extracting a conversation log corresponding to the utterance that accepted the selection;
A conversation log display means for displaying the extracted conversation log in a conversation format with the determined conversation partner;
A moving means for moving the avatar in the virtual space in response to a user operation instruction corresponding to the avatar;
Position determining means for determining a position of the avatar corresponding to the user in the virtual space in the virtual space;
Equipped with a,
When there are a plurality of the other avatars within a predetermined distance from the position of the avatar in the virtual space,
The speech accepting means accepts the speech time when the user made a speech,
The conversation log storage means stores the speech time in association with the speech, the user who made the speech, and the user who is the conversation partner,
The conversation partner determination means is a user corresponding to each of a plurality of other avatars, and accepts the user who has said the speech that is associated with a speech time that is within a predetermined time from the speech time of the user. conversation display server device determines that the user to be a conversation partner of the speech was. In a virtual space that is communicably connected to a terminal and provided via a network, a conversation display server device that controls a conversation performed by an avatar in the virtual space,
User identification means for identifying a user corresponding to an avatar in the virtual space;
A speech accepting means for accepting speech from the identified user;
A conversation partner determination means for determining a user who is a conversation partner of the received speech;
Conversation log storage means for storing the received utterance, the uttered user, and the user who is the conversation partner in association with each other, and storing it as a conversation log;
Conversation display means for displaying the remarks together with an avatar corresponding to the reciting user;
Conversation selection accepting means for accepting selections from other users in response to the displayed remarks;
A conversation log extracting means for extracting a conversation log corresponding to the utterance that accepted the selection;
A conversation log display means for displaying the extracted conversation log in a conversation format with the determined conversation partner;
A moving means for moving the avatar in the virtual space in response to a user operation instruction corresponding to the avatar;
Position determining means for determining a position of the avatar corresponding to the user in the virtual space in the virtual space;
With
When there are a plurality of the other avatars within a predetermined distance from the position of the avatar in the virtual space,
The conversation partner determining means is a user corresponding to a plurality of the other avatars by extracting a feature amount by morphological analysis of a statement made by the user of the avatar and the plurality of other avatars, and the user of the avatar is the remarks to the users who have the relevant speech by the feature quantity, the conversational display server device determines that the user of a conversation partner remarks accepted. When there are a plurality of the other avatars within a predetermined distance from the position of the avatar in the virtual space,
The position determining means determines the position of the moved avatar or the plurality of other avatars in accordance with a user operation instruction corresponding to the avatar or the plurality of other avatars within a predetermined time. ,
The conversation partner determination unit is configured to approach the avatar at the plurality of other avatars within the predetermined time based on the determined position of the avatar and the positions of the plurality of other avatars. The conversation display server device according to claim 6 or 7 , wherein a user corresponding to the avatar who is receiving is determined to be a user who is a conversation partner of the received speech. When there are a plurality of the other avatars within a predetermined distance from the position of the avatar in the virtual space,
A friend storage means for storing a plurality of avatars having a friendship relationship with the avatar as a list;
The conversation partner determination unit, the user and determines claim 6 users the conversation partner remarks accepted the corresponding avatar stored a plurality of the other avatars in the list until claim 8 The conversation display server device according to any one of the above. The conversation log extracting means is configured to, from the stored conversation log, a user who made a utterance that accepted the selection is associated with the utterance user or the conversation partner user, and the utterance The conversation display server apparatus in any one of Claim 6 to 9 which extracts the matched user as a conversation log corresponding to the utterance which accepted the said selection.

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