JP5444946B2 - WRITING INFORMATION PROCESSING DEVICE, WRITING INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM, AND PROGRAM - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a writing information processing apparatus, a writing information processing system, and a program.

  A technique that enables joint document writing between participants is known (for example, see Patent Document 1). In the technique of Patent Document 1, at least one document writing form is provided to a participant, and display data is received from a detection device operated by a participant participating in a document writing session in the computer system. It also identifies at least one parameter relating to the document writing session from the display data and provides at least one document writing form including information representing at least one parameter to at least one other participant remote from the participant. doing.

JP-T-2003-504716

  An object of the present invention is to increase the possibility of extracting important writings from writings made on a medium.

The invention according to claim 1 is a storage unit that stores a plurality of writing attribute information made on one information display medium, and a plurality of writing attribute information stored in the storage unit, When the predetermined attribute information satisfies a predetermined condition, the extraction unit that extracts the attribute information, and the writing information indicating the content of the writing having the attribute information extracted by the extraction unit, the one information Acquisition means for acquiring from a plurality of writing information made on the display medium, the attribute information is position information indicating a position on the one information display medium where the writing has been made, and the extracting means When the position information stored in the storage means indicates a position in the area in the one information display medium where the amount of writing exceeds a predetermined reference, the position information is extracted, Position Indicates first position information indicating a position in an area where an amount of writing exceeding the predetermined reference is made, and a position in an area where an amount of writing exceeding the predetermined reference is not made Second position information, and the acquisition means acquires the writing information obtained by connecting the first position information and the second position information stored in the storage means. This is a featured writing information processing apparatus.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the attribute information is owner information relating to an owner of an electronic writing instrument used for writing, and the extracting means is pre-determined by the owner information stored in the storage means. The handwritten information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the owner information is extracted when the above condition is satisfied.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the attribute information is time zone information indicating a time zone in which writing has been performed, and the extraction unit is configured such that the time zone information stored in the storage unit is based on a predetermined standard. 2. The writing information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the time zone information is extracted when a time zone in which an amount of writing exceeding 1 is indicated.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided generation means for generating display information for displaying the writing information acquired by the acquisition means so as to be superimposed on print information printed on the one information display medium. it comprises a a writing information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein.
The invention according to claim 5 includes a management device that manages attribute information of a plurality of writings made on one information display medium, and an output device that outputs a writing image obtained by imaging writing contents, The management device includes a acquiring unit that acquires position information indicating a position where writing is performed on one information display medium, and a predetermined reference from a plurality of areas where writing is performed on the one information display medium. An extraction unit that extracts a plurality of the position information acquired by the acquisition unit included in a region where the amount of writing has been made, and a plurality of the position information extracted by the extraction unit are connected, and is in units of strokes in a generating means for generating writing information, and a transmitting means for transmitting the handwritten information generated by the generation unit, the output device, the handwritten information transmitted by said transmitting means Receiving means for signal for, on the basis of the received writing information by the receiving means, a writing information processing system characterized by comprising an output means for outputting the writing image.
The invention according to claim 6 shows a function of storing, in the storage means, attribute information of a plurality of writings made on one information display medium in a computer, and a position where writing is made on one information display medium. Among the plurality of writing attribute information stored in the storage means and the function of acquiring the position information, the plurality of areas in which writing is performed in the one information display medium exceed a predetermined standard. A function of extracting a plurality of the positional information acquired by the acquiring function and a plurality of the positional information extracted by the extracting function included in the region where the amount of writing has been made, and in units of strokes This is a program for realizing the function of generating writing information .
The invention according to claim 7 is determined in advance from acquisition means for acquiring position information indicating a position where writing is performed on one information display medium, and a plurality of areas where writing is performed on the one information display medium. A plurality of the position information extracted by the extraction means and the extraction means for extracting the plurality of position information acquired by the acquisition means included in the region where the amount of writing exceeding the specified reference is made; And a writing means for generating writing information in units of strokes.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to acquire writing information spanning a region where the amount of writing exceeding the reference is made and a region where the amount of writing exceeding the reference is not made.
According to invention of Claim 2 , the writing determined by the information regarding the owner of the electronic writing instrument used for writing can be extracted as important writing.
According to the invention of claim 3 , the writing in the time zone in which the amount of writing exceeding the reference is made can be extracted as an important writing.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to synthesize and display important writing and print information in one information display medium.
According to invention of Claims 5-7 , the writing in the area | region where the writing of the quantity exceeding the reference | standard was made can be extracted.

It is the figure which showed the example of a structure of the computer system with which embodiment of this invention is applied. It is the block diagram which showed the function structural example of the document server in embodiment of this invention. It is the block diagram which showed the function structural example of the identification information server in embodiment of this invention. It is the sequence diagram which showed the operation example at the time of the printed document output in embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of the code | symbol image produced | generated by embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of the medium management information memorize | stored in embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the structural example of the digital pen in embodiment of this invention. It is the block diagram which showed the function structural example of the control circuit of the digital pen in embodiment of this invention. It is the block diagram which showed the function structural example of the conference server in embodiment of this invention. It is the sequence diagram which showed the operation example at the time of writing in the printed document in embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of the user information used by embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of the handwriting management information used by embodiment of this invention. It is the block diagram which showed the function structural example of the terminal device which displays handwriting information in embodiment of this invention. It is the sequence diagram which showed the operation example at the time of the display of the handwriting information in embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the operation example of the 1st handwriting information synthetic | combination process in embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the operation example of the 2nd handwriting information synthetic | combination process in embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the operation example of the 3rd handwriting information synthetic | combination process in embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the 1st example of a display of the synthetic | combination result of handwriting information in embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the 2nd example of a display of the synthetic | combination result of handwriting information in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure showing an example of hardware constitutions of a computer which can realize an embodiment of the invention.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
First, the overall configuration of the computer system in the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of a computer system according to the present embodiment.
As illustrated, the computer system includes a terminal device 10, a document server 20, an identification information server 30, an image forming device 40, a terminal device 50, and a conference server 70 connected to a network 80. It is configured. A digital pen 60 is connected to the terminal device 50 via a communication device 55.

The terminal device 10 is a computer device that requests the document server 20 to print an electronic document. Here, for example, a personal computer, a workstation, or another computer may be used as the terminal device 10.
The document server 20 is a computer device that stores and manages electronic documents. Also, when there is a print request for an electronic document from the terminal device 10, an image of the electronic document and a code image representing identification information and position information are generated, and a print command for printing a composite image obtained by synthesizing the image on a medium is generated. Output to the forming apparatus 40. In this case, the identification information is information for uniquely specifying the medium, and the position information is information for specifying the coordinate position on the medium. Here, as the document server 20, for example, a personal computer, a workstation, or another computer may be used.

The identification information server 30 is a computer device that issues identification information to be given to a medium. The issued identification information is stored in association with the electronic document printed on the medium to which the identification information is assigned. Here, as the identification information server 30, for example, a personal computer, a workstation, or another computer may be used.
The image forming apparatus 40 is an apparatus that prints an image on a medium and outputs it as a print document. The image forming apparatus 40 may have only a printer function, or may have a scanner or facsimile function. Here, as an image forming method in the image forming apparatus 40, for example, an electrophotographic method may be used, but other methods may be used. In the following description, the identification information to be given to the medium is described as being issued by the identification information server 30, but the identification information may be issued by any apparatus as long as it can be issued without duplication in the system. It may be issued by the device 40. In this case, for example, a combination of the machine number of the image forming apparatus 40 and the print count value in the image forming apparatus 40 may be used as the identification information.

  The terminal device 50 is a computer that transmits information obtained by digitizing writing on a print document (hereinafter referred to as “handwriting information”) to the conference server 70 in order to reflect the information in the electronic document that is the basis of the image recorded in the print document. Device, which is an example of an output device. Alternatively, the electronic document to be reflected in the handwriting information may be displayed on the display, and the handwriting information may be displayed on the display. Here, as the terminal device 50, for example, a personal computer, a workstation, or another computer may be used. In the present embodiment, handwriting information is used as an example of writing information indicating the contents of writing. The handwriting information is mainly described as handwritten information. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be information mechanically drawn by a plotter that is a device that outputs drawing data such as architecture and machinery.

  The communication device 55 is a device that acquires handwriting information from the digital pen 60 and transmits it to the terminal device 50. For example, an insertion port into which the digital pen 60 is inserted may be provided, and when the digital pen 60 is inserted into the insertion port, handwriting information stored in the digital pen 60 may be transmitted to the terminal device 50. Here, as a method of communication with the terminal device 50, various methods such as USB (Universal Serial Bus), Bluetooth (registered trademark), and an infrared communication function are conceivable. In the figure, the communication device 55 is shown as a separate body from the digital pen 60, but it is not necessarily a separate body and may be integrated.

  The digital pen 60 is an example of an electronic writing instrument, and is a pen device used for writing characters or figures on a printed document. An image sensor that reads a code image printed on the medium is provided. Then, position information is detected from the code image read by the image sensor, and handwriting information obtained by converting written characters or figures into image data is generated and stored based on the position information.

The conference server 70 is a computer device that manages a remote conference held between the plurality of terminal devices 50 via the network 80. For example, for each remote conference, the participant identification information, the identification information of the terminal device 50 used by the participant, an electronic document used as a document, and the like are managed. When operation information for a remote conference is input from a terminal device 50 of a participant, control is performed so that the operation information is transmitted to the terminal device 50 of another participant. Further, in the present embodiment, handwriting information on a medium on which an electronic document used in a remote conference is printed is managed, and display information obtained by superimposing handwriting information on the electronic document is requested in response to a request from a participant. It is also an example of a management device. Here, as the conference server 70, for example, a personal computer, a workstation, or another computer may be used.
The network 80 is a communication means used for exchanging various information. Examples of the network 80 include the Internet and a LAN (Local Area Network).

In this specification, electronic data that is the basis of an image to be recorded on a medium is referred to as “electronic document”. However, this does not mean only data obtained by digitizing a “document” including text. For example, "electronic document" including image data such as pictures, photos, figures (regardless of raster data or vector data), data recorded by database management software or spreadsheet software, and other printable electronic data It is said.
In the present specification, the “medium” may be any material as long as it can print an image. A typical example is paper, but an OHP sheet or a metal plate may be used.
Further, in this specification, processing is performed using identification information for uniquely identifying each of the electronic document, the medium, and further the digital pen 60 and the user. It shall mean the identification information of the medium.

  By the way, in this embodiment, in such a computer system, a three-stage operation of outputting a print document, writing on the print document, and displaying handwriting information is performed. Therefore, these will be described separately below.

[Print document output]
When outputting a print document, the document server 20 and the identification information server 30 operate mainly, and the configuration of these servers will be described.
First, the configuration of the document server 20 will be described.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the document server 20.
As illustrated, the document server 20 includes a reception unit 21 and an identification information acquisition unit 22. In addition, an identification code generation unit 25a, a position code generation unit 25b, a code arrangement unit 25c, a pattern image storage unit 25d, and a code image generation unit 25e are provided. Furthermore, a document image generation unit 26, an image composition unit 27, and a transmission unit 29 are provided.

The receiving unit 21 receives a print request from the terminal device 10. Here, the print request includes identification information of an electronic document to be printed (hereinafter referred to as “document ID”), a page number of the electronic document to be printed, and various settings relating to printing (hereinafter, “print settings”). Is included).
The identification information acquisition unit 22 acquires the document ID, page number, and print setting from the reception unit 21, passes them to the transmission unit 29, and instructs the document image generation unit 26 to transmit an identification information issue request. And gives instructions to generate a document image. Also, identification information is acquired from the receiving unit 21, and this is passed to the identification code generation unit 25a to instruct generation of the identification code.

The identification code generation unit 25a encodes identification information for specifying the medium to generate an identification code.
The position code generation unit 25b generates position codes by encoding position information indicating coordinate positions on the medium.
The code arrangement unit 25c arranges the identification code generated by the identification code generation unit 25a, the position code generated by the position code generation unit 25b, and the like on a two-dimensional plane according to a predetermined layout. Is generated.
The pattern image storage unit 25d stores a pattern image corresponding to the code value of each code stored in the code array.
The code image generation unit 25e refers to the two-dimensional code array generated by the code arrangement unit 25c, selects a pattern image corresponding to each code value, and generates a code image.

The document image generation unit 26 acquires the document ID, page number, and print setting from the identification information acquisition unit 22, reads out the page of the electronic document specified by the document ID and page number from a storage unit (not shown), and follows the print setting. A document image of the electronic document is generated.
The image composition unit 27 synthesizes the code image generated by the code image generation unit 25e and the document image generated by the document image generation unit 26 to generate a composite image.
The transmission unit 29 transmits an identification information issuance request to the identification information server 30. Also, an image print command for the medium is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 40.

Next, the configuration of the identification information server 30 will be described.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the identification information server 30.
As illustrated, the identification information server 30 includes a reception unit 31, a medium management unit 32, a medium management information storage unit 33, and a transmission unit 39.

The receiving unit 31 receives an identification information issue request from the document server 20. Also, a search request for the document ID, page number, and print setting specifying the identification information is received from the conference server 70.
When there is a request for issuing identification information, the medium management unit 32 issues the identification information without duplication, and stores the document ID, page number, and print settings specified at that time in association with the identification information. Further, when identification information is designated, the document ID, page number, and print setting corresponding to the identification information are extracted.

The medium management information storage unit 33 includes the identification information, the document ID of the electronic document printed on the medium to which the identification information is assigned, and the page number of the page of the electronic document printed on the medium to which the identification information is assigned. And a print setting when the electronic document is printed on the medium to which the electronic document is attached.
The transmission unit 39 transmits identification information issued in response to a request from the document server 20 to the document server 20.

Next, an operation when outputting a print document will be described.
FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing operations of the document server 20 and the identification information server 30 at this time.
In the document server 20, the receiving unit 21 first receives a print request for an electronic document from the terminal device 10 (step 211). This electronic document print request includes a document ID, a page number, and print settings. Here, as the document ID, for example, a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) may be used, but other information may be used as long as the electronic document can be uniquely identified. The page number is a number indicating the page order of the electronic document. Although this page number may be included in the print settings, this embodiment will be described separately from the print settings as specifying the electronic data that is the source of the document image printed on the medium. Furthermore, the print settings include settings such as the number of copies, the paper size, the enlargement / reduction ratio, a function of outputting a plurality of pages collectively on a single medium, and margins.
When receiving the information, the receiving unit 21 passes the information to the identification information acquiring unit 22. Then, the identification information acquisition unit 22 passes the received information to the transmission unit 29, and the transmission unit 29 transmits the information to the identification information server 30, thereby requesting the issuance of identification information (step 212). ).

Thereby, in the identification information server 30, the receiving unit 31 receives the document ID, the page number, and the print setting (step 311). Then, the document ID, page number, and print setting are transferred to the medium management unit 32, and the medium management unit 32 extracts unused identification information from the medium management information storage unit 33 (step 312). Here, the number of pieces of identification information to be extracted is determined according to print settings. In other words, basically, the number of pieces of identification information obtained by multiplying the number of pages to be printed by the number of copies is extracted. However, if the setting information includes designation of a function for outputting a plurality of pages on a single medium, this is also taken into consideration. For example, when 10 pages of an electronic document are collectively printed on a single medium by two pages, 25 (= 10 ÷ 2 × 5) pieces of identification information are extracted.
Next, the medium management unit 32 stores the identification information, the document ID, the page number, and the print setting in association with each other in the medium management information storage unit 33 (step 313). Then, the identification information issued in step 312 is transferred to the transmission unit 39, and the transmission unit 39 transmits the identification information to the document server 20 (step 314).

As a result, in the document server 20, the receiving unit 21 receives the identification information (step 213). Then, the reception unit 21 passes the received identification information to the identification information acquisition unit 22.
Then, the document server 20 generates a code image representing the identification information and the position information (Step 214). The generation of the code image is specifically performed by the following process.
That is, first, the identification information acquisition unit 22 passes the identification information acquired in step 213 to the identification code generation unit 25a, and the identification code generation unit 25a generates an identification code by encoding the identification information. Details of the encoding of the identification information will be described later.
Further, the position code generation unit 25b receives the print setting from the reception unit 21, and generates a position code by encoding position information in a range corresponding to the print setting. Details of the encoding of the position information will be described later.
Thereafter, the code arrangement unit 25c arranges the identification code and the position code according to a predetermined layout, and the code image generation unit 25e converts the image into an image using the pattern image stored in the pattern image storage unit 25d. A code image is generated by.

In the document server 20, the document image generation unit 26 generates a document image of the page of the electronic document (step 215). At that time, the document image generation unit 26 receives the document ID and the page number acquired by the identification information acquisition unit 22 in step 211, and reads the page of the target electronic document from a storage unit (not shown) based on the document ID and page number. In addition, the print setting acquired by the identification information acquisition unit 22 in step 211 is received, and a document image is generated based on the print setting.
Then, the image composition unit 27 synthesizes the code image generated in step 214 and the document image generated in step 215 to generate a composite image (step 216).
Thereafter, the composite image is transferred to the transmission unit 29, and the transmission unit 29 transmits a print command for the composite image to the image forming apparatus 40 (step 217). Here, the composite image print command is transmitted, for example, in a PDL format in which the content to be printed as a code image is set as a PDL command to a PDL (Page Description Language) file including a sequence of document image print commands. .

Accordingly, the image forming apparatus 40 prints the document image on a medium using, for example, C (cyan), M (magenta), and Y (yellow) toner. The code image is printed on a medium using, for example, K (black containing carbon) toner or special toner.
Here, as the special toner, an invisible toner having a maximum absorption rate of 7% or less in the visible light region (400 nm to 700 nm) and an absorption rate of 30% or more in the near infrared region (800 nm to 1000 nm) is exemplified. . Here, “visible” and “invisible” are not related to whether they can be recognized visually. “Visible” and “invisible” are distinguished depending on whether or not an image in a printed document can be recognized by the presence or absence of color development due to absorption of a specific wavelength in the visible light region. Also, “invisible” includes those that have some color developability due to absorption of a specific wavelength in the visible light region but are difficult to be recognized by human eyes.

  Here, the code image is combined with the image of the electronic document and printed. However, the code image may be printed on a white paper (notebook, tag, etc.). In that case, the document ID and page number are not included in the print request received in step 211, the identification information is not associated with the document ID, page number, and print settings in step 313. The generation of the image should not be executed.

Next, the code image generated in the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image or the like constituting the code image.
First, unit patterns constituting a code image will be described.
FIG. 5A shows an example of the unit pattern.
The unit pattern is the minimum unit for embedding information. In the figure, the black area and the shaded area are areas where dots can be arranged, and the white area between them is an area where dots cannot be arranged. In addition, among the areas where dots can be arranged, dots are arranged in black areas, and dots are not arranged in hatched areas. That is, the figure shows an example in which a unit pattern is configured by arranging dots at two locations selected from nine locations where dots can be arranged. Here, since there are 36 (= ₉ C ₂ ) combinations for selecting two locations out of nine locations, there are 36 types of unit patterns. Of these, four types of unit patterns are used as synchronization patterns. The synchronization pattern is a pattern for detecting the rotation of the image and specifying the relative positions of the identification code and the position code. In particular, since it is necessary to detect the rotation of the image, the four types of synchronization patterns are selected such that when one of the synchronization patterns is rotated 90 degrees, another synchronization pattern is obtained. Further, the 32 types of unit patterns other than the 4 types of unit patterns are used as information patterns expressing the identification code and the position code, and 5-bit information is expressed.

  By the way, the dots shown in FIG. 5A are merely dots for information expression, and do not necessarily coincide with the dots that mean the minimum points constituting the image. In the present embodiment, the dots for information expression (the smallest square in FIG. 5A) have a size of 2 dots × 2 dots at 600 dpi. Since the size of one dot at 600 dpi is 0.0423 mm, one side of a dot for information expression (the minimum square in FIG. 5A) is 84.6 μm (= 0.0423 mm × 2). The smaller the dots for information expression, the more likely it is to be noticeable. However, if it is too small, printing with a printer becomes impossible. Therefore, the above values larger than 50 μm and smaller than 100 μm are employed as the size of dots for information expression. However, the above value 84.6 μm is a numerical value to the last, and is about 100 μm in the actually printed toner image. It should be noted that the term “dot” in this specification refers to a dot for information expression, not a dot that means the minimum point constituting an image, unless otherwise specified.

Next, a code block composed of such unit patterns will be described.
FIG. 5B shows an example of the layout of the code block. Here, not the image but the code arrangement immediately before being replaced by the pattern image is shown. That is, a unit pattern (any one of 36 unit patterns) as shown in FIG. 5A is arranged in the smallest square (hereinafter referred to as “unit block”) in FIG. Will be formed.
In the layout of FIG. 5B, the synchronization code is arranged in one unit block at the upper left of the code block. Further, the X position code is arranged in the four unit blocks on the right side of the unit block in which the synchronization code is arranged, and the Y position code is arranged in the four unit blocks on the lower side of the unit block in which the synchronization code is arranged. . Furthermore, identification codes are arranged in 16 (= 4 × 4) unit blocks surrounded by unit blocks in which these position codes are arranged.

Here, encoding of identification information will be described.
When encoding identification information, the bit string which comprises identification information is divided | segmented into a some block in order to perform RS encoding. Although there are several methods for encoding, RS encoding is suitable in this embodiment. This is because the RS code is a multi-value coding method, and in this case, the value represented by the unit block corresponds to the multi-value of the RS code. For example, when 5-bit information is expressed by one unit block, the 60-bit identification information is divided into 12 blocks having a block length of 5 bits. If an RS code capable of correcting two blocks of errors is employed, the code length is 16 blocks, which can be accommodated in the unit block in which the identification code in the code block of FIG. 5B is arranged. The encoding method is not limited to the RS code, and other encoding methods such as a BCH code may be used.

Next, encoding of position information will be described.
For encoding the position information, an M-sequence code, which is a kind of pseudo-random sequence, is used. Here, the M sequence refers to a sequence having the longest period among code sequences generated by a shift register having a certain length and feedback. When K is the number of stages in the shift register, the sequence length of the M sequence is 2 ^K −1. Arbitrary consecutive K bits extracted from the M sequence have a property that they do not appear at other positions in the same M sequence. Therefore, the position information is encoded using this property.
By the way, in the present embodiment, a necessary M-sequence order is obtained from the length of position information to be encoded, and an M-sequence is generated. However, if the length of the position information to be encoded is known in advance, it is not necessary to generate the M sequence each time. That is, a fixed M sequence may be generated in advance and stored in a memory or the like.
For example, it is assumed that an M sequence (K = 13) having a sequence length of 8191 is used. In this case, since the position code is also embedded in units of 5 bits, 5 bits are taken out from the M sequence having a sequence length of 8191 and blocked.

  In this specification, the identification information and the position information are clearly distinguished and used for the sake of simplicity. However, there is a technique in which a wide range of position information is prepared, the position information is cut out and embedded from different ranges for each medium, and the medium is identified by the difference in position information. Therefore, in such a method, it is assumed that the position information has a function for identifying the medium, and the position information is also considered as the identification information.

Here, the specific contents of the medium management information stored in step 313 will be described.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a specific example of the medium management information.
As shown in the figure, the medium management information associates identification information, a document ID, a page number, and print settings.
Among these, the identification information is information for uniquely identifying the medium as described above.
The document ID is information for uniquely identifying the electronic document as already described.
Furthermore, the page number is, for example, a number indicating the page of the electronic document as described above.
Furthermore, the print setting is information such as a paper size and an enlargement / reduction ratio set when the terminal device 10 is requested to print an electronic document, as described above.

  In the figure, the first page of the electronic document with document ID “DocA” is scaled to 100% on an A4 size medium with identification information “000001”, “000002”, “000003”, “000004”, and “000005”. Shown printed. That is, for example, it shows the medium management information stored when a paper material on which the first page of the electronic document is printed is distributed to five participants one by one.

[Writing on printed documents]
In a meeting held by bringing a printed document (for example, paper material) output in this way, a participant may write a memo in the printed document. In the present embodiment, writing on the printed document is performed with the digital pen 60, and handwriting information obtained by digitizing the contents of the writing is stored in the conference server 70. That is, when writing on a printed document, the digital pen 60 and the conference server 70 operate mainly, and these configurations will be described.

First, the configuration of the digital pen 60 will be described.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the digital pen 60.
As illustrated, the digital pen 60 includes a control circuit 61 that controls the operation of the entire pen. The control circuit 61 includes an image processing unit 61a that processes the read code image, and a data processing unit 61b that extracts identification information and position information from the processing result.
The control circuit 61 is connected to a pressure sensor 62 that detects a writing operation by the digital pen 60 by a pressure applied to the pen tip 69. Further, an infrared LED 63 that irradiates the medium with infrared light and an infrared CMOS 64 that reads a code image by detecting reflected light are also connected. Furthermore, an information memory 65 for storing identification information and position information, a communication circuit 66 for communicating with an external device, a battery 67 for driving a pen, and pen identification information (pen ID) are stored. A pen ID memory 68 is also connected.

Next, the functional configuration realized in the control circuit 61 will be described in more detail.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the control circuit 61. In the figure, a functional configuration example is shown separately for the image processing unit 61 a and the data processing unit 61 b in the control circuit 61.
As illustrated, the image processing unit 61 a includes an image acquisition unit 611 and a dot array generation unit 612. The data processing unit 61 b includes a code array generation unit 613, an identification information acquisition unit 614, a position information acquisition unit 615, and a handwriting information generation unit 616. Further, a pen ID acquisition unit 617 and a communication control unit 619 are provided.

The image acquisition unit 611 acquires a code image read from the print document by the infrared CMOS 64. Moreover, the noise contained in a code image is removed as needed.
The dot array generation unit 612 generates a dot array with reference to the dot positions in the code image. That is, on a two-dimensional array, for example, “1” is stored at a position where there is a dot and “0” is stored at a position where there is no dot, thereby replacing the dot detected as an image with digital data. Then, this two-dimensional array is output as a dot array.

  The code array generation unit 613 detects a block corresponding to the unit pattern in the code block on the dot array. Specifically, a frame having the same shape and size as the block in which the unit pattern is arranged is moved on the dot array, and the frame is fixed at a position where the number of dots in the frame becomes equal. For example, if the unit pattern shown in FIG. 5A is used, a frame having a size corresponding to 3 dots × 3 dots is moved, and the frame is fixed at a position where the number of dots included in the frame is 2. Then, a code array is generated that stores code values determined from dot positions in each block delimited by the frame. When this code array is generated, the position of the synchronization code is specified by searching for a code value of a predetermined synchronization code.

The identification information acquisition unit 614 detects the identification code based on the position of the synchronization code from the code array. Then, the identification code is decoded using the parameters used in the RS encoding process at the time of image generation, and identification information is acquired.
The position information acquisition unit 615 detects the position code based on the position of the synchronization code from the code array. Then, an M-sequence partial sequence is extracted from the position code, the position of this partial sequence in the M-sequence used at the time of image generation is referenced, and a value obtained by correcting this position with an offset using a synchronization code is acquired as position information. The reason why the correction is made by the offset is that a synchronization code is arranged between the position codes.

The handwriting information generation unit 616 generates handwriting information by connecting the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit 615. Here, the handwriting information includes at least data obtained by digitizing the locus of the pen tip of the digital pen 60, but may include other information. Information other than the locus of the pen tip includes, for example, information on the color set for the pen when writing, information on writing pressure, and the like.
The pen ID acquisition unit 617 acquires a pen ID that is identification information of the digital pen 60 from the pen ID memory 68 (see FIG. 7).
The communication control unit 619 passes the identification information acquired by the identification information acquisition unit 614, the handwriting information generated by the handwriting information generation unit 616, and the pen ID acquired by the pen ID acquisition unit 617 to the communication circuit 66. The information transmission to the communication device 55 is realized. The registration completion report is received from the communication circuit 66 that has received the handwriting information registration completion report from the conference server 70.

Next, the configuration of the conference server 70 will be described.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the conference server 70. Note that the conference server 70 operates mainly when handwriting information to be described later is displayed, and therefore, the configuration for displaying handwriting information is also shown in the figure.
As illustrated, the conference server 70 includes a receiving unit 71, a handwriting management unit 72, a handwriting management information storage unit 73, an electronic document storage unit 74, a user information storage unit 75, a definition information storage unit 76, A display information generation unit 77 and a transmission unit 79 are provided.

  The receiving unit 71 receives identification information, handwriting information, and a pen ID from the terminal device 50 when writing is performed on the print document. In addition, when the display of handwriting information is instructed, when the handwriting information to be displayed is extracted from the document ID and page number of the electronic document to be displayed with the handwriting information superimposed, or the handwriting information of a plurality of users The extraction condition related to the writing attribute is received from the terminal device 50. Here, as an attribute of writing, as described later, a position where writing was performed, a user who performed writing, a time when writing was performed, and the like are exemplified.

The handwriting management unit 72 acquires the identification information, handwriting information, and pen ID received by the receiving unit 71 and registers them in the handwriting management information storage unit 73. At this time, the handwriting information is registered as stroke information in units of strokes. Here, the stroke is a series of writings made with the pen tip in contact with the medium. In addition, since the handwriting information includes information on the time at which each point in the handwriting is designated, information on the time at which the stroke was started is also registered as the writing time. In addition, when the handwriting management unit 72 is instructed to display handwriting information, the handwriting management information storage unit 73 displays handwriting information that satisfies the specified extraction condition among the handwriting information for the page of the specified electronic document. Take out from. In the present embodiment, the handwriting management unit 72 is provided as an example of an extraction unit that extracts attribute information and as an example of an acquisition unit that acquires writing information.
The handwriting management information storage unit 73 stores handwriting management information managed by the handwriting management unit 72. In the present embodiment, a handwriting management information storage unit 73 is provided as an example of a storage unit that stores attribute information.

The electronic document storage unit 74 temporarily stores a page of the electronic document received from the document server 20.
The user information storage unit 75 temporarily stores information (user information) related to the user that is referred to when the display information generation unit 77 generates display information.
The definition information storage unit 76 stores various types of definition information that the display information generation unit 77 refers to when generating display information.

When the display of the handwriting information is instructed, the display information generation unit 77 superimposes and displays the handwriting information extracted from the handwriting information of the plurality of users on the page of the electronic document acquired from the document server 20. Display information is generated. As this display information, for example, data serving as a source for generating an image to be displayed on the terminal device 50 is generated. In the present embodiment, a display information generation unit 77 is provided as an example of a generation unit that generates display information.
The transmission unit 79 transmits the display information generated by the display information generation unit 77 to the terminal device 50 when the display of handwriting information is instructed. In addition, information is transmitted to another terminal device 50 connected to the remote conference. In the present embodiment, a transmission unit 79 is provided as an example of a transmission unit that transmits writing information.

Next, an operation when the digital pen 60 generates handwriting information and registers it in the conference server 70 will be described.
In the digital pen 60, first, the infrared LED 63 irradiates the medium with infrared light, and the infrared CMOS 64 receives the reflected light to read the code image. Then, the image acquisition unit 611 acquires the read code image. If the code image contains noise, it is removed. Next, the dot array generation unit 612 converts the dot positions included in the code image into digital data, and generates a dot array.

FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating operations of the digital pen 60 and the conference server 70 thereafter.
The digital pen 60 acquires identification information, handwriting information, and a pen ID (step 621). Specifically, the following processing is performed. That is, first, the code array generation unit 613 detects a block from the dot array, and generates a code array that stores a code value for each block. Then, the position of the synchronization code is specified in the code array. Thereafter, the identification information acquisition unit 614 detects the identification code based on the position of the synchronization code, decodes it, and acquires the identification information. Further, the position information acquisition unit 615 detects a position code based on the position of the synchronization code, decodes this, and acquires position information. The handwriting information generation unit 616 generates handwriting information by connecting the position information. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the pen ID acquisition unit 617 acquires a pen ID from the pen ID memory 68 (see FIG. 7).

  Then, the communication control unit 619 passes these pieces of information to the communication circuit 66, and the communication circuit 66 transmits these pieces of information to the conference server 70 via the communication device 55 and the terminal device 50 (step 622).

Thereby, in the conference server 70, first, the receiving unit 71 receives the identification information, the handwriting information, and the pen ID, and passes them to the handwriting managing unit 72 (step 721). Of these pieces of information, the identification information is transferred to the transmission unit 79, and the transmission unit 79 transmits the identification information to the identification information server 30. As a result, the identification information server 30 returns the document ID, page number, and print setting corresponding to the identification information, so that the receiving unit 71 receives these information and passes them to the handwriting management unit 72.
Next, the handwriting management unit 72 determines whether or not the page of the electronic document to be written is stored in the electronic document storage unit 74 (step 722). For example, if the conference server 70 performs a remote conference using this electronic document, the electronic document page is stored in the electronic document storage unit 74, but the remote conference using this electronic document is terminated. If so, the electronic document page may be deleted from the electronic document storage unit 74, so such a determination is made.

  If it is determined that the page of the electronic document is stored in the electronic document storage unit 74, the process proceeds to step 724 as it is, but it is determined that the page of the electronic document is not stored in the electronic document storage unit 74. Then, the handwriting management unit 72 acquires the page of the electronic document from the document server 20 and stores it in the electronic document storage unit 74 (step 723). Specifically, the handwriting management unit 72 passes the document ID and page number to the transmission unit 79, and the transmission unit 79 transmits the document ID and page number to the document server 20. As a result, the document server 20 returns the page of the electronic document, so that the reception unit 71 receives this and passes it to the handwriting management unit 72. Then, the handwriting management unit 72 stores the delivered electronic document page in the electronic document storage unit 74.

  Next, the handwriting management unit 72 determines whether the user information including the pen ID received in Step 721 is stored in the user information storage unit 75 (Step 724). User information will be described in detail later. For example, user-specific attribute information that is not related to the meeting, user-specific attribute information that is related to the meeting, and information collected about the user at the meeting. Information etc. are included.

  Here, if it is determined that the user information is stored in the user information storage unit 75, the process proceeds to step 726 as it is, but if it is determined that the user information is not stored in the user information storage unit 75, The handwriting management unit 72 creates user information and stores it in the user information storage unit 75 (step 725). Specifically, the handwriting management unit 72 acquires user information not related to the conference by inquiring a user management server (not shown) using a pen ID. In addition, user information related to the conference is created based on information managed by the conference server 70.

Subsequently, the handwriting management unit 72 stores the handwriting information passed in step 721 in the handwriting management information storage unit 73 as stroke information in association with the writing time, the pen ID, and the identification information (step 726).
In addition, the handwriting management unit 72 determines whether a remote conference is being performed (step 727).
Here, if the remote conference is not being performed, the process proceeds to step 729 as it is. If the remote conference is being performed, the handwriting information on the page of the electronic document is shared with other terminals so that a plurality of users can be shared. It transmits to the apparatus 50 (step 728). That is, handwriting information is passed to the transmission unit 79, and the transmission unit 79 transmits the handwriting information to another terminal device 50.
Thereafter, the handwriting information registration completion report is passed from the handwriting management unit 72 to the transmission unit 79, and the transmission unit 79 transmits the handwriting information registration completion report to the digital pen 60 via the terminal device 50 and the communication device 55 (step 729). ).

  Thereby, in the digital pen 60, the communication circuit 66 receives the handwriting information registration completion report, and the communication control unit 619 receives this from the communication circuit 66 (step 623).

Here, specific contents of the user information created in step 725 will be described.
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a specific example of user information.
As shown in the figure, the user information corresponds to a pen ID, a user ID, role information, and speech information.
Among these, the pen ID is information for uniquely identifying the digital pen 60 as described above.
The user ID is information for uniquely identifying the user.
Furthermore, role information is information which shows the role of each user. As a role, a role in a conference (host, mere participant, etc.) can be considered as a representative example, but it may be a role (position) in an organization such as a company.
Furthermore, the speech information is information regarding the speech of each user in the conference. Here, as an example, the time when each user speaks is shown.

  In the figure, a user with a user ID “U001” possesses a digital pen 60 with a pen ID “P001”, the role of this user is “L1”, and this user has a time “T1”, “T3”, “ It is indicated that he / she has spoken to “T9” and “T13”. Further, the digital pens 60 with the pen IDs “P002”, “P003”, “P004”, and “P005” are respectively held by the users with the user IDs “U002”, “U003”, “U004”, and “U005” The role of these users is “L2”, which indicates that each user speaks at the time shown in the figure.

The specific contents of the handwriting management information stored in step 726 will be described.
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a specific example of handwriting management information.
As shown in the drawing, the handwriting management information associates writing time, pen ID, identification information, and stroke information.
Among these, the writing time is the start time of each stroke in the handwriting information as already described.
The pen ID is information for uniquely identifying the digital pen 60 as described above.
Furthermore, the identification information is information for uniquely identifying the medium as described above.
Furthermore, as described above, the stroke information is information obtained by digitizing the written content on the medium, and is information corresponding to one stroke. Here, the stroke is not stored as image data, but as a set of coordinates where the pen tip is located, but the stroke information is stored as image data and only the coordinates of the start point are stored. But you can.

  In the figure, for example, the stroke information for the medium with the identification information “000001”, which was made using the digital pen 60 with the pen ID “P001” from 10:00:00, is a set of points on the medium {(X11 , Y11), (X12, Y12), (X13, Y13),.

[Display handwriting information]
In a meeting, there are cases where it is desired to display the handwriting information of a plurality of participants stored in this manner on the display of the terminal device 50 in a synthesized manner. However, as the number of participants in the conference increases and the handwriting information increases, the information overflows and it becomes difficult to know which is important handwriting information. Therefore, if all the handwriting information is displayed on the display, effective feedback to the discussion of the meeting cannot be expected.
Therefore, in this embodiment, it is possible to share information efficiently by selecting and displaying important information among handwriting information of a plurality of participants, so that discussion can be actively promoted using handwriting information during a meeting. To do.
Further, not only during the meeting but also after the meeting, efficient information sharing is performed by selecting and displaying such important information.

  When such handwriting information is displayed, the terminal device 50 and the conference server 70 operate mainly. However, since the conference server 70 has been described in the description of writing on the print document, only the configuration of the terminal device 50 will be described here.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the terminal device 50.
As illustrated, the terminal device 50 includes a reception unit 51, a display control unit 52, an operation reception unit 53, and a transmission unit 59.

When the display of handwriting information is instructed, the receiving unit 51 receives display information for displaying the handwriting information superimposed on the electronic document from the conference server 70. In the present embodiment, a receiving unit 51 is provided as an example of a receiving unit that receives writing information.
The display control unit 52 controls display on the display based on the display information received by the receiving unit 51. In the present embodiment, a display control unit 52 is provided as an example of an output unit that outputs a written image.
The operation reception unit 53 receives a user operation related to a remote conference and a user operation requesting display of handwriting information.
The transmission unit 59 transmits operation information indicating the content of the user operation received by the operation reception unit 53 to the conference server 70.

Next, an operation when the conference server 70 displays handwriting information on the terminal device 50 in response to a request from the terminal device 50 will be described.
FIG. 14 is a sequence diagram showing operations of the terminal device 50 and the conference server 70 at this time.
First, when a user operation is performed in the terminal device 50, in the terminal device 50, the operation reception unit 53 receives this user operation (step 531). Then, operation information indicating the contents of the user operation is passed to the transmission unit 59, and the transmission unit 59 transmits the operation information to the conference server 70 (step 532). Here, the operation information includes information such as page turning, which is a normal operation performed during a remote conference, and information requesting display of handwriting information. When the operation information is information requesting display of handwriting information, an extraction condition used when extracting handwriting information is added.

Thereby, in the conference server 70, first, the receiving unit 71 receives the operation information from the terminal device 50, and passes it to the display information generating unit 77 (step 731).
Next, the display information generation unit 77 determines whether or not the passed operation information is a request for displaying handwriting information (step 732).

  As a result, when the operation information does not request display of handwriting information, that is, when the operation information is a normal operation in a remote conference such as a page turning operation, the display information generating unit 77 displays the remote conference as a remote conference. It is determined whether or not it has been performed (step 733). If a remote conference is performed, the display information of the electronic document shared by the plurality of terminal devices 50 is changed based on the operation information, and the changed display information is shared among a plurality of users. It transmits to the other terminal device 50 so that it can (step 734), and a process is complete | finished. If the remote conference is not performed, the process is terminated as it is.

  On the other hand, when the operation information is a request for display of handwriting information, the display information generation unit 77 determines whether or not the page of the electronic document to be displayed is stored in the electronic document storage unit 74 (step). 735). For example, if the conference server 70 performs a remote conference using this electronic document, the electronic document page is stored in the electronic document storage unit 74, but the remote conference using this electronic document is terminated. If so, the electronic document page may be deleted from the electronic document storage unit 74, so such a determination is made.

  If it is determined that the page of the electronic document is stored in the electronic document storage unit 74, the process proceeds to step 737 as it is, but it is determined that the page of the electronic document is not stored in the electronic document storage unit 74. Then, the display information generation unit 77 acquires the page of the electronic document from the document server 20 and stores it in the electronic document storage unit 74 (step 736). Specifically, the display information generation unit 77 passes the document ID and page number acquired in step 731 to the transmission unit 79, and the transmission unit 79 transmits the document ID and page number to the document server 20. As a result, the document server 20 returns the page of the electronic document, so that the receiving unit 71 receives this and passes it to the display information generating unit 77. Then, the display information generation unit 77 stores the transferred electronic document page in the electronic document storage unit 74.

Thereafter, the display information generation unit 77 performs handwriting information composition processing for composing handwriting information extracted from the handwriting information managed by the handwriting management information storage unit 73 (step 737).
Then, the synthesis result by the handwriting information synthesis process is passed to the transmission unit 79, and the transmission unit 79 transmits the synthesis result to the terminal device 50 (step 738).

  Thereby, the terminal device 50 receives the synthesis result (step 533) and displays it on the display (step 534).

Here, the handwriting information synthesis process in step 737 will be described in detail.
As described above, when the operation information received in step 731 requests the display of handwriting information, handwriting information extraction conditions are added to the operation information. This handwriting information synthesis processing corresponds to this extraction condition. Thus, three processes can be considered. Therefore, these three processes will be described in order as first to third handwriting information synthesis processes.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the first handwriting information synthesis process. This first handwriting information combining process is a process in the case where the extraction condition “extract handwriting information in a region in which many are written” is designated. That is, it is a process in the case of adopting a condition that many writings are written in an area where many writings are written as an example of a condition predetermined as a condition to be satisfied by important writing attribute information.
In this case, the display information generation unit 77 first reads the area definition stored in the definition information storage unit 76 (step 741). Here, the area definition is definition information related to an area for determining whether a lot of handwriting information is written. For example, when one page is divided into four, area definitions such as upper left, lower left, upper right, and lower right can be considered, but the number of divisions per page may be generally N (natural number), and any method of dividing one page may be used. A thing may be adopted. The area definition may be set freely by the user. Then, the read area definition is passed to the handwriting management unit 72.

Then, the handwriting management unit 72 reads one record of the handwriting management information stored in the handwriting management information storage unit 73 (step 742).
Then, the handwriting information in the record is associated with an area (not limited to one) including the handwriting information (step 743). Specifically, if any point constituting the handwriting information is within the range of any region defined in the region definition, the handwriting information is associated with this region. For example, for the upper left area of the page, if the left end X coordinate is 0, the right end X coordinate is XC, the top Y coordinate is 0, and the bottom Y coordinate is YC, the handwriting information in the first line of FIG. If there is a point in (X11, Y11), (X12, Y12), (X13, Y13),... With an X coordinate of 0 or more and XC or less, and a Y coordinate of 0 or more and YC or less, Associated with the upper left area.
In addition, the handwriting management unit 72 counts up a handwriting counter provided for counting the number of handwriting information with respect to the region associated with the handwriting information (step 744).

Thereafter, the handwriting management unit 72 determines whether or not there is an unprocessed record in the handwriting management information stored in the handwriting management information storage unit 73 (step 745), and if there is, the processing of steps 742 to 744 is performed. If it does not exist repeatedly, control is returned to the display information generation unit 77. At this time, handwriting counter 72 and information on association between handwriting information and a region are transmitted from handwriting management unit 72 to display information generation unit 77.
As a result, the display information generating unit 77 selects an area having the largest count value in the handwriting counter (step 746).
Then, the handwriting information associated with the selected area is superimposed on the page of the electronic document (step 747).

  In this operation example, the handwriting information is associated with an area where even part of the handwriting information is written. Thus, the “region where much writing is performed” means a region where a lot of handwriting information is written including handwriting information straddling the region and other regions. However, when the entire handwriting information (one stroke) exists in a certain area, the handwriting information may be associated with the area.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the second handwriting information synthesis process. This second handwriting information synthesis process is a process when an extraction condition “extract handwriting information based on user information” is designated. In the specification of this extraction condition, it is assumed that whether the user role is used as the user information or the number of utterances of the user in the meeting is also specified. In other words, as an example of a condition predetermined as a condition to be satisfied by important writing attribute information, a condition that the user has a designated role or a condition that the number of utterances of the user in the meeting exceeds the standard. This is the process when it is adopted.
In this case, the display information generation unit 77 first reads the user information stored in the user information storage unit 75 (step 751).
Then, the display information generation unit 77 determines whether there is a designation that the user role is used as the user information or a designation that the user's utterance number in the conference is used as the user information (step 752).

  As a result, when it is determined that the user role is specified as the user information, the display information generation unit 77 refers to the user information read in step 751 and the pen ID corresponding to the specified role information. Is identified (step 753). For example, in the case where the user information is shown in FIG. 11, if “L1” is designated as the user role information, the pen ID “P001” is specified. Then, the specified pen ID is passed to the handwriting management unit 72.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the user information is specified to use the number of utterances of the user in the conference, the display information generating unit 77 refers to the user information read in Step 751 and counts the total number of utterances (Step S1). 754). Then, the number of reference utterances that serves as a reference for extracting handwriting information is calculated (step 755). Here, the reference number of utterances may be calculated by any method. For example, it may be calculated by multiplying the total number of utterances by a predetermined ratio R. Thereafter, the pen ID corresponding to the utterance information indicating that the utterance more than the reference utterance number is made is specified (step 756). For example, in the case where the user information is shown in FIG. 11, if the ratio R is 0.2, the total number of utterances is 15 and the standard number of utterances is 3. The pen IDs “P001”, “P002”, and “P003” of the pen 60 are specified. Then, the specified pen ID is passed to the handwriting management unit 72.

Then, the handwriting management unit 72 reads a record including the handed pen ID from the handwriting management information stored in the handwriting management information storage unit 73, and returns control to the display information generation unit 77 (step 757). At this time, the read record is passed from the handwriting management unit 72 to the display information generation unit 77.
Thereby, the display information generation unit 77 superimposes the handwriting information in the passed record on the page of the electronic document (step 758).

  In this operation example, the role of the user and the number of times the user speaks in the conference are considered separately, but handwriting information may be extracted considering both at the same time. In that case, you may weight these according to what ratio considers a user's role and the user's speech count in a meeting.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of the third handwriting information synthesis process. The third handwriting information composition processing is processing when an extraction condition “extract handwriting information in a time range (time zone) in which many writings are performed” is designated. That is, it is a process in the case of adopting a condition that many writings are written in a time range in which writing is written as an example of a condition predetermined as a condition to be satisfied by important writing attribute information.
In this case, the display information generation unit 77 first reads the time range definition stored in the definition information storage unit 76 (step 761). Here, the time range definition is definition information related to a time range for determining whether a lot of handwriting information is written. For example, a time range such as from 10:00:00 to 10: 0: 59 is defined from 10:00:00 to 10: 2: 59. Alternatively, only the length of time such as 1 minute or 3 minutes is defined as the time range definition, and the above time range is automatically calculated based on this and the conference start time (for example, 10:00:00). And may be defined. The time range definition may be freely settable by the user. Then, the read time range definition is passed to the handwriting management unit 72.

Then, the handwriting management unit 72 reads one record of the handwriting management information stored in the handwriting management information storage unit 73 (step 762).
Then, the handwriting information in the record is associated with the time range including the handwriting information (step 763). Specifically, if the writing time corresponding to the handwriting information is within any time range defined by the time range definition, the handwriting information is associated with this time range. For example, time range from 10:00:00 to 10: 0: 59, 10: 1: 0, 10: 1: 59, 10: 2: 0 to 10: 2: 59, etc. Is defined in the time range from 10: 5: 0 to 10: 5: 59, the handwriting information in the 3rd to 8th lines in FIG. Associated with a range.
The handwriting management unit 72 counts up a handwriting counter provided for counting the number of handwriting information with respect to the time range associated with the handwriting information (step 764).

Thereafter, the handwriting management unit 72 determines whether or not an unprocessed record exists in the handwriting management information stored in the handwriting management information storage unit 73 (step 765), and if there exists, performs the processing of steps 762 to 764. If it does not exist repeatedly, control is returned to the display information generation unit 77. At this time, handwriting counter 72 and information on association between handwriting information and time range are transmitted from handwriting management unit 72 to display information generating unit 77.
Thereby, the display information generating unit 77 selects a time range in which the count value in the handwriting counter is the largest (step 766).
Then, the handwriting information associated with the selected time range is superimposed on the page of the electronic document (step 767).

  Here, the above-described three processes are given as the handwriting information combining process in step 737 of FIG. 14, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, handwriting information written in the area specified by the user, handwriting information written by the writer specified by the user, handwriting information written by the digital pen 60 specified by the user, written in the time zone specified by the user It is also possible to extract the handwriting information. Alternatively, writing pressure information may be recorded as a writing attribute, and handwriting information written with writing pressure exceeding the standard may be extracted.

Here, a display example of handwriting information and an electronic document in the terminal device 50 will be described.
FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a first display example.
In this first display example, contents written by a plurality of users on each of a plurality of printed documents on which an electronic document is printed are displayed superimposed on a single object representing the electronic document.
That is, as shown in (a-1), handwriting information 411 is written in the print document 41, as shown in (a-2), handwriting information 421 is written in the printing document 42, and in (a-3). As shown, if handwriting information 431 is written in the print document 43, the handwritten images 441 to 443 are superimposed on the display image 44 having the same image as the print documents 41 to 43 as shown in FIG. Displayed. Here, although not shown in the figure, the print documents 41 to 43 of (a-1) to (a-3) are print documents distributed to three of N users. The user writes handwriting information 411, 421, 431 on each print document, and it is determined that the handwriting information satisfies the extraction condition by the above operation. The handwriting information may be displayed in different colors for each piece of information (user ID, pen ID, etc.) that identifies the handwriting information.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a second display example.
In the second display example, contents written by a plurality of users on each of a plurality of printed documents on which an electronic document is printed are displayed superimposed on an object formed by arranging the printed documents.
That is, as shown in (a-1), handwriting information 411 is written in the print document 41, as shown in (a-2), handwriting information 421 is written in the printing document 42, and in (a-3). As shown, if handwriting information 431 is written in the print document 43, the handwritten images 451 to 453 are superimposed on the display image 45 having the combined image of the print documents 41 to 43 as shown in (b). Displayed together. Here, as in FIG. 18, the print documents 41 to 43 of (a-1) to (a-3) are print documents distributed to three of N users. It is assumed that handwriting information 411, 421, 431 is written in each print document, and that the handwriting information is determined to satisfy the extraction condition by the above operation. The handwriting information may be displayed in different colors for each piece of information (user ID, pen ID, etc.) that identifies the handwriting information.
This is the end of the description of the operation of the present embodiment.

In this embodiment, since the print document is printed with the standard setting of A4, 100%, the user specifies only the document ID and the page number when requesting the display of handwriting information. I made it. However, in practice, it may be possible to output a print document by specifying complicated print settings. In such a case, a combination of document ID, page number, and print setting is stored in association with a meeting ID that uniquely identifies the meeting, and by specifying the meeting ID, the corresponding document ID, You may make it produce | generate the object which superimposes handwriting information using the combination of a page number and print setting.
In the present embodiment, a meeting scene is assumed as a scene in which handwriting information written by a plurality of users is combined and displayed. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention can be applied to any scene in which handwriting information of a plurality of users can be combined and displayed.

By the way, in this embodiment, the digital pen 60 generates handwriting information, the conference server 70 manages handwriting information, the terminal device 50 requests display of handwriting information, and the conference server 70 satisfies the extraction conditions. Was extracted. However, various variations can be considered as to which apparatus performs these processes. For example, the handwriting information may be generated by the terminal device 50 or the conference server 70 based on the position information sent from the digital pen 60, and the handwriting information may be managed by the terminal device 50.
Therefore, the hardware configuration of the computer 90 will be described assuming that these processes are performed by the computer 90.

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the computer 90.
As shown in the figure, the computer 90 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 91 as a calculation means, a main memory 92 as a storage means, and a magnetic disk device (HDD: Hard Disk Drive) 93. Here, the CPU 91 executes various types of software such as an OS (Operating System) and applications, and implements the above-described processing units. The main memory 92 stores various types of software and data used for execution thereof, and the magnetic disk device 93 stores input data for various types of software, output data from various types of software, etc., one or both of which are described above. Each storage unit is realized.
Further, the computer 90 includes a communication I / F 94 for performing communication with the outside, a display mechanism 95 including a video memory and a display, and an input device 96 such as a keyboard and a mouse.

  The program for realizing the present embodiment can be provided not only by communication means but also by storing it in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10,50 ... Terminal device, 20 ... Document server, 30 ... Identification information server, 40 ... Image forming device, 60 ... Digital pen, 70 ... Conference server, 80 ... Network

Claims (7)

Storage means for storing attribute information of a plurality of writings made on one information display medium;
An extraction unit that extracts the attribute information when the predetermined attribute information satisfies a predetermined condition from the plurality of writing attribute information stored in the storage unit;
Acquisition means for acquiring writing information indicating the content of writing having the attribute information extracted by the extracting means from among a plurality of writing information made on the one information display medium ,
The attribute information is position information indicating a position in the one information display medium on which writing has been made,
The extraction means, when the position information stored in the storage means indicates a position in an area in the one information display medium in which an amount of writing exceeding a predetermined reference is made, Extract and
The position information includes first position information indicating a position in an area where an amount of writing exceeding the predetermined reference is made, and an area in which an amount of writing exceeding the predetermined reference is not made Second position information indicating the position,
The writing information processing apparatus characterized in that the acquisition means acquires the writing information obtained by connecting the first position information and the second position information stored in the storage means . The attribute information is owner information related to the owner of the electronic writing instrument used for writing,
The writing information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the extraction unit extracts the owner information when the owner information stored in the storage unit satisfies a predetermined condition. The attribute information is time zone information indicating a time zone in which writing was performed,
The extracting means extracts the time zone information when the time zone information stored in the storage means indicates a time zone in which an amount of writing exceeding a predetermined reference is made. The writing information processing apparatus according to claim 1. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: generating means for generating display information for displaying the writing information acquired by the acquiring means superimposed on the print information printed on the one information display medium. The writing information processing apparatus according to any one of 1 to 3 . A management device for managing attribute information of a plurality of writings made on one information display medium;
An output device that outputs a written image obtained by imaging the content of writing,
The management device
An acquisition means for acquiring position information indicating a position where writing is performed on one information display medium;
In the one information display medium, a plurality of the position information acquired by the acquisition unit included in a region where the amount of writing exceeding a predetermined reference is extracted from a plurality of regions where writing was performed. Extraction means to
A plurality of the positional information extracted by the extracting means, and generating means for generating writing information in units of strokes;
Transmission means for transmitting the writing information generated by the generation means ,
The output device is
Receiving means for receiving the writing information transmitted by the transmitting means;
A writing information processing system comprising: output means for outputting the written image based on the writing information received by the receiving means. On the computer,
A function of storing in a storage means attribute information of a plurality of writings made on one information display medium;
A function of acquiring position information indicating a position where writing is performed on one information display medium;
Of the plurality of writing attribute information stored in the storage means, in the one information display medium, an area in which writing of an amount exceeding a predetermined reference is made from a plurality of areas where writing was performed A function of extracting the plurality of pieces of position information acquired by the function to be acquired ,
A program for realizing a function of connecting a plurality of the position information extracted by the extracting function and generating writing information in units of strokes . An acquisition means for acquiring position information indicating a position where writing is performed on one information display medium;
In the one information display medium, a plurality of the position information acquired by the acquisition unit included in a region where the amount of writing exceeding a predetermined reference is extracted from a plurality of regions where writing was performed. Extraction means to
A writing information processing apparatus comprising: generating means for connecting a plurality of the position information extracted by the extracting means and generating writing information in units of strokes.

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