JP6475921B2 - communication unit - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication unit used when a user communicates with a communication partner, and more particularly to a communication unit capable of displaying an image of a communication partner on a video display.

  Communication technology for allowing people in remote locations to interact while watching each other's images has already been used for applications such as video conferencing and family watching. With regard to communication technology for such dialogue, it is a technology that makes you feel as if you are interacting in the same space (hereinafter, a sense of realism) by communicating the atmosphere of your environment to the other party. Development is required.

  On the other hand, as a technique for transmitting the atmosphere, a technique described in Patent Document 1 can be given. Patent Document 1 relates to a sound field (atmosphere) transmission system, in which a sound collection device including a sound field sound collection microphone installed in a target room, a reproduction device including a speaker, and a sound collection device are provided. It has a transmission means for transmitting the collected audio signal to the playback device. The playback device is installed on the wall of a room different from the target room, and includes a bass-reflex enclosure, a speaker provided in the enclosure, and an actuator provided on the bottom surface of the enclosure. Furthermore, the playback device plays back the audio signal collected by the sound field collection microphone of the sound collection device with a speaker, and drives the actuator with a low-frequency signal of the audio signal collected by the microphone. .

  According to the above configuration, when the sound (life sound) collected by the microphone is reproduced by the speaker, the floor or the reproduction device vibrates by driving the actuator with a low-frequency signal. Thereby, ultra-low frequency sound is reproduced | regenerated as vibration of a floor or the vibration of reproducing | regenerating apparatus itself among the living sounds generated in the target room in which the microphone is installed. With such a function, if the playback device is installed near the wall, the atmosphere of the target room is reproduced by the wall, and it is possible to reproduce the atmosphere as if the target room is on the other side of the wall. Become.

JP 2012-95230 A

  However, even if the technology described in Patent Document 1 is introduced into a communication system for performing a conversation while watching each other's images, the conversation persons can transmit each other's sound field, but the same. It is difficult to effectively obtain a sense of realism as if we are interacting in space.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and the object of the present invention is to provide a sense of reality of dialogue as a communication unit used for a user to interact with a partner while viewing the partner's video. It is providing the communication unit which can improve.

According to the communication unit of the present invention, the subject is a communication unit used when a user communicates with a communication partner, (A) a video display for displaying the video of the communication partner, and (B). A vibration imparting body for imparting vibration to the first floor on which the user is standing; (C) an acquisition process for acquiring video data indicating the video through communication with the communication partner; and the acquired video data And a control device that executes a video display process for displaying the video indicated by the video display on the video display and a vibration generation process for controlling the vibration imparting body to vibrate the first floor surface. ) In the acquisition process, the control device displays the video including a grounding scene in which a foot of the communication partner in a state separated from the second floor located below the communication partner contacts the second floor. Get the video data shown And when the first bed surface and the timing of the ground scene is displayed running and the vibration generating processing with the video display processing so that the timing of vibration coincide,
The control device performs a second acquisition process of acquiring vibration data indicating a magnitude of vibration generated when the communication partner's foot touches the second floor surface, and in the vibration generation process, Controlling the vibration imparting body so that the magnitude of vibration on the first floor surface matches the magnitude of vibration indicated by the vibration data;
A measuring instrument for measuring the magnitude of vibration on the first floor surface;
The control device includes: a control amount of the vibration imparting body in the vibration generation process; and a magnitude of vibration on the first floor measured by the measuring instrument when the vibration imparting body is controlled by the control amount. Memorize the correspondence with measurement results,
The control device solves the problem by calculating the control amount based on the vibration data and the correspondence relationship between the execution of the acquisition process and the timing at which the ground scene is displayed in the video display process. Is done.

  In the above configuration, the floor surface (first floor surface) on which the user stands is vibrated in synchronization with the timing at which a scene in which the foot of the communication partner touches the floor surface (second floor surface) is displayed in the video. To do. In this way, by vibrating the floor surface on which the user stands in conjunction with the movement of the communication partner's foot, the vibration of the floor surface generated on the communication partner side is reproduced on the user side. Accordingly, the user feels that the space where the user is present and the space where the communication partner is present are continuous (integrated). That is, with the communication unit of the present invention, it is possible to improve the feeling that the user is interacting with the communication partner in the same space, that is, the sense of reality.

Further, in the above SL configurations, the generated motion of the communication partner feet vibration, while measuring the magnitude, the user side, the vibration imparting such vibrations of a magnitude consistent with the measurement result is generated Control the body. As a result, the vibration of the floor surface generated on the communication partner side can be reproduced more accurately on the user side, and the sense of reality can be further improved.

In the configuration above SL and stores the correspondence between the magnitude of the vibration at the time of actually vibrate the control amount and the floor surface in controlling the vibration imparting body (first bed surface). If the control amount is calculated based on this, it is possible to calculate an appropriate amount for reproducing the floor vibration generated on the communication partner side on the user side.

In the configuration above SL, the time for calculating the control amount in controlling the vibrating body, to ensure in the period from when obtaining the image data until the ground scene is displayed. Moreover, when calculating said control amount, it calculates based on said vibration data and correspondence. Accordingly, it is possible to appropriately control the vibration imparting body so that the vibration of the floor surface generated on the communication partner side is accurately reproduced on the user side.

In the communication unit, it is even more preferable that the vibration imparting bodies are respectively disposed at positions on opposite sides of the center position in the lateral width direction of the video display. At this time, the control device differs in each of the vibration imparting body located on one end side from the central position and the vibration imparting body located on the other end side from the central position in the lateral width direction. It is desirable to control with a control amount.
In the above configuration, a plurality of vibration imparting bodies are installed at different positions when viewed from the central position in the horizontal width direction of the video display, and each vibration imparting body is individually controlled. Thereby, the vibration of the floor surface generated on the communication partner side can be accurately reproduced on the user side including the generation position, and the sense of reality can be further improved.

Further, in the communication unit, a lower end region of a screen that the video display has for displaying the video is located above the first floor surface and around the first floor surface, and the control In the acquisition process, the apparatus acquires the video data indicating the video including the whole body image of the communication partner and the second floor surface, and in the video display process, the apparatus displays the first data in the video in the lower end region. It is more and more preferable to display the video on the video display so that two floor surfaces are reflected.
In the above configuration, the lower end area of the video display screen is positioned around the first floor surface, and the second floor surface on which the communication partner stands is reflected in the lower end area. Thereby, a visual effect as if the first floor surface and the second floor surface are continuous can be obtained. As a result, it is possible to further improve the sense of reality.

According to the communication unit of the present invention, it is possible to reproduce the floor vibration generated on the communication partner side on the user side. In particular, it is possible to reproduce the presence of a communication partner, which was difficult to reproduce using conventional interactive communication technology that transmits only audio and video, by vibrating the floor according to the movement of the communication partner. It becomes possible. As a result, the user feels that the space where the user is and the space where the communication partner is located are continuous (integrated), and the user feels as if he / she is interacting with the communication partner in the same space, that is, the presence. Realize a feeling.
As a secondary effect of the communication unit of the present invention, it is possible to grasp the state of the communication partner through reproduced vibrations. Explaining with specific examples, by using the communication unit of the present invention, for example, a certain user is living away from a child or grandchildren (specific examples are lively, quiet and quiet) Etc.) can be grasped.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the communication unit which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the mode of the dialog using the communication unit of this invention. It is a figure of the table data which shows the correspondence of a control amount and the actual value of the magnitude | size of a vibration. It is a figure which shows the flow of communication for dialog. It is an image figure which shows a mode that the vibration of a communicating party side is transmitted. It is a figure which shows the structure of the communication unit which concerns on a modification.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter, this embodiment) will be described with reference to the drawings.
The communication unit according to the present embodiment is used for users having distant places to interact with each other while watching each other's video. The communication unit is prepared for each user, and specifically, installed in each user's home. Then, the user communicates for communication with the communication partner in his / her room in a room (hereinafter referred to as a “dialogue room”) in which devices constituting the communication unit are installed.

  In the following, in order to make the explanation easy to understand, a case where one user is Mr. A, the other user is Mr. B, and Mr. A performs communication for dialogue with Mr. B as a communication partner will be described as an example. I will do it. That is, the content described below is the content when the viewpoint is placed on the communication unit on the Mr. A side. The communication unit on the A's side and the communication unit on the B's side have the same configuration. For this reason, the contents described below are the same when the viewpoint is changed and the communication unit on Mr. B's side is noticed (when Mr. B performs communication for conversation with Mr. A as the communication partner). I will add that.

<< Device configuration of communication unit >>
First, the device configuration of the communication unit 100 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the camera 2 and the microphone 3 as input devices for acquiring Mr. A's video / audio, and the output for reproducing Mr. B's video / audio. A video display 4 and a speaker 5 are provided as devices. These devices are installed in Mr. A's home, more specifically in the dialogue room. Of the above-described devices, known devices can be used for the camera 2, the microphone 3, and the speaker 5.

  The video display 4 according to the present embodiment will be described. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the video display 4 is a rectangular display in front view, and a video display screen 4a is formed on the front surface. In the present embodiment, the video display 4 is arranged near the wall of the dialogue room, but the arrangement position of the video display 4 is not particularly limited and can be arbitrarily determined.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the video display 4 has a lower end area of the screen 4a located immediately above the floor F1 (corresponding to the first floor) of the room where the dialogue is performed, and around the floor F1 (strictly, Are arranged so as to be located at a position floating by a distance corresponding to the width of the outer frame of the video display 4.

  The configuration of the communication unit 100 will be further described. As shown in FIG. 1, a home server 1 is provided. The home server 1 is a so-called home gateway, and includes a CPU, a memory including a RAM and a ROM, a hard disk drive, and a communication interface. Various programs and data are stored in the memory of the home server 1.

  And the home server 1 is corresponded to the control apparatus which controls each device mentioned above and the vibration provision body 6 mentioned later. The home server 1 transmits and receives data to and from the home server 1 on the B side through a communication network such as the Internet. In this way, the home server 1 executes various processes in order to realize interactive communication. Note that processing for realizing interactive communication is executed by the CPU reading a program stored in the memory of the home server 1.

  Here, the process executed by the home server 1 will be described. A delivery process for delivering video file data indicating the video and audio of Mr. A is mentioned. In this process, the video signal when the home server 1 captures Mr. A is acquired from the camera 2, and the audio signal when the voice of Mr. A is collected is acquired from the microphone 3. Thereafter, the home server 1 generates moving image file data from the acquired video signal and audio signal, and transmits the data to the home server 1 on the B side. Here, the moving image file data corresponds to video data indicating video, and strictly speaking, the video file data includes both video data and audio data indicating audio.

  In the present embodiment, the camera 2 captures a full-length image of Mr. A who is the subject together with the surrounding environment of Mr. A including the floor F1 of the dialogue room. Therefore, when the video data is extracted from the moving image file data generated by the home server 1 and expanded, a video including the full-length image of Mr. A and the surrounding environment including the floor F1 of the dialogue room is displayed. Become. Here, the “whole body image” is the appearance of the whole body from the head to the foot, which may be standing or sitting, and partly hidden by an object placed in front. It is a concept that includes the appearance of

  The processing executed by the home server 1 includes, in addition to the distribution processing described above, data reception processing for receiving moving image file data from the other party's home server 1, and reproduction of the received moving image file data to reproduce video and audio. And video / audio reproduction processing to be performed. The data reception process is a process in which Mr. A acquires moving image file data indicating the video and audio of Mr. B through communication with Mr. B, and corresponds to an “acquisition process” for acquiring video data.

  In the video / audio reproduction process, video data and audio data are respectively extracted from the received video file data and expanded, the video indicated by the video data is displayed on the video display 4, and the audio indicated by the audio data is reproduced on the speaker 5. It is processing. In this sense, the video / audio reproduction processing corresponds to “video display processing”.

  In the present embodiment, the moving image file data received from Mr. B's home server 1 includes the full-length image of Mr. B and the floor F2 (corresponding to the second floor) of the dialogue room where Mr. B is located. Video data showing the video of the surrounding environment is included. Therefore, when the video / audio reproduction process is executed, as shown in FIG. 2, Mr. B and the surrounding environment are displayed on the screen 4a of the video display 4, and in particular, the floor F2 of the dialogue room. Is displayed in the lower end area of the screen 4a.

  Here, as described above, the lower end region of the screen 4a is located immediately above the floor surface F1 of the dialogue room and is located around the floor surface F1. For this reason, when the floor surface F2 located below Mr. B is displayed in the lower end area of the screen 4a, as shown in FIG. 2, the floor surface F1 on the Mr. A side and the floor surface F2 on the Mr. B side appear as if they are. A visual effect that is continuous is obtained. As a result, Mr. A feels as if he is interacting with Mr. B in the same space, that is, a sense of reality.

  Furthermore, the home server 1 according to the present embodiment executes a vibration generation process for vibrating the floor surface F1 on which Mr. A stands. This vibration generation process is a process executed to improve the realism of dialogue. More specifically, when there is a ground scene in the video displayed on the video display 4, the floor F1 is vibrated in synchronization with the display timing of the ground scene. Here, the grounding scene is a scene where the foot of Mr. B who is away from the floor surface F2 contacts the floor surface F2, for example, a scene where Mr. B is performing a walking motion or a jumping motion. Applicable.

  As described above, by vibrating the floor surface F1 on which Mr. A stands in synchronization with the display timing of the grounding scene, the vibration of the floor surface F2 caused by the movement of Mr. B is reproduced on the Mr. A side. It becomes like this. As a result, Mr. B's presence, which is difficult to reproduce simply by transmitting voice or video, can be reproduced well by vibrating the floor F1 in accordance with Mr. B's movement. As a result, Mr. A feels that the indoor space where he is and the indoor space where Mr. B is continuous (integrated), and feels as if he is interacting with Mr. B in the same space. It becomes like this.

  The communication unit 100 includes a vibration imparting body 6 as a device necessary for the home server 1 to execute the vibration generation process. The vibration imparting body 6 is provided in contact with the back surface of the floor material constituting the floor surface F1, and more specifically in the front position of the video display device 4, more specifically in the horizontal width direction of the video display device 4. It is arranged at a position slightly away from the center position. In the present embodiment, an actuator that applies vibration to the floor surface F1 by a mechanical operation is used. Note that the vibration imparting body 6 is not limited to an actuator, and may be any one that suitably vibrates the floor surface F1, and for example, a vibration speaker may be used.

  The home server 1 controls the vibration imparting body 6 as an execution operation of the vibration generation process, and strictly speaking, outputs a control signal to the vibration imparting body 6. The vibration imparting body 6 that has received such a control signal analyzes the control signal to identify a control amount, and generates a vibration with an output corresponding to the control amount (strictly, the amplitude of the generated vibration). To F1. Note that the control signal output from the home server 1 is amplified by the amplifier circuit 7 in the transmission process, and the amplified signal is input to the vibration imparting body 6.

  In addition to the vibration imparting body 6, an acceleration sensor 8 is attached to the back surface of the flooring. This acceleration sensor 8 is an example of a measuring instrument, measures the magnitude of vibration (strictly speaking, the magnitude of amplitude) on the floor surface F1, and outputs an electrical signal indicating the measurement result. The transmitted electrical signal is stored in the logger 9. The logger 9 generates data indicating a vibration measurement result based on the stored signal, that is, vibration data, and transmits the data to the home server 1. In the present embodiment, the acceleration sensor 8 is disposed at the front position of the video display 4.

  Further, the home server 1 has a learning function, and stores the input value and output value in the process every time the vibration generation process is executed, and the correspondence between the two values is represented as table data shown in FIG. Saved. Here, the input value is a control amount of the vibration applying body 6 in the vibration generating process. The output value is a measurement result of the magnitude of vibration on the floor surface F1 measured by the acceleration sensor 8 when the vibration applying body 6 is controlled by the control amount determined as the input value.

<< Flow of conversation communication >>
Next, a communication flow using the communication unit 100 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. The contents described below are the contents when the viewpoint is placed on the communication unit 100 on the Mr. A side as described above, but the same applies when focusing on the communication unit on the Mr. B side while changing the viewpoint. It becomes. In other words, regarding the processing and procedure performed by the A-side communication unit 100 described below, the B-side communication unit 100 performs the same processing in the same procedure.

  When starting communication for conversation, Mr. B's home server 1 acquires a video signal from the camera 2 and an audio signal from the microphone 3, generates video file data based on these signals, and stores the data as A The message is sent to the home server 1 on the other side (S001).

  When Mr. A's home server 1 receives the above-mentioned moving image file data (S002), the video / audio reproduction process is executed (S003). That is, video data and audio data are extracted from the received moving image file data and expanded. Then, the home server 1 displays the video indicated by the video data on the video display 4 and causes the speaker 5 to reproduce the audio indicated by the audio data. As a result, Mr. B's whole body image and its surrounding environment are displayed on the screen 4 a of the video display 4, and the sound emitted by Mr. B flows from the speaker 5.

  By the way, when Mr. B performs a walking motion or a jumping motion during the shooting / sound collection period, the state of the motion is naturally captured, and the video data includes the motion. The scene being performed, that is, the grounding scene is included. Accordingly, when the video data is expanded and displayed, the ground scene is displayed in the middle of the display.

  On the other hand, when Mr. B performs the above operation, the floor surface F2 on which Mr. B stands is inevitably vibrated (Yes in S004). When the floor surface F2 vibrates, as shown in FIG. 5A, the acceleration sensor 8 installed under the floor surface F2 measures the magnitude of the vibration, and an electrical signal indicating the measurement result is sent to the logger 9. Output. When the logger 9 receives the electrical signal, the logger 9 generates vibration data indicating a measurement result of the magnitude of vibration and transmits the vibration data to the home server 1 on the B side. Then, Mr. B's home server 1 transmits the above vibration data to Mr. A's home server 1 (S005).

  The Mr. A's home server 1 executes a process of receiving the vibration data transmitted from the Mr. B's home server 1 through the Internet (S006). The process S006 corresponds to a second acquisition process, and the Mr. A-side home server 1 acquires the vibration data by executing the process.

  When the vibration data is acquired, the Mr. A's home server 1 executes the video / audio reproduction process and the vibration generation process so that the display timing of the grounding scene and the timing at which the floor surface F1 vibrates coincide with each other. Here, the method for matching the timing for displaying a predetermined scene in the video with the timing for executing another process (in this embodiment, the timing for vibrating the floor F1) is not particularly limited, and is known publicly-known synchronization. It is possible to use the method. For example, first, by analyzing the moving image file data of a video including a grounding scene, the time from when the video is displayed until the grounding scene is displayed is determined. Then, if the display timing of the grounding scene is determined based on the calculated time and the vibration generation process is executed at the same timing, both timings are synchronized.

  Further, when executing the vibration generation process, the home server 1 controls the vibration applying body 6 so that the magnitude of the vibration on the floor surface F1 matches the magnitude of the vibration indicated by the vibration data. More specifically, the home server 1 on the A side receives the vibration data from the home server 1 on the B side, so that the video data (strictly, video file data) received at substantially the same time is indicated. Recognize that the video contains a ground scene. Using this as a trigger, Mr. A's home server 1 calculates a control amount for controlling the vibration imparting body 6 (S007).

  The control amount calculation procedure will be described. First, the Mr. A's home server 1 performs a noise removal filter process on the vibration data received from the Mr. B's home server 1. Thereafter, the value indicated by the vibration data after the filter processing, that is, the measurement result of the magnitude of vibration in the floor surface F2 generated by Mr. B's operation is specified.

  Next, Mr. A's home server 1 reads the table data shown in FIG. 3 stored in the memory. And the control amount according to the measurement result of the magnitude | size of the vibration in the floor surface F2 specified by the front process is calculated by referring the said table data. For easy understanding, the correspondence shown by the table data shown in FIG. 3 is expressed as a correlation equation, and the control amount is calculated by substituting the measurement result into the correlation equation.

  After calculating the control amount, the home server 1 on the A side executes the video / audio reproduction process for displaying the ground scene and the vibration generation process at the same time (S008). At this time, Mr. A's home server 1 controls the vibration imparting body 6 with the control amount calculated in the previous step in the vibration generation process. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5B, the floor F1 on which Mr. A stands is vibrated in synchronization with the display of the grounding scene.

  Further, the magnitude of the vibration on the floor surface F1 is a magnitude corresponding to the control amount calculated based on the measurement result of the magnitude of the vibration on the floor surface F2. As a result, the vibration of the floor surface F2 generated on the Mr. B side can be more accurately reproduced on the Mr. A side, and the sense of reality can be further improved. When calculating the control amount, the learning result so far, that is, the correspondence between the input value and the output value in the vibration generation process is referred to. As a result, as for the control amount, an appropriate amount is calculated for reproducing the vibration of the floor surface F2 generated on the Mr. B side on the Mr. A side.

  Incidentally, the control amount is calculated between the time when the process of receiving moving image file data (data reception process) is executed and the time when the ground scene is displayed. In other words, the execution of the ground scene display process is suspended until the control amount calculation is completed, thereby ensuring the control amount calculation time. In this sense, the execution of the ground scene display process may be delayed (delayed) until the control amount calculation is completed.

  When the floor surface F1 is vibrated, the magnitude is measured by the acceleration sensor 8, and an electrical signal indicating the measurement result is input to the logger 9 (S009). The logger 9 generates vibration data indicating a measurement result from the electrical signal, and transmits the data to the home server 1 on the A side. When Mr. A's home server 1 receives the vibration data, the home server 1 specifies the measurement result indicated by the data, that is, the output value in the vibration generation process.

  Then, Mr. A's home server 1 sets the control amount adopted during the vibration generation process, that is, the input value and the output value, and stores them as a new learning item. For easy understanding, the table data shown in FIG. 3 is updated by adding new input value and output value data. The updated table data (table data to which data has been added) is referred to when calculating the control amount in the subsequent vibration generation process.

<< Variation of communication unit >>
In the embodiment described above, the configuration in which only one vibration applying body 6 is provided as shown in FIG. 5B has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a plurality of vibration imparting bodies 6 may be provided as shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the communication unit 100 according to the modification will be described. The communication unit 100 according to the modification is different from the communication unit 100 according to the above-described embodiment (this embodiment) in that the communication unit 100 includes a plurality of vibration imparting bodies 6. Are common, and only the differences will be described below.

  In the modification, as described above, the plurality of vibration imparting bodies 6 are provided, and more specifically, on the opposite sides of the center position in the horizontal width direction (the horizontal width direction when viewed from the front) of the video display 4. Each is arranged at a certain position. In the case shown in FIG. 6, one vibration imparting body 6 is disposed on one end side and one vibration imparting body 6 is disposed on the other end side with respect to the horizontal position of the video display 4. Note that the number of the vibration imparting bodies 6 is not particularly limited, and at least one vibration imparting body 6 may be disposed.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, it is desirable that the vibration imparting bodies 6 are arranged symmetrically with respect to the central position in the horizontal width direction of the video display 4.

  In the modification, the home server 1 controls each of the plurality of vibration imparting bodies 6 in the vibration generation process. At this time, the home server 1 controls each of the vibration imparting body 6 located on one end side and the vibration imparting body 6 located on the other end side with respect to the central position of the video display device 4 with different control amounts. It is possible. That is, in the modification, it is possible to individually control each of the vibration applying body 6 on one end side and the vibration applying body 6 on the other end side. As a result, the vibration of the floor surface F2 generated on the Mr. B side can be accurately reproduced on the Mr. A side including the generation position, and the realism can be further improved.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, when the whole body image of Mr. B is displayed at a position slightly deviated from the center position of the video display 4, the home server 1 has a vibration imparting body located on one end side. The control amount is changed between 6 and the vibration imparting body 6 located on the other end side. Here, the items to be controlled include the magnitude of vibration applied by each vibration applying body 6 and the phase of the vibration waveform.

  When the vibration generation process is executed after changing the control amount between the vibration imparting bodies 6 as described above, Mr. A looks in the horizontal width direction when the vibration generation location on the floor surface F1 is viewed from the center position of the video display 4. To a position slightly deviated (the same position as the position where Mr. B's whole body image is displayed). As a result, Mr. B's presence can be reproduced well including the standing position, and thus the presence can be improved more effectively.

<< Other Embodiments >>
In the above embodiment, the communication unit of the present invention has been described with an example. However, said embodiment is only an example for making an understanding of this invention easy, and does not limit this invention. The present invention can be changed and improved without departing from the gist thereof, and the present invention includes the equivalents thereof.

  In the above embodiment, the device that vibrates the floor (that is, the vibration imparting body 6) is provided at the homes of both parties of the conversation communication, but the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the vibration imparting body 6 is provided on one user side, and may not be provided on the other user side (communication partner side).

  In the above-described embodiment, the measuring instrument (that is, the acceleration sensor 8) that measures the magnitude of the vibration of the floor surface F2 generated by the operation performed by the communication partner is provided. When the floor surface F2 vibrates during the communication for conversation, vibration data indicating the measurement result of the magnitude of the vibration is acquired, and the vibration having the same magnitude as the measurement result indicated by the data is reproduced on the user side. It was. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and vibration data may not be obtained from the communication partner when reproducing vibration on the user side. For example, by analyzing the video data of the video including the grounding scene, the amount of movement (the amount of movement of the foot is easy to understand) when the communication partner performs the operation of grounding the foot on the floor F2, What is necessary is just to make it the floor surface F1 by the side of a user vibrate by the magnitude | size according to a calculation result. Note that the vibration data of the floor surface F2 generated on the communication partner side can be more accurately reproduced on the user side by obtaining the vibration data and using it as reference data when the floor surface F1 is vibrated. , The sense of reality will be further improved. In this respect, the above embodiment is more desirable.

  In the above embodiment, the home server 1 is used as the control device, but the present invention is not limited to this. In other words, any device can be used without particular limitation as long as it functions as a control device. For example, a personal computer may be used as the control device.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Home server 2 Camera 3 Microphone 4 Video display device 5 Speaker 6 Vibration imparting body 7 Amplifier circuit 8 Acceleration sensor 9 Logger 100 Communication unit

Claims (4)

A communication unit used when a user communicates with a communication partner,
A video display for displaying the video of the communication partner;
A vibration imparting body that imparts vibration to the first floor surface on which the user stands;
An acquisition process for acquiring video data indicating the video through communication with the communication partner, a video display process for displaying the video indicated by the acquired video data on the video display, and controlling the vibration imparting body. A vibration generating process for vibrating the first floor surface,
In the acquisition process, the control device shows the video including a grounding scene in which a foot of the communication partner in a state of being separated from the second floor located under the communication partner touches the second floor. When the video data is acquired, the video display processing and the vibration generation processing are executed so that the timing at which the grounding scene is displayed matches the timing at which the first floor surface vibrates ,
The control device performs a second acquisition process of acquiring vibration data indicating a magnitude of vibration generated when the communication partner's foot touches the second floor surface, and in the vibration generation process, Controlling the vibration imparting body so that the magnitude of vibration on the first floor surface matches the magnitude of vibration indicated by the vibration data;
A measuring instrument for measuring the magnitude of vibration on the first floor surface;
The control device includes: a control amount of the vibration imparting body in the vibration generation process; and a magnitude of vibration on the first floor measured by the measuring instrument when the vibration imparting body is controlled by the control amount. Memorize the correspondence with measurement results,
The control device calculates the control amount based on the vibration data and the correspondence relationship between the execution of the acquisition process and the timing at which the grounding scene is displayed in the video display process. Communication unit. 2. The communication unit according to claim 1, wherein the vibration imparting bodies are respectively disposed at positions opposite to each other across a central position in a lateral width direction of the video display. The control device is configured to control each of the vibration imparting body positioned at one end side from the central position and the vibration imparting body positioned at the other end side from the central position in the lateral width direction. The communication unit according to claim 2 , wherein the communication unit is controlled. The lower end area of the screen that the video display has for displaying the video is located above the first floor surface and located around the first floor surface,
The control apparatus acquires the video data indicating the video including the whole body image of the communication partner and the second floor surface in the acquisition process, and in the video display process, The communication unit according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the video is displayed on the video display so that the second floor surface is reflected.

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