JP7092986B2 - Information processing system, its control method and program. - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing system, a control method and a program thereof.

In a virtual conference room called a room, there are increasing opportunities to use a remote conference system in which information (media data) such as voice or image is transmitted to and received from each other by a plurality of client terminals. The number of cases where the remote conference system is used for seminars is increasing, and in the case of seminar use, it is necessary to group each user in order to have discussions between users of client terminals who are in the same room. There is.

For example, the remote conference system described in Patent Document 1 below has a group management function for grouping users in the same room. In this remote conference system, information according to the group to which the user belongs is transmitted to the client terminals of the users grouped in advance.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-155315

In the group management function in the remote conference system described in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to register the group in advance or to create a group during the conference by the user's operation, which is troublesome for the user. It takes.

An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing system, a control method and a program thereof, which can perform appropriate grouping for transmitting and receiving information without the trouble of a user.

The information processing system according to the present invention is an information processing system capable of transmitting and receiving information between a plurality of client terminals in a virtual conference room, and is an attribute for acquiring user attribute information indicating a user attribute of the client terminal from the client terminal. Based on the information acquisition means and the user attribute information acquired by the attribute information acquisition means, the group generation means for dividing a plurality of client terminals into a plurality of groups, and the transmission information which is the information transmitted from the source client terminal. , A delivery information acquisition means for acquiring delivery information which is information to be delivered to a destination client terminal, and the delivery information acquisition means is a client terminal in the same group in which the group divided by the group generation means is the same. In between, based on the transmission information from the client terminal of the transmission source in the same group, the distribution information to the client terminal of the transmission destination in the same group is acquired.

Further, the control method of the information processing system according to the present invention is a control method of an information processing system capable of transmitting and receiving information between a plurality of client terminals in a virtual conference room, and is a user attribute indicating the attribute of the user of the client terminal. Attribute information acquisition step to acquire information from client terminal, group generation step to divide multiple client terminals into multiple groups based on the user attribute information acquired in the attribute information acquisition step, and transmission from the source client terminal The distribution information acquisition step includes the distribution information acquisition step of acquiring the distribution information which is the information to be distributed to the destination client terminal based on the transmission information, and the distribution information acquisition step is the same as the group divided in the group generation step. The delivery information to the destination client terminal in the same group is acquired between the client terminals in the same group based on the transmission information from the transmission source client terminal in the same group.

Further, the program of the information processing system according to the present invention is a program of an information processing system capable of transmitting and receiving information between a plurality of client terminals in a virtual conference room, and the information processing system has the attributes of the user of the client terminal. Attribute information acquisition means that acquires the indicated user attribute information from the client terminal, group generation means that divides multiple client terminals into multiple groups based on the user attribute information acquired by the attribute information acquisition means, and the source client terminal. It functions as a distribution information acquisition means for acquiring distribution information which is information to be distributed to a destination client terminal based on transmission information which is information transmitted from, and the distribution information acquisition means is a group divided by a group generation means. Acquires delivery information to the destination client terminal in the same group based on the transmission information from the source client terminal in the same group among the client terminals in the same group.

In the information processing system, the control method, and the program according to the present invention, a plurality of client terminals are divided into a plurality of groups based on the user attribute information of the client terminals. Therefore, appropriate grouping based on the user's attributes is performed without the user's trouble such as registering the group in advance. Then, based on the transmission information from the transmission source client terminal in the same group, the distribution information to the transmission destination client terminal in the same group is acquired. As a result, it is possible to send and receive information within the same group that is appropriately divided. From the above, it is possible to perform appropriate grouping for sending and receiving information without the trouble of the user.

Further, the information processing system according to the present invention includes an entry processing means for processing an entry request requesting entry from a client terminal into a virtual conference room, the entry request includes user attribute information, and the attribute information acquisition means , User attribute information may be acquired based on the room entry request processed by the room entry processing means. In this case, the user attribute information is acquired based on the processing of the room entry request from the client terminal. Therefore, the user can automatically acquire the user attribute information and perform grouping according to the entry request without performing a special user operation for acquiring the user attribute information.

Further, the attribute information acquisition means may acquire the user attribute information by receiving the user attribute information transmitted from the client terminal. In this case, the user attribute information is acquired by the attribute information acquisition means as the user attribute information is transmitted from the client terminal. Therefore, grouping can be easily performed based on the user attribute information transmitted from the client terminal.

Further, the user attribute information may be OS language information indicating the language of the OS of the client terminal. In this case, grouping is performed based on the OS language information of the client terminal. Therefore, for example, client terminals having the same OS language can be grouped into the same group, and information can be appropriately transmitted / received between client terminals having the same OS language within the same group.

Further, the user attribute information may be the number of times the transmission information is transmitted from the client terminal of the transmission source. In this case, grouping is performed based on the number of transmissions of transmission information from the transmission source client terminal. Therefore, for example, grouping can be performed so that the number of transmissions is not biased in each group.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an information processing system, a control method and a program thereof, which can perform appropriate grouping for transmitting and receiving information without the trouble of a user.

It is a conceptual diagram which shows an example of the remote conference system which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware composition of the various apparatus in the remote conference system which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the remote conference system which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the database of the information stored by the entrance processing part. It is a figure which shows an example of the database which shows the group information stored by a group generation part. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of a room entry process. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of grouping execution processing. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the content acquisition process in FIG. 7. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the processing flow after the grouping cancellation. It is a figure which shows the meeting screen displayed on the client terminal of the chairperson user before the grouping execution. It is a figure which shows the meeting screen displayed on the client terminal of the chairperson user after the grouping execution. It is a figure which shows the meeting screen displayed on the client terminal of a general user before the grouping execution. It is a figure which shows the meeting screen displayed on the client terminal of a general user after the grouping execution. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the remote conference system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of grouping execution processing which concerns on 2nd Embodiment.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description, the same code is used for the same element or the element having the same function, and they overlap.

(First Embodiment)
The remote conference system according to the present embodiment is information processing capable of transmitting and receiving information between a plurality of client terminals in a virtual conference room (hereinafter referred to as "room") for using a web conference or a TV conference. It is a system. The remote conference system according to the present embodiment can hold a plurality of conferences by setting a plurality of rooms.

The remote conference system according to this embodiment is assumed to be used for seminars, for example. In this remote conference system, among multiple client terminals that have entered the same room, the user of one client terminal is elected as the chair user, and the users of the other client terminals are general users (seminar participants) other than the chair. ).

First, with reference to FIG. 1, the schematic configuration of the remote conference system according to the present embodiment will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, the remote conference system 1 (web conference system) includes, for example, a plurality of client terminals 10 (10X, 10A, 10B, 10C, 10D) to which a personal computer can be applied, and each client terminal 10. It includes a remote conference server 20 (server device) that enables the remote conference system to be used. Each client terminal 10 and the remote conference server 20 are connected to each other so as to be able to communicate with each other via a wireless or wired network N.

As the client terminal 10, various personal computers such as a desktop PC (client terminal 10X), a notebook PC (client terminals 10A, 10B), or a tablet PC (client terminals 10C, 10D) can be adopted. In the present embodiment, for example, the user of the client terminal 10X is elected as the chair user, and the other users of the client terminals 10A to 10D are regarded as general users.

The client terminal 10 includes a display and displays a conference screen (interface) provided by the remote conference server 20 on the display. The conference screen is a screen of a conference in which a user participates. The client terminal 10 displays a conference image or a designated image provided by the remote conference server 20 on the conference screen.

The conference image is an image captured by the camera function of the client terminal 10 in which the user ID participating in the conference is input and transmitted to the remote conference server 20. The conference image is, for example, an image showing the user's own face.

The designated image is an image transmitted from the client terminal 10 to the remote conference server 20 that has received the designation according to the user operation via the input unit of the client terminal 10. The remote conference server 20 transmits the designated image to the client terminal 10 of another user who is participating in the same conference as the user of the client terminal 10 from which the designated image is transmitted.

The client terminal 10 has a camera function, a microphone function, and a speaker function.

Specifically, the client terminal 10X includes a camera 100, a microphone 101, and a speaker 102. The camera 100, the microphone 101, and the speaker 102 are communicably connected to the client terminal 10X.

The camera 100 is a webcam or the like, which is a video device for transmitting its own moving image in a remote conference. The microphone 101 is an audio device for collecting the sound emitted by the microphone 101. The speaker 102 is an audio device for listening to the voice of the other party.

Each device such as the camera 100, the microphone 101, and the speaker 102 may be provided in separate housings or may be provided in hardware in the same housing. For example, it may be configured as a device having a camera function and a microphone function, a device having a microphone function and a speaker function, or a device having all of these functions.

The client terminals 10A to 10D include an in-camera (a camera installed on the side where the display is installed), a built-in microphone, and a built-in speaker (not shown).

The client terminal 10 outputs the content (delivery information) delivered from the remote conference server 20. The content delivered from the remote conference server 20 to the client terminal 10 is information based on media data (image data or audio data) acquired by the camera function or the microphone function of the client terminal 10. For example, the client terminal 10 displays image data in a predetermined display area (meeting screen). Further, the client terminal 10 outputs the audio data distributed from the remote conference server 20 by the speaker function.

A web browser for accessing the remote conference server 20 and a dedicated module are installed in the client terminal 10. The dedicated module is, for example, an ActiveX component downloaded from the remote conference server 20 via a web browser.

The remote conference server 20 is a server for realizing a remote conference using a web browser. The remote conference system 1 acquires a conference screen (interface) for the user to use the remote conference by accessing the remote conference server 20.

The remote conference server 20 accumulates media data transmitted from the client terminal 10 and distributes content based on the media data to the client terminal 10 connected to the remote conference server 20. The client terminal 10 outputs the content delivered from the remote conference server 20.

In the remote conference system 1, screen sharing may be performed between the client terminals 10. That is, the screen of the transmission source client terminal 10 may be displayed and shared on the display screen of the transmission destination client terminal 10. The shared screen can be specified by the client terminal 10, may be the screen of the specified application, or may be the entire desktop screen.

Next, an example of the hardware configuration of various devices in the remote conference system 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of various devices in the remote conference system 1.

In FIG. 2, 201 is a CPU that comprehensively controls each device and controller connected to the system bus 204. Further, in order to realize a function executed by the BIOS (Basic Input / Output System), which is a control program of the CPU 201, an operating system program (hereinafter, OS), or each server or each PC, the ROM 202 or the external memory 211 is used. Various programs, which will be described later, are stored.

Reference numeral 203 denotes a RAM, which functions as a main memory or a work area of the CPU 201. The CPU 201 realizes various operations by loading a program or the like necessary for executing a process from the ROM 202 or the external memory 211 into the RAM 203 and executing the loaded program.

Further, the 205 is an input controller, which controls an input from an input device 209 such as a keyboard (KB) or a pointing device such as a mouse (not shown).

Reference numeral 206 denotes a video controller, which controls display on a display device such as a display device 210 which is a CRT display (CRT). The display is not limited to the CRT display, and may be another display such as a liquid crystal display.

Further, in the embodiment of the present invention, the display device 210 of the client terminals 10C and 10D, which are tablet PCs, has a touch panel function. When the display device 210 has a touch panel function, the display device 210 also functions as an input device, and the information of the touch operation detected by the touch panel function (received by the display) is transmitted to the input controller as input information. That is, the input controller 205 controls the input from the display device 210.

Reference numeral 207 is a memory controller. The memory controller 107 controls access to a hard disk (HD), a flexible disk (FD), or an external memory 211. The hard disk stores boot programs, various applications, font data, user files, editing files, various data, and the like. The external memory is, for example, a CompactFlash® memory connected to a PCMCIA card slot via an adapter.

Reference numeral 208 denotes a communication I / F controller, which connects and communicates with an external device via a network (for example, network N shown in FIG. 1), and executes communication control processing on the network. For example, communication using TCP / IP is possible.

The CPU 201 enables display on the display device 210 by, for example, executing an outline font expansion (rasterization) process in the display information area in the RAM 203. Further, the CPU 201 enables a user instruction with a mouse cursor or the like (not shown) on the display device 210.

Various programs described later for realizing the present invention are recorded in the external memory 211, and are executed by the CPU 201 by being loaded into the RAM 203 as needed. Further, a definition file and various information tables used when the above program is executed are also stored in the external memory 211, and detailed description of these will be described later. The above is an explanation of an example of the hardware configuration of various devices in the remote conference system 1.

Next, an example of the functional configuration of the remote conference system 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the remote conference system 1. Each of the functional units 11 to 16 shown in FIG. 3 is a functional unit included in the remote conference application (client application) installed in the client terminal 10. Further, each of the functional units 21 to 27 shown in FIG. 3 is a functional unit included in the remote conference application (server application) installed in the remote conference server 20.

First, the functional configuration of the client terminal 10 will be described. The client terminal 10 functionally includes a room entry request unit 11, a group generation request unit 12, a transmission data storage unit 13, a transmission control unit 14, a content reception control unit 15, and an output unit 16. .. The group generation request unit 12 may be provided only by the client terminal 10X of the chair user, and may not be provided by the client terminals 10A to 10D of other general users.

The room entry request unit 11 transmits a room entry request by the user of the client terminal 10 to the room entry processing unit 21 of the remote conference server 20. The entry request is a request for entry to the room in which the user wants to participate. The room entry request unit 11 receives a room entry request based on, for example, a user operation.

Specifically, when the user logs in to the remote conference server 20 using the user ID successfully, a menu screen including a "meeting room reservation" button is displayed on the display screen of the client terminal 10. When the press of the "Meeting Room Reservation" button on the menu screen is accepted, the participation destination selection screen for selecting the conference to participate in (the room to which the conference to participate is held) is displayed on the display screen. The menu. When the selection of the conference to be attended is accepted by the user operation on the participation destination selection screen, the room entry request unit 11 transmits the room entrance request for the selected conference (room) to the room entry processing unit 21.

The room entry request transmitted by the room entry request unit 11 includes user ID information, OS language information, and a chairperson flag. The user ID information is information indicating the user's ID. The language information of the OS is information indicating the language of the OS of the client terminal 10. The language of the OS is various languages such as Japanese or English.

The chairman flag is a flag indicating whether or not the user is the chairman user. For example, the chairman flag is indicated by a number "1" when the user is the chairman user and "0" when the user is a general user other than the chairman user. Is done. Whether or not the user is the chair user is preset, for example, when the room is reserved.

The group generation request unit 12 transmits a grouping request to the attribute information acquisition unit 22 of the remote conference server 20. The grouping request is a request for grouping the client terminals 10A to 10D of general users in the same room. The group generation request unit 12 accepts a grouping request based on, for example, a user operation of the chairperson user (pressing of the grouping start button 30 shown in FIG. 10). The grouping request may be accepted based on the operation of a general user.

Further, the group generation request unit 12 transmits a grouping cancellation request to the group generation unit 23 of the remote conference server 20. The grouping release request is a request for canceling the grouping of the grouped client terminals 10A to 10D. The group generation request unit 12 receives, for example, a grouping release request based on a user operation of the chairperson user (pressing of the grouping release button 32 shown in FIG. 11). The request for canceling the grouping may be accepted based on the operation of a general user.

The transmission data storage unit 13 is a storage unit (queue) that stores the same information as the information transmitted by the transmission control unit 14. The transmission data storage unit 13 has, for example, a voice queue and an image queue. The voice cue is a cue for voice information collected by the microphone function of the client terminal 10. In the voice queue, voice information collected intermittently by the microphone function of the client terminal 10 is sequentially stored.

The image queue includes an image queue for captured images (conference images) captured by the camera function of the client terminal 10 and an image queue for designated images (such as an image of the desktop screen of the client terminal 10) specified by user operation. Is included.

The captured images are sequentially stored in the image queue for captured images. The camera function of the client terminal 10 intermittently performs imaging processing (imaging of moving images and input of moving images to the client terminal 10). Therefore, in the image queue for captured images, a plurality of images constituting the moving image are sequentially stored for each frame in the moving image.

The designated image is stored in the image queue for the designated image at predetermined time intervals. In the image queue for the designated image, for example, the desktop image displayed on the desktop screen of the client terminal 10 is sequentially stored every 0.2 seconds. Each designated image to be stored is, for example, one frame of a moving image in which desktop images are connected and reproduced.

The transmission control unit 14 transmits media data (transmission information) transmitted from the transmission source client terminal 10 to the transmission destination client terminal 10 in the remote conference server 20 to the reception control unit 26 of the remote conference server 20. The media data is, for example, the sound collected by the microphone function, the image (video) captured by the camera function, or the designated image (the entire desktop or the screen of the designated application) designated as the image to be shared by the user operation. Image) and other data.

The content reception control unit 15 makes a communication start request to the distribution control unit 25 of the remote conference server 20. Specifically, the content reception control unit 15 stores the user information in the same room notified by the room entry processing unit 21 described later. The content reception control unit 15 opens a socket necessary for distributing content from the remote conference server 20 to the client terminal 10 based on the stored user information in the same room. The content reception control unit 15 receives the content output from the distribution control unit 25 by making a communication start request with the opening of the socket to the distribution control unit 25. The content reception control unit 15 outputs the received content to the output unit 16.

The output unit 16 outputs the content output from the content reception control unit 15. Specifically, the image data as the content is displayed on the conference screen, or the audio data as the content is output by the speaker function. The output unit 16 switches the display of the conference screen based on the result of grouping execution from the group generation unit 23 of the remote conference server 20. When the room entry processing unit 21 notifies that one user has entered the room, the output unit 16 may output to notify that fact.

Next, the functional configuration of the remote conference server 20 will be described. Functionally, the remote conference server 20 includes a room entry processing unit 21 (room entry processing means), an attribute information acquisition unit 22 (attribute information acquisition means), a group generation unit 23 (group generation means), and a distribution information acquisition unit. 24 (delivery information acquisition means), a delivery control unit 25, a reception control unit 26, and a reception data storage unit 27 are provided.

Upon receiving the room entry request transmitted from the room entry request unit 11 of the client terminal 10, the room entry processing unit 21 executes the room entry process. The room entry process is a process of allowing a user to enter a requested room, and is, for example, a process of storing which user is in which room from which client terminal 10. In the present embodiment, as the room entry process, the user ID information, the OS language information, and the chairperson flag included in the room entry request are stored.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a database of information stored by the room entry processing unit 21. The database shown in FIG. 4 stores the user ID indicated by the user ID information, the OS language indicated by the OS language information, and the number indicated by the chairman flag. As shown in FIG. 4, the room entry processing unit 21 stores the OS language and the chairman flag in association with the user ID. The room entry processing unit 21 manages a database as shown in FIG. 4 for each room.

The user whose user ID is "user X" shown in FIG. 4 corresponds to the user of the client terminal 10X. Each user whose user ID shown in FIG. 4 is "user A", "user B", "user C", and "user D" corresponds to each user of the client terminals 10A, 10B, 10C, and 10D.

When the room entry process of one user is performed, the room entry processing unit 21 notifies the other users in the room where the room entry process has been performed that the one user has entered the room. For example, the room entry processing unit 21 transmits information indicating that one user has entered the room to the output unit 16 of the client terminal 10 of another user.

The room entry processing unit 21 asks the content reception control unit 15 of the client terminal 10 of the user who has performed the room entry process to provide information on other users in the room where the room entry process has been performed (hereinafter, “user information in the same room””. Also known as). The user information in the same room is information indicating which other user is in the same room, and is used, for example, to open a socket required for content distribution.

The attribute information acquisition unit 22 acquires the user attribute information of the client terminal 10 from the client terminal 10. The user attribute information is information indicating a user's attribute, and is OS language information in the present embodiment.

The attribute information acquisition unit 22 extracts and acquires user attribute information for each user from the information stored by the room entry processing unit 21. The attribute information acquisition unit 22 acquires user attribute information at the timing when a grouping request is transmitted from the group generation request unit 12 of the client terminal 10, for example.

Specifically, from the database shown in FIG. 4, the attribute information acquisition unit 22 has an OS language of each user whose user ID is "user A" and "user B" is "English" and whose user ID is "user". Acquires OS language information indicating that the OS language of each user, "X", "User C", and "User D", is "Japanese". The attribute information acquisition unit 22 outputs the acquired OS language information (user attribute information) to the group generation unit 23.

The group generation unit 23 divides a plurality of client terminals 10 into a plurality of groups based on the OS language information acquired by the attribute information acquisition unit 22. The group generation unit 23 generates groups for client terminals 10A to 10D of general users other than the chair user.

Specifically, the group generation unit 23 generates a group for the client terminals 10A to 10D so that users having the same OS language are in the same group based on the OS language information output from the attribute information acquisition unit 22. That is, the group generation unit 23 sets the client terminals 10A and 10B of "user A" and "user B" whose OS language is "English" to be "group 1", and the OS language is "Japanese". Grouping is executed with the client terminals 10C and 10D of "C" and "user D" as "group 2".

The group generation unit 23 stores group information indicating the generated group. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a database showing group information stored by the group generation unit 23. In the database shown in FIG. 5, a group ID for identifying a group and a user ID are stored. As shown in FIG. 5, the group generation unit 23 stores the group ID and the user ID in association with each other.

When the group generation request unit 12 sends a group release request, the group generation unit 23 cancels the grouping of the client terminals 10A to 10E.

The group generation unit 23 outputs the result of grouping execution (the result of grouping or the result of canceling the grouping) to the distribution information acquisition unit 24. Further, the group generation unit 23 notifies the output unit 16 of each client terminal 10 of the result of the grouping execution.

The distribution information acquisition unit 24 acquires content (distribution information) that is information to be distributed to each destination client terminal 10 by the distribution control unit 25. The content is acquired based on the media data stored in the received data storage unit 27. The distribution information acquisition unit 24 outputs the acquired content to the distribution control unit 25.

When the distribution information acquisition unit 24 outputs the result of grouping execution by the group generation unit 23, the distribution information acquisition unit 24 acquires the content based on the output result. When the grouping by the group generation unit 23 is not executed (when the grouping is canceled), the distribution information acquisition unit 24 contains the content based on the media data from all the client terminals 10 in the same room. To get.

For example, the distribution information acquisition unit 24 acquires the content to be distributed to the client terminal 10X based on the media data from all the client terminals 10A to 10D other than the client terminal 10X.

When the media data is voice, the information obtained by synthesizing (mixing) the media data from the client terminals 10A to 10D may be acquired as the content. The distribution information acquisition unit 24 acquires the content to be distributed to all the client terminals 10 in the same room in the same manner.

Further, when the grouping by the group generation unit 23 is executed, the distribution information acquisition unit 24 acquires the content based on the group divided by the group generation unit 23.

Specifically, the distribution information acquisition unit 24 acquires content between client terminals 10 in the same group (groups in which the group divided by the group generation unit 23 is the same). The distribution information acquisition unit 24 acquires the content to the transmission destination client terminal 10 in the same group based on the media data from the transmission source client terminal 10 in the same group.

For example, the distribution information acquisition unit 24 acquires media data from the client terminal 10B belonging to the same "group 1" as the content to be distributed to the client terminal 10A belonging to the "group 1". Further, the distribution information acquisition unit 24 acquires media data from the client terminal 10A belonging to the same "group 1" as the content to be distributed to the client terminal 10B belonging to the "group 1".

If there are other client terminals belonging to "Group 1" other than the terminals 10A and 10B, media data from the other client terminals is also acquired as contents to be distributed to the client terminals 10A and 10B. Further, the media data from the client terminal 10X of the chair user may also be acquired as the content to be distributed to the client terminals 10A and 10B.

The distribution information acquisition unit 24 also acquires the content to be distributed for the client terminals 10C and 10D belonging to the "group 2" in the same manner as the client terminals 10A and 10B belonging to the "group 1".

The distribution information acquisition unit 24 may acquire the content distributed to the client terminal 10X of the chair user regardless of whether or not the group generation unit 23 executes grouping. For example, even when the grouping by the group generation unit 23 is executed, the distribution information acquisition unit 24 has other contents other than the client terminal 10X as the contents to be distributed to the client terminal 10X, as in the case where the grouping is not executed. Media data from all client terminals 10A to 10D may be acquired.

The distribution control unit 25 outputs the content output from the distribution information acquisition unit 24 to the content reception control unit 15 of each client terminal 10 that requests distribution.

The reception control unit 26 receives the media data transmitted from the transmission control unit 14 of the client terminal 10. The reception control unit 26 outputs the received media data to the reception data storage unit 27.

The reception data storage unit 27 stores the media data received by the reception control unit 26. The received data storage unit 27 has a voice queue and an image queue.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 6 to 9, the processes and operations executed by the remote conference system 1 having the above configuration, that is, the control method of the remote conference system 1 will be described.

In the description of the following flowchart, among the processes in the remote conference system 1, the room entry process, the grouping execution process, and the process after the grouping is released will be described with particular attention. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the room entry process. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the grouping execution process. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the details of the content acquisition process in FIG. 7. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing after the grouping is released.

In the example shown in FIG. 6, a case where there is a request to enter the room from the client terminal 10A will be described as an example.

As shown in FIG. 6, first, when the room entry request is transmitted by the room entry request unit 11 of the client terminal 10A (step S301), the room entry request is received by the room entry processing unit 21 of the remote conference server 20 (step S302). ). Subsequently, the room entry process 21 executes the room entry process (step S303). Specifically, the room entry processing unit 21 analyzes the parameters of the room entry request, and acquires the user ID information, the OS language information, and the chairman flag.

Subsequently, the room entry processing unit 21 performs a process of storing the acquired user ID information, OS language information, and chairman flag for the room for which the room entry request has been made (step S304). Subsequently, the entry processing unit 21 indicates that the user of the client terminal 10A has entered the room of the other client terminals 10 (client terminals 10X, 10B to 10D ) entering the room where the entry processing has been performed. Notified to the output unit 16 (step S305).

Subsequently, the room entry processing unit 21 notifies the content reception control unit 15 of the client terminal 10A that has made the room entry request of user information in the same room (which other user is in the same room). (Step S306).

Subsequently, the content reception control unit 15 of the client terminal 10A stores the user information in the same room notified by the room entry processing unit 21 (step S307).

Subsequently, the content reception control unit 15 of the client terminal 10A requests the distribution control unit 25 of the remote conference server 20 to start communication (step S308). Specifically, the content reception control unit 15 opens a necessary number of sockets and requests the start of communication based on the user information in the same room notified by the room entry processing unit 21. The number of sockets needs to be, for example, one for audio and the number of other users for video. The socket may be opened from the remote conference server 20 side.

Subsequently, the distribution control unit 25 of the remote conference server 20 starts distribution of the content in response to the communication start request from the client terminal 10A (step S309).

Next, the grouping execution process will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 and the conference screens shown in FIGS. 10 to 13. In the example shown in FIG. 7, an example in which grouping is executed by the client terminal 10X of the chair user will be described.

10 and 11 are diagrams showing a conference screen displayed on the client terminal 10X of the chair user. FIG. 10 shows the conference screen before the grouping is executed, and FIG. 11 shows the conference screen after the grouping is executed. 12 and 13 are diagrams showing a conference screen displayed on the client terminal 10A of a general user. FIG. 12 shows the conference screen before the grouping is executed, and FIG. 13 shows the conference screen after the grouping is executed.

As shown in FIG. 7, first, the grouping request is transmitted from the group generation request unit 12 of the client terminal 10X to the attribute information acquisition unit 22 of the remote conference server 20 (step S401).

The group generation request unit 12 accepts the grouping request by receiving the pressing of the grouping start button 30 by the user on the conference screen before the grouping execution shown in FIG. 10, for example. As shown in FIG. 10, on the meeting screen of the chairperson user before the grouping is executed, each user (user A, user B, user C, user D) in the same room is displayed in the meeting window 31, respectively. There is.

Subsequently, the attribute information acquisition unit 22 of the remote conference server 20 receives the grouping request from the group generation request unit 12 of the client terminal 10X (step S402). Subsequently, the attribute information acquisition unit 22 acquires OS language information for each user other than the chair user from the information stored by the room entry processing unit 21 in step S304 (step S403). The OS language information acquired by the attribute information acquisition unit 22 is output from the attribute information acquisition unit 22 to the group generation unit 23.

Subsequently, the group generation unit 23 divides the client terminals 10A to 10D into a plurality of groups based on the OS language information acquired in step S403 (step S404). Specifically, the client terminals 10A and 10B of the users (user A and user B) whose OS language is "English" are designated as "group 1", and the users whose OS language is "Japanese" (user C, user B). Each of the client terminals 10C and 10D of the user D) is referred to as "group 2".

Subsequently, the group generation unit 23 notifies each client terminal 10 of the result of the grouping execution (step S405). Specifically, information indicating the result of grouping execution is transmitted from the group generation unit 23 to the output unit 16 of each client terminal 10.

The output unit 16 switches and displays the conference screen based on the result of the grouping execution notified in step S405 (step S406).

For example, on the meeting screen of the chairperson user after the grouping is executed, as shown in FIG. 11, the frame images 41 and 42 surrounding the user for each group are displayed in the meeting window 31. That is, it is shown that the grouping has been executed on the conference screen. Further, on the meeting screen of the chairperson user after the grouping is executed, the grouping release button 32 is displayed instead of the grouping start button 30.

As shown in FIG. 12, the chairperson user is displayed in the conference window 31 of the conference screen of the user A before the grouping is executed. As shown in FIG. 13, the user B in the same group is displayed in the conference window 31 of the conference screen of the user A after the grouping is executed. That is, the conference screen of the user A is switched from the display of the chairperson user to the display of the user B in the same group by executing the grouping. Similarly, the conference screen of the user B can be switched from the display of the chairperson user to the display of the user A in the same group by executing the grouping.

Similarly, the conference screen of the user C can be switched from the display of the chairperson user to the display of the user D in the same group by executing the grouping. Similarly, the conference screen of the user D can be switched from the display of the chairperson user to the display of the user C in the same group by executing the grouping.

Following step S406, media data is transmitted to the reception control unit 26 of the remote conference server 20 by the transmission control unit 14 of each client terminal 10 (step S407). Subsequently, the reception control unit 26 of the remote conference server 20 receives the media data transmitted in step S407 (step S408). The media data received by the reception control unit 26 is stored in the reception data storage unit 27.

Subsequently, the distribution information acquisition unit 24 acquires the content to be distributed to the general user based on the group (step S409). Specifically, among the media data stored by the received data storage unit 27 by the distribution information acquisition unit 24, the media data is transmitted between the client terminals 10 in the same group based on the media data of the client terminals 10 in the same group. Content is acquired. The content to be distributed to the chair user is acquired based on the media data of all the client terminals 10A to 10B.

With reference to FIG. 8, the group-based content acquisition process in step S409 will be described by taking the case where the media data is audio data as an example. In the process shown in FIG. 8, as a premise, there are other users belonging to "Group 1" other than User A and User B, and other users belonging to "Group 2" other than User C and User D. It is assumed that there is a user of.

The process shown in FIG. 8 is repeated, for example, for all users in the same room until the content is acquired. For example, in the process of acquiring the content to be delivered to the user A, first, the voice queue of the user belonging to the same group as the user A stored in the received data storage unit 27 is referred to (S4091). Subsequently, the voice data of the user belonging to the same group (user B and other users belonging to "group 1") is acquired from the referred voice queue (S4092).

Subsequently, the acquired voice data of each user is synthesized (mixed), and the combined result is acquired as content (S4093). Subsequently, the content (synthetic voice data) acquired in S4093 is output to the distribution control unit 25 (S4094). When the above processes S4091 to S4094 are repeated for all users, the content acquisition process for the audio data ends, and the process in step S409 ends. If there are no other users belonging to the same group, or if the media data is an image, the compositing process in step S4093 described above is omitted.

When the content is acquired in step S409 shown in FIG. 7, the distribution control unit 25 distributes the content to each client terminal 10 (step S410). As a result, the grouping execution process is completed.

Next, the process after the grouping is released will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 9 and the conference screens shown in FIGS. 10 to 13. In the example shown in FIG. 9, an example in which the grouping is canceled by the client terminal 10X of the chair user will be described.

As shown in FIG. 9, first, the group generation cancellation request is transmitted to the group generation unit 23 of the remote conference server 20 by the group generation request unit 12 of the client terminal 10X (step S501). The group generation request unit 12 receives the grouping release request by receiving the user pressing down the grouping release button 32 on the conference screen after the grouping execution is executed, for example, as shown in FIG.

Subsequently, the group generation unit 23 receives the grouping release request transmitted in step S501 (step S502). Subsequently, the group generation unit 23 notifies each client terminal 10 of the result of canceling the grouping (step S503). Specifically, information indicating the result of canceling the grouping is transmitted from the group generation unit 23 to the output unit 16 of each client terminal 10.

Subsequently, the output unit 16 changes the display of the conference screen based on the cancellation result notified in step S503 (step S504). That is, it is shown on the conference screen that the grouping has been canceled.

For example, the conference screen of the chairperson user is switched from the conference screen of FIG. 11 to the conference screen of FIG. 10 by canceling the grouping. On the meeting screen of the chair user, the frame images 41 and 42 displayed in the meeting window 31 disappear, and the grouping start button 30 is displayed instead of the grouping release button 32.

The conference screen of the user A is switched from the conference screen of FIG. 13 to the conference screen of FIG. 12 by canceling the grouping. That is, the user displayed in the conference window 31 changes from the user B to the chair user. Similarly, regarding the conference screen of the user B, the user displayed in the conference window 31 is changed from the user A to the chair user by canceling the grouping. The display of the conference screens of user C and user D is similarly switched.

Following step S504, media data is transmitted to the reception control unit 26 of the remote conference server 20 by the transmission control unit 14 of each client terminal 10 (step S505). Subsequently, the reception control unit 26 of the remote conference server 20 receives the media data transmitted in step S505 (step S506). The media data received by the reception control unit 26 is stored in the reception data storage unit 27.

Subsequently, the distribution information acquisition unit 24 reacquires the content to be distributed to users other than the chairperson (step S507). For example, the content to be delivered to the client terminal 10A is acquired based on the media data from all the client terminals 10X, 10B to 10D other than the client terminal 10A. The distribution information acquisition unit 24 outputs the re-acquired content to the distribution control unit 25.

Subsequently, the distribution control unit 25 distributes the content reacquired in step S507 to each client terminal 10 (S508). As a result, the processing after canceling the grouping is completed.

The above-mentioned processing may be realized as a program that causes the remote conference system 1 to function as each of the above-mentioned functional units.

As described above, according to the remote conference system 1 according to the present embodiment, its control method, and the program, a plurality of client terminals 10 are divided into a plurality of groups based on the OS user attribute information of the client terminals 10. Therefore, appropriate grouping based on the user's attributes is performed without the user's trouble such as registering the group in advance. Then, based on the media data from the transmission source client terminal 10 in the same group, the content to the transmission destination client terminal 10 in the same group is acquired. As a result, it is possible to send and receive information within the same group that is appropriately divided. From the above, it is possible to perform appropriate grouping for sending and receiving information without the trouble of the user.

Further, according to the remote conference system 1, user attribute information is acquired based on the processing of the room entry request from the client terminal 10 by the room entry processing unit 21. Therefore, the user can automatically acquire the user attribute information and perform grouping according to the entry request without performing a special user operation for acquiring the user attribute information.

Further, according to the remote conference system 1, grouping is performed based on the OS language information of the client terminal 10. Therefore, for example, the client terminal 10 having the same OS language
They can be in the same group, and information can be appropriately transmitted and received between client terminals 10 having the same OS language in the same group.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, the remote conference system according to the second embodiment will be described. The remote conference system according to the second embodiment has the same elements and structures as the remote conference system 1 according to the first embodiment. Therefore, the same elements and structures as those of the remote conference system 1 according to the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, detailed description thereof will be omitted, and parts different from those of the first embodiment will be described.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the remote conference system according to the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 14, in the second embodiment, the client terminal 10 is a room entry request unit 11, a group generation request unit 12, a transmission data storage unit 13, a transmission control unit 14, a content reception control unit 15, and an output unit. In addition to 16, the attribute information transmission unit 17 (attribute information transmission means) is provided. The client terminal 10X of the chair user does not have to include the attribute information transmission unit 17.

The attribute information transmission unit 17 transmits user attribute information from the client terminals 10A to 10D of the general user to the attribute information acquisition unit 22 of the remote conference server 20. That is, in the present embodiment, the user attribute information is transmitted separately from the room entry request transmitted by the room entry request unit 11.

The attribute information transmission unit 17 may transmit user attribute information in place of the user attribute information included in the room entry request transmitted by the room entry request unit 11, and in addition to the user attribute information included in the room entry request, the attribute information transmission unit 17 may transmit the user attribute information. User attribute information may be transmitted.

In the present embodiment, as the user attribute information, the number of transmissions of transmission information from the source client terminals 10A to 10D (hereinafter, also referred to as "the number of transmissions of client terminals 10A to 10D") is used instead of the OS language information. More specifically, the user attribute information is the number of times the user has spoken during the meeting.

The number of transmissions of the client terminals 10A to 10D is stored, for example, in the transmission data storage unit 13 for each of the client terminals 10A to 10D. The attribute information transmission unit 17 transmits the number of transmissions of the client terminals 10A to 10D stored in the transmission data storage unit 13 to the attribute information acquisition unit 22 at a predetermined timing. That is, the attribute information transmission unit 17 transmits the number of transmissions of each client terminal 10A to 10D within a predetermined period to the attribute information acquisition unit 22.

The timing at which the number of transmissions of the client terminals 10A to 10D is transmitted by the attribute information transmission unit 17 is, for example, the timing at which the grouping request is received by the attribute information acquisition unit 22 during a meeting in the room. Is. When the attribute information transmission unit 17 transmits information indicating that the grouping request has been received from the attribute information acquisition unit 22, the attribute information transmission unit 17 transmits the number of transmissions of the client terminals 10A to 10D in response to the transmission.

When the attribute information acquisition unit 22 receives the grouping request from the group generation request unit 12, it notifies the attribute information transmission unit 17 of the client terminals 10A to 10D of the general user that the grouping request has been received.

The attribute information acquisition unit 22 receives the number of transmissions of each client terminal 10A to 10D transmitted from the attribute information transmission unit 17. As a result, the attribute information acquisition unit 22 acquires the number of transmissions of each client terminal 10A to 10D as user attribute information. The attribute information acquisition unit 22 outputs the number of transmissions of the acquired client terminals 10A to 10D to the group generation unit 23.

The group generation unit 23 divides a plurality of client terminals 10A to 10D into a plurality of groups based on the number of transmissions of the client terminals 10A to 10D output from the attribute information acquisition unit 22. For example, the group generation unit 23 generates a group so that the total number of transmissions of each client terminal 10A to 10D in the same group (hereinafter, also referred to as “total number of transmissions in the group”) is not too biased for each group. do. More specifically, the group generation unit 23 executes grouping so that the difference in the total number of transmissions within the group for each group is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value.

Next, with reference to FIG. 15, the grouping execution process in the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the grouping execution process according to the second embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 15, first, the grouping request is transmitted to the attribute information acquisition unit 22 of the remote conference server 20 by the group generation request unit 12 of the client terminal 10X of the chair user (step S601), and the remote conference server. The attribute information acquisition unit 22 of 20 receives a grouping request from the group generation request unit 12 of the client terminal 10X (step S602).

When the grouping request is received in step S602, the attribute information acquisition unit 22 of the remote conference server 20 notifies the attribute information transmission unit 17 of each client terminal 10A to 10D that the grouping request has been made ( Step S603). Subsequently, the attribute information transmission unit 17 receives information indicating that the grouping request has been made (step S604). Subsequently, the attribute information transmission unit 17 transmits the number of transmissions of the client terminals 10A to 10D to the attribute information acquisition unit 22 of the remote conference server 20 (step S605).

Subsequently, the attribute information acquisition unit 22 receives the number of transmissions of the client terminals 10A to 10D transmitted in step S605 (step S606). The number of transmissions of the client terminals 10A to 10D received by the attribute information acquisition unit 22 is output from the attribute information acquisition unit 22 to the group generation unit 23.

Subsequently, the group generation unit 23 divides the client terminals 10A to 10D into a plurality of groups based on the number of transmissions of the client terminals 10A to 10D received in step S606 (step S607).

Since the subsequent processing is the same as the processing of steps S405 to S410 shown in FIG. 7, the description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, according to the remote conference system of the present embodiment, the user attribute information is acquired by the attribute information acquisition unit 22 as the user attribute information is transmitted from the client terminal 10 by the attribute information transmission unit 17. Therefore, grouping can be easily performed based on the user attribute information transmitted from the client terminal 10.

Further, according to the present embodiment, grouping is performed based on the number of transmissions of each client terminal 10. Therefore, for example, grouping can be performed so that the number of transmissions is not biased in each group.

Although various embodiments of the present embodiment have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist thereof.

In the above embodiment, the example in which the user attribute information is included in the room entry request has been described, but the user attribute information may not be included in the room entry request.

In the above embodiment, an example of executing grouping based on either the OS language information of each client terminal 10 or the number of transmissions has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the grouping may be executed based on the OS language information of each client terminal 10, and the grouping may be re-executed based on the number of transmissions of each client terminal 10 at a predetermined timing.

The user attribute information is not limited to the example described in the above embodiment, and is, for example, screen information shared on the conference screen of each client terminal 10, file information opened in each client terminal, or a user of each client terminal. Identification information (gender, age, etc.) may be used. When the shared screen information is used as the user attribute information, instead of acquiring the OS language information in step S403, the shared information may be acquired and grouping may be executed based on the acquired information. When using the opened file information or the user's identification information (gender, age, etc.), each information may be acquired in step S403, and grouping may be executed based on the respective information. Needless to say, it is possible to perform grouping by using a plurality of user attribute information.

In the above embodiment, each functional unit included in the client terminal 10 may be included in the remote conference server 20, and each functional unit included in the remote conference server 20 may be included in the client terminal 10.

In the above embodiment, the remote conference system including the client terminal 10 and the remote conference server 20 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. The information processing system according to the present invention may be the server itself provided with the above-mentioned functional unit, or may be the client terminal itself provided with the above-mentioned functional unit.

The present invention can be, for example, an embodiment as a system, an apparatus, a method, a program, a storage medium, or the like, and specifically, may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices, or 1 It may be applied to a device consisting of two devices.

The present invention includes a software program that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, which is directly or remotely supplied to a system or an apparatus. The present invention also includes cases where the computer of the system or apparatus can read and execute the supplied program code.

Therefore, in order to realize (execute) the functional processing of the present invention on a computer, the program code itself installed in the computer also realizes the present invention. That is, the present invention also includes the computer program itself for realizing the functional processing of the present invention.

In that case, as long as it has the function of a program, it may be in the form of an object code, a program executed by an interpreter, script data supplied to the OS, or the like.

The recording medium for supplying the program includes, for example, a flexible disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, MO, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, or a CD-RW. There are also magnetic tapes, non-volatile memory cards, ROMs, DVDs (DVD-ROM, DVD-R) and the like.

In addition, as a method of supplying the program, the browser of the client computer is used to connect to the homepage of the Internet. Then, it can also be supplied by downloading the computer program of the present invention itself or a compressed file including an automatic installation function to a recording medium such as a hard disk from the homepage.

It can also be realized by dividing the program code constituting the program of the present invention into a plurality of files and downloading each file from different homepages. That is, the present invention also includes a WWW server that causes a plurality of users to download a program file for realizing the functional processing of the present invention on a computer.

In addition, the program of the present invention is encrypted, stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, and distributed to users, and the key information for decrypting the encryption is downloaded from the homepage to the user who clears the predetermined conditions. Let me. Then, by using the downloaded key information, it is also possible to execute an encrypted program and install it on a computer.

Further, the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by the computer executing the read program. In addition, based on the instruction of the program, the OS or the like running on the computer performs a part or all of the actual processing, and the function of the above-described embodiment can be realized by the processing.

Further, the program read from the recording medium is written to the memory provided in the function expansion board inserted in the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer. After that, based on the instruction of the program, the function expansion board, the CPU provided in the function expansion unit, or the like performs a part or all of the actual processing, and the function of the above-described embodiment is also realized by the processing.

It should be noted that the above-described embodiments are merely examples of embodiment of the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed in a limited manner by these. That is, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the technical idea or its main features.

1 Remote conference system (information processing system)
10 Client terminal 21 Entrance processing unit (entrance processing means)
22 Attribute information acquisition unit (attribute information acquisition means)
23 Group generation unit (group generation means)
24 Distribution information acquisition department (Distribution information acquisition means)

Claims (13)

An information processing system in which a plurality of client terminals used by a first-class user and a second-class user are connected so as to be able to communicate with each other.
A grouping means for dividing a plurality of client terminals related to the second type user into a plurality of groups based on the user attribute information indicating the user attribute of the client terminal.
A distribution information acquisition means for acquiring distribution information to be distributed to a client terminal in the same group as the client terminal that transmitted the transmission information based on the transmission information transmitted from the client terminal.
An information processing system characterized by being equipped with. The first aspect of claim 1, wherein the grouping means does not group the client terminals related to the first type user, but divides a plurality of client terminals related to the second type user into a plurality of groups. Information processing system. The second type user is displayed on the client terminal related to the first type user, and the second type user is identified and displayed for each group by executing grouping by the grouping means. The information processing system according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a display control means for controlling the information processing. The information processing system according to claim 3, wherein the display control means controls the users of the second type in the same group to be identified and displayed by surrounding them with a thick frame. The user of the first type is displayed on the client terminal related to the user of the second type, and the user of the second type in the same group as the user is displayed by executing the grouping by the grouping means. The information processing system according to claim 1, further comprising a display control means for controlling the information processing. Attribute acquisition means for acquiring the user attribute information from the client terminal,
An entry processing means for processing an entry request to a virtual conference room by the client terminal, and
Equipped with
The entry request includes the user attribute information and includes the user attribute information.
The information processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the attribute acquisition means acquires the user attribute information based on the entry request processed by the entry processing means. .. The information processing system according to claim 6, wherein the attribute acquisition means acquires the user attribute information by receiving the user attribute information transmitted from the client terminal. The information processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the user attribute information is linguistic information used in the client terminal. The information processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the user attribute information is the number of times the transmission information is transmitted from the client terminal of the transmission source. The claim includes a flag for identifying a user type, and the flag is used to identify whether the user related to the client terminal is a user of the first type or a user of the second type. The information processing system according to 6 or 7 . The information processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the user of the first type is a chairman user, and the user of the second type is a general user. It is a control method of an information processing system in which a plurality of client terminals used by a first-type user and a second-type user are connected so as to be able to communicate with each other.
A grouping step for dividing a plurality of client terminals related to the second type user into a plurality of groups based on the user attribute information indicating the user attribute of the client terminal.
A distribution information acquisition step for acquiring distribution information to be distributed to a client terminal in the same group as the client terminal that transmitted the transmission information based on the transmission information transmitted from the client terminal.
How to control an information processing system, including. In an information processing system in which a plurality of client terminals used by a first-class user and a second-class user are connected so as to be able to communicate with each other.
Computer,
A grouping means for dividing a plurality of the client terminals related to the second type user into a plurality of groups based on the user attribute information indicating the user attribute of the client terminal.
A program for functioning as a distribution information acquisition means for acquiring distribution information to be distributed to a client terminal in the same group as the client terminal that transmitted the transmission information based on the transmission information transmitted from the client terminal.

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