JPH0738865A - Multi-point multimedia communication conference system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To assist smooth understanding by enabling persons who attend a conference at respective points to objectively understand the respective conference spaces. CONSTITUTION:A conference space information transmission and display part 6 inputs position data, and generates and supplies conference space information to a transmission part 7, which transmits the information. Once images and conference space information are received by a reception part 8 from other video conference devices, they are supplied to a conference space information transmission and display part 6, where a virtual conference space image is generated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multipoint multimedia communication conference system, which is formed by at least multimedia communication between two points.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, many systems for performing moving image communication using image processing technology and network technology have been put into practical use. One of these is a video conference system, and recently, not only one-to-one communication between two points but also one capable of connecting a plurality of points of three or more points is being developed.

In such a video conference system, the face image and voice of each participant are transmitted respectively, and the conference is proceeded while watching the state of the other party. In particular, in a multipoint video conference system, face images of a plurality of partners are displayed at the same time, and a conference is held while watching all participants.

For example, the following documents are available for the purpose of realizing such a video conference system.

Literature: IEICE Technical Report IE
90-49, issued in 1990, "Multipoint multimedia communication conference system PMTC for B-ISDN" and the like. In order to smoothly hold a conference, in the conventional video conference system, a conference space for sharing information is generally configured by defining three types of spaces as shown in FIG. That is, it is composed of an eigenspace, a closed space, a shared space, and the like.

In FIG. 3, black circles represent conference participants, and white circles represent third parties other than the participants. The shared space is a space where all conference participants share information and represents the entire conference room. The closed space is a space that consists of only a part of participants, such as talking to the neighbors during the conference.
The unique space is a space where you can see other materials by yourself and call other people who have not attended the conference.

In the conventional video conference system,
The space was controlled on the system side by the user's selection of the service menu without making the conference space aware of the user.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a conventional video conference system. In FIG. 2, the encoder 1
Is for encoding image data input from a camera and audio signals input from a microphone. The transmission unit 2 adds information such as a transmission source and a transmission destination to the encoded image data and audio data and transmits the data.
The receiving unit 3 in FIG. 2 receives data from another system, divides the data into image data, audio data, and other information, and further classifies the data according to the transmission source, and the decoder 4
a to 4c. And the decoder 4a
4c are for decoding image data. And
The image display / audio reproducing unit 5 includes the decoders 4a to 4c.
The image data from is displayed and the sound is reproduced.

[0009] In such a video conference system, in an actual conference, a telephone call comes in during the conference so that the participants form an eigenspace or talk with a neighbor to form a closed space. Often.

[0010] Usually, a participant of a conference interrupts the conference while another participant is calling, or advances the conference within a safe range. Also, if someone talks to me while I am speaking, I feel that my content may have been inappropriate, so I can restate it in plain language or repeatedly emphasize it to ).

That is, the behavior of another person or his / her interest (interest) is immediately sensed, and the conference is advanced accordingly.
It is important to know which meeting space is composed of other people in order to carry out smooth communication.

[0012]

However, in the conventional multipoint video conference system as described above, the front face image of the participant is simply transmitted and displayed.
Little was known about who made up the closed space, and who made up the eigenspace.

It is also possible that the speaker, who is seriously speaking, actually constitutes an eigenspace and hardly hears the speaker. Then, if the speaker is informed that the other party is constructing an eigenspace, it is possible to make the statement stand by and make an assertion later so that reliable communication can be performed.

Further, in the conventional multipoint video conference system, when the closed space is constructed, it is realized by calling the service menu and inputting (selecting) the name of the other party. There was also the inconvenience that I couldn't easily talk to my neighbors.

Therefore, from the above-mentioned problems, in the above-mentioned multipoint video conference system, it is possible to objectively understand in which conference room space each conference participant is located and participating in the conference. Mechanism is required. For example,
It is desired that the participants can understand that they are in a closed space or a unique space and can talk to other people quickly.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its purpose is to be able to objectively understand each conference space between persons participating in a conference at another point. , It is to provide a multi-point multimedia communication conference system that supports smooth communication.

[0017]

Therefore, the first invention is
In order to achieve the above object, the image of a conference participant of the own multimedia communication conference device is transmitted to another multimedia communication conference device, and the image of the conference participant is displayed on the own multimedia communication conference device as an image. The multi-point multimedia communication conference system for multi-point multi-media communication was realized with the following characteristic configurations.

That is, the conference space information (for example, shared space information, closed space information, unique space information, etc.) representing the conference space of the conference participants of the own multimedia communication conference device is generated, and the other multimedia communication conference device is generated. And a conference space information display unit for displaying the conference space information on the own multimedia communication conference apparatus.

Also, in the second invention, the image of the conference participant of the own multimedia communication conference device is transmitted to another video conference device, and the image of the conference participant is displayed on the own multimedia communication conference device. The multi-point multimedia communication conference system for multi-point multi-media communication was realized by the following characteristic configurations.

That is, the own multimedia communication conference device receives the conference space information (for example, shared space information, closed space information, eigenspace information, etc.) representing the conference space from another multimedia communication conference device, and It is characterized in that it is provided with a conference space information receiving and displaying means for displaying the conference space information.

A configuration for generating a virtual conference space image from the above conference space information is also preferable.

[0022]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the conference space information generating means, when there are a plurality of conference participants (for example, A and B) in the own multimedia communication conference device, the conference space information generating device is present, for example. The conference space information of the conference room environment is transmitted to another multimedia communication conference device.

The conference space information means, for example, whether or not a participant forms an eigenspace, a shared space, or a closed space in the own multimedia communication conference device. It is information indicating whether or not. Then, the conference space information is transmitted to another own multimedia communication conference device.

Further, the conference space information display means of the first invention allows the conference participants to objectively understand the conference space by displaying the conference space information as described above.

It is possible to further contribute to the communication of the conference by displaying the images of the conference participants as a face image or a portrait image together with the display of the conference space information. The image of the conference participants may be a moving image or a still image.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the conference space information receiving / displaying means can display the conference space information on its own multimedia communication conference device when receiving the conference space information from another multimedia communication conference device. Understand the conference space of each conference participant.

Therefore, even if participants are participating from multiple points, for example, a shared space, a unique space,
Since it is possible to objectively understand whether or not a closed space is formed, it is possible to contribute to improvement of communication at the meeting.

By displaying the face images of the participants in the conference together with the reception display of the conference space information, it is possible to facilitate the conference. Furthermore, by generating a virtual conference space image from the above-mentioned conference space information, conference participants at multiple points can be virtually displayed in one virtual conference space. Communication can be improved.

Further, the configuration provided with both the configuration of the above-mentioned first invention and the configuration of the above-mentioned second invention can further support the communication of the conference between multiple points.

In addition, in the above-mentioned first invention and second invention, by adopting the following various configurations,
It will be more effective. (1) That is, for example, when the positions of the participants are close to each other, the closed space can be configured. (2) Further, when the closed space is formed, the closed space can be specified by enclosing the images of the participants concerned with the line.

(3) Further, when a closed space is formed,
It is also possible to specify the closed space by changing the color of the images of the participants involved. (4) Furthermore,
If the participants in the closed space are separated from each other, this closed space can be eliminated. (5) Also, when the closed space is eliminated, the original display can be returned. (6)
Further, when the participant and the eigenspace display are close to each other, this participant can be configured in the eigenspace.

[0032]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of the present invention applied to a multipoint video conference system will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Outline of One Embodiment): In this one embodiment,
In addition to conventional image data and audio data, conference space information is transmitted and displayed on a screen. Therefore, first, prepare common coordinates assuming that all the conference participants are gathered in one virtual place (meeting room).
The position of the seat of each participant is represented by its coordinates. The participant can move freely on this coordinate.

Then, each multi-point video conference device transmits its own position data to all the participants, and also uses the position data of the other participants transmitted from the other video conference device to display the screen. The seat positions in the virtual conference room of all participants are displayed above.

Further, it is detected from the positional relationship of each participant which conference space all the participants are constructing, and this is clearly displayed on the virtual conference room. Then, when the participant starts forming the closed space, the closed space is configured by moving his or her position to the vicinity of the seat position of the opponent.
At this time, the movement information is transmitted to all the video conference devices, the closed space is detected on each of the video conference devices, and this state is displayed.

When the formation of the eigenspace is started, the eigenspace is formed by moving the eigenspace to a preset location. At this time as well, information is similarly transmitted and displayed on all video conference devices.

Here, when the shared space is formed, the image data and the audio data are transmitted to all the participants. However, when the closed space is constructed, the image data is transmitted to all the participants and the audio data is transmitted only to the corresponding party.

In order to perform such a thing, the configuration for realizing the multipoint video conference system of one embodiment will be described more specifically.

(System Configuration): FIG. 1 is a functional configuration diagram of a multipoint video conference system according to an embodiment. In FIG. 1, the video conference device 20 includes an encoder 1, a transmission unit 7, a conference space information transmission display unit 6, an image display audio reproduction unit 5, decoders 4a to 4c, and a reception unit 8. Has been done.

In FIG. 1, what is characteristically different from the conventional one is that the conference space information transmission / display unit 6 is newly added. Incidentally, in order to additionally configure the conference space information transmission / display section 6, the transmission section 7 and the reception section 8 are improved as compared with the conventional one.

The conference space information transmission / display section 6 of FIG.
Gives the position data input by the user to the transmitter 7, while receiving the position data of the conference participants from the other video conference device from the receiver 8. Then, the position of each conference participant is calculated from these data and displayed.

Further, the conference space information transmission / display section 6 of FIG.
, Those close to each other form a closed space,
The closed space information is given to the transmitter 7 while being displayed. Then, restrictions are placed on the other party to whom the voice data is transmitted. It also indicates the position where the eigenspace starts, and when it moves into it, it forms the eigenspace and the information is transmitted to and displayed on all video conference systems.

Then, the transmitting unit 7 of FIG. 1 adds the source information and the destination information to the image data and the audio data, and transmits the image data and the audio data to each video conference apparatus. Further, the source data and the destination information are added to the position data obtained from the conference space information transmission / display unit 6 and the position data is transmitted to each video conference device. At this time, information on the type of data (image, sound, position) is also added and transmitted. If the conference space data obtained from the conference space information transmission / display unit 6 in FIG. 1 is the closed space, the audio data is transmitted only to the closed space constituent.

The receiving unit 8 of FIG. 1 receives the data from each video conference device, sends the image data and the audio data to the decoders 4a to 4c, and the position data to the conference space information transmission / display unit 6. give.

(Structure of Meeting Space Information Transmission / Display Unit 6): FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the meeting space information transmission / display unit 6 of one embodiment. In FIG. 4, the conference space information transmission display unit 6 characteristically includes a position coordinate changing unit 9, a conference space detecting unit 10, a unique space establishing unit 11, and a conference space information displaying unit 12. ing.

The position coordinate changing unit 9 in FIG. 4 designates / changes its own position on the common coordinates in the virtual conference room. Then, the initial position can be input at the start of the conference and then changed to an arbitrary place. For example, it can be realized by directly inputting the coordinates from an input device such as a keyboard, or can be realized by designating the place of the conference room displayed on the screen by the conference space information display unit 12 with a mouse or the like. . Further, a telephone 91 and a book 92 as shown in FIG. 9 can be configured to display the eigenspace.

Then, the conference space detecting section 10 of FIG. 4 stores the own position data obtained by the position coordinate changing section 9,
The position data of the other participants obtained from the receiving unit 8 are input, and it is detected which conference space each participant is using. For example, it is assumed that participants who are closer to the respective thresholds are constructing a closed space. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, it is assumed that a participant who is near a preset place, for example, a place displayed by a picture of the telephone 71 or the book 72, is constructing a unique space.

All the conference space data is given to the conference space information display unit 12, and when it is detected that the self forms a closed space, it is given to the transmission unit 7 to transmit the voice data. Give restrictions first. When it is detected that the self starts or ends the eigenspace, the conference space data is given to the eigenspace establishing unit 11.

The eigenspace establishing unit 11 shown in FIG. 4 operates when the eigenspace itself starts and ends the eigenspace with the third party. For example, when a start signal is input, the user inputs the other party's information and connects to a line different from the conference.

When a signal for ending the eigenspace is input, the line connection in the eigenspace is terminated.

Then, the conference space information display unit 12 of FIG.
Is an explicit display of who is located where, and which conference space is being constructed, based on the position data of oneself and other participants. For example, as shown in Fig. 5 above, participants can be represented by circles, bars, or symbols in a view of the conference room from above, and the closed space can be represented by approaching them, or The space can be expressed by approaching the side of the telephone 52 or the book 53.

With the above configuration, the following conference scenery (environment) can be displayed as an image. For example, FIG. 5 is a diagram (part 1) of a display example of the conference space information. In FIG. 5, four participants A, B, C, and D are located around the table 51 in the virtual conference room. And
Now, when A wants to talk to B in a sloppy manner, a closed space can be constructed by approaching B as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, by enclosing the closed space 61 with a line or emphasizing it to change the color, it is possible to intentionally and strongly indicate to the participants.

Further, when C in FIG. 6 wants to talk with a third party other than the conference participants, it moves to, for example, the picture 71 of the telephone as shown in FIG. 7 to form an eigenspace. However, since this telephone does not represent a physical line, it is possible to configure a plurality of unique spaces at the same time. For example, D in FIG. 7 can approach a telephone and further form an eigenspace with a different person.

Similarly, in the case of constructing an eigenspace by himself / herself while examining a material, the eigenspace can be formed by moving near the picture 81 of a book as shown in FIG. You can also

On the contrary, in the case of the eigenspace, as shown in FIG. 9, it is possible to clearly indicate by bringing the telephone 91 or the book 92 to the own side without moving the own position.

By displaying the virtual conference room together with the face image 102 as shown in FIG. 10 as described above, it is possible to realize a video conference system to which the conference space information 101 is added.

(Effect of One Embodiment): According to the multipoint video conference system of the above one embodiment, since it is possible to know which conference space each participant is constructing, for example, who and who are confused. You can talk and recognize who is in a call with a third party, and the conference speaker and other participants can respond flexibly to the conference and proceed with the conference. It becomes possible to support communication.

Further, since the closed space and the eigenspace can be constructed only by moving one's position on the displayed conference room, it is possible to quickly talk to another person without disturbing the thinking during the discussion. Becomes

(Other Embodiments): (1) In addition, in FIG. 1 of the above embodiment, the functional configuration is not limited to the configuration of FIG. For example, although the decoders 4a to 4c are used, it is desirable that the number of decoders 4a to 4c be increased according to the number of video conference devices forming the network. Moreover, another functional configuration may be additionally configured. For example,
A multimedia system is preferred that is capable of transmitting audio information and displaying the images of the above-described embodiments along with the participant's conversational audio.

(2) Further, the functional configuration of the conference space information transmission / display unit 6 of FIG. 4 is not limited to such a configuration. For example, another functional configuration may be added.

(3) Further, FIGS. 5 to 10 of the above-mentioned embodiment.
The image display examples of are not limited to these image display examples. For example, various display methods can be applied by using a moving image, a still image, or an image synthesizing technique without changing the gist of the present invention.

(4) Furthermore, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the conference by the television is explained as an example, but the present invention is not limited to such a television system.

[0063]

As described above, according to the multipoint multimedia communication conference system of the present invention, the conference space information of each conference participant is transmitted to another multimedia communication conference device, and the conference of the conference participants is performed. Since the spatial information is displayed on the multimedia communication conference device, conference participants at multiple points can
Since other conferences can objectively understand what kind of conference space they are in, it is possible to support the smooth communication of the conference participants as compared with the past.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional configuration diagram of a multipoint video conference system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a conventional system.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional conference space.

FIG. 4 is a functional configuration diagram of a conference space information transmission display unit according to an embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram (part 1) of a screen display example of a conference space according to an embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram (part 2) of a screen display example of the conference space according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram (part 3) of the screen display example of the conference space according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram (No. 4) of the screen display example of the conference space according to the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram (No. 5) of the screen display example of the conference space according to the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram (No. 6) of a screen display example of the conference space according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Encoder, 4 ... Decoder, 5 ... Image display audio reproducing unit, 6
... conference space information transmission display section, 7 ... transmission section, 8 ... reception section,
20 ... Video conferencing device.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An image of a conference participant of the own multimedia communication conference device is transmitted to another multimedia communication conference device, and the image of the conference participant is displayed on the own multimedia communication conference device as an image. In a multi-point multimedia communication conference system that performs multimedia communication, generates conference space information that represents the conference space of the conference participants of the own multimedia communication conference device and transmits it to another multimedia communication conference device. A multi-point multimedia communication conference system comprising: a generation unit and a conference space information display unit for displaying the conference space information on an own multimedia communication conference device. 2. An image of a conference participant of the own multimedia communication conference device is transmitted to another multimedia communication conference device, and the image of the conference participant is displayed on the own multimedia communication conference device as an image. In a multipoint multimedia communication conference system for performing multimedia communication, the own multimedia communication conference device receives conference space information representing a conference space from another multimedia communication conference device, and displays the conference space information. A multi-point multimedia communication conferencing system comprising a conference space information receiving and displaying means.