JPH0970032A - Electronic conference device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain the electronic conference device provided with a means that easily recognizes a position of an indicated graphic being a displayed matter on a screen and moved by other party. SOLUTION: A shared information means 12 displays information inputted from a key board 2 onto a monitor 10 simultaneously with a connection opposite party and an indication graphic management means 13 displays a point-out indication graphic indicating an optional position of common information being displayed onto a monitor 10. An indicated graphics is subjected to mobile control by a mouse 4. A communication control means 7 sends indicated graphic control information to a connection opposite party and an opposite party indicated graphic display means is used to display the indication graphic information received from the connection opposite party onto the MODEM 10.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic conferencing apparatus capable of mutually displaying an instruction graphic used for mutually pointing an arbitrary point on a shared information display screen such as a shared whiteboard.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional electronic conferencing system, an instruction graphic on a shared information display screen is displayed in a small graphic so as not to hide information which is originally intended to be displayed.

[0003]

However, when a designated figure displayed in a small figure is moved by another person, it is often difficult to immediately recognize its position, which hinders smooth information exchange. There is a problem that

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides an electronic conferencing apparatus which is a small display object on a screen and is provided with means for easily recognizing the position of a pointing figure moved by another person. The purpose is to

[0005]

To achieve the above object, according to the present invention, in claim 1, in the electronic conference device, shared information display means capable of displaying the input information at the same time as the connection partner, and Means for displaying an instruction graphic indicating an arbitrary position on the shared information, means for controlling the movement of the instruction graphic, means for transmitting the control information to the connection partner, and instruction graphic control received from the connection partner And a partner designating graphic display means for displaying the partner designating graphic according to the information.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the other party designated figure display means, when the next designated figure control information is not received from the connected party within a fixed time after completion of receiving the designated figure control information from the connected party, only for a fixed time. The configuration is such that a control means for highlighting the partner-designated figure is provided.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the partner pointing graphic display means is provided with a means for highlighting the partner pointing graphic while receiving the pointing graphic control information from the connection partner.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a processing configuration of an information sharing function portion in an electronic conference device according to the present invention.

The electronic conferencing apparatus has a main control unit 1, a keyboard 2 for inputting shared information required for a meeting with a connection partner, and an arbitrary position on the shared information being displayed by itself and the connection partner. A mouse 4 for inputting control information for displaying a pointing graphic pointed to, a transmission line 9 for exchanging information between the own electronic conference device and the electronic conference device of a connection partner,
It is composed of a monitor 10 and the like for displaying the shared information of itself and the connection partner and the instruction graphic control information.

The main control unit 1 monitors each processing unit in this figure and executes each processing unit to perform an information sharing function.
A keyboard interface 3 for recognizing shared information input from the keyboard 2, a mouse interface 5 for recognizing pointing figure control information input from the mouse 4, the keyboard interface 3 and the respective information recognized by the mouse interface 5 are input. The input control unit 6, the communication control unit 7 for transmitting the output information from the input control unit 6 to the connection partner, the output information of the communication control unit 7 is sent to the transmission path 9 and transmitted from the electronic conferencing device of the connection partner. From the communication interface 8 for recognizing the shared information and the instruction graphic control information sent to the path 9 and inputting them to the communication control unit 7, the shared information input from the input control unit 6, the instruction graphic control information, and the communication control unit 7. A shared information pipe that captures and manages the shared information and designated figure control information sent from the input connection partner. Parts 12 and indicating figure managing unit 13,
A monitor interface 11 for recognizing the shared information and directed figure control information output from the shared information management section 12 and the directed figure management section 13, a monitor 10 for displaying each information output from the monitor interface 11, and a transmission from a connection partner. It is configured by a timer management unit 14 and the like that manages time relating to the designated figure control information and outputs timer information to the designated figure management unit 13.

The operation will be described below.

The shared information input from the keyboard 2,
The designated figure control information input from the mouse 4 is recognized by the keyboard interface 3 and the mouse interface 5, respectively, and sent to the input control unit 6. The pointing figure control information from the mouse 4 received by the input control section 6 is classified into shared information and pointing figure control information according to the mouse control state of the main control section 1, and is transmitted from the communication control section 7 to the transmission line 9 through the communication interface 8. The shared information is sent to the partner electronic conference device, and the shared information is sent to the shared information management unit 12.
The designated figure control information is sent to the designated figure management unit 13.

On the other hand, the information received from the partner electronic conferencing apparatus is input to the communication control unit 7 through the communication interface 8, and the communication control unit 7 distinguishes the shared information from the designated figure control information. Then, the shared information is sent to the shared information management unit 12, and the designated figure control information is sent to the designated figure management unit 13. The shared information management unit 12 displays the received shared information on the monitor 10 via the monitor interface 11. Further, the designated figure management unit 13 displays the designated figure of the user and the other party on the monitor 10 via the monitor interface 11 according to the received designated figure control information. The timer management unit 14 manages two timers, generates an interrupt when a time-out occurs, and the designated figure management unit 13
Execute the interrupt processing in.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the processing procedure executed when the designated figure management unit 13 receives the designated figure control information. First, the timer 1 is started in step S1. If the timer 1 has already been started, the timer 1 is reset. Next, the timer 2 is stopped (step S2), the partner designating figure is moved to a position in accordance with the received control information and highlighted, for example, an instruction is given to the monitor interface 11 to perform enlarged display, and the processing ends. . At this time, when the partner designating figure is already enlarged and displayed, the normal display is restored (step S3).

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an interrupt processing procedure that is activated when the timer 1 times out. When this process is activated,
It means that it has stopped working until the timer time of timer 1 elapses. When this process is started, the timer 1 is stopped (step S4), the monitor interface 11 is instructed to enlarge and display the partner designated figure at the current position (step S5), and then the timer 2 is started. The process ends (step S2).

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an interrupt processing procedure which is activated when the timer 2 times out. When this process is activated, the partner designation figure has not moved until the timer time of the timer 2 has elapsed. When this process is started, the timer 2 is stopped (step S7), the monitor interface 11 is instructed to normally display the partner-designated figure at the current position, and the process ends.

As a result, when the movement of the pointing figure controlled by another person, that is, the other party of the connection is automatically monitored, the movement stops and a certain period of time elapses, and when there is no control to move the pointing figure in the meantime, By highlighting by expanding the display form of the indicated figure for a certain period of time,
This makes it possible to easily recognize the display position of the pointing graphic pointing to an arbitrary position on the shared information.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an interrupt processing procedure executed when the designated figure management unit 13 receives the designated figure control information of the connection partner. First, the timer is started (step S10). If the timer is already started, it will be reset. Next, the partner instruction figure is moved to a position according to the received instruction figure control information and highlighted, for example, the monitor interface 11 is instructed to perform the enlarged display, and the process is terminated. At this time, the designated figure management unit 13 enlarges and displays the partner designated figure (step S11).

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an interrupt processing procedure which is activated when the timer times out. When this process is activated, it means that the partner designating figure has not been moved until the timer time of the timer has elapsed. When this process is activated, the timer is stopped (step S12), and the pointing figure management unit 13 causes the monitor interface 11 to normally display the partner pointing figure at the current position.
Is displayed on the shared information displayed on the monitor 10 and the process is terminated (step S13).

As described above, the shared information is automatically monitored by monitoring the movement of the designated figure controlled by another person, that is, the other party of the connection, and is enlarged by expanding the display form of the designated figure only while the shared information is being displayed. It becomes possible to easily recognize the display position above the.

In the present embodiment, the display form of the pointing figure on the shared information is enlarged and highlighted so that the display position is recognized, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the pointing figure is not limited to this. The highlighting may be performed by blinking, transforming, changing colors, or a combination thereof.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, the movement of the pointing graphic controlled by the partner electronic conferencing apparatus is automatically monitored, the movement stops, and a certain period of time is waited for. If there is no control to move the figure, it is a small display object on the screen and is moved by another person by highlighting the display form of the instruction figure for a certain time by enlarging, blinking, transforming, changing the color, etc. The position of the figure can be easily recognized, and the progress of the electronic conference becomes smoother.

Further, by automatically monitoring the movement of the designated figure controlled by the partner electronic conferencing apparatus, the display form of the designated figure can be emphasized by enlarging, blinking, transforming, changing the color or the like only while it is moving. As a result, the position of the pointing figure can be easily recognized, and the progress of the electronic conference becomes smoother.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a processing configuration of an information sharing function unit in an electronic conference device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure executed when the designated figure management unit of FIG. 1 receives designated figure control information of the other party.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an interrupt processing procedure activated when timer 1 of the timer management unit in FIG. 1 times out.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an interrupt processing procedure that is activated when the timer 2 of the timer management unit in FIG. 1 times out.

5 is a flowchart showing an interrupt processing procedure executed when the designated figure management unit in FIG. 1 receives designated party's designated figure control information. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an interrupt processing procedure executed when the timer of the timer management unit in FIG. 1 times out.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 main control unit in electronic conference device 2 keyboard 3 keyboard interface 4 mouse 5 mouse interface 6 input control unit 7 communication control unit 8 communication interface 9 transmission path 10 monitor 11 monitor interface 12 shared information management unit 13 instruction figure management unit 14 timer management Department

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. In an electronic conference device, shared information display means capable of displaying input information at the same time as a connection partner, means for displaying an instruction graphic indicating an arbitrary position on the shared information being displayed, said instruction graphic. An electronic device comprising means for controlling the movement of the device, means for transmitting the control information to the connection partner, and partner indication graphic display means for displaying the partner indication graphic according to the indication graphic control information received from the connection partner. Conference equipment. 2. The other party designated figure display means, when the next designated figure control information is not received from the connected party within a fixed time after completion of receiving the designated figure control information from the connected party,
The electronic conferencing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising control means for highlighting the other party's designated figure for a certain period of time. 3. The electronic conferencing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the other party instruction graphic display means includes means for highlighting the other party instruction graphic while receiving the instruction graphic control information from the connection partner.