JPH11126153A - Sound reproducing device for window system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a user to reproduce a window under identifying only by listening to a voice, by adding the position information of the window be reproduced to the voice. SOLUTION: When any change occurs, a window position monitoring part 101 reports a window ID and a new display position to a voice direction calculating part 103. The voice direction calculating part 103 converts the hearing direction corresponding to the window display position. When the change occurs, a voice state monitoring part 102 calls a record adding/deleting part 104 for voice management. When a voice is generated, the record adding/deleting part 104 for voice management adds a record to a voice managing table 106 and when the voice is extinguished, the deleting processing of the record is performed. A voice output instruction issue part 105 converts the voice to a system corresponding to the style of a stereoscopic acoustic system provided by a window system and a stereoscopic acoustic output part 107 actually outputs the voice.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an audio reproducing apparatus, and more particularly to an audio reproducing apparatus capable of easily identifying the position of audio data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional window system,
The information about the display position of the window playing the sound is not added to the sound. For this reason, the user cannot instantaneously determine from which window the sound is being reproduced by merely listening to the sound.

[0003] As a device for adding display position information to voice, there is an "alarm sound generator" described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. Hei 6-33298. This technology is used in a system for monitoring the operation of equipment. Indicators corresponding to each equipment are arranged in a predetermined manner on the display,
For the equipment in which the problem has occurred, the corresponding indicator is made to blink, and based on the position information of each indicator prepared in advance, an alarm sound is output as if it sounds at that position. In this device, the position of the display device is predetermined on the display device, and it cannot be applied to a window system in which a window for outputting sound can be arbitrarily moved.

[0004]

A problem with the above-described conventional window system is that when a certain window reproduces sound, a user cannot instantly identify from which window the sound was reproduced. is there.

[0005] The reason is that information about the display position of the window being reproduced is not added to the sound, and the sound can always be heard only from a certain direction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to add position information of a window to be reproduced to a sound when the sound is reproduced on the window system, and to identify the window being reproduced only when the user listens to the sound. Is to make it possible.

[0007]

According to a first window system audio reproducing apparatus of the present invention, when reproducing sound on a window system, it is assumed that a user's face is on a vertical line from the center of a display screen. Sound is heard from each window that plays the sound.

[0008] In the audio reproducing apparatus of the second window system of the present invention, the position of the face of the user is determined by an interactive interface with the user, and the user can hear the audio from each window for reproducing the audio. Come.

The sound reproducing apparatus of the third window system of the present invention calculates the distance between the mouse cursor and the window in which sound is being reproduced, maximizes the sound volume when the distance is 0, and increases as the distance increases. An audio reproducing apparatus for a window system, which reproduces audio so as to reduce the volume of the audio.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an audio reproducing apparatus for a window system, which comprises: (a) constantly monitoring a display position of a window reproducing audio, and notifying an ID for identifying the window and a new display position when a change occurs; And (b) converting the direction of the sound that can be heard based on the display position according to the display position of the window assuming that the user's face is on a vertical line from the center of the display screen. An audio direction calculation unit, and (c) an audio state monitoring unit that constantly monitors the occurrence and disappearance of the audio on the window system and notifies the user of the change when a change occurs.
(D) a voice management table that stores a record including the ID for each window, the direction of the voice, and the display position of the window; and (e) a voice is generated by a notification from the voice status monitoring unit. In this case, a voice management record addition / deletion unit that adds the record for the window in which the voice has been generated to the voice management table, and deletes the record for the window in which the voice has disappeared when the voice has disappeared. f) an output instruction issuing unit that converts audio into a stereophonic sound system format provided by the window system based on the record of the audio management table and outputs audio information; and (g) an audio command from the output instruction issuing unit. And a three-dimensional sound output unit provided by a window system that performs actual sound reproduction.

A fifth window system audio reproducing apparatus according to the present invention is the fourth window system audio reproducing apparatus, wherein the coordinates of the upper right corner of the display screen are obtained from the window system and the audio is reproduced from the upper right corner of the screen. Is set at a predetermined initial value, and the sound is reproduced from the upper right corner of the screen, and the sound is reproduced so that the user can hear from the upper right corner of the display screen. An initial setting unit that corrects the initial value in the direction in which the direction adjustment button on the screen is pressed, repeats this correction, and adjusts the audio direction to an appropriate value. And a voice direction calculator.

A sixth aspect of the present invention provides the audio reproducing apparatus of the window system according to the fourth or fifth window system, wherein each record includes a distance between a window and a mouse cursor and a volume. A voice management table, and constantly monitors the position and key input of the mouse cursor on the window system, and when a key for changing the predetermined voice volume is pressed, if a record exists in the voice management table, Updates the distance between the window and the mouse cursor in all the records existing in the voice management table to -1, reinitializes the distance, and then changes the voice volume. A mouse cursor monitoring unit that obtains the position of the mouse cursor during the input, and the audio tube based on the processing of the mouse cursor management unit. Taken out of each record in the table,
A new distance is calculated from the position of the mouse cursor and the window display position of the retrieved record. If the distance of the retrieved record is -1, the record distance is updated to the new distance, and the distance of the retrieved record is not -1. If the distance stored in the retrieved record is compared with the new distance, the volume is increased if the new distance is smaller, and the volume is reduced if the new distance is greater. And a voice loudness calculation unit for updating the distance of the retrieved record to the new distance, and processing the voice based on the result of the mouse cursor calculation unit and the voice loudness calculation unit. An output instruction issuing unit.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the first embodiment of the present invention monitors the display position of a window that is playing back audio at all times, and when a change occurs, sends a window ID and a new display position to the audio direction calculation unit 103. Window position monitoring unit 101 for notification
And a voice direction calculation unit 103 that converts the apparent direction of the voice based on the information of the window position monitoring unit 101 in accordance with the window display position, and constantly monitors the occurrence and disappearance of the voice on the window system. When a voice is generated based on information of the voice status monitoring unit 102 and the voice status monitoring unit 102 that calls the voice management record addition / deletion unit 104 when a change occurs, a voice is generated for each window in which the voice is generated. A record is added to the voice management table 106 storing information necessary for the apparatus, and a voice management record addition / deletion unit 104 for deleting a record when the voice has disappeared. The audio is converted to a format that matches the format of the stereophonic sound system provided by the window system, and the stereophonic sound output by the window system is provided. An output instruction issuing section 105 of the voice calling the section 107, the actual comprised stereophonic output section 107 to provide a window system for audio output.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

First, a method of calculating the direction of a voice will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a method of calculating the voice in the X direction. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a method of calculating the voice in the Y direction.

The center of the display screen is defined as the origin of the coordinate system of the display screen, and the rightward and upward directions are defined as positive directions. The position of the user's face is on a vertical line at the center of the display screen, the angles of the eyes in the x and y directions when the user looks at the center of the display screen are each 0, and the right and upward directions are positive. Direction.

The direction of the sound corresponding to an arbitrary window display position (x, y) is divided into an x component and a y component, and expressed as (θx, θy). The method for calculating θy of the y component will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 2, if the angle at which the user perceives the sound coming from (xmax, 0) is (θxmax, 0) and the angle is predetermined, the user can select any window display position. The angle θx at which sound is heard from (x, 0) is obtained from tanθx / tanθxmax = (x / l) / (xmax / l) as tanθx = (x / xmax) tanθxmax (1) Can be

L in the equation (1) is the distance between the user and the screen.

Similarly, in the y direction, as shown in FIG.
Assuming that the angle θymax at which the sound is heard from (0, ymax) is predetermined, the angle θy at which the user feels that the sound is heard from the window position (0, y) is obtained.
Is obtained by tan θy = (y / ymax) tan θymax (2).

Here, since the position of the user's face is on the vertical line at the center of the display screen, a point (-xma
The angle θxr of the line of sight to (x, 0) satisfies θxr = −θxmax.

Therefore, the user can select the area on the left side of the display screen.
The angle θx ′ at which sound is heard from the window position x ′ of (x <0) is tanθx ′ = (x / −xmax) tanθxr = (x / −xmax) tan (−θxmax) =
(x / xmax) tan θxmax, and equation (1) can be used for the area on the left side of the display screen.

Similarly, in the Y direction, the expression (2) can be used in the lower area of the display screen.

FIG. 4 shows a voice management table 106 for holding information necessary for voice control according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the audio management table 106, one record corresponds to one audio being reproduced in the window system, and each record has a window ID for uniquely identifying each window on the window system,
It is composed of a sound direction indicating the direction in which the sound is heard, and a window display position indicating the position on the display screen of the window playing the sound.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment of the present invention in the case where a sound is newly generated and disappears on the window system will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG.
4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the voice state monitoring unit 102. Referring to FIG. 5, the audio state monitoring unit 102 constantly acquires the audio state from the window system (S5 in FIG. 5).
1) If there is a change (YES in S52 in FIG. 5), the window ID and the display position of the window in which the sound is generated (disappeared) are acquired from the window system (S5 in FIG. 5).
3). Next, information as to whether a sound has been generated or has disappeared is acquired (S54 in FIG. 5), and the sound management record addition / deletion unit 1
04 (S55 in FIG. 5).

FIG. 6 shows a voice management record addition / deletion unit 1.
14 is a flowchart showing the operation of the fourth embodiment. Referring to FIG. 6, when a new voice is generated on the window system, the voice management record addition / deletion unit 104 (FIG.
S61), a new record is added to the voice management table 106, the window display position and the window ID are updated (S62 in FIG. 6), and the voice direction calculation unit 103 is called.
The voice direction of the added record is set (S6 in FIG. 6).
3), call the voice output command issuing unit 105 (FIG. 6S)
64). When the sound has disappeared (S61 in FIG. 6), the sound output command issuing unit 105 is called, the reproduction of the disappeared sound is stopped (S65 in FIG. 6), and the record of the disappeared sound is deleted from the sound management table 106 (FIG. 6). 6S66).

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the voice output command issuing unit 105. Referring to FIG. 7, the voice output command issuing unit 105 includes a voice management table 106.
Is retrieved (S71 in FIG. 7), and when the sound is reproduced (NO in S72 in FIG. 7), the sound management table 1
The sound is converted from the sound direction and the sound volume of 06 according to the format of the stereophonic sound system provided by the window system,
A final voice output command is issued to the window system (S73 in FIG. 7). When performing the sound extinction processing (FIG. 7
(S72YES), the audio output stop command is converted according to the format of the stereophonic system provided by the window system, and a final voice stop command is issued to the stereophonic system provided by the window system (S74 in FIG. 7).

Next, the operation of the first embodiment of the present invention in the case where the display position of the window for reproducing sound on the window system changes will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the window position monitoring unit 101.

Referring to FIG. 8, the window position monitoring unit 101 monitors a change in the window display position on the window system (S81 in FIG. 8), and when there is a change (YES in S82 in FIG. 8), the window of the changed window is displayed. The ID is acquired from the window system (S8 in FIG. 8).
3) If there is a matching window ID in the voice management table 106 (YES in S84 in FIG. 8), the window display position of the corresponding record is updated with the display position of the changed window (S85 in FIG. 8). Next, the voice direction calculation unit 103 is called, the voice direction (θx, θy) corresponding to the display position of the window that has changed is calculated, the corresponding record is updated (S86 in FIG. 8), and the voice output command issuance is performed. The unit 105 is called (S87 in FIG. 8).

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the voice direction calculator 103. Referring to FIG. 9, the voice direction calculation unit 103 receives the window display position (x, y) from the caller (S91 in FIG. 9), and calculates the angle θx of the voice in the x direction according to the equation (1) (FIG. 9). 9S92),
The y-direction angle θy of the voice is calculated according to the equation (2) (S93 in FIG. 9), and the direction (θx) of the voice that the caller feels that the voice is being reproduced from the window display position (x, y) is called. , θy) (S94 in FIG. 9).

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 10, the second embodiment of the present invention is obtained by adding an initial setting unit 108 to the first embodiment of the present invention.

In the first embodiment, (x
angle (θxmax, 0)
(0), the angle (0, θymax) at which the user perceives the voice as being heard from (0, ymax) is predetermined, but the window displayed by the user on the display screen is Since the line of sight at the time of viewing varies depending on the size of the display screen and how far the user is away from the display screen, an error may occur if a fixed value is used.

Therefore, in the second embodiment of the present invention, the user sets in advance the direction of the voice corresponding to the direction of the user's line of sight, and based on that, sets the voice corresponding to the arbitrary window display position. By calculating the direction, the above error can be reduced.

FIG. 11A is a flowchart showing the operation of the initial setting unit 108. FIG. 11B is an explanatory diagram illustrating a user interface. Initial setting unit 108
Uses a user interface as shown in FIG. 11B, in which the direction of the voice that matches the line of sight of the user is set in advance.

Referring to FIG. 11A, the initial setting unit 1
08 first obtains the coordinates (xmax, ymax) of the upper right corner of the display screen from the window system (S11 in FIG. 11A).
1). Next, the voice direction (θxmax, θymax) at which the user perceives the voice as being heard from (xmax, ymax) is set with the predetermined initial value used in the first embodiment (see FIG. ) S112). Next, sound is reproduced from the direction of (θxmax, θymax) (S113 in FIG. 11A), and if the adjustment end button 1103 is not pressed (FIG. 1).
1 (a) S114 NO), (θxmax, θymax) is corrected in the direction in which the voice direction adjustment button 1102 is pressed so that the user can hear from the upper right end of the display screen (FIG. 11).
(A) S115).

Until the adjustment end button 1103 is pressed
By repeating the correction of (θxmax, θymax), (θxmax, θy
max) to an appropriate value.

The voice direction calculation unit 103 performs processing based on the final direction value in the initial setting unit 108.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 12, the third embodiment of the present invention differs from FIG. 4 in that a mouse cursor monitoring unit 109 and a voice loudness calculation unit 110 are added. The first and second points are that the items of volume and distance are added to the voice management table 106 and the operation of the voice management record addition / deletion unit 104 in FIG. 6 is changed as shown in FIG.
This embodiment is different from the embodiment.

Further, in the third embodiment of the present invention, in addition to the first and second embodiments, conversion is performed such that the sound volume is increased as the distance between the mouse cursor and the window for reproducing the audio is smaller. Thus, the user can easily identify the window that is reproducing the sound by operating the mouse cursor, and has a function that can improve the operability.

FIG. 13 shows a voice management table 106 according to the third embodiment. Referring to FIG. 13, the voice management table 106 is the same as the voice management table 106 of FIG. 4 except that the volume indicating the playback level of the voice, the mouse cursor required for adjusting the volume, and the display between the windows playing the voice are displayed. It is a distance that represents the distance on the screen,
As for the distance, -1 is defined as a value indicating that the distance has not been initialized yet.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the operation of the voice management record addition / deletion unit 104 according to the third embodiment of this invention. Referring to FIG. 14, a process of acquiring a volume and setting the distance to −1 is added to the process illustrated in FIG. 6. When a new voice is generated on the window system (YES in S141 of FIG. 14), A new record is added to the voice management table 106, the window display position and the window ID are updated (S142 in FIG. 14), the voice direction calculation unit 103 is called, and the voice direction of the added record is set (S143 in FIG. 14). Next, the volume of the sound is acquired from the window system, the distance of the added record is set to −1 (S144 in FIG. 14), and the sound output command issuing unit is called (S145 in FIG. 14). When the sound has disappeared (NO in S141 in FIG. 14), the sound output command issuing unit 105 is called, the reproduction of the disappeared sound is stopped (S146 in FIG. 14), and the record of the disappeared sound is deleted from the sound management table 106 (FIG. 14). 14S147).

Next, with reference to FIGS. 15 and 16, a description will be given of a method of adjusting the volume of voice by operating the mouse cursor of the user. It is very troublesome if the volume always changes every time the mouse cursor is operated. Therefore, the volume is adjusted only when the mouse cursor is operated while pressing a predetermined key.

When this operation is performed, the distance between all the windows during sound reproduction and the mouse cursor is repeatedly calculated while a predetermined key is being pressed. A process for increasing the volume is performed, and a process for decreasing the volume is performed as the distance increases.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mouse cursor monitoring unit 109. Referring to FIG.
The mouse cursor monitoring unit 109 monitors whether there is an input for adjusting the volume from the user, that is, constantly monitors the position of the mouse cursor and the key input on the window system (S151 in FIG. 15), and determines the predetermined sound volume. When the key to be changed is pressed (YES in S152 in FIG. 15), if a record exists in the voice management table 106 (S152 in FIG. 15).
153 YES), the distances of all records existing in the voice management table 106 are updated to −1, and the distances are re-initialized (S154 in FIG. 15).

Next, while there is a key input for changing the volume of the voice (YES in S158 in FIG. 15), the position of the mouse cursor is acquired, and the voice volume calculation unit 110 and the voice output command issuing unit 105 are called (FIG. 15). 15S156, S15
7) Repeat the process of reproducing the sound at the volume according to the new mouse cursor position.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the operation of the sound volume calculation unit 110. Referring to FIG.
The voice volume calculation unit 110 uses the voice management table 106
Is retrieved (S162 in FIG. 16), and the distance is calculated from the position of the mouse cursor and the window display position of the retrieved record (S163 in FIG. 16). If the distance of the retrieved record is −1 (YES in S164 in FIG. 16), the distance of the record is determined. Is updated with the distance calculated this time (S1 in FIG. 16).
66) The volume is not adjusted.

If the distance of the record has already been calculated (S164NO in FIG. 16), the distance stored in the record is compared with the distance calculated this time. If the distance calculated this time is smaller, the volume is increased, If the distance is larger, the volume is reduced, the volume of the record is updated (S165 in FIG. 16), and the distance of the record is updated with the distance calculated this time (S166 in FIG. 16).

[0049]

The effect of the present invention is that the user can identify the position of the window being reproduced only by listening to the sound. The reason is that when the user turns his / her gaze in the direction in which the user perceives that the sound is being played, the window playing the sound is displayed there, so the apparent direction of the sound and the sound This is because the direction of the window being reproduced matches the direction when the user visually confirms the window.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a calculation method of a voice in an x direction.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of calculating the y direction of voice.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a voice management table of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the voice state monitoring unit of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of a voice management record addition / deletion unit in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation of a voice output command issuing unit in FIG. 1;

8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the window position monitoring unit of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the voice direction calculator of FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11A is a flowchart showing the operation of the initial setting unit in FIG. FIG. 11B is an explanatory diagram illustrating a user interface according to the second embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a voice management table of FIG.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the operation of the voice management record addition / deletion unit of FIG. 12;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mouse cursor monitoring unit of FIG.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing an operation of a voice loudness calculating unit in FIG. 12;

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 101 window position monitoring unit 102 voice state monitoring unit 103 voice direction calculation unit 104 voice management record addition / deletion unit 105 voice output command issuing unit 106 voice management table 107 stereophonic sound output unit provided by window system 108 initial setting unit 109 Mouse cursor monitoring unit 110 Voice volume calculation unit

Claims (6)

[Claims] When reproducing sound on a window system, the user's face is positioned on a vertical line from the center of the display screen, and the sound is heard from each window for reproducing the sound. Window system audio playback device. 2. A window system characterized in that the position of the face of the user is determined by an interactive interface with the user, and the user can hear the sound from each window for reproducing the sound. Audio playback device. 3. The distance between the mouse cursor and the window in which the sound is being reproduced is calculated, and the sound is reproduced such that the sound volume is maximized when the distance is 0, and the sound volume is reduced as the distance increases. A sound reproduction apparatus for a window system. And (a) a window position monitor for constantly monitoring the display position of the window playing the sound and notifying an ID for identifying the window and a new display position when a change occurs, and (b) displaying the window. (C) a window system that converts the direction of the sound that can be heard based on the position, based on the position of the window assuming that the user's face is on a vertical line from the center of the display screen, and An audio state monitoring unit that constantly monitors the occurrence and disappearance of the above audio, and notifies the user of the change when a change occurs;
(D) a voice management table that stores a record including the ID for each window, the direction of the voice, and the display position of the window; and (e) a voice is generated by a notification from the voice status monitoring unit. In this case, a voice management record addition / deletion unit that adds the record for the window in which the voice has been generated to the voice management table, and deletes the record for the window in which the voice has disappeared when the voice has disappeared. f) an output instruction issuing unit that converts audio into a stereophonic sound system format provided by the window system based on the record of the audio management table and outputs audio information; and (g) an audio command from the output instruction issuing unit. A stereophonic sound output unit provided by a window system that performs actual sound reproduction. Stem of the audio playback device. 5. The coordinates of the upper right corner of the display screen are obtained from the window system, and the direction of the voice assuming that the voice is heard from the upper right corner of the screen is set with a predetermined initial value. The sound is reproduced from the upper right corner of the sound, and the initial value is corrected in the direction in which the direction adjustment button on the screen of the sound is pressed so that the user can hear the sound from the upper right end of the display screen. 5. The audio reproducing apparatus for a window system according to claim 4, comprising: an initial setting unit for adjusting a direction to an appropriate value; and a direction calculating unit for the audio, which performs processing based on a result of the initial setting unit. . 6. A voice management table in which each record includes a distance between a window and a mouse cursor and a volume, and a position and a key input of the mouse cursor on a window system are constantly monitored to determine a predetermined voice volume. Is pressed, and if a record exists in the voice management table, the distance between the window and the mouse cursor in all the records existing in the voice management table is updated to -1, and the distance is reinitialized. Then, while there is a key input to change the volume of the voice to change the volume of the voice, based on the processing of the mouse cursor monitoring unit to obtain the position of the mouse cursor and the mouse cursor management unit Each record of the voice management table is taken out, and a new distance is calculated from the position of the mouse cursor and the window display position of the taken out record. If the distance of the retrieved record is -1, the distance of the record is updated to the new distance,
If the distance of the retrieved record is not -1, the distance stored in the retrieved record is compared with the new distance, and if the new distance is smaller, the volume is increased,
If the new distance is larger, update the volume of the record taken out so as to reduce the volume, and update the distance of the taken out record to the new distance, a voice loudness calculation unit, and the mouse cursor calculation unit. 6. The audio reproducing apparatus for a window system according to claim 4, further comprising: a voice output command issuing unit for performing a process based on a result of a voice volume calculating unit.