JPS5958955A - Telephone conference system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To give feeling to participants of a conference as if they attended the conference together, while using a transmission line in a voice band, by providing a discriminating means of individual conference participants and a means displaying selectively an image of the said participants registered in advance. CONSTITUTION:An output of a transmitter operates a code signal transmitter 2, and a code signal is transmitted to a transmission line 5 via a transmission amplifier 3 and a hybrid circuit 4 together with a voice signal by utilizing a part of the voice signal band. The code signal and the voice signal of the 3rd party incoming via the line 5 pass through the hybrid 4 and a receiving amplifier 6, the voice signal is reproduced from a speaker 7 and the received code signal is read at a code reader 8, its output selects an image film corresponding to the said code signal from an image selector 9 among the photo films registered in advance and displays the film on a screen 10. Every time a transmitter changes, a part of the voice signal band is utilized, the incoming code signal replaces the image film and displays it.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Technical Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement in a so-called teleconferencing system that allows a plurality of people to exchange opinions with each other as if they were all present at different locations. .

(b) Technical background It is uneconomical to spend time and money gathering in one place to participate in a meeting, and all participants can freely express their opinions to each other via a communication network as if they were sitting together. A so-called teleconferencing system capable of exchanging information is becoming more and more in demand in today's world of developed transportation networks, especially within individual companies from the standpoint of economical business operations and labor savings.

fc) Prior art and problems This type of teleconferencing system has been in use for a long time using telephone lines, but it is only a two-way conversation by voice, and unless the parties are acquainted with each other, it is difficult to obtain a sense of realism. Although it has a long history, it has not become very popular.

Conference systems using videophones developed and implemented to eliminate this drawback not only require expensive video capture and transmission functions and video reception and reproduction functions for each terminal, but also require hundreds of audio bands. Since it requires double the transmission band, there is a disadvantage that the economic burden becomes significantly large, especially when conference participants are scattered over a wide area. Even in the present, it is still a factor that hinders its spread.

(d+Object of the Invention) An object of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks of the above-mentioned known systems and to provide a novel system of this type that is economically advantageous and provides a sense of realism.

(e) Structure of the Invention The above-mentioned object of the present invention is to provide the present invention, which comprises means for identifying individual conference participants, and means for selectively displaying images of the corresponding participants registered in advance through the identification means. This is achieved by a teleconferencing system configured by

The easiest way to identify individual conference participants is to transmit, receive and read a code signal determined for each participant, but it is also possible to use voice signal identification means, which has recently made significant advances in related technology. It is also possible.

As the images of the participants that should be registered in advance, it is recommended to use a slide film of the participant's portrait or an endlessly connected image, but the configuration is simplified so that it can be selectively displayed by the above identification means. , it is advantageous for economicalization.

However, in order to compensate for the unexpected sense of realism caused by selectively displaying still images of participants, we used a VTR (video tape recorder).
By preparing in advance a still image (portrait image) and an action image of the voice being uttered, and displaying the selection, the user can further enhance the sense of reality by switching between the voice being uttered and not.

Advances in image processing technology, combined with progress in the development of related software, have reached the point where changes in facial expressions based on changes in the strength of the voice and other factors can be displayed to a certain extent, creating an even more realistic sense of reality. However, even with terminals that make full use of such advanced technology, the transmission between participants does not go beyond the audio band even by one step, and it is possible to Even when holding a conference call between people, there is no need for expensive line usage fees like when using a videophone system.

(f1 Embodiments of the Invention The gist of the present invention will be specifically explained below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.

Both diagrams show the terminals used by conference participants, and the same reference numerals indicate the same objects throughout the diagrams.

In FIG. 1, the output of the transmitter 1 is the code signal transmitter 2.
is activated, and using a part of the audio signal band, the audio signal is transmitted along with the audio signal to the transmission line 5 via the transmission amplifier 3 and the hybrid circuit 4.

The third party's code signal and audio signal arriving via the line 5 pass through the hybrid 4, the reception amplifier 6, the audio signal is reproduced from the speaker 7, and the received code signal is read by the code reader 8. Based on the output thereof, the portrait selector 9 selects a film corresponding to the code signal from the portrait films registered in advance and causes it to appear on the screen 10.

The portrait film is replaced and displayed according to the incoming code signal, using a portion of the audio signal band for each different sender.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, conference participants are identified by their individual voices.

Unlike the case shown in FIG. 1, the transmitting section simply consists of a transmitter 1 and a transmitting amplifier 3, and the receiving section is provided with a voice recognition circuit 11, and the selector 12 uses the code signal output from the voice identifying circuit 11. Video recorder V1 that recorded video. ．． V2
. . . The corresponding recorder of Vn is selected and displayed on the television monitor 13.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, two types of images of conference participants, ``Va'' that is speaking and ``Vb'' that are not speaking, are individually prepared, and the images of participants other than themselves (in the illustrated example, ■, ■,
3 people indicated by ■) were also monitored separately 13■, 1311.
An example of displaying the image on 131rl is shown below.

At this time, the monitors 131, 131.13111 are video recorders (Via) that record two types of video belonging to each individual via the selectors 121121f and 12I[I.

Vlb; Vlla, Vllb; VIIla, VIIlb
), and the output of the voice identification circuit 11 is connected to the video recorder to which the speaker belongs from vb (no speech) to V
It has the function of switching to a (speech).

(G1 As described in the detailed description of the invention, the telephone conference system according to the present invention has a remarkable ability to use a transmission line in the voice band while giving conference participants spread over a wide range a feeling of being present with each other. It is effective.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figure shows an embodiment of the system 311111 of the present invention using a block diagram. In the first and second figures, conference participants are identified by respective code signals, and in Figures 2 and 3, voice recognition is used. In particular, FIG. 3 shows an example in which different images are used for when the speaker is speaking and when he is not speaking. In the figure, ζ, 1 is a transmitter, 2 is a code signal transmitter, 3 is a transmission amplifier, 4 is a pipe litho 1° circuit, 5 is a transmission line,
6 is a receiving amplifier, 7 is a speaker, 8 is a code reader, 9 is a portrait selector, 10 is a screen, 11 is a voice recognition circuit, 12.121.1211.12 Ill is a selector, 13.131.1311 .13 Ill is a TV monitor, ■1.■2...Vnl and v18°VI
b, VUa, Vllb, Vlla, and Vlllb all indicate video recorders. Figure 1 Figure 2m Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Scope of claims] System. (2) The telephone conference system according to claim 1, characterized in that identification of individual conference participants is performed by code signals predetermined for each participant. (3) Individual conference participants. The telephone conference system according to claim 1, characterized in that the conference participants are identified by individual audio signals. (4) Selective display of whether the conference participants are speaking or not The telephonic meeting Mn system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the images are different.