JPS6173985A - Teaching apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a new teaching device, and in particular provides a teaching device that can provide lessons in which the human learner is in sync with one another.

[Conventional technology]

Recently, teaching using audiovisual devices has become common, and many devices have been proposed in which machines directly teach learners. For example, an example of this type of device is shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5B-11626 ``Apparatus for Forming and Converting Information for Promotional Education''.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, with conventional devices, mechanical training devices cannot accurately grasp the psychological state of the learner and proceed with the lesson, unlike when a teacher teaches, and sensors such as electroencephalogram needles are attached to the learner. This is necessary and places a physical as well as psychological burden on the learner. Therefore, from the learners' perspective, they could not get rid of the feeling that a machine was teaching them, and learning efficiency did not improve.

An object of the present invention is to provide a novel teaching device that allows the teacher to constantly observe the reactions of the learner and provide explanations based on the results without imposing any physical strain on the learner. do.

[Means for solving problems]

The teaching device of the present invention is a television camera (5) that images the learner.
, a television monitor (2) for displaying nine learning figures, etc., a teaching material source (6) for giving prescribed explanations and presenting problems according to the learning content, and controlling the speed of explanation for a prescribed period of time. means (81 (71)) for sequentially changing the speed at intervals (81 (71)) and means (17 (51, (16)) for detecting the presence or absence of a correlation between the voice and the learner's gestures when explaining at each speed.

(15), (17), and a means (7) for determining which speed has the highest correlation.
After the determination is made in step 7), the explanation is made to be performed at a speed corresponding to the determination result.

[Effect]

Therefore, according to the present invention, communication between the teaching device and the learner can be carried out in a preferable manner, and the efficiency of learning can be improved.

(Example) The details of the teaching device of the present invention will be explained below according to the illustrated example.

FIG. 1 shows the overall appearance of the teaching device (1) of the present invention,
a television monitor (2) that displays explanatory figures or text;
It consists of a speaker (3) for making sounds for explanations, a keyboard (41) for starting lessons and inputting answers to questions, and a television camera (5) for observing the learners' gestures. Gestures refer to changes in facial expressions such as nodding in response to the learner's explanation, opening of the mouth or eyes, tilt of the eyebrows, and movement of the line of sight.
) can observe any of them, that field of view is chosen. Note that in this example, the setting is to nod (observe the action).

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the above-mentioned training device (11). (6) shows a video disc device for generating audiovisual signals and data signals, and the image signal is sent to the television monitor (2). Other signals are supplied to the microcomputer (7).The microcomputer (7) controls the entire training device, and uses signals from the keyboard (4) to control the video disc device (
7), and in the case of a test, it also serves to compare the answers entered from the keyboard (4) with the data signal from the video disk and determine whether they are correct or incorrect.

In this embodiment, the auditory signal of the video disc device (6) is not a human voice, but the explanation is changed to digital data for voice synthesis. Therefore, it is necessary to convert this data into a control signal that controls the speech synthesis circuit (8), and this processing is also performed by the microcomputer (7).In this embodiment, the speech synthesis circuit (8) uses phoneme segment synthesis. Showing the circuit, R
OM configuration phoneme piece waveform memory (9) and this memory (9)
) for selecting a predetermined phoneme piece at a predetermined speed, a phoneme piece waveform address generation port maI, a buffer (11) for an amplitude control signal that determines the amplitude, and a waveform signal obtained from the memo blind month 9). Editing and synthesis circuit (1) for editing into audio signals
2) Consists of. Since this circuit is well known, a detailed explanation will be omitted. .

The output of the speech synthesis circuit (8) is supplied to the speaker (3) via the amplifier (13), and an explanation is given to the learner.

The output of the speech synthesis circuit (8) is supplied to the arithmetic circuit (IS) via the speech quantification circuit (14). TV camera (
The output of 5) is supplied to an arithmetic circuit (15) via an image quantification circuit (16), and the arithmetic output of the arithmetic circuit (15) is supplied to a microcomputer (7).

These configurations were developed by the present inventor in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 58-178398.
The speech quantification circuit (14) may be the same as the device proposed in the issue of "A device for detecting the presence or absence of correlation between motion and speech."The speech quantification circuit (14) samples the output of the speech synthesis circuit (8) and converts it from analog to digital. For example, calculate the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the audio conversion value within l frames (1/60 seconds), determine the difference as the magnitude Y (t) at that point, and use it as the magnitude Y (t) of the arithmetic circuit (15
).

The image quantification circuit (16) converts the output of the television camera (5) into a plurality of pixel area signals, detects changes in pixels before and after one frame, and calculates the total number of pixels that have changed at that point as X (t ) and supplies it to the arithmetic circuit (15). The arithmetic circuit (15) calculates the cross-correlation coefficient C(
τ).

(Y(t-τ)-μY)dt where T is the recording time length τ is the time delay μX is the average value of X RY is the average value of Y RX (0) is the variance of X
RY (0) is the variance of Y.

(17) shows a heartbeat interval variance detection circuit, in which the learner is equipped with a pulse detection device (not shown), the result is processed as heartbeat data, and the standard deviation of the heartbeat interval in any interval is calculated as the average. The number 11 made dimensionless by dividing (
This is a circuit for calculating the tnterval Index).

This numerical value II is expressed by the following formula.

Tl-100σ/μ Here, x (11 is the i-th heartbeat interval, and n is the number of data in that interval.

As a result of conducting experiments on a large number of subjects, the inventor found that this value II becomes smaller when the concentration of subjects is high;
I found that it gets worse when I feel tired or can't concentrate.

This numerical value II is supplied to the microcomputer (7) as an output of the detection circuit (17).

Next, the operation of the present teaching device (1) will be explained.

First, the learner sits in front of the teaching device (1), and the keyboard (
4) Press the start button to start the video disc device (6).
) is played, and the lesson begins. At this time, a graphic character, etc. is played on the TV monitor (2), and the explanatory signals are the phoneme name and pitch period.

The three amplitude signals are supplied to the speech synthesis circuit (8).

In this example, the pitch periodic signal is controlled by the microcomputer (7) so that the speed of explanation by voice synthesis becomes the slowest speed for a certain period of time, and then the second
．． Control is performed so that the third speed becomes faster, and continues until the nth speed is reached.

While doing this, the voice synthesis circuit output and the TV camera (
When cross-correlating with the learner's nodding motion, which is the output of step 5), the peak of the correlation appears after a predetermined time has elapsed for any of the n-th speeds from the first.

If the subject nods off after about 1 second, the analysis result will be like the data on the + side of FIG.

This indicates that the learner can physiologically attune to the explanation of the speed most naturally, and based on this result, the speech synthesis circuit ( 8).

In some cases, the microcomputer (7) may be used to determine the cross-correlation coefficient by controlling the microcomputer (7) to sequentially change the time point at which the speech synthesis circuit (8) starts each explanation after the learner nods. . By doing this, you can determine how much time has passed after nodding before giving the next explanation, which is psychologically beneficial for the learner.

For example, if the correlation is good if the measurement is performed after about 1.5 seconds, data as shown on one side of FIG. 3 can be obtained.

Therefore, if we control the microcomputer (7) to start the next explanation after this correlation has passed, peaks of correlation will always appear on the 10 and - sides as shown in Figure 3, and as a result, learning will occur. Students can learn as if they were being taught directly by a teacher.

Furthermore, since the cross-correlation coefficient is measured during the lesson, if the learner gets tired, the peak will shift significantly or the peak will not appear, so the microcomputer (7) uses this information to interrupt the lesson and restart the learning. Students may be asked to take a break, or pictures with content that will interest the learners may be played during the break, and music may be played.

As mentioned above, by using the heart 4-beat interval variance detection circuit (17), the learner's concentration level can be determined, so even if no change is observed in the cross-correlation coefficient, a decrease in the concentration level can be detected. This result can be judged by a microcomputer and the explanation can be interrupted to give a break.

In the above example, the pitch of the voice of the speech synthesis circuit was not changed, but it is also possible to change this and measure the cross-correlation coefficient to find the optimal pitch. Regarding the correlation coefficient, instead of measuring this, we focus on the part of the sentence that is an additional interrogative sentence, ``It's ~ desu'', and based on the time when this part is recognized vocally, the learner makes a certain gesture. The reaction time up to this point may be measured, and the presence or absence of a reaction and the length of time may be measured, and the speed of explanation, start timing, and pitch may be set to optimal values.

The explanatory voices were synthesized by a voice synthesis circuit (81), but the necessary sounds were synthesized by using a device such as a tape recorder, changing the tape feeding speed, and using a circuit that kept the pitch constant through digital processing. The speed may be explained.

〔Effect of the invention〕

In the present invention, the optimal teaching condition is selected based on the results observed with the television camera (5), so that the learner is physically and
The effect of improving the efficiency of teaching can be obtained without imposing an extra psychological burden.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the teaching device of the present invention;
The figure is a system diagram of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a line diagram for explaining the present invention. (2) is a TV monitor, (3) is a speaker, (4) is a keyboard, (5) is a camera, (6) is a video disc,
(7) is a microcomputer, (8) is a speech synthesis circuit, (14) is a speech quantification circuit, (15) is an arithmetic circuit, and (16) is an image quantification circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A television camera to image the learner, a television monitor to display learning figures, letters, etc., a teaching material source to provide prescribed explanations and present problems according to the learning content, and a prescribed speed of explanation. means for sequentially changing the speed at time intervals; a means for detecting whether there is a correlation between the voice and the learner's gestures when explaining at each speed; and a means for determining which speed has the highest correlation. A training device characterized in that, after the determination is made by the determining means, the explanation is given at a speed corresponding to the determination result.