WO2022201564A1

WO2022201564A1 - Community assistance device, server and community assistance method

Info

Publication number: WO2022201564A1
Application number: PCT/JP2021/022255
Authority: WO
Inventors: 公之茶谷; 雅丈豊田; 直樹千葉; タンマウンマウン
Original assignee: 株式会社KPMG Ignition Tokyo
Priority date: 2021-03-26
Filing date: 2021-06-11
Publication date: 2022-09-29

Abstract

The virtual office server 12 is connected to the terminal 10 of each member of a community via a communication network 16. The virtual office server 12 determines that a plurality of avatars meet together in a virtual space that each member's avatar can enter. The virtual office server 12 realizes the interaction of a plurality of members corresponding to the plurality of avatars having met together in the virtual space. The virtual office server 12 is constituted so as to be capable of determining that the plurality of avatars meet together on the basis of a computer algorithm regardless of the intention of the members.

Description

COMMUNITY SUPPORT DEVICE, SERVER AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT METHOD

The present disclosure relates to data processing technology, and particularly to community support devices, servers, and community support methods.

　The spread of remote work (also known as telework) has rapidly spread, triggered by the corona crisis. While there are voices saying that remote work has reduced commuting time and unnecessary meetings and increased productivity, there are also adverse effects due to the reduction in direct communication between people.

The inventor believes that there is a demand for a virtual environment in which people can “feel the presence of people”, “chat”, “talk”, “voice of others”, and “consult”, which are often lost in remote work. Thought. One object of the present disclosure is to realize a system that provides an opportunity for serendipitous interaction between members of a community in a virtual space. This system can be said to be an innovation germination support system that increases opportunities for ideas and creation from small conversations, which tend to be lacking in online and remote work environments. "Serendipitous" means to encounter a wonderful coincidence, to discover something unexpected, or to accidentally find something of value other than what you are looking for. means To put it plainly, it means seizing good fortune by chance.

In order to solve the above problems, a community support device according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a decision unit that decides that a plurality of avatars meet in a virtual space in which avatars of community members can enter; and an interaction part for realizing interaction of a plurality of members corresponding to . The decision unit can decide that the avatars meet based on a computer algorithm regardless of the member's will.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is a server. This server includes a behavior control unit that causes the avatar of a community member to act autonomously according to a computer algorithm that is set independently of the behavior of other avatars in a virtual space in which the avatar can enter; Provide an interface for conversations in which multiple members corresponding to multiple avatars can participate, on the condition that the relationship between multiple avatars acting in the same manner satisfies the criteria for starting a conversation. and a conversation control unit.

Yet another aspect of the present disclosure is a community support method. The method comprises the steps of determining that a plurality of avatars will meet in a virtual space in which the avatars of members of the community can enter, and effecting interactions of the plurality of members corresponding to the plurality of avatars that have been encountered. The computer-implemented determining step can determine that the avatars meet based on a computer algorithm regardless of the member's will.

Yet another aspect of the present disclosure is a community support method. This method includes the steps of causing the avatar of a community member to act autonomously according to a computer algorithm set independently of the actions of other avatars in a virtual space in which the avatar can enter; a step of starting to provide an interface for a conversation in which a plurality of members corresponding to the plurality of avatars can participate, on one condition that the relationship between the plurality of avatars is judged to satisfy the conversation start criteria; is executed by the computer.

It should be noted that any combination of the above constituent elements and expressions of the present disclosure converted between systems, computer programs, recording media recording computer programs, etc. are also effective as aspects of the present disclosure.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the community support system of an Example. 3 is a block diagram showing functional blocks of a virtual office server; FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of interaction history; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of behavioral rules; It is a figure which shows the example of the action of the avatar in virtual space. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of avatar states; It is a flowchart which shows operation|movement of the community support system of an Example. It is a figure which shows the example of an action selection screen. It is a flowchart which shows operation|movement of the community support system of an Example. It is a figure which shows the example of the action of the avatar in virtual space. It is a figure which shows the example of the action of the avatar in virtual space. It is a figure which shows the example of an inquiry screen. It is a figure which shows the example of an inquiry screen. It is a figure which shows the example of a conversation screen. It is a figure which shows the example of the conversation screen of a modification. It is a flowchart which shows operation|movement of the community support system of an Example. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of avatar positions in a virtual office; It is a figure which shows the example of a conversation screen. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display example on an AR device; It is a figure which shows the transition of the screen which concerns on a modification. 10 is a flow chart showing the operation of the virtual office server of the modified example;

A device or method subject in the present disclosure comprises a computer. The main functions of the apparatus or method of the present disclosure are realized by the computer executing the computer program. A computer has a processor that operates according to a computer program as a main hardware configuration. Any type of processor can be used as long as it can implement functions by executing a computer program. A processor is composed of one or more electronic circuits including a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC, LSI, etc.). A computer program is recorded in a non-temporary recording medium such as a computer-readable ROM, optical disk, hard disk drive, or the like. The computer program may be pre-stored in a recording medium, or may be supplied to the recording medium via a wide area network including the Internet.

The outline of the embodiment will be explained. The community support system of the embodiment provides a virtual space in which avatars of users belonging to communities such as companies and various organizations can enter. A user's avatar can also be said to be a character that becomes the user's alter ego, and is also called a digital twin. The community support system does not let the user decide all the movement lines of the user's avatar in the virtual space each time, but decides part or all of them based on a computer algorithm. A plurality of avatars corresponding to a plurality of users each autonomously move around in the virtual space. When multiple avatars meet in a virtual space, the community support system provides an interface for conversation to multiple users corresponding to the multiple avatars that have met.

　The user's avatar's route may be completely random. For example, the avatar's next route may be determined by drawing a random number for each event such as the occurrence of a conversation or for each predetermined period. Alternatively, the route of the user's avatar may be selected by the user from routes prepared by the system. Alternatively, the community support system may generate a suggested route each time according to the user's condition. For example, the community support system may propose, to a user who has little interaction with other users, a route that facilitates contact with other users' avatars as the route for the user's avatar.

oVice (https://ovice.in/en/) is a conventional technology that provides a virtual space that supports communication between users. In oVice, a user finds a person to talk to in a virtual space and brings his or her avatar closer to that person's avatar to initiate a conversation. This is nothing more than replacing textual designation of the other party in existing chat tools with bringing one's own avatar closer to the other party's avatar. As long as you specify the other party, no serendipitous conversation will occur.

On the other hand, in the community support system of the embodiment, the movement route of the avatar is set or selected regardless of the existence or behavior of others. As a result of moving the user's avatar along the set or selected route, if the avatar of another user happens to be approached, the user and the other user are caused to converse. A conversation realized by the community support system of the embodiment is not a conversation intentionally made by the user, but a conversation that starts from an accidental encounter, so to speak. Thus, the community support system of the embodiment realizes a serendipitous conversation.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the community support system 11 of the embodiment. The community support system 11 is an information processing system that includes a virtual office server 12, a collaboration server 13, and a seat reservation system 14.

Terminals

10a, 10b, and 10c (collectively referred to as "terminals 10") are information processing terminals operated by community members (e.g., employee A, employee B, and employee C). The terminal 10 may be a PC, smart phone, or tablet terminal. Each device in FIG. 1 is connected via a communication network 16 . The communication network 16 may include LAN, WAN, and the Internet.

The seat reservation system 14 is a computer system that manages reservations for multiple seats (also called workspaces) installed in the office in the real world. Each member of the community accesses a seat reservation system 14 through a terminal 10 and reserves the use of a desired seat out of a plurality of seats on a specified date and time when coming to an office in the real world. For example, the seat reservation system 14 stores data in which information of members who have made reservations, reserved seats, and dates and times of use are associated with each other.

The collaboration server 13 is a server that provides collaboration services between community members. The collaboration server 13 of the embodiment is an information processing device that provides a server function of "Microsoft Teams" (trademark or registered trademark), which is a collaboration platform provided by Microsoft Corporation.

The virtual office server 12, as a community support device, is an information processing device that provides services related to a virtual office, which is a virtual space in which the avatars of community members can enter, and which is a virtual space that simulates an office in the real world. is. As will be described later, the virtual office server 12 controls the behavior of each member's avatar in the virtual office, and supports conversations of members corresponding to the avatars encountered in the virtual office.

There are no restrictions on the physical configuration of the virtual office server 12, collaboration server 13, and seat reservation system 14. Each of the virtual office server 12, the collaboration server 13, and the seat reservation system 14 may be implemented by a single device, or may be implemented by a plurality of devices working together. At least part of the virtual office server 12, the collaboration server 13, and the seat reservation system 14 may be provided on the cloud, and at least part of the functions of these server systems may be implemented as cloud services.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing functional blocks of the virtual office server 12. FIG. Each block shown in the block diagrams of this specification can be implemented by computer processors, CPUs, memory and other elements, electronic circuits, and mechanical devices in terms of hardware, and can be implemented by computer programs and the like in terms of software. However, here, the functional blocks realized by their cooperation are drawn. Therefore, those skilled in the art will understand that these functional blocks can be realized in various ways by combining hardware and software.

The virtual office server 12 includes a control unit 20, a storage unit 22, and a communication unit 24. The control unit 20 executes various types of information processing for providing services related to the virtual office. The storage unit 22 stores data referenced or updated by the control unit 20 . The communication unit 24 communicates with an external device according to a predetermined communication protocol. The control unit 20 transmits and receives data to and from the terminal 10 , the collaboration server 13 and the seat reservation system 14 via the communication unit 24 .

The storage unit 22 includes a virtual space data storage unit 30, a user attribute storage unit 31, an interaction history storage unit 32, an action rule storage unit 33, and an avatar state storage unit .

The virtual space data storage unit 30 stores data related to the virtual space in which multiple avatars corresponding to multiple members of the community can enter. The virtual space of the embodiment is a virtual office having a configuration that imitates an office in the real world. For example, the virtual space data storage unit 30 stores, as data related to the virtual office, data indicating the arrangement of rooms and sections, data indicating the size, interior and appearance of each room, and data indicating the layout of workspaces (desks, seats, etc.). memorize

The user attribute storage unit 31 stores attribute information regarding each of a plurality of members of the community. The attribute information of each member includes data on each member's name (which may be a nickname), affiliation and position, details of activities in the community, hobbies, and favorite foods. Furthermore, each member's attribute information includes data regarding each member's avatar (data such as avatar type and appearance) set by each member. Furthermore, each member's attribute information includes each member's presence information set by each member. Presence information includes information indicating the current status of each member. As information indicating the current status of each member, for example, any one of "available", "busy", and "unresponsive" may be set.

The interaction history storage unit 32 stores data indicating the history of interactions between community members (hereinafter also referred to as "interaction history"). The interaction history can also be said to be a record of past interactions between community members. Example interactions include remote or face-to-face communications and interactions. Examples include sending and receiving e-mails and messages, as well as face-to-face or remote meetings and conversations in a virtual office provided by the virtual office server 12 .

FIG. 3 shows an example of interaction history stored in the interaction history storage unit 32. FIG. The interaction history includes participating user IDs, interaction dates and times, and interaction details. Involved User ID is the ID of the user involved in the interaction. The interaction details include activity information stored in a schedule management system (not shown), titles and texts of emails exchanged between users, and duration of interactions. As shown in FIG. 3, the interaction history of the embodiment includes information indicating the behavior of the user alone, such as information indicating that the user has been confined in a do not disturb room (hereinafter also referred to as a "DND room").

Returning to FIG. 2, the behavior rule storage unit 33 stores predetermined behavior rules for avatars in the virtual office. The avatar's behavioral rules include movement rules that define the avatar's movement path in the virtual office. The avatar's behavioral rules (movement rules) can be said to be computer algorithms that define the avatar's behavioral mode (movement mode) in the virtual office.

FIG. 4 shows an example of behavior rules stored in the behavior rule storage unit 33. FIG. The action rule includes action ID, action name, and action details. The action details are data in which sets of one or more locations and the length of stay at each location are arranged in chronological order. Action details may be defined by the (absolute) time of when and where they are. width, margin) is desirable.

In the embodiment, the predetermined avatar behavior rules include "walking around the office", "sitting down", "DND room", and "walking in a cafe". The "office walk" rule of conduct prescribes walking across the main sections of the office. The "Seated" Code of Conduct stipulates that Members shall sit in their designated or reserved seats. The rule of conduct "Café Walk" stipulates walking around the cafe, which is a rest area in the office.

The rules of conduct "DND room" stipulates that you should stay in the DND room. The behavior rule “DND room” defines a mode in which interaction (conversation request, chat request, meeting setting, etc.) with other members logged in to the virtual office is not accepted. In addition, in order to promote interaction between members, an upper limit on the time during which the rule of conduct "DND room" can be used may be set, and a limit on the time period during which the rule of conduct "DND room" can be used may be set. good too. Also, an upper limit may be set for the number of members who can use the behavior rule “DND room”.

The behavior rule setting unit (not shown) of the virtual office server 12 may manage and update the behavior rule storage unit 33 by communicating with the administrator's terminal. The behavior rule setting unit registers the new behavior rule input by the administrator in the behavior rule storage unit 33 . The action rule setting unit reads an existing action rule from the action rule storage unit 33, presents it to the administrator's terminal, receives changes to the action rule by the administrator, and updates the action rule storage unit 33.

Behavioral rules may be set to express individuality or emotions. For example, a behavior rule that circulates in a wide range at high speed may be set for a "happy" emotion. A behavior rule of slow moving around may be set for the "laid back" personality. The behavior rule storage unit 33 associates and holds the behavior rule and the individuality or emotion represented by the rule. An action selection screen, which will be described later with reference to FIG. 8, displays individuality or emotion associated with the action rule. In this case, members can choose behavioral rules that express their current feelings and their individuality.

　In addition, the action details may be partially specified by time. For example, if a conference that starts at 10:00 is held in conference room A, specify (conference room A at 10:00) in the route. Here, if the previous conference in the conference room B ends at 9:58 or 10:02, the avatar is moved from the conference room B to the conference room A at high speed with a running motion. Other users who see this understand that you should not talk to them at this time (and also understand that this person is busy). Conversely, if the previous meeting ended earlier than planned, the avatar is moved from the meeting room B to the meeting room A with a slow walking motion. The user who sees this understands that he has time to talk.

Fig. 5 shows an example of avatar behavior in the virtual space. Virtual office 70 includes four compartments, similar to a real-world office. Specifically, the virtual office 70 includes rooms α and β, which are offices, a café, which is a resting space, and a reception. A plurality of seats are installed in the room α, of which the seat 72 is reserved by a certain member. Action 74 indicates the movement route of the avatar defined by the action rule "office walk". Action 76 is the avatar's position defined by the action rule "seat", ie, the avatar stays near the seat 72 reserved by the member. An action 78 indicates the movement route of the avatar defined by the action rule "walking in a cafe". The virtual office server 12 acquires the current position of each avatar by referring to the avatar state storage unit 34, and displays an image of each avatar arranged in a plan view of the virtual office 70 as shown in FIG. may be displayed on the display of

Returning to FIG. 2, the avatar state storage unit 34 stores data indicating the state of each avatar (hereinafter also referred to as "avatar state") for each of a plurality of avatars corresponding to a plurality of members. The avatar state storage unit 34 stores a plurality of avatar states regarding a plurality of avatars.

Fig. 6 shows an example of an avatar state. The avatar state includes a user ID, a selected action ID, selected action details, and current position as a plurality of items. The item "user ID" is set with the ID of the member who has logged in to the virtual office, in other words, the ID of the member whose avatar is acting in the virtual office. The item "selected action ID" is set with the ID of the action rule of the avatar selected by the member (corresponding to the action ID in FIG. 4). The item "details of selected action" is set with detailed information on the action determined based on the action rule of the avatar. Action details associated with the action ID in the action rule storage unit 33 may be set in the item “selected action details”.

The item "current position" contains data indicating the current position of the member or the current position of the avatar. The virtual office 70 may be configured so that the position of each avatar can be identified by a predetermined coordinate system, and the item "current position" may be set with coordinate values indicating the current position of the avatar in the virtual office 70. . Also, when a member has reserved a specific seat using the seat reservation system 14, the item "current position" may be set with coordinate values indicating the position of the specific seat. In addition, when the position of a member working in an office in the real world is detected by a known indoor positioning technology that uses beacons, Wi-Fi (registered trademark), etc., the item "current position" includes the detected member A coordinate value indicating the position of may be set.

Returning to FIG. 2, the control unit 20 includes a cooperation unit 40, a virtual space generation unit 41, an avatar generation unit 42, a user position detection unit 43, a selection reception unit 44, an encounter determination unit 50, and an interaction unit 60. The functionality of these multiple functional blocks may be implemented in a computer program. The computer program may be installed in the storage of the virtual office server 12 . The CPU of the virtual office server 12 may display the functions of the plurality of functional blocks of the control unit 20 by reading the computer program into the main memory and executing it.

The cooperation unit 40 executes processing related to cooperation with the collaboration server 13 and the seat reservation system 14. For example, the cooperation unit 40 acquires the presence information of each member from the collaboration server 13 using an API (Application Programming Interface) that is provided in the collaboration server 13 and is open to the public. In addition, the linking unit 40 acquires the seat reservation status of each member from the seat reservation system 14 using an API that is provided in the seat reservation system 14 and is open to the public.

The virtual space generation unit 41 generates a virtual office (for example, an image of a virtual office) using data related to the virtual office stored in the virtual space data storage unit 30. The avatar generation unit 42 generates each member's avatar (for example, an avatar image) using data regarding each member's avatar stored in the user attribute storage unit 31 .

The user position detection unit 43 detects the current positions of members of the community. For example, the user position detection unit 43 acquires the seat reservation status of each member from the seat reservation system 14 via the cooperation unit 40 . If a certain member has reserved a specific seat at the current time, the user position detection unit 43 detects the position of the specific seat as the member's current position. Further, when a member who has logged in to the virtual space designates a stay at a specific position in the virtual space (for example, sitting in a specific seat), the user position detection unit 43 detects the designated position of the member. It may be detected as the current position. Furthermore, when the position of a member working in an office in the real world is measured by a known indoor positioning technology, the user position detection unit 43 may detect the measured position as the member's current position. The user position detection unit 43 stores the detected current position of the member in the current position of the avatar state storage unit 34 .

The selection reception unit 44 provides a plurality of terminals 10 with a user interface (behavior selection screen 100 described later) for allowing each member to select one of a plurality of candidates with different avatar behavior rules. In addition, the selection receiving unit 44 receives behavior rules of avatars selected by each member from a plurality of terminals 10 via the user interface.

The encounter determination unit 50 determines that multiple avatars corresponding to multiple members will meet in the virtual office. The encounter determination unit 50 can determine that a plurality of avatars meet based on a computer algorithm regardless of the member's will. For example, when a plurality of avatars acting independently in a virtual office approach each other, the encounter determining unit 50 determines that the plurality of avatars will meet. The encounter determination unit 50 includes an action control unit 51 and a determination unit 52 .

The action control unit 51 causes a certain member's avatar to act autonomously in the virtual office according to a computer algorithm (or action rule) set independently of the actions of other avatars (that is, other member's avatars). Let The action control unit 51 includes a function as a movement control unit that moves multiple avatars corresponding to multiple members in the virtual office. That is, the action control unit 51 includes a function of changing the position of each of the avatars corresponding to the members over time in accordance with the action rule set for each avatar.

The determination unit 52 determines that multiple avatars meet in the virtual office based on predetermined criteria. In the embodiment, the determination unit 52 determines whether or not the relationship between the plurality of avatars acting autonomously in the virtual office satisfies a predetermined conversation start criterion. If the relationship between the avatars satisfies the conversation start criteria, the determination unit 52 determines that the avatars have met and that the avatars are ready to start a conversation. A conversation start criterion may be a criterion for starting a conversation when multiple avatars approach within a predetermined range, unless there is a reason not to start the conversation.

The interaction unit 60 realizes interaction of multiple members corresponding to multiple avatars they meet in the virtual office. Interaction unit 60 includes conversation control unit 61 and inquiry unit 62 .

The conversation control unit 61 controls conversations among the members corresponding to the avatars determined by the meeting determination unit 50 to have met in the virtual office. In the embodiment, the conversation control unit 61 allows a plurality of members corresponding to the plurality of avatars to participate under one of the conditions that the determination unit 52 determines that the relationship between the plurality of avatars satisfies the conversation start criteria. provide a conversation interface (conversation screen 110, which will be described later).

When the determination unit 52 determines that the relationship between the plurality of avatars satisfies the conversation start criteria, the inquiry unit 62 asks the member corresponding to each avatar whether or not to start a conversation. In the embodiment, the inquiry unit 62 provides the terminal 10 with a user interface (inquiry screen 90 described later) for inquiring whether or not to start a conversation.

The operation of the community support system 11 configured as above will be described.
FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the operation of the community support system 11 of the embodiment. When the virtual office server 12 is activated, the virtual space generator 41 of the virtual office server 12 generates a virtual office (S10). The collaboration server 13 detects when a community member logs into the collaboration platform, for example when collaboration software is activated on the terminal 10 . The collaboration unit 40 of the virtual office server 12 communicates with the collaboration server 13 to detect login of community members.

In the embodiment, when a member logs into the collaboration platform, a process is started to make the member's avatar act in the virtual office. As a modification, when the member's own presence information set in the collaboration platform is a predetermined value, the process of causing the member's avatar to act in the virtual office may be started. The predetermined value may be, for example, "Available" or "Avatar On" indicating that the member's avatar is active in the virtual office.

When the login of a community member is detected (Y of S11), the selection reception unit 44 of the virtual office server 12 selects the behavior rule of the avatar of the logged-in member (herein referred to as "login member"). The data of the action selection screen for causing the action is transmitted to the terminal 10 of the logged-in member (S12). The login member's terminal 10 displays an action selection screen on the display.

Fig. 8 shows an example of the action selection screen. The action selection screen 100 presents a plurality of action rule candidates (action candidates 102) that can be selected by the logged-in member. A plurality of action candidates 102 in FIG. 8 include action rules "I feel lucky." and "system proposal" in addition to the four action rules described with reference to FIG. The action rule "I feel lucky." randomly determines the destination of the avatar. For example, a random number may be obtained every 10 seconds, and the next destination may be determined based on the obtained random number. may

The action rule "system proposal" causes the avatar of the logged-in member to follow the movement route proposed by the virtual office server 12 to the logged-in member. In addition, in the action rule "system proposal" area of the action selection screen 100, information indicating the movement route proposed by the virtual office server 12 may be displayed.

The selection reception unit 44 of the virtual office server 12 refers to the past interaction history in which the logged-in member was involved stored in the interaction history storage unit 32, and based on the past interaction history, proposes a behavior rule to the logged-in member. may be generated (or determined). For example, the selection reception unit 44 assumes that when the number or frequency of interactions between the logged-in member and other members during the most recent predetermined period is less than a predetermined threshold, the encounters with other members' avatars are relatively frequent. A rule of conduct (eg, "office walk" or "cafe walk") may be recommended to logged-in members.

As a modified example, the selection reception unit 44 may recommend candidates corresponding to attributes of the logged-in member to the logged-in member from among multiple candidates (behavior candidates) with different behavior rules. The selection accepting unit 44 may refer to the attribute information of the logged-in member stored in the user attribute storage unit 31 and generate (or determine) a behavior rule to be proposed to the logged-in member based on the attribute information. For example, the selection reception unit 44 may recommend a behavior rule generated (or determined) based on the position of the login member to the target member. If the position of the logged-in member is the manager of a certain department, the rule of conduct for visiting the area of the virtual office where the members of that department gather and the encounters with avatars of other members belonging to that department are relatively frequent. Presumed rules of conduct (eg, “walking around the office” or “walking around a cafe”) may be recommended to logged-in members.

An example of an algorithm by which the virtual office server 12 proposes rules of conduct to members will be described.
(1) The selection reception unit 44 may propose a behavior rule (movement route) that increases contact with others to members who have had few conversations with others recently. For example, the selection accepting unit 44 refers to the interaction history stored in the interaction history storage unit 32, acquires the number of conversations with others of the target member in the last two weeks, the conversation time, and the number of conversation partners, satisfies a predetermined isolation criterion (eg, the number of times is less than or equal to a threshold and the number of partners is less than or equal to a threshold). If the target member satisfies the isolation criterion, the selection reception unit 44 may refer to the avatar state storage unit 34 to generate a moving route that brings the other closer together and propose it to the logged-in member. At that time, the selection reception unit 44 predicts the future position of the other person's avatar based on the current position of the other person's avatar and the action rule, and arranges the movement path of the logged-in member's avatar so that it overlaps with the future position. may be generated. Also, a member who has been conversing with the same partner many times may be suggested a movement route that avoids encounters with that partner's avatar.

(2) The selection reception unit 44 may propose rules of conduct (movement route) according to the position of the logged-in member. For example, if the position of the logged-in member is CEO (Chief Executive Officer), the selection reception unit 44 may propose a travel route that visits all departments in the virtual office at least once a day. Also, if the login member has a manager position, the selection reception unit 44 may propose a movement route that visits all the rooms in the department under the jurisdiction of the login member at least once a day.

(3) The selection reception unit 44 may propose a behavior rule (movement route) according to the interval or frequency of conversation between the logged-in user and others. For example, the selection accepting unit 44 may refer to the interaction history stored in the interaction history storage unit 32 to detect other members who have not spoken with the logged-in user for the last two weeks. The selection reception unit 44 may predict the future position of the detected other member's avatar, generate a moving route that approaches the future position, and propose it to the logged-in member.

The logged-in member arbitrarily selects one of the action rules presented in the action candidates 102 on the action selection screen 100 and presses the decision button 104 . When the enter button 104 is pressed on the action selection screen 100 , the logged-in member's terminal 10 transmits data indicating the action rule selected on the action selection screen 100 to the virtual office server 12 .

Returning to FIG. 7, when the data indicating the behavior rule selected by the logged-in member transmitted from the terminal 10 of the logged-in member is accepted, the avatar generation unit 42 of the virtual office server 12 stores the data in the user attribute storage unit 31. Generate the avatar of the logged-in member based on the data related to the avatar of the logged-in member.

The action control unit 51 of the virtual office server 12 stores the ID of the logged-in member, the ID of the action rule selected by the login member, and the details of the action rule in the avatar state storage unit 34 in association with each other. The action control unit 51 places the avatar of the logged-in member in the virtual office based on the action rule selected by the logged-in member, and causes the avatar to start acting in the virtual office (S13). If the login of the community member is not detected (N of S11), the processing of S12 and S13 is skipped.

When the action rule selected by the target member is "system proposal", the action control unit 51 may determine the movement route of the avatar corresponding to the target member based on the position of the target member in the community. For example, if the position of the target member is a managerial position, the behavior control unit 51 targets behavior rules that are assumed to have relatively many encounters with other avatars (for example, "office walk" and "cafe walk"). It may be determined as the moving route of the member's avatar.

The action control unit 51 causes each member's avatar to act autonomously within the virtual office according to the action rules selected by each logged-in member. Specifically, the action control unit 51 updates the current positions of the plurality of avatars corresponding to the plurality of logged-in members according to the action rules of each avatar and the passage of time, and updates the latest current position of each avatar to the avatar state. They are stored sequentially in the storage unit 34 (S14). When a predetermined termination condition is satisfied (Y in S15), such as when the virtual office service is stopped, the flow of this figure is terminated. If the termination condition is not satisfied (N of S15), the process returns to S11.

FIG. 9 is also a flowchart showing the operation of the community support system 11 of the embodiment. The determination unit 52 of the virtual office server 12 repeatedly determines whether or not the relationship between the plurality of avatars satisfies a predetermined conversation start criterion in the virtual office. The conversation initiation criteria include first criteria and second criteria. The first criterion is a criterion that the positional relationship between multiple avatars should satisfy. A first criterion of the embodiment is that the avatars are close together and the distance between the avatars is less than or equal to a predetermined distance threshold. The determination unit 52 derives the distance for each avatar pair based on the current positions of each of the plurality of avatars existing in the virtual space, and detects the avatar pair that satisfies the first criterion.

Fig. 10 shows an example of avatar behavior in the virtual space. Avatar 80 is the avatar of member “Bob” who has selected the action rule “office walk” and moves along the route indicated by action 74 . The avatar 82 is the avatar of the member “Alice” who selected the action rule “walk in a cafe” and moves along the route indicated by the action 78 . If the distance between the

avatars

80 and 82 in the virtual office 70 is equal to or less than the distance threshold, the determination unit 52 detects the pair of the

avatars

80 and 82 as the pair that satisfies the first criterion.

Fig. 11 also shows an example of avatar behavior in the virtual space. Avatar 80 is the avatar of member “Bob” who has selected the action rule “office walk” and moves along the route indicated by action 74 . The avatar 82 is the avatar of the member “Alice” who has selected the action rule “sit down” and is placed at the position indicated by the action 76 . If the distance between the

avatars

80 and 82 in the virtual office 70 is equal to or less than a predetermined distance threshold, the determination unit 52 detects the pair of the

avatars

80 and 82 as the pair that satisfies the first criterion.

The avatar 82 shown in FIG. 11 may be the avatar of the member "Alice" who reserved the seat 72 through the seat reservation system 14. As described above, when Alice reserves seat 72 through seat reservation system 14 , data indicating that Alice's current position is seat 72 is stored in avatar state storage unit 34 . The behavior control unit 51 of the virtual office server 12 may place the member's avatar at a position in the virtual office corresponding to the member's position in the real world. Alice's avatar may be placed at the seat 72 position.

The distance threshold may be a predetermined value set in advance (for example, a distance in a virtual office equivalent to 3 meters in the real world). The virtual office server 12 may also include an analysis unit (not shown) that analyzes the interaction history between members stored in the interaction history storage unit 32 and dynamically adjusts the distance threshold. The analysis unit derives the interaction frequency (e.g., the number of emails sent and received, the number of conversations, the frequency of conversation, etc.) for each group of members, and sets the distance threshold for groups whose interaction frequency is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold to be larger than the other groups. good too.

The second criterion is a criterion regarding multiple avatars other than the positional relationship. A second criterion of the embodiment is that the community member's presence information entered into the collaboration software is of a predetermined value. The member's presence information is transmitted from the terminal 10 to the collaboration server 13 and stored in the collaboration server 13 . Also, the member's presence information stored in the collaboration server 13 is acquired by the cooperation unit 40 of the virtual office server 12 and stored in the user attribute storage unit 31 of the virtual office server 12 .

The determination unit 52 is a plurality of avatars stored in the user attribute storage unit 31 that satisfy the first criterion, in other words, a plurality of members (hereinafter also referred to as “encounter members”) corresponding to the plurality of avatars met in the virtual space. ) to refer to the presence information. In the embodiment, the determination unit 52 determines that the second criterion is satisfied when the presence information of all of the plurality of chance encounter members is "contactable". On the other hand, the determination unit 52 determines that the second criterion is not satisfied when the presence information of at least one meeting member is "busy" or "response unavailable". Thus, based on the presence information of a certain member, the determination unit 52 determines whether or not the avatar corresponding to the member can meet with the avatars corresponding to other members.

The second criteria may include criteria regarding the number of times or frequency of conversations between encounter members in place of or together with criteria regarding the value of presence information. For example, a second criterion may be met if the elapsed time since the last conversation with another member for at least one of the encounter members exceeds a predetermined time threshold. As a result, it is possible to prevent an excessive number of conversations from increasing the burden on the members while promoting conversations between members of the community.

Returning to FIG. 9, if there is no set of avatars that satisfy the first criterion (N of S20), the subsequent processing is skipped and the flow of this figure ends. If there is a set of avatars that satisfy the first criterion (Y of S20), but that set does not satisfy the second criterion (N of S21), the conversation control unit 61 of the virtual office server 12 provides a conversation interface. Instead, a message indicating that the conversation cannot be started is sent to the terminal 10 of the meeting member to be displayed (S25), and the flow of this figure ends.

This message may be a message pre-selected by the meeting member (e.g., "busy", "see you next time", etc.), or a predetermined fixed message (e.g., "not available", etc.). good. In S25, the conversation control unit 61 selects a member corresponding to one of the plurality of avatars (i.e., one of the meeting members) of the plurality of avatars that have met in the virtual office, and the other member (i.e., meeting member) corresponding to the other avatar. You may be notified of messages from the other member). Also, in S25, the conversation control unit 61 may access the collaboration server 13 via the cooperation unit 40 and post a message or stamp to the timeline of the meeting member on the collaboration platform. Alternatively, the contents of the message may be changed according to the destination (attribute or position) of the message. For example, the message sent to the president may be "Thank you for your hard work. I apologize for being busy at the moment", and the message sent to my colleagues may be "I'll talk to you later." Alternatively, voice messages may be sent instead of or in addition to text messages.

Returning to FIG. 9, if the first criterion is satisfied and the second criterion is also satisfied (Y of S21), the inquiry unit 62 of the virtual office server 12 transmits data of the inquiry screen to the terminal 10 of the meeting member. The terminal 10 of the meeting member displays an inquiry screen on the display (S22). The inquiry screen includes (1) information about the interactions that have been made between the meeting members (for example, interaction history), (2) attribute information of other members who are meeting partners, and (3) candidates for topics between the meeting members. , (4) presenting at least one of the contents of activities in the community of other members who are encounter partners;

Here, it is assumed that the member "Bob" avatar and the member "Alice" avatar met in the virtual office 70, that is, the meeting members are Bob and Alice. 12 and 13 show examples of inquiry screens. FIG. 12 shows a query screen 90 provided to Bob and FIG. 13 shows a query screen 90 provided to Alice. The inquiry screen 90 includes contents for inquiring whether or not to start a conversation with a member of the meeting partner (in other words, conversation partner), a YES button 92, a NO button 94, an interaction history 96 with the meeting partner, and attribute information 98 of the meeting partner. including.

The inquiry unit 62 sets the interaction history of Bob and Alice stored in the interaction history storage unit 32 to the interaction history 96 of FIG. 12 and the interaction history 96 of FIG. Further, the inquiry unit 62 sets the attribute information of Alice stored in the user attribute storage unit 31 to the attribute information 98 of FIG. Set to 98. The interaction history 96 and the attribute information 98 on the inquiry screen 90 can be said to be candidates for topics to be discussed among the meeting members. Bob and Alice select the YES button 92 if they wish to start a conversation with the other party, and select the NO button 94 if they do not wish to start a conversation with the other party. The terminals 10 of Bob and Alice each transmit reply data indicating whether or not they wish to start a conversation to the virtual office server 12 .

It is preferable that the period during which the inquiry screen 90 is displayed on the terminal 10 of the meeting member is while the avatars of the meeting members are located within a proximity range (for example, within a predetermined distance) in the virtual office. The inquiry unit 62 refers to the avatar state storage unit 34 to detect a change in the distance between the avatars of the encounter members, and when the distance exceeds the predetermined distance, terminates the display of the inquiry screen 90 on the terminal 10. may In this case, the inquiry unit 62 may proceed with subsequent processing in the same manner as when the NO button 94 is selected on the inquiry screen 90 . Note that the inquiry unit 62 may cause the terminal 10 that has terminated the display of the inquiry screen 90 to display a “follow up” button for a certain period of time. When the "chasing" button is selected on the terminal 10, subsequent processing may proceed in the same manner as when the YES button 92 is selected on the inquiry screen 90. FIG.

Returning to FIG. 9, when all the meeting members have selected to start the conversation, that is, when all the meeting members have selected the YES button 92 on the inquiry screen 90 (Y of S23), the conversation control unit 61 of the virtual office server 12 starts providing a conversation interface to the meeting members (S24). Specifically, the conversation control unit 61 generates a conversation screen as a conversation interface, and displays the conversation screen on the terminal 10 of the meeting member (S24). At the same time, the conversation control unit 61 accesses the collaboration server 13 via the cooperation unit 40 and uses the existing functions of the collaboration platform to start a voice chat between the meeting members. If at least one of the meeting members does not select to start the conversation, that is, if at least one of the meeting members selects the NO button 94 on the inquiry screen 90 (N of S23), S24 is skipped.

FIG. 14 shows an example of a conversation screen. The figure shows a conversation screen provided to Bob when Bob's avatar and Alice's avatar meet in the virtual office. Conversation screen 110 includes the virtual office and conversation partner content seen from the perspective of Bob's avatar. Specifically, a conference room image 112 as an image of a virtual office and Alice's avatar 82 are arranged on the conversation screen 110 . Note that the conference room image 112 and Bob's avatar are arranged on the conversation screen provided to Alice. Although not shown in FIG. 14 , the conversation control unit 61 arranges conversation support information, which is information for supporting the conversation between Bob and Alice (that is, the meeting members) on the conversation screen 110 .

The conversation support information includes (1) the history of interactions that have been made between meeting members, (2) attribute information of other members who are meeting partners, and At least one of (3) topic candidates among the meeting members and (4) contents of activities in the community of other members who are meeting partners may be included. That is, when Bob's avatar and Alice's avatar meet in the virtual office, the conversation control unit 61 causes Bob's terminal 10 to display attribute information about Alice, and Alice's terminal 10 to display the attribute information about Bob. You may let

As a modification, the conversation control unit 61 may start text chat instead of voice chat as the interaction of the encounter members. For example, the conversation control unit 61 may access the collaboration server 13 via the cooperation unit 40 and start a text chat between the meeting members using the existing functions of the collaboration platform.

As another modified example, the interaction unit 60, according to the member's attributes (position, etc.) and state (during lunch break, etc.), asks the question of the other party displayed on the display of the terminal 10 of the member. Member information may be controlled. The interaction unit 60 refers to the user attribute storage unit 31 and the avatar status storage unit 34 to identify the attribute or status of the member. For example, when the president's avatar and the employee's avatar satisfy the conversation start criteria, the interaction unit 60 displays all the attributes of the employee on the inquiry screen displayed on the display of the president's terminal. Only part of the president's attributes may be displayed on the inquiry screen displayed on the display of . In this way, the inquiry screen displayed on one member's terminal and the inquiry screen displayed on the other member's terminal may have different display items. Alternatively, if there is a common item between one member's hobbies and interests and the other member's hobbies and interests, the interaction unit 60 may highlight and display the common items on each inquiry screen.

FIG. 15 shows an example of a modified conversation screen. The figure shows a conversation screen provided to Bob when Bob's avatar, Alice's avatar, and Charlie's avatar come closer than the distance threshold in the virtual office. A conference room image 112, Alice's avatar 82, Charlie's avatar 84, and a chat area 114 are arranged on the conversation screen 110 of FIG. The chat area 114 displays the chat texts posted by Bob, Alice, and Charlie. Although not shown in FIG. 15 , the conversation control unit 61 arranges the conversation support information on Bob, Alice, and Charlie on the conversation screen 110 .

As described above, the virtual office provided by the virtual office server 12 has a configuration that imitates an office in the real world. The user position detection unit 43 of the virtual office server 12 cooperates with the seat reservation system 14 to detect the position of the first member (assumed to be Alice) in the real world, and stores the position in the avatar state storage unit 34. do. As described with reference to FIG. 11, the determination unit 52 of the virtual office server 12 determines that when an avatar corresponding to the second member (assumed to be Bob) exists in the vicinity of Alice in the virtual office, for example, Bob If the distance between the current position of the avatar of A and the current position of Alice's avatar is within a distance threshold, detect that.

If an avatar corresponding to Bob exists in the vicinity of Alice in the virtual office, the conversation control unit 61 of the virtual office server 12 displays information about Bob on Alice's terminal 10, or displays information about Alice on Bob's terminal. 10 to display. In the embodiment, the conversation control unit 61 causes Alice's terminal 10 to display a conversation screen including Bob's avatar and Bob's attribute information, and displays a conversation screen including Alice's avatar and Alice's attribute information on Bob's terminal 10. display.

FIG. 16 is also a flowchart showing the operation of the community support system 11 of the embodiment. This figure shows the actions associated with another member joining the conversation after the conversation of the meeting member has been started by the actions shown in FIG.

When the conversation control unit 61 starts a conversation between the meeting members (for example, Bob and Alice), the determination unit 52 of the virtual office server 12 stores the conversation location in the virtual office as an existing conversation location. The determination unit 52 detects when an avatar of another member (for example, Charlie) approaches the existing conversation execution position.

FIG. 17 shows an example of avatar positions in a virtual office. This figure corresponds to FIG. 10, and after Bob's avatar 80 and Alice's avatar 82 meet and start a conversation in the virtual office 70, Charlie's avatar 84 approaches the conversation location. It shows a situation where If the distance between the position where the conversation between Bob and Alice (that is, the position where the

avatars

80 and 82 meet in the virtual office 70) and the current position of Charlie's avatar 84 is equal to or less than a predetermined distance threshold, the determination unit 52 determines that: Detect that.

Returning to FIG. 16, if the other member's avatar does not approach the existing conversation execution position (N of S30), the subsequent processing is skipped and the flow of this figure ends. When another member's avatar approaches the existing conversation location (Y of S30), the inquiry unit 62 of the virtual office server 12 approaches the terminal 10 of the member (for example, Bob and Alice) who is conducting the existing conversation. An inquiry screen asking the member (for example, Charlie) whether to open or close the conversation is transmitted and displayed (S31). Making the conversation open can also be said to disclose the content of the conversation. Closing the conversation can also be said to keep the contents of the conversation private.

The terminal 10 of the member conducting the existing conversation transmits to the virtual office server 12 response data indicating whether the existing conversation should be open or closed. If any of the members conducting the existing conversation chooses to close the conversation (N of S32), the subsequent processing is skipped and the flow of this figure is terminated. On the other hand, if all of the members conducting the existing conversation have selected to open the conversation (Y of S32), the conversation control unit 61 of the virtual office server 12 will open the terminal 10 of the nearby member (for example, Charlie). , a conversation screen as an interface for conversation is transmitted and displayed (S33).

If it is selected to open the conversation, the conversation control unit 61 may provide the content of the existing conversation (voice or text) to the terminal 10 of the approaching member. The conversation control unit 61 may gradually increase the sound of the existing conversation provided to the terminal 10 of the approaching member as the avatar of the approaching member approaches the existing conversation execution position. Alternatively, when the member's avatar moves in the virtual space is displayed on the display of the terminal 10, an object indicating the content of the existing conversation may be displayed in the virtual space displayed on the terminal 10 of the approaching member. good. The object may display keywords extracted from the audio of existing conversations. For example, an animation in which avatars participating in an existing conversation are talking to each other may be displayed in a virtual space, and keywords extracted from the conversation may appear in the balloons.

FIG. 18 shows an example of a conversation screen. The conversation screen 110 shown in the figure is provided to Charlie who is about to participate in the existing conversation. The conversation screen 110 includes a conference room image 112 , avatars (avatars 80 and 82 ) of Bob and Alice who are having an existing conversation, and inquiry information 116 . Inquiry information 116 includes content asking Charlie whether he would like to participate in the conversation between Alice and Bob. Although not shown in FIG. 18 , the conversation control unit 61 may further arrange attribute information (for example, interaction history, affiliation, duties in the community, hobbies, etc.) regarding Alice and Bob on the conversation screen 110 .

Returning to FIG. 16, when Charlie selects the YES button 118 on the conversation screen 110, Charlie's terminal 10 notifies the virtual office server 12 that participation in the existing conversation has been selected. When Charlie selects the NO button 120 on the conversation screen 110, Charlie's terminal 10 notifies the virtual office server 12 that he has selected not to participate in the existing conversation.

If Charlie chooses not to participate in the existing conversation (N of S34), the subsequent processing is skipped and the flow in this figure ends. On the other hand, if Charlie chooses to participate in the existing conversation (Y of S34), the inquiry unit 62 of the virtual office server 12 sends the terminal 10 of Bob and Alice, who are conducting the existing conversation, the information of Charlie, who is a close member. An inquiry screen asking whether or not to permit participation is transmitted and displayed (S35).

The terminals 10 of Bob and Alice transmit response data indicating whether or not to permit Charlie's participation to the virtual office server 12 . If either Bob or Alice refuses Charlie's participation (N of S36), the subsequent processing is skipped and the flow of this figure is terminated. On the other hand, if both Bob and Alice permit Charlie to participate (Y in S36), the conversation control unit 61 of the virtual office server 12 accesses the collaboration server 13 via the cooperation unit 40, Charlie is made to newly participate in an existing chat channel (for example, voice chat or text chat) (S37).

In S37, the conversation control unit 61 additionally displays Charlie's avatar and Charlie's attribute information on the conversation screen 110 displayed on Bob's terminal 10 and the conversation screen 110 displayed on Alice's terminal 10. In addition, the conversation control unit 61 causes the conversation screen 110 displayed on Charlie's terminal 10 to display attribute information and the like regarding Alice and Bob, respectively. As previously mentioned, attribute information, etc. may include interaction history, affiliation, community role, and hobbies.

According to the community support system 11 of the embodiment, opportunities for serendipitous interaction (chatter etc.) can be provided to community members including both members who work in offices in the real world and members who work remotely. This can reduce members' feelings of loneliness and stress caused by remote work, and also support the germination of innovation triggered by serendipitous interactions.

The technology of the present disclosure has been described above based on the examples. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that this embodiment is an example, and that various modifications can be made to the combination of each component and each treatment process, and such modifications are within the scope of the present disclosure.

A first modified example will be described.
In the embodiment, the encounter determination unit 50 of the virtual office server 12 moves multiple avatars corresponding to multiple members within the virtual office and determines that the multiple avatars meet based on each avatar's position. As a modified example, the encounter determination unit 50 may determine the history of interactions between members without moving the avatars corresponding to the members, in other words, without calculating changes in the positions of the avatars. Based on this, it may be determined that multiple avatars meet in the virtual office. When the encounter determination unit 50 determines that the avatar will meet, the interaction unit 60 may cause the terminal 10 of the encounter member to display a conversation screen on which the avatar of the encounter member is displayed, as in the above embodiment.

For example, the encounter determination unit 50 may refer to the interaction history for each group of members stored in the interaction history storage unit 32 for multiple members who have logged in to the collaboration platform. When detecting a group of members whose interaction count or frequency is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value, the encounter determination unit 50 may determine that a plurality of avatars corresponding to the members belonging to the group meet. Alternatively, the encounter determination unit 50 may refer to the interaction history of each of the multiple members who have logged into the collaboration platform. When detecting a member whose interaction count or frequency is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, the encounter determination unit 50 may determine that the avatar corresponding to that member and the avatar corresponding to another member meet.

A second modification will be described.
The virtual office server 12 provides an AR (Augmented Reality) device of a certain member with an AR display control unit that superimposes and displays the other member's avatar at a position in the real world corresponding to the position of the other member's avatar in the virtual office. You may have more. The AR device may be a mobile terminal (for example, a smart phone or a tablet terminal) equipped with a video transmissive display held by a member who has gone to work in the office in the real world (hereinafter referred to as "attendance member"). Also, the AR device may be an optically transmissive wearable device (for example, smart glasses) worn on the body of the member who goes to work.

Specifically, the AR device of the member who goes to work may be equipped with a camera that captures an object in the line-of-sight direction of the target member. The AR device is an image captured by a camera, and may transmit an image (which may be a video, hereinafter referred to as a “captured image”) showing an object in the line-of-sight direction of the target member to the virtual office server 12 . The user position detection unit 43 of the virtual office server 12 may detect the position of the member who comes to work holding an AR device by using known indoor positioning technology using beacons, Wi-Fi (registered trademark), and the like.

The AR display control unit of the virtual office server 12 compares the captured image provided from the AR device with the image of the virtual office, and/or based on the position of the member who is coming to work detected by the user position detection unit 43. , the position in the virtual office viewed by the attendance member may be estimated. The AR display control unit specifies the avatars of the other members present at the positions in the virtual office that the members are looking at, based on the current positions of the avatars of the other members stored in the avatar state storage unit 34. good too. The AR display control unit superimposes the image of the specified other member's avatar on the real world image captured by the AR device or on the real world object that can be seen through the AR device. It may control an AR device.

FIG. 19 shows a display example on an AR device. The AR display device 130 is a video transmissive display or an optical transmissive display provided by the AR device, and the figure shows content presented to the user via the AR display device 130 . The desk 132a, the desk 132b, and the desk 132c are desks installed in the real world, and may be an image of the desk captured by the camera of the AR device. good too. Here, it is assumed that Alice's avatar is seated at the desk 132b in the virtual office. The AR display control unit of the virtual office server 12 transmits the data of the avatar 134 of Alice to the AR device, and displays the avatar 134 of Alice superimposed on the desk 132 b displayed on the AR display device 130 .

Alternatively, assume that five people are having an online meeting in conference room A, one of whom is a user who has come to work, and the remaining four are remote users who are working remotely. In this case, when the conference room A is viewed through the AR display device of the user who comes to work, the remaining four people (who are actually in remote locations) may be displayed on their respective seats in the conference room A.

The encounter determination unit 50 of the virtual office server 12 determines that the distance between the position of the first member holding the AR device in the real world and the position of the avatar of the second member in the virtual office having the same configuration as the real world is a predetermined distance. If it falls below the threshold, it may be determined that the first member's avatar and the second member's avatar have met in the virtual office. After that, the interaction unit 60 of the virtual office server 12 may support interaction between the first member and the second member as in the embodiment.

In addition, when a remote user talks to a user at the office in the virtual office, the user at the office in the real world may be notified. When a remote user at the next seat talks to a user who is working at his/her desk, the monitor, microphone, and speaker of the PC next to the actual office are turned on, and the remote user's face is displayed. A conversation may be initiated on the microphone speaker. If a remote user talks to the walk-in user in the virtual office while the walk-in user is walking, the monitor closest to the walk-in user's current location may turn on and start the conversation.

A third modification will be described.
The conversation control unit 61 of the virtual office server 12 may provide the terminal 10 of the meeting member with a conversation interface corresponding to the topic selected in the inquiry to the meeting member.

Specifically, the inquiry unit 62 of the virtual office server 12 may arrange information indicating a plurality of topic candidates on the inquiry screen 90 described in FIGS. The plurality of topic candidates may include, for example, “past interactions”, “work content”, “hobbies”, and the like.

The conversation control unit 61 of the virtual office server 12 generates a conversation screen (for example, the conversation screen 110 in FIG. 14) on which information corresponding to the topic selected on the inquiry screen 90 is arranged, and provides it to the terminal 10 of the member who conducts the conversation. You may For example, when the topic “past interactions” is selected, the conversation control unit 61 may arrange the history of interactions between the members having a conversation on the conversation screen. Further, when the topic “business content” is selected, the conversation control unit 61 may arrange the business content of the conversation partner stored in the user attribute storage unit 31 on the conversation screen. Further, when the topic “hobby” is selected, the conversation control unit 61 may arrange the hobby of the conversation partner stored in the user attribute storage unit 31 on the conversation screen.

As another example, if Alice specifies Bob's "hobby: golf" on the inquiry screen 90 shown in FIG. 13, the interaction unit 60 may set the background of the conversation screen to a golf course. This makes it easier for the encounter members to talk about their hobbies while away from work for a while, and provides a distraction.

Alternatively, in the examples of FIGS. 12 and 13, since the favorite food of Bob and Alice is "wine", the interaction unit 60 may set the background of the conversation screen to the wine cellar, or set the background of the conversation screen to the wine cellar. Recommended wine information may be obtained from the server and displayed on the conversation screen.

Alternatively, when the member's avatar moves in the virtual space is displayed on the display of the terminal 10, the interaction unit 60, when the relationship between the member's avatars satisfies the conversation start criteria, the above ( An object representing at least one of 1) to (4) may be displayed on the display of the terminal 10 in association with the partner's avatar. The interaction unit 60 may generate a conversation screen corresponding to an object designated by the user (one member) of the terminal 10 and display it on the display of the terminal 10 .

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing screen transitions according to this modification. The display of Bob's terminal 10 displays a screen ((A) in FIG. 20) showing how Alice's avatar 200 and Bob's avatar 202 move independently in the virtual space. As a result of each

avatar

200, 202 moving, it is determined that the relationship between the

avatars

200, 202 satisfies conversation initiation criteria. Then, the interaction unit 60 refers to the user attribute storage unit 31, and displays balloon objects 204, 206, and 208 representing Alice's favorite foods and things of interest around Alice's avatar 200 ((B in FIG. 20). )). If the conversation initiation criteria are not met, the balloon object will not be displayed. This can prevent the flood of unnecessary information.

When Bob operates the terminal 10 to specify the balloon object 206 representing wine, the interaction unit 60 receives the result of the specification from the terminal 10 and includes an image and content corresponding to the specified information (wine). A conversation screen 210 is generated and displayed on the display of the terminal 10 ((C) in FIG. 20). According to this modified example, it becomes easier for a member who wants to have a chat away from work to have such a chat, thereby improving user convenience.

A fourth modification will be described.
The inquiry unit 62 of the virtual office server 12 may provide the terminal 10 of the meeting member with an inquiry screen on which the chatbot can be selected to participate in the conversation instead of the member himself/herself. When the conversation control unit 61 of the virtual office server 12 receives an instruction from the terminal 10 of a certain meeting member to allow the chatbot to participate in the conversation, it responds to the instruction instead of the member. A chatbot may participate in the conversation interface.

Specifically, the virtual office server 12 may store data of multiple types of chatbots with different types of topics and different ways of speaking. The conversation control unit 61 may allow a chatbot selected in advance by a member from among multiple types of chatbots or a chatbot selected by a member on an inquiry screen to participate in the conversation. When having the chatbot participate in the conversation, the conversation control unit 61 may display the avatar of the chatbot on the conversation screen instead of the avatar of the member whose conversation is delegated to the chatbot. Alternatively, the conversation control unit 61 may display the member's avatar on the conversation screen and add information indicating that the chatbot is having a conversation to the conversation screen.

When allowing the chatbot to participate in the conversation, the conversation control unit 61 acquires text data or voice data regarding the statements of other members via the collaboration server 13, and transmits the text data or voice data regarding the statements of the other members to the chatbot. can be entered into the program. The conversation control unit 61 acquires text data or voice data relating to the chatbot's utterances as a response to other member's utterances output from the chatbot program, and converts the text data or voice data relating to the chatbot's utterances. , may be transmitted to the terminals 10 of other members via the collaboration server 13 .

A fifth modification will be described.
The virtual office server 12 may concurrently execute a conversation generation process for generating conversations (conversation interfaces) between members of the community and a user status management process for managing the status of each member of the community.

FIG. 21 is a flow chart showing the operation of the virtual office server 12 of the modification. As a conversation generation process, the collaboration unit 40 acquires the latest presence information of each member logged into the collaboration platform from the collaboration server 13 (S40). As a user state management process, the cooperation unit 40 updates the presence information of each member stored in the user attribute storage unit 31 to the latest content acquired in S40 (S50).

As a conversation generation process, the determination unit 52 selects members who are assumed to be able to have a conversation (conversation-enabled members) from among a plurality of logged-in members (S41). In S41, the determination unit 52 may refer to the presence information of each logged-in member and select a member whose presence information is not "busy" or "meeting" as a conversation-enabled member, or may select a member whose presence information is not "busy" or "meeting". Members whose information is set to "contactable" may be selected as chattable members.

As a user state management process that is executed in parallel with S41 of the conversation generation process, the action control unit 51 causes the avatar of each logged-in user to act in the virtual office (S51). The action control unit 51 passes the position of each user's avatar to the conversation generation process (determining unit 52) (S52). The user state management process repeats the processing of S50-S52.

As a conversation generation process, the determination unit 52 determines members who propose conversation (conversation proposal members) based on the positions of the avatars of the conversation-enabled members selected in S41 (S42). As a conversation generation process, the inquiry unit 62 inquires of the conversation proposal member whether or not the conversation is possible (S43). As in the following embodiments, the conversation control unit 61 provides a conversation proposal member with a conversation interface according to the answer to the inquiry. The conversation generation process repeats the processing of S40-S43.

A sixth modification regarding the satisfaction of the conversation start criteria will be explained. In this modified example, either of the following criteria is used in place of or in addition to the first criteria (criteria to be satisfied by the positional relationship). In this case, the second criterion may or may not be present.

(1) The collaboration unit 40 of the virtual office server 12 may acquire information indicating an event in the virtual space (virtual office) in which each member participates from the terminals 10 of a plurality of members or from the collaboration server 13. good. The event may be, for example, a morning assembly or gymnastics. When a plurality of members participate in the same event in the virtual space (virtual office), the determination unit 52 of the virtual office server 12 may determine that the conversation start criteria are satisfied among the plurality of members.

(2) The collaboration unit 40 of the virtual office server 12 receives information (presence information may be used) indicating that each member has taken a break (lunch break, etc.) from the terminals 10 of the members or from the collaboration server 13. can be obtained. If a plurality of members take a break at the same timing (for example, within a predetermined time difference such as 1 minute), the determination unit 52 of the virtual office server 12 determines that the conversation start criteria have been satisfied among the plurality of members. good.

(3) The cooperation unit 40 of the virtual office server 12 may acquire information on the start time and end time of an event, such as a meeting in which each member participates, from the terminals 10 of a plurality of members or from the collaboration server 13. good. Based on the start time and end time of the event in which each member participates, the determination unit 52 of the virtual office server 12 determines the gap time (i.e., from the end of the previous event to the start of the next event) that occurs in each member. free time) may be detected. When the interstitial times of a plurality of members overlap, the determination unit 52 may determine that the criteria for starting a conversation between the members are met during the interstitial time.

In the example, an example of promoting serendipitous conversations between members of the community was explained, but it is not limited to this. For example, an avatar of a third party member outside the community may enter the virtual space. If the community is a business, such third party members are visitors, visitors, vendors and contractors. In this case, it may be set so that the avatar of the third party member can only enter a designated area of the virtual space, such as the reception or guest room. When the community member's avatar passes through the reception and the avatar and the visitor's avatar meet the conversation start criteria, the conversation between the member and the visitor is started. A criterion for starting a conversation between community member avatars may be different from a criterion for starting a conversation between a community member avatar and a third party avatar outside the community.

In the embodiment, an example in which an avatar enters a virtual space that mimics an actual office was explained, but it is not limited to this, and there are no restrictions on how the virtual space is configured. For example, an avatar may be moved within a virtual space in which rooms are provided for each topic (ESG, audit, tax, advisory, etc.). In this case, the user can set his/her own avatar to wander around the room with the topic of his or her choice, so the serendipitous conversation that occurs there will naturally be the conversation on the topic that the user wants to talk about. This can satisfy user's needs.

Any combination of the above-described examples and modifications is also useful as an embodiment of the present disclosure. A new embodiment resulting from the combination has the effects of each combined embodiment and modified example. It should also be understood by those skilled in the art that the functions to be fulfilled by each constituent element described in the claims are realized by each constituent element shown in the embodiments and modified examples singly or in conjunction with each other.

Note that the techniques described in the examples and modifications may be specified by the following aspects.
[Item 1]
a decision unit that decides that the avatars meet in a virtual space in which community member avatars can enter;
an interaction unit that realizes interaction of multiple members corresponding to multiple avatars they meet;
with
The decision unit can decide that the avatars meet based on a computer algorithm regardless of the members' intentions.
Community support device.
According to this community support device, it is possible to provide members of the community with opportunities for unexpected serendipitous interactions and to effectively promote communication between the members of the community.
[Item 2]
further comprising a movement control unit for moving a plurality of avatars corresponding to a plurality of members in the virtual space;
The determination unit determines that avatars existing in close positions in the virtual space meet each other;
A community support device according to item 1.
According to this community support device, it is possible to provide community members with unexpected interaction opportunities and promote communication among community members.
[Item 3]
The movement control unit determines the movement route of the avatar corresponding to the certain member based on the position of the certain member in the community.
A community support device according to item 2.
According to this community support device, it is possible to determine an appropriate moving route for a member's avatar in consideration of the member's position.
[Item 4]
further comprising an interaction history storage unit that stores the history of interactions between members,
The determination unit determines, based on the history of the interaction, that multiple avatars corresponding to multiple members meet in the virtual space.
4. A community support device according to any one of items 1 to 3.
According to this community support device, it is possible to effectively promote communication between members by determining encounters between a plurality of avatars in consideration of the history of interactions between members. For example, it is possible to provide opportunities for communication to members who lack interaction with others.
[Item 5]
further comprising an interaction history storage unit that stores the history of interactions between members,
The interaction part is performed between the first member and the second member when the avatar corresponding to the first member and the avatar corresponding to the second member meet in the virtual space. causing information about the interaction to be displayed on the first member's terminal;
4. A community support device according to any one of items 1 to 3.
According to this community support device, topics for conversation can be provided, and communication between members can be effectively promoted.
[Item 6]
The determination unit determines whether or not the avatar corresponding to the certain member and the avatar corresponding to the other member can meet based on information indicating the current state of the certain member stored in a predetermined storage area. decide,
6. A community support device according to any one of items 1 to 5.
According to this community support device, it is possible to appropriately determine whether to provide an opportunity for communication with others according to the member's current state.
[Item 7]
further comprising an attribute information storage unit that stores attribute information about members of the community;
When the avatar corresponding to the first member and the avatar corresponding to the second member meet in the virtual space, the interaction unit transmits attribute information about the second member to the terminal of the first member. to display
A community support device according to any one of items 1 to 6.
According to this community support device, topics for conversation can be provided, and communication between members can be effectively promoted.
[Item 8]
Further comprising a position detection unit that detects the position where the first member exists in the real world,
The virtual space has a configuration that imitates the real world,
The interaction unit displays information about the second member on the terminal of the first member when an avatar corresponding to the second member exists in the vicinity of the first member in the virtual space. , or causing information about the first member to be displayed on the terminal of the second member,
8. A community support device according to any one of items 1 to 7.
According to this community support device, conversation topics can be provided to a first member acting in the real world and a second member acting as an avatar in a virtual space simulating the real world, thereby effectively facilitating communication between the members. can be promoted effectively.
[Item 9]
a behavior control unit that causes the avatar of a community member to act autonomously according to a computer algorithm set independently of the behavior of other avatars in a virtual space that the avatar can enter;
Providing an interface for a conversation in which a plurality of members corresponding to the plurality of avatars can participate, under one of the conditions that the relationship between the plurality of avatars acting autonomously is determined to satisfy the conversation start criteria. a conversation control that initiates
A server with
According to this server, it is possible to provide members of the community with opportunities for serendipitous conversations unexpected by the members, and to effectively promote communication between the members of the community.
[Item 10]
Further comprising a selection reception unit that allows members to select one from a plurality of candidates with different computer algorithms,
The behavior control unit causes the member's avatar to act autonomously according to the selected computer algorithm;
A server according to item 9.
According to this server, the member's intention can be reflected in the behavior of the member's avatar in the virtual space.
[Item 11]
The selection reception unit recommends a candidate corresponding to the member's attribute from among a plurality of candidates with different computer algorithms to the member,
A server according to item 10.
According to this server, it is possible to recommend appropriate candidates to members according to various attributes of the members (for example, affiliations, hobbies, etc.).
[Item 12]
The selection reception unit recommends to the member a computer algorithm generated based on information about the member's past interactions,
A server according to

item

10 or 11.
According to this server, it is possible to recommend appropriate candidates to the member according to the member's past interactions. For example, for a second member who has little or no past interaction with the first member, a computer algorithm can be recommended that generates a travel path to meet the first member.
[Item 13]
The conversation start criteria include a first criterion to be satisfied by the positional relationship between the plurality of avatars and a second criterion other than that,
The conversation controller does not start providing an interface for the conversation if the first criterion is met but the second criterion is not met, and instead corresponds to one avatar of the plurality of avatars. Notifying members of messages from members corresponding to other avatars,
A server according to any of items 9-12.
According to this server, if the criteria for starting a conversation are not met, a message from one member can be sent to the other member to compensate for the communication between the members whose conversation has not started.
[Item 14]
a determination unit that determines whether a relationship between a plurality of avatars acting autonomously satisfies the conversation start criteria;
an inquiry unit that inquires whether or not to start a conversation with the member corresponding to each avatar when the determination unit determines that the conversation start criteria are satisfied;
At the time of inquiry, the inquiry unit provides (1) information about interactions that have been made among the plurality of members corresponding to the plurality of avatars, (2) attribute information of other members, (3) topical presenting at least one of the candidates; (4) content of activities in the community of other members;
A server according to any of items 9-13.
According to this server, by presenting information about other members who are conversation partners to the members, it is possible to assist the members in appropriately determining whether or not to start conversation with the other members.
[Item 15]
The conversation control unit starts providing a conversation interface corresponding to the topic selected in the inquiry,
A server according to item 14.
This server can facilitate conversations between members.
[Item 16]
The action control unit places the member's avatar at a position in the virtual space corresponding to the position of the member in the real world,
A server according to any of items 9-15.
According to this server, a first member in a predetermined area (real office, etc.) in the real world and a second member in a remote location in the predetermined area, and an avatar in the virtual space corresponding to the predetermined area. can facilitate communication with a second member acting as
[Item 17]
A certain member's AR (Augmented Reality) device further comprises a display control unit that superimposes the other member's avatar at a position in the real world corresponding to the position of the other member's avatar in the virtual space,
A server according to any of items 9-16.
According to this server, a first member in a predetermined area (real office, etc.) in the real world and a second member in a remote location in the predetermined area, and an avatar in the virtual space corresponding to the predetermined area. can facilitate communication with a second member acting as
[Item 18]
The conversation control unit causes the member's chatbot to participate in the conversation interface instead of the member according to the member's instruction.
A server according to any of items 9-17.
According to this server, it is possible to compensate for the lack of conversation between members by making it possible to have a chatbot participate in the conversation instead of a member who cannot participate in the conversation with other members.
[Item 19]
determining that a plurality of avatars meet in a virtual space in which community member avatars can enter;
realizing interaction of multiple members corresponding to multiple avatars encountered;
is executed by the computer and
The determining step can determine that the plurality of avatars meet based on a computer algorithm regardless of the member's will.
Community support methods.
According to this community support method, it is possible to provide community members with opportunities for unexpected serendipitous interactions and effectively promote communication among community members.
[Item 20]
making the avatar of a community member behave autonomously according to a computer algorithm set independently of the actions of other avatars in a virtual space in which the avatar can enter;
Providing an interface for a conversation in which a plurality of members corresponding to the plurality of avatars can participate, under one of the conditions that the relationship between the plurality of avatars acting autonomously is determined to satisfy the conversation start criteria. a step of initiating
A computer-implemented community support method.
According to this community support method, it is possible to provide the members of the community with opportunities for unexpected and serendipitous conversations, thereby effectively promoting communication among the members of the community.

The technology of the present disclosure can be applied to devices and systems that support communication between community members.

10 terminal, 11 community support system, 12 virtual office server, 13 collaboration server, 14 seat reservation system, 31 user attribute storage unit, 32 interaction history storage unit, 44 selection reception unit, 50 encounter determination unit, 51 action control unit, 52 Judgment unit, 60 Interaction unit, 61 Conversation control unit, 62 Inquiry unit, 63 AR display control unit.

Claims

a decision unit that decides that the avatars meet in a virtual space in which community member avatars can enter;
an interaction unit that realizes interaction of multiple members corresponding to multiple avatars they meet;
with
The decision unit can decide that the avatars meet based on a computer algorithm regardless of the members' intentions.
Community support device.
further comprising a movement control unit for moving a plurality of avatars corresponding to a plurality of members in the virtual space;
The determination unit determines that avatars existing in close positions in the virtual space meet each other;
A community support device according to claim 1.
The movement control unit determines the movement route of the avatar corresponding to the certain member based on the position of the certain member in the community.
A community support device according to claim 2.
further comprising an interaction history storage unit that stores the history of interactions between members,
The determination unit determines, based on the history of the interaction, that multiple avatars corresponding to multiple members meet in the virtual space.
A community support device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
further comprising an interaction history storage unit that stores the history of interactions between members,
The interaction part is performed between the first member and the second member when the avatar corresponding to the first member and the avatar corresponding to the second member meet in the virtual space. causing information about the interaction to be displayed on the first member's terminal;
A community support device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
The determination unit determines whether or not the avatar corresponding to the certain member and the avatar corresponding to the other member can meet based on information indicating the current state of the certain member stored in a predetermined storage area. decide,
A community support device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.
further comprising an attribute information storage unit that stores attribute information about members of the community;
When the avatar corresponding to the first member and the avatar corresponding to the second member meet in the virtual space, the interaction unit transmits attribute information about the second member to the terminal of the first member. to display
A community support device according to any one of claims 1 to 6.
Further comprising a position detection unit that detects the position where the first member exists in the real world,
The virtual space has a configuration that imitates the real world,
The interaction unit displays information about the second member on the terminal of the first member when an avatar corresponding to the second member exists in the vicinity of the first member in the virtual space. , or causing information about the first member to be displayed on the terminal of the second member,
A community support device according to any one of claims 1 to 7.
a behavior control unit that causes the avatar of a community member to act autonomously according to a computer algorithm set independently of the behavior of other avatars in a virtual space that the avatar can enter;
Providing an interface for a conversation in which a plurality of members corresponding to the plurality of avatars can participate, under one of the conditions that the relationship between the plurality of avatars acting autonomously is determined to satisfy the conversation start criteria. a conversation control that initiates
A server with
Further comprising a selection reception unit that allows members to select one from a plurality of candidates with different computer algorithms,
The behavior control unit causes the member's avatar to act autonomously according to the selected computer algorithm;
A server according to claim 9 .
The selection reception unit recommends a candidate corresponding to the member's attribute from among a plurality of candidates with different computer algorithms to the member,
A server according to claim 10 .
The selection reception unit recommends to the member a computer algorithm generated based on information about the member's past interactions,
A server according to claim 10 or 11.
The conversation start criteria include a first criterion to be satisfied by the positional relationship between the plurality of avatars and a second criterion other than that,
The conversation controller does not start providing an interface for the conversation if the first criterion is met but the second criterion is not met, and instead corresponds to one avatar of the plurality of avatars. Notifying members of messages from members corresponding to other avatars,
A server according to any of claims 9-12.
a determination unit that determines whether a relationship between a plurality of avatars acting autonomously satisfies the conversation start criteria;
an inquiry unit that inquires whether or not to start a conversation with the member corresponding to each avatar when the determination unit determines that the conversation start criteria are satisfied;
At the time of inquiry, the inquiry unit provides (1) information about interactions that have been made among the plurality of members corresponding to the plurality of avatars, (2) attribute information of other members, (3) topical presenting at least one of the candidates; (4) content of activities in the community of other members;
A server according to any of claims 9-13.
The conversation control unit starts providing a conversation interface corresponding to the topic selected in the inquiry,
15. A server according to claim 14.
The action control unit places the member's avatar at a position in the virtual space corresponding to the position of the member in the real world,
A server according to any of claims 9-15.
A certain member's AR (Augmented Reality) device further comprises a display control unit that superimposes the other member's avatar at a position in the real world corresponding to the position of the other member's avatar in the virtual space,
A server according to any of claims 9-16.
The conversation control unit causes the member's chatbot to participate in the conversation interface instead of the member according to the member's instruction.
A server according to any of claims 9-17.
determining that a plurality of avatars meet in a virtual space in which community member avatars can enter;
realizing interaction of multiple members corresponding to multiple avatars encountered;
is executed by the computer and
The determining step can determine that the plurality of avatars meet based on a computer algorithm regardless of the member's will.
Community support methods.
making the avatar of a community member act autonomously in a virtual space into which the avatar can enter according to a computer algorithm set independently of the actions of other avatars;
Providing an interface for a conversation in which a plurality of members corresponding to the plurality of avatars can participate, under one of the conditions that the relationship between the plurality of avatars acting autonomously is determined to satisfy the conversation start criteria. a step of initiating
A computer-implemented community support method.