JP6493443B2 - Image display system, image display system control method, information processing apparatus, information processing apparatus control method, and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image display system , an image display system control method, an information processing apparatus, an information processing apparatus control method, and a program.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a web conference system that performs a virtual conference using a plurality of terminal devices connected via a network is known.

  The conference layout for displaying the video of the conference participant's base in the web conference system can be freely changed by the user, and the display order can be changed.

  However, when the video of the base to be noticed changes during the conference, the user needs to change the layout again.

  Also, if there are many bases participating in the conference, the base that is speaking is unknown, there are some bases that cannot be displayed due to restrictions on the area that can be displayed even though they are speaking, or the display area is very large There was a problem of becoming smaller.

  In order to solve such a problem, Patent Document 1 proposes a mechanism for setting a degree of attention according to the volume of a conference room and changing the layout.

JP 2006-096395 A

  However, in a web conference, the terminal is often different depending on the participating sites, and even if the measured volume is the same loudness, the same volume is not always obtained. In addition, it is difficult for the above-described invention to display a large number of notable bases according to the flow of the conference.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism for displaying an image of a position to be noted in an easily identifiable manner in accordance with a change in the volume level acquired for each position .

The present invention is an image display system capable of displaying a plurality of images acquired from cameras at a plurality of positions, wherein the sound volume acquisition means for repeatedly acquiring the sound volume for each position and the sound volume acquisition means Ranking means for ranking the volume for each position using the degree of change in volume determined based on the first volume acquired in the first and the second volume acquired after the first volume ; And display control means for controlling the image size of the camera corresponding to the position based on the ranking by the ranking means .

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the structure which displays the image of the position which should be noted easily and identifiable according to the change of the magnitude | size of the volume acquired for every position can be provided.

It is a figure which shows an example of the system block diagram of the web conference system concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware structural example of the information processing apparatus in the web conference system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram which shows an example of a functional structure in the web conference system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the standard other site display screen in the web conference system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display screen of the other base where the size was changed in the web conference system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process which determines the attention degree in the web conference system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the attention degree adjustment process in the web conference system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process which changes the display size of the other base in the web conference system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the base attention table and 1st other base display screen in the web conference system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the site attention table and the 2nd other site display screen in the web conference system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the base attention table and the 3rd other base display screen in the web conference system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the attention degree determination table in the web conference system which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration diagram of a web conference system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In the web conference system of the present invention, for example, an information processing apparatus 100 (300, 310) to which a personal computer can be applied and a web conference server (server apparatus) 200 that enables the web conference system to be used in each client terminal are connected to the network 110. Connected through. It is also called a Web conference system / video conference system.

  Each device may be connected to the network 110 via a wired network, or may be connected via a wireless network or wireless communication.

  The web conference server 200 is a server for realizing a web conference using a web browser. The information processing apparatus 100 can obtain a web conference screen (interface) and conduct a web conference by accessing the web conference server 200.

  In the present embodiment, a tablet PC will be described as an example, such as the information processing apparatuses 100 and 300, but a notebook PC such as the information processing apparatus 310, a desktop PC (not shown), or the like can also be used. The information processing apparatus can display an image of content distributed from the web conference server in a predetermined display area.

  Content (video, audio, volume, etc.) to be distributed is an image or audio acquired by the camera 101 or the microphone 102, transmitted from the information processing apparatus to the web conference server at a predetermined interval, and stored in the web The conference server distributes to the connected information processing apparatus.

  In these information processing apparatuses 100, a web browser for accessing the web conference server 200 and a dedicated module are installed. Note that this dedicated module is an ActiveX component that is downloaded from the web conference server 200 via a web browser, for example.

  When transmitting a moving image of itself in a web conference, a camera 101 such as a web camera as a video device is connected. When transmitting sound, the microphone 102 is connected, and the speaker 103 is connected to view the other party's sound. The microphone 102 and the speaker 103 are audio devices. For example, in this embodiment, it is possible to determine a base to be noted using a change in sound collected by the microphone 102.

  Some devices are provided in hardware of the same housing. For example, there are devices having a camera function and a microphone function, a microphone function and a speaker function, and all functions.

  The web conference system can perform screen sharing by displaying the screen of the information processing apparatus 100 on the screen of another information processing apparatus (300 or 310). The screen to be shared can be specified by the information processing apparatus 100, and may be a screen of an application to be specified or the entire desktop.

  This web conference system can set a plurality of virtual conference rooms on the web called a room, and can hold a plurality of conferences by setting a plurality of rooms.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the information processing apparatus 100, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 201, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 202, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 203, a storage device 204, and an input controller 205 are connected via a system bus 200. The audio input / output controller 206, the video controller 207, the memory controller 208, and the communication I / F controller 209 are connected.

  The CPU 201 comprehensively controls each device and controller connected to the system bus 200.

  The ROM 202 or the storage device 204 is a control program executed by the CPU 201 such as a basic input / output system (BIOS) or an operating system (OS), a computer-readable program for realizing this information processing method, and various necessary programs. Holds data (including data table).

  The RAM 203 functions as a main memory, work area, and the like for the CPU 201. The CPU 201 implements various operations by loading a program or the like necessary for executing the processing from the ROM 202 or the storage device 204 to the RAM 203 and executing the loaded program.

  The input controller 205 controls input from an input device such as a keyboard / touch panel / camera 210. The input device is not limited to this, and may be a touch panel capable of detecting a position touched by a plurality of fingers, such as a mouse or a multi-touch screen.

  The audio input / output controller 206 controls input / output from the microphone / speaker 211. The voice input from the microphone can be recognized. Earphones can also be connected to the speakers.

  The video controller 207 controls display on an external output device such as the display 212. The display includes a display of a notebook computer integrated with the main body. The external output device is not limited to a display, and may be a projector, for example. Further, for devices that can be received by the touch operation described above, it is also possible to receive input from the keyboard / touch panel 210.

  Note that the video controller 207 can control a video memory (VRAM) for display control, and a part of the RAM 203 can be used as a video memory area, or a dedicated video memory can be provided separately. Is possible.

  In the present invention, the first video memory area used for display when the user normally uses the information processing apparatus and the display overlaid on the display content of the first video memory area when a predetermined screen is displayed. A second video memory area used in The number of video memory areas is not limited to two, and a plurality of video memory areas can be provided as long as the resources of the information processing apparatus permit.

  The memory controller 208 controls access to the external memory 213. The external memory is connected via an adapter to an external storage device (hard disk), flexible disk (FD), or PCMCIA card slot that stores boot programs, various applications, font data, user files, editing files, and various data. A compact flash (registered trademark) memory or the like can be used.

  The communication I / F controller 209 is connected to and communicates with an external device via the network 214, and executes communication control processing in the network. For example, communication using TCP / IP, telephone lines such as ISDN, and communication using 3G lines of mobile phones are possible.

  The storage device 204 is a medium for permanently storing information, and the form is not limited to a storage device such as a hard disk. For example, a medium such as SSD (Solid State Drive) may be used.

  It can also be used as a temporary memory area during various processes performed by the communication terminal in the present embodiment.

  FIG. 3 is a functional configuration diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration in the web conference system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  The information processing apparatus of the web conference system includes a volume acquisition unit 311, a volume comparison unit 312, an attention level determination unit 313, an attention level adjustment unit 314, and a base size display control unit.

  The volume acquisition unit 311 acquires the volume of each site from the web conference server. The volume comparison unit 312 compares the change in volume acquired at each base every predetermined time.

The attention level determination unit 313 determines the attention level of the site according to the change in volume compared by the volume comparison unit 312, and the attention level adjustment unit 314 gently displays the display size so that the screen size of the site does not change frequently. Make adjustments so that is changed.

  The site size display control unit 315 performs display control so that the display size of the site determined by the attention level determination unit 313 can be displayed on the screen.

  In the present embodiment, the information processing apparatus is described as having the functions shown in the functional configuration diagram. However, all or some of the functions may be functioned as a web conference system processed by the web conference server. it can.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a standard other site display screen in the web conference system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  It is the screen of the information processing apparatus which entered the meeting room (1) 400 set as a web meeting room (virtual meeting room). In this embodiment, a total of 5 users (including their own base) participate in the web conference from their bases A to D in addition to themselves.

  Specifically, the participant refers to the information processing apparatus 100, and the video captured by the connected camera 101 is connected as a video from the participant's base via the web conference server. The information is distributed to the information processing apparatus.

  On the screen, a plurality of videos 401 of the site A, videos 402 of the site B, videos 403 of the site C, videos 404 of the site D, and videos 405 of their own site are displayed. The base and the moving image are base images of the base connected to the web conference system. Pressing the exit button 406 leaves the web conference room (1).

  As described above, for example, the video 401 at the site A is a video (or audio) acquired from the camera or speaker of the information processing apparatus connected to the web conference system from the site A and distributed via the server. That is. Here, what is distributed may be a still image instead of a moving image.

  As shown in the figure, the screen size of the video at each site is the same size as standard. It is possible for the user to manually change the size to suit the preference. The screen size is the size of the area (frame or window) in which the video of the base is displayed.

  In the present invention, the screen size of the participant is changed according to the degree of attention according to the change in the volume level at each site, rather than the manual size change by the user. The image to be changed will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen of another site whose size has been changed in the web conference system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  The example of the conference room (1) 500 is a screen example in which the attention level of the moving image 501 of the base A is the highest, and the attention degrees of the moving images of the other bases are equal and the attention level is lower than that of the base A.

  In the example of the conference room (1) 510, the degree of attention of the base B of the base A is equally large, and the degree of attention of the other participants' bases is equally low.

  Note that the layout for displaying the video of the base is not limited to this, and can be arbitrarily set.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing for determining the degree of attention in the web conference system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  This process is executed at predetermined intervals (1 minute interval in this embodiment) for each site displayed on the other site display screen 910 shown in FIG. 9, and the site attention level table 900 is created by this process. . The site attention level table 900 and the other site display screen 900 will be described.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the site attention table and the first other site display screen in the web conference system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  9 are as of 09:00, FIG. 10 is as of 09:01, and FIG. 11 is 09:02, which are continuously acquired at predetermined intervals. . Hereinafter, the site attention level table and the other site display screen will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The site attention degree table 900 is a table in which attention for determining the size of the display area of the site displayed on the other site display screen 910 is stored.

  The site name 901, the currently measured volume 902, the previously measured volume 903, the attention level 904, and the increase / decrease value 905 from the previous time are stored.

  The site name 901 is the name of the site connected to the web conference system. In this embodiment, four bases from base A to base D are displayed. For example, in the case of the information processing apparatus at the base A, the base E (the base of the information processing apparatus displaying this screen) is displayed instead of the base A.

  The currently measured volume 902 is a volume that can be acquired from the content distributed from the server, and is the volume measured at 09:00 in the embodiment. Further, in the site attention level table 1000 shown in FIG. 10, the currently measured volume 1002 is 09:01, and in the site shown in FIG. 11, the current level volume 1102 is 09:02. Show.

  As the volume 903 measured last time, the volume measured last time is displayed. However, in this embodiment, since the process is just started, the previous volume is not stored.

  In the case of the site A, the measured volume 1003 (measured at 09:00:00) in FIG. 10 is 100, and the measured volume 1103 (09:01) in FIG.

  Since the attention level 904 is the first time, the attention level is determined according to the currently measured volume 902.

  In the case of the site A, “10” is set for the attention level 1004 in FIG. 10 and “10” is set for the attention level 1104 in FIG.

  The increase / decrease value 905 from the previous time stores how much the attention level has increased or decreased from the previous time. Not set at the first measurement.

  In the case of the base A, an increase / decrease value 1005 (as of 09:00) from the previous time in FIG. 10 is set to 10 (increase from − to 10) of the attention degree 904, and the previous increase / decrease value 1105 ( At 09:00), 0, which is a value increased from the attention level 904 to the attention level 1004, is set.

  On the other site display screen 910 (1010, 1110), videos of other sites connected to the web conference system are displayed, and videos of four sites from site A to site D are targets. The size of the area for displaying the moving image of the base is changed according to the degree of attention 904 (1004, 1104).

  Note that a unit of volume can be a point, a phone, a decibel, or the like, and a unit of attention can be a point or a ranking. Returning to the description of FIG.

  In step S601, the current volume of the target site is acquired from the content data distributed from the web conference server and stored in the currently measured volume 902 of the site attention level table 900, and compared with the previously measured volume 903 in step S602. To do.

  In step S603, it is determined whether or not the volume has changed. If <larger than the previous time>, the process proceeds to step S604. On the other hand, if <smaller than the previous time>, the process proceeds to step S605. The process proceeds to the attention level adjustment process of S606.

  In step S604, the attention level to be added is determined, and in step S605, the attention level to be subtracted is determined. Regarding the increase or decrease of the attention level, the attention level increase or decrease setting 1200 shown in FIG. 12 is used.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of an attention level determination table in the web conference system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  It is assumed that what is determined in advance by the administrator is stored in the server device and stored in the storage device 204 of the information processing device.

  In the setting, a condition 1201, a calculation formula 1202, and a corresponding increase / decrease value of the attention level are recorded. Using this setting, the attention level determination process of FIG. 6 and the attention level adjustment process of FIG. 7 are performed.

  In step S604, since the volume is “larger than the previous time” under the condition 1201, “the constant ratio of the difference from the previous volume is set as an added value” according to the calculation formula 1202, and the increase / decrease value 1203 of the attention level is “10 "Add%" is determined.

The site attention degree table 1000 will be described as an example. The site C has a currently measured volume 1001 of 10 and a previously measured volume 1003 of 30, so
In step S605, since the condition 1201 is “the volume is lower than the previous time”, according to the calculation formula 1202, “the constant ratio of the current attention level is set as the subtraction value”, and thus the increase / decrease value is “5%” subtraction.

  In step S607, the attention level determined in step S604 is added, and in step S608, the attention level determined in step S605 is subtracted and the process proceeds to step S609.

  In the attention level adjustment process in step S606, the attention level is high until just before, but the bases with high attention level are gradually focused so that the attention level does not drop suddenly due to sudden quietness. This is a process of adjusting the attention level so as to lower the degree. This process is not necessarily performed. Details will be described later with reference to FIG.

  In step S609, it is determined whether or not processing has been performed for all the bases. If it has been performed, the process ends. If there are any unprocessed bases, the process returns to step S601 to return to all bases. The process loops until the end.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of attention level adjustment processing in the web conference system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  Corresponding to the attention level adjustment processing in step S606, the three conditions starting with “the volume does not change from the previous time” are used in the condition 1201 of the attention level increase / decrease setting 1200 in FIG.

  In step S701, the previous increase / decrease in attention level (905, 1005, 1105) is acquired from the base attention level table, and in step S702, the change in attention level is determined.

  If it is determined that the change in the attention level is <larger than the previous time>, the process proceeds to step S703. If it is determined that it is <smaller than the previous time>, the process proceeds to step S704. If it is determined that <no change>, the process proceeds to step S705. . In step S705, the attention level is not adjusted and the process ends.

  In step S703, since the attention level increase / decrease setting condition 1201 in FIG. 12 corresponds to “the volume does not change from the previous time (the previous time, the attention level is added)”, the “predetermined ratio added to the previous time is added value” in the calculation formula 1202 In step S706, it is determined to add 10% using the increase / decrease value 1203, and the determined attention level is added in step S706, and the process ends.

  In step S704, since the condition 1201 corresponds to “the volume does not change from the previous time (subtract the previous attention level)”, the increase / decrease value 1203 is set in accordance with “the constant ratio subtracted in the previous time is used as the subtraction value” in the calculation formula 1202. In step S707, it is determined to subtract 5%, and the attention level determined is subtracted, and the process ends. This makes it possible to adjust the degree of attention that increases or decreases this time.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of processing for changing the display size of another site in the web conference system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  This is a process of performing display control of the size of the display area of the base on the other base display screen using the base attention degree table determined in FIG. 6 and FIG.

  In step S801, the current attention level is acquired from the base attention level table (for example, if it is 09:00, the base attention level table 900, 1000 if 09:01, 1100 if 09:02), step S802. Proceed to

  In step S802, it is determined whether or not the attention level of all the target bases has been acquired. If yes, the process proceeds to step S803. If not, the process returns to step S801 until all the bases are processed. Loop through the process. In the case of the embodiment, it is confirmed whether or not the processing has been completed for the four bases from base A to base D.

  In step S803, the attention levels of the bases are ranked. In the case of the base attention degree table 900, the attention degrees of the bases A to D are equal to zero. In the case of the base attention level table 1000, the base A = base B> base D> base C in the order of high attention. In the case of the site attention level table 1100, the order of the level of attention is in the order of location D> location A> location B> location C.

  In step S804, the display sizes of the bases are determined in the order ranked in step S803. In step S805, display control is performed to reflect the display sizes of the bases on the screen, and the process ends.

  On the other site display screen 1010, the display area size is controlled in accordance with the site A = site B> base D> base C, and on the other site display screen 1110, the display area is displayed in accordance with the site D> base A> base B> base C. The display size is controlled.

The display size may be displayed in a size proportional to the point of interest.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the virtual conference room used in the web conference system is described as a web conference room, a virtual conference room, or simply a conference room, but they are the same.

  As described above, a recording medium that records a program that implements the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus, and a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus stores the program stored in the recording medium. It goes without saying that the object of the present invention can also be achieved by executing the reading.

  In this case, the program itself read from the recording medium realizes the novel function of the present invention, and the recording medium storing the program constitutes the present invention.

  As a recording medium for supplying the program, for example, a flexible disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, DVD-ROM, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, EEPROM, silicon A disk or the like can be used.

  Further, by executing the program read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an OS (operating system) operating on the computer based on an instruction of the program is actually It goes without saying that a case where the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by performing part or all of the processing and the processing is included.

  Furthermore, after the program read from the recording medium is written to the memory provided in the function expansion board inserted into the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion board is based on the instructions of the program code. It goes without saying that the case where the CPU or the like provided in the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

  Further, the present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of a single device. Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to a case where the present invention is achieved by supplying a program to a system or apparatus. In this case, by reading a recording medium storing a program for achieving the present invention into the system or apparatus, the system or apparatus can enjoy the effects of the present invention.

  Furthermore, by downloading and reading a program for achieving the present invention from a server, database, etc. on a network by a communication program, the system or apparatus can enjoy the effects of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Information processing apparatus 101 Camera 102 Microphone 103 Speaker 110 Network 200 Web conference server

Claims (8)

An image display system capable of displaying a plurality of images acquired from cameras at a plurality of positions,
Volume acquisition means for repeatedly acquiring the volume for each position;
Using the degree of change in volume determined based on the first volume acquired first by the volume acquisition means and the second volume acquired after the first volume, the volume for each position is ranked. Ranking means for attaching,
Display control means for controlling the image size of the camera corresponding to the position based on the ranking by the ranking means;
An image display system comprising: The volume for each position that is repeatedly acquired by the volume acquisition means is acquired at predetermined intervals,
The ranking means changes the ranking based on the volume for each position acquired at a predetermined interval,
2. The display control unit according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit controls display of the image size of the camera corresponding to the position with an image size corresponding to the order changed by the ranking unit at a predetermined interval . Image display system. The ranking means determines the degree of attention for each position based on the degree of change in volume, ranks the volume for each position based on the degree of attention for each position,
The image display system according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit controls display of each of the plurality of image sizes based on the order . When a change in volume applies to a predetermined condition based on the first volume and the second volume, the apparatus has an attention level adjusting unit that adjusts an attention level that is increased or decreased based on an increase or decrease in the attention level. The image display system according to claim 3, wherein: A control method of an image display system capable of displaying a plurality of images acquired from cameras at a plurality of positions,
A volume acquisition step of repeatedly acquiring the volume for each position;
Using the degree of change in volume determined based on the first volume acquired first in the volume acquisition step and the second volume acquired after the first volume, the volume for each position is ranked. A ranking step to attach,
A display control step for controlling the image size of the camera corresponding to the position based on the ranking by the ranking step;
A control method for an image display system. An information processing apparatus capable of displaying a plurality of images acquired from cameras at a plurality of positions,
Volume acquisition means for repeatedly acquiring the volume for each position;
Using the degree of change in volume determined based on the first volume acquired first by the volume acquisition means and the second volume acquired after the first volume, the volume for each position is ranked. Ranking means for attaching,
Display control means for controlling the image size of the camera corresponding to the position based on the ranking by the ranking means;
An information processing apparatus comprising: A control method for an information processing apparatus capable of displaying a plurality of images acquired from cameras at a plurality of positions,
A volume acquisition step of repeatedly acquiring the volume for each position;
Using the degree of change in volume determined based on the first volume acquired first in the volume acquisition step and the second volume acquired after the first volume, the volume for each position is ranked. A ranking step to attach,
A display control step for controlling the image size of the camera corresponding to the position based on the ranking by the ranking step;
A method for controlling an information processing apparatus, comprising: A program for causing a computer to function as each unit of the information processing apparatus according to claim 6.

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