JP7572877B2 - In-vehicle terminal device, electronic conference system, electronic conference method and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an in-vehicle terminal device, an electronic conference system, an electronic conference method, and a program.

Electronic conferences (Web conferences), in which multiple people use multiple terminal devices to hold a conference without meeting in the same place, have become widely used.

JP 2020-35262 A

By using an in-vehicle terminal device, passengers in vehicles such as automobiles can also participate in electronic conferences. However, unlike when participating in an electronic conference from a conference room or at home, when passengers in a vehicle participate in an electronic conference, the conference should be operated appropriately with consideration given to safety, etc.

The present invention aims to provide an in-vehicle terminal device, an electronic conference system, an electronic conference method, and a program that contribute to proper conference operation when vehicle occupants participate in an electronic conference.

The in-vehicle terminal device according to the present invention is an in-vehicle terminal device that is included in a plurality of terminal devices constituting an electronic conference system for conducting electronic conferences and is mounted on a vehicle, and is configured (first configuration) to include a vehicle-side voice signal acquisition unit that acquires a vehicle-side voice signal corresponding to the content of speech of an occupant of the vehicle, a counterpart-side voice signal acquisition unit that acquires a counterpart-side voice signal corresponding to the content of speech of a user of a counterpart-side terminal device that is a terminal device different from the in-vehicle terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices, and a conference participation status control unit that executes at least one of a first switching process that switches between outputting or not outputting the counterpart-side voice signal from a speaker in the vehicle depending on the state of the vehicle, and a second switching process that switches between transmitting or not transmitting the vehicle-side voice signal to the counterpart-side terminal device depending on the state of the vehicle.

In the in-vehicle terminal device according to the first configuration, the conference participation status control unit may stop outputting the other party's audio signal from the speaker in the vehicle in the first switching process when the state of the vehicle corresponds to a predetermined first restricted state, and the first restricted state may be configured to include at least one of a state in which the traveling direction of the vehicle is set to reverse, a state in which a door or window of the vehicle is open, and a state in which the output voltage value or remaining capacity of a battery mounted in the vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined value (second configuration).

In the vehicle-mounted terminal device according to the first or second configuration, the conference participation status control unit may stop transmitting the vehicle-side audio signal to the other-side terminal device in the second switching process when the state of the vehicle corresponds to a predetermined second restricted state, and the second restricted state may be configured to include at least one of the following states: the vehicle's traveling direction is set to reverse, a door or window of the vehicle is open, the output voltage value or remaining capacity of a battery mounted on the vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined value, and the speed of the vehicle exceeds a predetermined speed (third configuration).

The in-vehicle terminal device according to any one of the first to third configurations may further include an operation unit, and when there are multiple remote terminal devices, the operation unit may receive a request operation for requesting communication with some of the multiple users of the multiple remote terminal devices as communication partners, and the conference participation status control unit may be configured to permit or prohibit the operation unit from receiving the request operation depending on the state of the vehicle (fourth configuration).

In the in-vehicle terminal device according to the fourth configuration, the conference participation status control unit may prohibit the reception of the request operation when the state of the vehicle corresponds to a predetermined third restricted state, and the third restricted state may be configured to include at least one of the following states: the vehicle's traveling direction is set to reverse, a door or window of the vehicle is open, the output voltage value or remaining capacity of a battery mounted on the vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined value, the speed of the vehicle exceeds a predetermined speed, and the parking brake of the vehicle is deactivated (fifth configuration).

In the in-vehicle terminal device according to any of the first to fifth configurations, the conference participation status control unit may be configured to switch between displaying and not displaying the conference image shared by all terminal devices in the electronic conference system on the display screen in the vehicle according to the state of the vehicle (sixth configuration).

In the in-vehicle terminal device according to the sixth configuration, the conference participation status control unit stops displaying the conference image on the display screen in the vehicle when the state of the vehicle corresponds to a predetermined fourth restricted state, and the fourth restricted state may be a configuration (seventh configuration) including at least one of a state in which the traveling direction of the vehicle is set to reverse, a state in which a door or window of the vehicle is open, a state in which the output voltage value or remaining capacity of a battery mounted in the vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined value, and a state in which the speed of the vehicle exceeds a predetermined speed.

In the in-vehicle terminal device according to any one of the first to seventh configurations, the conference participation status control unit may be configured to control the sensitivity of the microphone installed in the vehicle when generating the vehicle-side audio signal in accordance with the speed of the vehicle (eighth configuration).

In the in-vehicle terminal device according to the eighth configuration, the conference participation status control unit may be configured to control the sensitivity according to the steering angle of the vehicle while the vehicle is moving (ninth configuration).

In the in-vehicle terminal device according to any one of the first to ninth configurations, the conference participation status control unit may be configured to control the output volume level when the other party's voice signal is output from a speaker in the vehicle in accordance with the speed of the vehicle (tenth configuration).

In the in-vehicle terminal device according to any one of the first to ninth configurations, the conference participation status control unit may be configured to control the output volume level when the other party's voice signal is output from a speaker in the vehicle depending on whether the engine of the vehicle is running (eleventh configuration).

In the in-vehicle terminal device according to any one of the first to ninth configurations, the conference participation status control unit may be configured to control the output volume level when the other party's audio signal is output from a speaker in the vehicle in accordance with the vehicle's position information and map information (twelfth configuration).

The vehicle-mounted terminal device according to any one of the first to twelfth configurations may further include a status notification unit that transmits a status notification signal corresponding to the status of the vehicle to the other terminal device (thirteenth configuration).

The electronic conference system according to the present invention is an electronic conference system for holding an electronic conference among a plurality of people using a plurality of terminal devices connected to each other via a network, and is configured (configuration 14) in which the plurality of terminal devices includes an in-vehicle terminal device according to any one of configurations 1 to 13 above.

The electronic conference method according to the present invention is an electronic conference method used in an in-vehicle terminal device included in a plurality of terminal devices constituting an electronic conference system for conducting electronic conferences and mounted in a vehicle, and includes a vehicle-side voice signal acquisition step of acquiring a vehicle-side voice signal corresponding to the speech content of an occupant of the vehicle, a counterpart-side voice signal acquisition step of acquiring a counterpart-side voice signal corresponding to the speech content of a user of a counterpart-side terminal device that is a terminal device different from the in-vehicle terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices, and a conference participation status control step of executing at least one of a first switching process of switching between outputting or not outputting the counterpart-side voice signal from a speaker in the vehicle depending on the state of the vehicle, and a second switching process of switching between transmitting or not transmitting the vehicle-side voice signal to the counterpart-side terminal device depending on the state of the vehicle (15th configuration).

The program according to the present invention is configured (configuration 16) to cause a computing device to realize the electronic conferencing method according to the configuration 15 above.

The present invention makes it possible to provide an in-vehicle terminal device, an electronic conference system, an electronic conference method, and a program that contribute to proper conference operation when vehicle occupants participate in an electronic conference.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of a conference system (electronic conference system) according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a server device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a plan view of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention when viewed from above. 1 is a diagram showing a part of a vehicle interior according to an embodiment of the present invention; 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an in-vehicle system according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the on-vehicle sensor unit shown in FIG. 6 . FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of a control unit in FIG. 6 . FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining communication contents of an audio signal that is of interest in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the relationship between the operation mode of the in-vehicle terminal device and the state of the vehicle, etc., according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a call-to-other-company function according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a relationship between an electronic conference period and a confidential communication period according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the relationship between the operation mode of the in-vehicle terminal device and the state of the vehicle, etc., according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the relationship between the operation mode of the in-vehicle terminal device and the state of the vehicle, etc., according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a remote terminal device during an electronic conference according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on a remote terminal device during an electronic conference according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on a remote terminal device during an electronic conference according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a configuration diagram relating to recording and replaying of conference data according to a ninth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a structural diagram of conference data according to a ninth embodiment of the present invention.

Below, examples of embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In each of the drawings, the same parts are given the same reference numerals, and duplicated descriptions of the same parts will be omitted as a general rule. In this specification, for the sake of simplicity, a symbol or code referring to information, a signal, a physical quantity, a member, etc. may be written, and the name of the information, signal, physical quantity, member, etc. corresponding to the symbol or code may be omitted or abbreviated. For example, the conference participation status control unit referred to by "273" described below (see FIG. 8) may be written as conference participation status control unit 273 or abbreviated as control unit 273, but they all refer to the same thing.

Figure 1 shows the overall configuration of system 1 according to this embodiment. System 1 can be used for various purposes, but in this embodiment, it is assumed that system 1 is used for holding a conference (conversation) between multiple people PS. In this case, system 1 functions as a conference system (electronic conference system), and hereinafter system 1 is referred to as conference system 1. The conference in this embodiment is an electronic conference, and in this embodiment, a conference and an electronic conference refer to the same thing. In an electronic conference, a conversation between multiple people PS is realized through the transmission and reception of signals (including at least audio signals) between multiple terminal devices, without the multiple people PS meeting together. An electronic conference is also generally referred to as a Web conference. Each person PS corresponds to a participant in the electronic conference.

The conference system 1 is configured with a plurality of terminal devices 10 and a server device 30. Each terminal device 10 is assigned to one of the plurality of persons PS. Each terminal device 10 and server device 30 are connected to a network 50 including the Internet. In other words, the plurality of terminal devices 10 and server device 30 are connected to each other through the network 50. Each of the plurality of terminal devices 10 and server device 30 is capable of two-way communication with any device connected to the network 50.

In this embodiment, at least some of the multiple terminal devices 10 are in-vehicle terminal devices mounted on a vehicle, and the specific internal configuration of the terminal devices 10 may differ between the multiple terminal devices 10. First, the configuration common to the multiple terminal devices 10 will be described.

Figure 2 shows the internal configuration of one terminal device 10. The terminal device 10 includes a communication processing unit 11, a memory unit 12, a terminal control unit 13, a display screen 14, an operation unit 15, a camera 16, a microphone 17, and a speaker 18. In explaining the internal configuration of the terminal device 10, a terminal device 10 that has been focused on will be referred to as a focused terminal device 10 as necessary. Also, a person PS who is a user of the focused terminal device 10 may be referred to as a focused person PS. The focused terminal device 10 is a terminal device 10 that has been assigned to the focused person PS (associated with the focused person PS) in the conference system 1. Each terminal device 10 incorporated in the conference system 1 can become a focused terminal device 10.

The communication processing unit 11 performs two-way communication with the other device through the network 50. In the attention terminal device 10, two-way communication includes a transmission operation of outputting any information to the network 50 and transmitting the information to the other device, and a reception operation of receiving any information output by the other device to the network 50. The other device for the attention terminal device 10 is the server device 30 or a terminal device 10 other than the attention terminal device 10. The communication processing unit 11 in the attention terminal device 10 can perform two-way communication with each terminal device 10 other than the attention terminal device 10 via the network 50 and the server device 30. The communication processing unit 11 in the attention terminal device 10 may be capable of realizing two-way communication with each terminal device 10 other than the attention terminal device 10 without going through the server device 30. In this way, communication between the attention terminal device 10 and the other device is performed using the communication processing unit 11, but the description of the communication processing unit 11 may be omitted in the following description.

The storage unit 12 is composed of a magnetic disk or semiconductor memory, or a combination of these, and stores and keeps track of various programs and data. At least the programs may be stored in non-volatile memory within the storage unit 12.

The terminal control unit 13 is made up of a central processing unit (CPU), read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), etc., which are calculation processing devices, and controls the overall operation of each part in the terminal device 10, and realizes various functions by executing programs stored in the memory unit 12 in the calculation processing device in the terminal control unit 13.

The display screen 14 is composed of a liquid crystal display panel or an organic electroluminescence panel, etc., and displays any image (in other words, a video) under the control of the terminal control unit 13. The person of interest PS can view the display contents on the display screen 14 of the terminal device of interest 10. In the following explanation, the display on a certain terminal device 10 means the display on the display screen 14 provided on that terminal device 10.

The operation unit 15 receives various operations from an operator. The operator of the target terminal device 10 is the target person PS. If the terminal device 10 is provided with a touch panel, the display screen 14 and the operation unit 15 may be configured by the touch panel.

The camera 16 captures images within its field of view and outputs an image signal (image data) representing the captured image. The field of view of the camera 16 of the target terminal device 10 may include the entire body or part of the target person PS.

The microphone 17 converts the surrounding sounds into an audio signal and outputs it. In the conference system 1, the main purpose of the microphone 17 in the target terminal device 10 is to pick up the speech content of the target person PS. Therefore, the microphone 17 in the target terminal device 10 picks up the speech content of the target person PS, converts the picked up sound into an audio signal, and outputs it.

Under the control of the terminal control unit 13, the speaker 18 outputs the audio signal input thereto as sound (as sound waves). The person of interest PS can hear the output sound of the speaker 18 of the terminal device 10 of interest. In the following description, the output of sound or audio from a certain terminal device 10 means the output of sound or audio from the speaker 18 provided in that terminal device 10.

Figure 3 shows the internal configuration of the server device 30. The server device 30 includes a communication processing unit 31, a storage unit 32, and a server control unit 33. The server device SV may be configured with one or more computer devices. The conference system 1 may be configured using so-called cloud computing.

The communication processing unit 31 performs two-way communication with the other device through the network 50. In the server device 30, two-way communication includes a sending operation in which any information is output to the network 50 and the information is transmitted to the other device, and a receiving operation in which any information output by the other device to the network 50 is received. The other device for the server device 30 is any device connected to the network 50. Here, each of the multiple terminal devices 10 corresponds to a other device for the server device 30. In this way, communication between the server device 30 and the other device is performed using the communication processing unit 31, but the description of the communication processing unit 31 may be omitted in the following description.

The storage unit 32 is composed of a magnetic disk or semiconductor memory, or a combination of these, and stores and keeps track of various programs and data. At least the programs may be stored in non-volatile memory within the storage unit 32.

The server control unit 33 is made up of a central processing unit (CPU), read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), etc., which are arithmetic processing devices, and controls the overall operation of each part in the server device 30, and realizes various functions by executing programs stored in the memory unit 32 on the arithmetic processing device in the server control unit 33.

The conference system 1 is capable of executing a voice transmission process in an electronic conference. In the voice transmission process, the speech content of an arbitrary person PS is output as voice from a terminal device 10 assigned to another person PS. In the voice transmission process when the target person PS speaks, the speech content of the target person PS is picked up by the microphone 17 of the target terminal device 10 and converted into a voice signal, and the voice signal representing the speech content of the target person PS is transmitted from the target terminal device 10 to each of the other terminal devices 10 via the network 50 and the server device 30. Then, in each terminal device 10 other than the target terminal device 10, the voice signal representing the speech content of the target person PS is output as voice from the speaker 18.

The conference system 1 can execute a conference image display process in an electronic conference. The conference image here is an image shared among all the terminal devices 10 constituting the conference system 1, and in the conference image display process, the conference image is displayed on the display screen 14 of each terminal device 10. For example, the conference image is a material called a presentation material (explanation summary, graph, table, still image, video). However, although details will be described later, the conference image may not be displayed on the in-vehicle terminal device. The server control unit 33 can set any image displayed on the display screen 14 of the attention terminal device 10 as the conference image according to the operation content of the operation unit 15 of the attention terminal device 10 (assuming a situation in which the attention person PS is granted control authority). In this case, an image signal of the conference image is transmitted from the server device 30 to each terminal device 10 other than the attention terminal device 10. In each terminal device 10 other than the attention terminal device 10, the terminal control unit 13 displays the conference image on the display screen 14 based on the received image signal. Alternatively, the server control unit 33 may set a pre-registered image as the conference image. In this case, an image signal of the conference image is transmitted from the server device 30 to each terminal device 10, and the terminal control unit 13 of each terminal device 10 displays the conference image on the display screen 14 based on the received image signal. The conference image may also include an image captured by the camera 16 of one of the terminal devices 10.

Figure 4 is a schematic top view of the vehicle CR according to this embodiment. Figure 5 shows a portion of the interior of the vehicle CR. Figure 6 shows the configuration of the in-vehicle system 2 according to this embodiment. The in-vehicle system 2 is mounted on the vehicle CR. Here, it is assumed that the vehicle CR is an automobile capable of running on roads, but the vehicle CR may be any type of vehicle. In the interior of the vehicle CR, a steering wheel 71, a shift lever 72, and an ignition switch 73 are provided near the driver's seat as parts operated by the driver, and a display screen 140 is provided that can be viewed by the driver of the vehicle CR (hereinafter simply referred to as the driver).

The steering wheel 71 is a ring-shaped part that is rotated by the driver to adjust the direction of travel of the vehicle CR in response to the rotation. The shift lever 72, based on the driver's operation, sets whether the vehicle CR can proceed and the direction of travel of the vehicle CR, and changes the speed of the vehicle CR. The ignition switch 73, based on the driver's operation, specifies whether power is supplied or not to each electrical device of the vehicle CR, and specifies whether the engine of the vehicle CR is started or stopped. In the vehicle CR, the direction from the driver's seat where the driver should be seated toward the steering wheel 71 is defined as "forward," and the direction from the steering wheel 71 toward the driver's seat is defined as "rear." The direction perpendicular to the front-rear direction and parallel to the road surface is defined as the left-right direction. The left and right in the left-right direction are defined as left and right as seen by the driver of the vehicle CR, who is sitting in the driver's seat of the vehicle CR and facing forward.

Referring to FIG. 6, the in-vehicle system 2 includes an in-vehicle terminal device 100. The in-vehicle terminal device 100 is one of the multiple terminal devices 10 constituting the conference system 1. The multiple terminal devices 10 constituting the conference system 1 may include two or more in-vehicle terminal devices 100, but in this embodiment, unless otherwise specified, attention is focused on only one in-vehicle terminal device 100 included in the multiple terminal devices 10. The user of the in-vehicle terminal device 100 (i.e., the person PS associated with the in-vehicle terminal device 100) is the driver. The communication processing unit 11, memory unit 12, terminal control unit 13, display screen 14, operation unit 15, camera 16, microphone 17, and speaker 18 in the in-vehicle terminal device 100 may be referred to as the communication processing unit 110, memory unit 120, terminal control unit 130, display screen 140, operation unit 150, camera 160, microphone 170, and speaker 180, respectively. The memory unit 120 stores a program PG for electronic conferences. The arithmetic processing unit in the terminal control unit 130 executes the program PG to execute various processes that the in-vehicle terminal device 100 should execute in an electronic conference. Any one or more of the communication processing unit 110, display screen 140, operation unit 150, camera 160, microphone 170, and speaker 180 may be provided outside the in-vehicle terminal device 100 and externally connected to the in-vehicle terminal device 100 (however, they are installed in the vehicle CR in any case).

A plurality of connection devices are connected to the in-vehicle terminal device 100. The plurality of connection devices connected to the in-vehicle terminal device 100 include a GPS processing unit 210, an in-vehicle sensor unit 220, and an in-vehicle camera unit 230, and each connection device is installed in an appropriate location of the vehicle CR. The in-vehicle terminal device 100 and any connection device are connected to each other via an in-vehicle network formed in the vehicle CR in a manner that allows two-way communication (however, one-way communication may be used if not necessary). A CAN (Controller Area Network) can be used as the in-vehicle network. However, any one or more elements of the GPS processing unit 210, the in-vehicle sensor unit 220, and the in-vehicle camera unit 230 may be built into the in-vehicle terminal device 100.

The GPS processing unit 210 detects the position of the vehicle CR by receiving signals from multiple GPS satellites that form the GPS (Global Positioning System), and generates vehicle position information indicating the detected position. The detected position is the current location of the vehicle CR. In the vehicle position information, the position (current location) of the vehicle CR is expressed by longitude and latitude on the earth. The vehicle position information is generated sequentially at a predetermined cycle, and the generated vehicle position information is output sequentially to the in-vehicle terminal device 100.

The vehicle-mounted sensor unit 220 is composed of multiple vehicle-mounted sensors installed in the vehicle CR, and detects and acquires vehicle-mounted sensor information using each vehicle-mounted sensor. The vehicle-mounted sensor information is acquired sequentially at a predetermined cycle, and the acquired vehicle-mounted sensor information is output sequentially to the vehicle-mounted terminal device 100.

The vehicle-mounted camera unit 230 consists of one or more cameras installed in the vehicle CR. The cameras in the vehicle-mounted camera unit 230 are separate from the camera 160 of the vehicle-mounted terminal device 100, and include a camera for photographing the surroundings of the vehicle CR. The surroundings of the vehicle CR refers to the external space of the vehicle CR. The vehicle-mounted camera unit 230 includes a rear camera 231 (see also FIG. 4). The rear camera 231 has a field of view outside the vehicle CR and in the rear area of the vehicle CR, and is installed in an appropriate position on the body of the vehicle CR. Although it is not clear from FIG. 4, the depression angle of the camera 231 is appropriately set so that the road surface within a specified area outside the vehicle CR and on the rear side of the vehicle CR is included in the field of view of the camera 231. In addition, a camera provided in or connected to an in-vehicle device other than the in-vehicle terminal device 100 (an in-vehicle device mounted on the vehicle CR), such as a camera of a drive recorder, may be used as the camera (rear camera 231, etc.) in the in-vehicle camera unit 230. Similarly, a camera and a microphone provided in or connected to an in-vehicle device other than the in-vehicle terminal device 100 (an in-vehicle device mounted on the vehicle CR; a drive recorder, etc.) may be used as the camera 160 and the microphone 170.

Figure 7 shows the internal configuration of the vehicle-mounted sensor unit 220. The vehicle-mounted sensor unit 220 includes a vehicle speed sensor 221, a steering angle sensor 222, a shift lever sensor 223, a parking brake sensor 224, a door sensor 225, a window sensor 226, and a battery sensor 227 as multiple vehicle-mounted sensors.

The vehicle speed sensor 221 detects the speed of the vehicle CR and outputs vehicle speed information (vehicle speed pulse) representing the detected speed. The steering angle sensor 222 detects the steering angle (steering angle) of the vehicle CR and outputs steering angle information representing the detected steering angle.

The shift lever sensor 223 detects the state of the shift lever 72 of the vehicle CR and outputs shift information representing the detected state of the shift lever 72. The state of the shift lever 72 is set to one of a number of states including drive state, parking state, and reverse state based on the driver's operation. When the shift lever 72 is in drive state, the vehicle CR moves forward (travels forward) in response to depression of the accelerator pedal of the vehicle CR, and when the shift lever 72 is in reverse state, the vehicle CR moves backward (travels backward) in response to depression of the accelerator pedal of the vehicle CR. When the shift lever 72 is in parking state, the vehicle CR does not travel in response to depression of the accelerator pedal of the vehicle CR.

The parking brake sensor 224 detects whether a parking brake (not shown) provided on the vehicle CR is activated, and outputs parking brake information indicating the detection result. When the parking brake is activated, the vehicle CR is stopped stably by measures such as locking the gears of the transmission of the vehicle CR. The driver can activate or deactivate the parking brake by operating an operating member such as a parking brake lever or a parking switch provided on the vehicle CR.

The door sensor 225 detects the open/closed state of a door installed in the vehicle CR, and outputs door open/closed information representing the detection result of the open/closed state of the door. The window sensor 226 detects the open/closed state of a window installed in the vehicle CR, and outputs window open/closed information representing the detection result of the open/closed state of the window. The above-mentioned door and window are vehicle parts that can be opened and closed and are located at the boundary between the interior of the vehicle CR and the space outside the vehicle CR. The battery sensor 227 detects the output voltage _T of a battery (not shown) mounted in the vehicle CR, and outputs battery information based on the detection result. The battery information represents the detected output voltage value V _BAT of the battery. Alternatively, the battery information may be the remaining capacity of the battery calculated based on the output voltage value V _BAT . Each electrical device in the vehicle CR is driven by using the output power of the battery as a driving source. The in-vehicle terminal device 100 is one of the electrical devices in the vehicle CR.

In-vehicle sensor information including the above-mentioned vehicle speed information, steering angle information, shift information, parking brake information, door opening/closing information, window opening/closing information, and battery information is output to the in-vehicle terminal device 100. In addition, the in-vehicle sensor information may also include acceleration information indicating the acceleration in a predetermined axial direction of the vehicle CR, accelerator information indicating the amount of depression of an accelerator pedal provided on the vehicle CR, and brake information indicating the amount of depression of a brake pedal provided on the vehicle CR.
In addition, when the vehicle CR is an electric vehicle or the like, the form of the on-board sensor unit 220 may differ from that described above depending on the type of the vehicle CR. For example, when the vehicle CR is an electric vehicle, the shift lever sensor 223 may not be present, and the traveling direction of the vehicle CR can be changed by changing the rotation direction of the motor. In such a case, the shift lever sensor 223 is replaced with a sensor that detects the rotation direction of the motor.

Figure 8 shows a functional block diagram of the terminal control unit 130. The terminal control unit 130 includes a navigation processing unit 260 and an electronic conference processing unit 270. The processing of the navigation processing unit 260 and the electronic conference processing unit 270 may be performed by the arithmetic processing device in the terminal control unit 130 executing a program in the memory unit 120.

The navigation processing is performed by the navigation processing unit 260. The navigation processing unit 260 includes a navigation unit 261 and a map information acquisition unit 262. In the navigation processing, the navigation unit 261 sets a planned driving route from the current location of the vehicle CR to the destination, and displays an image in which the planned driving route is superimposed on a map image on the display screen 140. The planned driving route represents a route that the vehicle CR is scheduled to travel until it reaches the destination, and the driver of the vehicle CR is assisted in performing driving operations so that the vehicle CR travels along the planned driving route. The driver can set the destination through, for example, the operation of the operation unit 150. The map information acquisition unit 262 acquires map information indicating the positions on the map of roads, sidewalks, buildings, traffic lights, railroad crossings, road signs, etc. Since the map information includes information on the map image, the map image on the display screen 140 is configured based on the map information. The map information acquisition unit 262 may acquire map information from an external device (not shown) of the vehicle CR via wireless communication using the communication processing unit 110. Map information may be stored in the memory unit 120.

While an electronic conference is being held in the conference system 1, electronic conference processing is executed by the electronic conference processing unit 270. An electronic conference method is implemented by the electronic conference processing. The period during which an electronic conference is being held is hereinafter referred to as the electronic conference period. In this embodiment, any processing and operation shown below is processing and operation during the electronic conference period unless otherwise specified. The electronic conference processing unit 270 includes a vehicle-side audio signal acquisition unit 271, a counterpart-side audio signal acquisition unit 272, a conference participation status control unit 273, and a status notification unit 274, and the electronic conference processing is configured by the processing of the acquisition unit 271, the acquisition unit 272, the control unit 273, and the notification unit 274.

Prior to describing the operation of each part of the electronic conference processing unit 270, some terms will be defined with reference to FIG. 9 in order to concretize and clarify the description. A person PS who is a user of the in-vehicle terminal device 100 is specifically referred to as person PS1. A terminal device 10 different from the in-vehicle terminal device 100 is specifically referred to as the other terminal device 10, and a person PS who is a user of the other terminal device 10 is specifically referred to as person PS2. Since both persons PS1 and PS2 are participants in an electronic conference, persons PS1 and PS2 can be referred to as participants PS1 and PS2. Person PS1 is an occupant of the vehicle CR, and person PS1 is the driver of the vehicle CR. In FIG. 9, only one pair of the other terminal device 10 and person PS2 is shown, but there may be two or more pairs of the other terminal device 10 and person PS2. If there are two or more pairs of the other party's terminal device 10 and person PS2, the following description of the other party's terminal device 10 and person PS2 is understood to apply to each other party's terminal device 10 and each person PS2.

In the in-vehicle terminal device 100, the speech of person PS1 is picked up by the microphone 170 and converted into an audio signal to generate a vehicle-side audio signal. The vehicle-side audio signal includes an audio signal indicating the speech of person PS1. In the other party's terminal device 10, the speech of person PS2 is picked up by the microphone 17 and converted into an audio signal to generate a other party's audio signal. The other party's audio signal includes an audio signal indicating the speech of person PS2.

When focusing on the vehicle-side voice signal and the other party's voice signal, the above-mentioned voice transmission process executed by the conference system 1 can be broadly divided into vehicle-side voice transmission process and other party's voice transmission process.

In the vehicle-side audio transmission process, the in-vehicle terminal device 100 outputs the vehicle-side audio signal to the network 50, thereby transmitting the vehicle-side audio signal to the other party's terminal device 10 through the server device 30. More specifically, in the vehicle-side audio transmission process, the in-vehicle terminal device 100 transmits the vehicle-side audio signal to the server device 30 through the network 50, and the server device 30 transmits the received vehicle-side audio signal to the other party's terminal device 10 through the network 50. Through these transmissions, the vehicle-side audio signal is transmitted from the in-vehicle terminal device 100 to the other party's terminal device 10. However, in the vehicle-side audio transmission process, the vehicle-side audio signal may be transmitted from the in-vehicle terminal device 100 to the other party's terminal device 10 without going through the server device 30.

In the other party voice transmission process, the other party terminal device 10 outputs the other party voice signal to the network 50, thereby transmitting the other party voice signal to the vehicle-mounted terminal device 100 through the server device 30. More specifically, in the other party voice transmission process, the other party terminal device 10 transmits the other party voice signal to the server device 30 through the network 50, and the server device 30 transmits the received other party voice signal to the vehicle-mounted terminal device 100 through the network 50. Through these transmissions, the other party voice signal is transmitted from the other party terminal device 10 to the vehicle-mounted terminal device 100. However, in the other party voice transmission process, the other party voice signal may be transmitted from the other party terminal device 10 to the vehicle-mounted terminal device 100 without going through the server device 30.

The operation of each part of the electronic conference processing unit 270 shown in FIG. 8 will be described. The vehicle-side audio signal acquisition unit 271 acquires a vehicle-side audio signal based on the output audio signal of the microphone 170 of the in-vehicle terminal device 100. The other party's audio signal acquisition unit 272 acquires the other party's audio signal by receiving the other party's audio signal in the other party's audio transmission process. The conference participation status control unit 273 controls the participation status of the person PS1 in the electronic conference according to the state of the vehicle CR. The conference participation status control unit 273 is provided with an operation mode setting unit 273a as a part involved in this control. The operation of the control unit 273 and the setting unit 273a will be described in detail later. The status notification unit 274 outputs a necessary signal to the network 50 so that a notification according to the state of the vehicle CR is made to the other party's terminal device 10 (in other words, a notification according to the state of the vehicle CR is made to the person PS2).

Below, several specific operation examples, application techniques, modified techniques, etc. related to the conference system 1 or the in-vehicle system 2 will be described in multiple examples. The matters described above in this embodiment are applied to each of the following examples unless otherwise specified and unless there is a contradiction. If there are any matters in each example that contradict the matters described above, the description in each example may take precedence. Furthermore, unless there is a contradiction, the matters described in any of the multiple examples shown below can also be applied to any other example (i.e., any two or more of the multiple examples can also be combined).

<<First Example>>
A first embodiment will be described. FIG. 10 shows the relationship between the operation mode of the in-vehicle terminal device 100 according to the first embodiment and the state of the vehicle CR, etc. The conference participation state control unit 273 classifies the state of the vehicle CR into one of states ST1 to ST7 based on the in-vehicle sensor information. It may be understood that the classification is performed in the operation mode setting unit 273a. Note that classifying the state of the vehicle CR into state ST1 is equivalent to the state of the vehicle CR belonging to state ST1, and classifying the state of the vehicle CR into state ST2 is equivalent to the state of the vehicle CR belonging to state ST2. The same applies to state ST3, etc.

When the battery output voltage value V _BAT indicated by the battery information is equal to or lower than the predetermined voltage value V _TH , the state of the vehicle CR is always classified as state ST7, regardless of information other than the battery information included in the in-vehicle sensor information. As described above, the battery information may indicate the remaining capacity of the battery. In this case, when the remaining capacity of the battery is equal to or lower than the predetermined capacity value C _TH , the state of the vehicle CR is always classified as state ST7, regardless of information other than the battery information included in the in-vehicle sensor information.

In a situation where the state of the vehicle CR is not classified as state ST7, when the door opening/closing information indicates that one of the doors of the vehicle CR is open, or when the window opening/closing information indicates that a window of the vehicle CR is open, the state of the vehicle CR is always classified as state ST6, regardless of information other than the door opening/closing information and window opening/closing information contained in the in-vehicle sensor information. The doors of the vehicle CR are either open or closed. The open state of the door refers to a state in which the door is open, and only when the door is open, can an object (including person PS1) or a fluid (including air) pass through the door. In a case where the vehicle CR has multiple doors, the state of the vehicle CR is classified as state ST6 when one or more doors are open. The windows of the vehicle CR are either open or closed. The open state of the window refers to a state in which the window is open, and only when the window is open, can an object or a fluid (including air) pass through the window. If the vehicle CR has multiple windows, the state of the vehicle CR is classified as state ST6 when one or more windows are open.

When the state of the vehicle CR is not classified as either state ST6 or ST7, and the state of the shift lever 72 is set to the reverse state, the state of the vehicle CR is always classified as state ST5. State ST5 corresponds to a state in which the traveling direction of the vehicle CR is set to the reverse direction.

Only when the state of the vehicle CR is not classified into any of states ST5 to ST7, the state of the vehicle CR is classified into any of states ST1 to ST4.

In a situation where the state of the vehicle CR is not classified into any of the states ST5 to ST7, when the speed of the vehicle CR exceeds a predetermined speed SPD _TH , the state of the vehicle CR is classified into a state ST3 or ST4, and when the speed of the vehicle CR does not exceed the predetermined speed SPD _TH , the state of the vehicle CR is classified into a state ST1 or ST2. The predetermined speed SPD _TH is zero here. Therefore, in a situation where the state of the vehicle CR is not classified into any of the states ST5 to ST7, when the vehicle CR is in a running state, the state of the vehicle CR is classified into a state ST3 or ST4, and when the vehicle CR is in a parked or stopped state, the state of the vehicle CR is classified into a state ST1 or ST2. However, it is also possible to set a speed greater than zero (for example, 5 km per hour (approximately walking speed)) as the predetermined speed SPD _TH .

In a situation where the state of the vehicle CR is classified as state ST1 or ST2, when the parking brake of the vehicle CR is applied, the state of the vehicle CR is classified as state ST1, and when the parking brake of the vehicle CR is not applied, the state of the vehicle CR is classified as state ST2. In other words, state ST1 corresponds to a state in which the vehicle CR is parked, and state ST2 corresponds to a state in which the vehicle CR is stopped.

In a situation where the state of the vehicle CR is classified into state ST3 or ST4, when the steering angle θ of the vehicle CR is equal to or greater than a predetermined angle θ _TH , the state of the vehicle CR is classified into state ST4, and when the steering angle θ of the vehicle CR is less than the predetermined angle θ _TH , the state of the vehicle CR is classified into state ST3. The predetermined angle θ _TH has an angle value of zero or greater than zero (e.g., 3 degrees). It is assumed that the steering angle θ of the vehicle CR is an amount having an angle value of zero or a positive value. Therefore, in a situation where the state of the vehicle CR is not classified into any of states ST5 to ST7, when the vehicle CR is moving straight forward, the state of the vehicle CR is classified into state ST3, and when the vehicle CR is moving forward and turning to the right or left, the state of the vehicle CR is classified into state ST4. Naturally, in states ST3 and ST4, the parking brake is not applied, and the state of the shift lever 72 is in the drive state.

The operation mode setting unit 273a (see FIG. 8) sets the operation mode of the in-vehicle terminal device 100 related to the electronic conference (hereinafter simply referred to as the operation mode) based on which of the states ST1 to ST7 the state of the vehicle CR has been classified into. The operation mode set here may be understood as the operation mode of the electronic conference processing unit 270. The operation mode setting unit 273a sets the operation mode to one of the modes MD1 to MD4.

The operation mode setting unit 273a sets the mode MD1 as the operation mode when the state of the vehicle CR is classified as state ST1, sets the mode MD2 as the operation mode when the state of the vehicle CR is classified as state ST2, sets the mode MD3 as the operation mode when the state of the vehicle CR is classified as state ST3 or ST4, and sets the mode MD4 as the operation mode when the state of the vehicle CR is classified as state ST5, ST6, or ST7.

The conference participation status control unit 273 executes a switching process PR1 that switches between outputting and not outputting the other party's audio signal from the speaker 180 depending on the state of the vehicle CR. In the switching process PR1, the control unit 273 switches between outputting and not outputting the other party's audio signal from the speaker 180 depending on whether the state of the vehicle CR corresponds to a predetermined restricted state RS1. When the state of the vehicle CR corresponds to the restricted state RS1, the control unit 273 stops the output of the other party's audio signal from the speaker 180. When the state of the vehicle CR does not correspond to the restricted state RS1, the control unit 273 allows the output of the other party's audio signal from the speaker 180, and as a result, the other party's audio signal is output from the speaker 180. Outputting the other party's audio signal from the speaker 180 means outputting the other party's audio signal from the speaker 180 as sound (sound waves).

States ST5 to ST7 correspond to the restricted state RS1, and states ST1 to ST4 do not correspond to the restricted state RS1. Therefore, when the state of the vehicle CR is classified as any of states ST5 to ST7, i.e., when the operation mode is set to mode MD4, the control unit 273 stops the output of the other party's audio signal from the speaker 180. On the other hand, when the state of the vehicle CR is classified as any of states ST1 to ST4, i.e., when the operation mode is set to mode MD1, MD2 or MD3, the control unit 273 outputs the other party's audio signal from the speaker 180. Note that it is also possible to modify the state so that only one or more of states ST5, ST6, and ST7 correspond to the control state RS1.

The conference participation status control unit 273 executes a switching process PR2 that switches between transmitting and not transmitting the vehicle-side audio signal to the other party's terminal device 10 depending on the state of the vehicle CR. In the switching process PR2, the control unit 273 switches between transmitting and not transmitting the vehicle-side audio signal to the other party's terminal device 10 depending on whether the state of the vehicle CR corresponds to a predetermined restricted state RS2. When the state of the vehicle CR corresponds to the restricted state RS2, the control unit 273 stops transmitting the vehicle-side audio signal to the other party's terminal device 10. When the state of the vehicle CR does not correspond to the restricted state RS2, the control unit 273 allows the transmission of the vehicle-side audio signal to the other party's terminal device 10, and as a result, the vehicle-side audio signal is transmitted to the other party's terminal device 10. During the period when the vehicle-side audio signal is being transmitted to the other party's terminal device 10, the vehicle-side audio signal is output as audio from the speaker 18 of the other party's terminal device 10, but during the period when the vehicle-side audio signal is not being transmitted to the other party's terminal device 10, the vehicle-side audio signal is not output as audio from the speaker 18 of the other party's terminal device 10.

When the state of the vehicle CR does not fall under the restricted state RS2, the control unit 273 uses the communication processing unit 110 to output the vehicle-side audio signal to the network 50, thereby transmitting the vehicle-side audio signal to the other party's terminal device 10. When the state of the vehicle CR falls under the restricted state RS2, the control unit 273 stops the transmission of the vehicle-side audio signal to the other party's terminal device 10 by stopping the output of the vehicle-side audio signal to the network 50 by the communication processing unit 110. Alternatively, the control unit 273 may constantly output the vehicle-side audio signal to the network 50, and when the state of the vehicle CR falls under the restricted state RS2, send a predetermined transmission cut-off request signal to the server device 30, in which case the transmission of the vehicle-side audio signal to the other party's terminal device 10 is cut off in cooperation with the server control unit 33.

States ST3 to ST7 correspond to the restricted state RS2, and states ST1 and ST2 do not correspond to the restricted state RS2. Therefore, when the state of the vehicle CR is classified as any of states ST3 to ST7, i.e., when the operation mode is set to mode MD3 or MD4, the control unit 273 stops transmitting the vehicle-side audio signal to the other party's terminal device 10. On the other hand, when the state of the vehicle CR is classified as state ST1 or ST2, i.e., when the operation mode is set to mode MD1 or MD2, the control unit 273 transmits the vehicle-side audio signal to the other party's terminal device 10. Note that it is also possible to modify the state so that only one or more of any of states ST3 to ST7 correspond to the control state RS2.

Incidentally, in an electronic conference in the conference system 1, confidential communication is possible by specifying a communication partner. A confidential communication will be described focusing on person PS1. Consider that first to mth persons PS2 are participating in the electronic conference as person PS2 (m is any integer equal to or greater than 2). The other party terminal devices 10 corresponding to the first to mth persons PS2 are the first to mth other party terminal devices 10. The operation unit 150 in the in-vehicle terminal device 100 can accept a call request operation (confidential communication request operation) during the period when the electronic conference is being held. The call request operation is an operation for designating some of the first to mth persons PS2 as communication partners and requesting communication (confidential communication) with the communication partners.

A specific example of secret communication will be given with reference to FIG. 11. Assume that during a part of the period during which an electronic conference is held, person PS1 desires to have secret communication with only the i-th person PS2 set as the communication partner. In this case, person PS1 inputs a call request operation 620 to the operation unit 150 to request communication (secret communication) with the communication partner by specifying the i-th person PS2 as the communication partner (where i is any integer between 1 and m). When the call request operation 620 is input, the electronic conference processing unit 270 transmits a request signal 622 to the server device 30, which includes information identifying the i-th other party terminal device 10 corresponding to the i-th person PS2. When the server device 30 receives the request signal 622, the server control unit 33 transmits an inquiry signal 624 to the i-th other party terminal device 10, indicating that person PS1 has requested secret communication. In response to receiving the inquiry signal 624, the i-th counterpart terminal device 10 displays on the display screen 14 an image indicating that person PS1 has requested confidential communication. The i-th person PS2 can accept or reject the request, but here we will only consider the case where the request is accepted.

When an acceptance operation 626 indicating acceptance of the request for secret communication is input from the i-th person PS2 to the operation unit 15, an acceptance signal 628 is transmitted from the i-th other party's terminal device 10 to the server device 30 in response to the input. In response to receiving the acceptance signal 628, the server control unit 33 transmits an acceptance notification signal 630 to the in-vehicle terminal device 100 indicating that the request for secret communication has been accepted. In response to receiving the acceptance notification signal 630, the in-vehicle terminal device 100 displays an image on the display screen 140 indicating that the request for secret communication has been accepted.

The server control unit 33 starts the secret communication period from the time of transmitting the acceptance notification signal 630. The secret communication period is a period set within the electronic conference period under the control of the server control unit 33 (see FIG. 12). After the secret communication period starts, when a predetermined end operation is input to the operation unit 150 of the in-vehicle terminal device 100, a predetermined end request signal is transmitted from the in-vehicle terminal device 100 to the server device 30. After the secret communication period starts, when a predetermined end operation is input to the operation unit 15 of the i-th counterpart terminal device 10, a predetermined end request signal is transmitted from the i-th counterpart terminal device 10 to the server device 30. The server control unit 33 ends the secret communication period in response to receiving the end request signal.

During the secret communication period, secret communication is performed between person PS1 and the i-th person PS2, and the contents of the secret communication between person PS1 and the i-th person PS2 are kept secret from the other person PS2. The secret communication is realized under the control of the server control unit 33. The secret communication includes at least a voice call. That is, during the secret communication period, the vehicle-side voice signal is transmitted only to the i-th other party terminal device 10 among the first to m-th other party terminal devices 10 and output only from the speaker 18 of the i-th other party terminal device 10. Therefore, the speech content of person PS1 during the secret communication period is heard only by the i-th person PS2 among the first to m-th persons PS2. Similarly, during the secret communication period, the other party voice signal from the i-th other party terminal device 10 is transmitted to the in-vehicle terminal device 100, but is not transmitted to any other other party terminal devices 10. Therefore, the speech of the i-th person PS2 during the secret communication period cannot be heard by other persons PS2, but only by person PS1. The secret communication may include communication of image signals, in which case, during the secret communication period, images based on image signals related to the secret communication are displayed only on the display screen 140 of the in-vehicle terminal device 100 and the display screen 14 of the i-th other party terminal device 10.

Note that, although only the i-th person PS2 has been focused on here as a communication partner of person PS1, it may be possible to specify multiple people PS2 as communication partners. Hereinafter, the input of a request to call another person, or a series of processes starting from the input of a request to call another person to the start of confidential communication, may be referred to as a call to another person.

The conference participation status control unit 273 permits or prohibits the acceptance of a call request operation by the operation unit 150 depending on the state of the vehicle CR. That is, the control unit 273 executes a switching process PR3 that switches between permitting and prohibiting the acceptance of a call request operation by the operation unit 150 depending on the state of the vehicle CR. In the switching process PR3, the control unit 273 switches between permitting and prohibiting the acceptance of a call request operation by the operation unit 150 depending on whether the state of the vehicle CR corresponds to a predetermined restricted state RS3. When the state of the vehicle CR corresponds to the restricted state RS3, the control unit 273 prohibits the acceptance of a call request operation by the operation unit 150. When the state of the vehicle CR does not correspond to the restricted state RS3, the control unit 273 permits the acceptance of a call request operation by the operation unit 150. Only during the period when the acceptance of a call request operation is permitted, the person PS1 can input a call request operation to the operation unit 150.

States ST2 to ST7 correspond to the restricted state RS3, and state ST1 does not correspond to the restricted state RS3. Therefore, when the state of the vehicle CR is classified as any of states ST2 to ST7, i.e., when the operation mode is set to mode MD2, MD3, or MD4, the control unit 273 prohibits the operation unit 150 from accepting a call request operation to another person. On the other hand, when the state of the vehicle CR is classified as state ST1, i.e., when the operation mode is set to mode MD1, the control unit 273 allows the operation unit 150 to accept a call request operation to another person. Note that it is also possible to modify the state so that only one or more of any of states ST2 to ST7 correspond to the control state RS3.

The conference participation status control unit 273 executes a switching process PR4 that switches between displaying and not displaying the conference image on the display screen 140 depending on the state of the vehicle CR. As described above, the conference image is an image shared among all the terminal devices 10 constituting the conference system 1, and during the electronic conference period, in principle, the conference image is displayed on all the terminal devices 10, including the in-vehicle terminal device 100 and the other party terminal device 10. In the switching process PR4, the control unit 273 switches between displaying and not displaying the conference image on the display screen 140 depending on whether the state of the vehicle CR corresponds to a predetermined restricted state RS4. When the state of the vehicle CR corresponds to the restricted state RS4, the control unit 273 stops the display of the conference image on the display screen 140 (i.e., does not display the conference image on the display screen 140), and when the state of the vehicle CR does not correspond to the restricted state RS4, displays the conference image on the display screen 140.

States ST3 to ST7 correspond to the restricted state RS4, and states ST1 and ST2 do not correspond to the restricted state RS4. Therefore, when the state of the vehicle CR is classified as any one of states ST3 to ST7, i.e., when mode MD3 or MD4 is set as the operation mode, the control unit 273 stops the display of the conference image on the display screen 140. On the other hand, when the state of the vehicle CR is classified as state ST1 or ST2, i.e., when mode MD1 or MD2 is set as the operation mode, the control unit 273 displays the conference image on the display screen 140. Note that it is also possible to modify the state so that only one or more of any of states ST3 to ST7 correspond to the control state RS4.

When the state of the vehicle CR is classified as state ST3 or ST4, the control unit 273 may display an image based on navigation processing (e.g., an image in which the planned driving route is superimposed on a map image) on the display screen 140 instead of the conference image. When the state of the vehicle CR is classified as state ST5, the control unit 273 may display an image captured by the rear camera 231 on the display screen 140 instead of the conference image.

When the driver, person PS1, is included among the participants in the electronic conference, safe driving should be given priority. Particular care must be taken when driving in reverse, and in state ST5, the driver should refrain from actions such as listening to what other participants are saying, speaking up, calling others, and looking at the conference image. The above-mentioned switching processes PR1 to PR4 prevent such actions, thereby promoting safe driving.

However, when the vehicle CR is traveling forward, the driver's driving load is smaller than when the vehicle is traveling backward, and safe driving is not considered to be hindered if the driver only listens to what other participants are saying. For this reason, in state ST3 or ST4, the switching process PR1 allows the output of the other party's voice signal from the speaker 180. On the other hand, in order to make a statement in an electronic conference, the driver's attention is somewhat distracted by the statement. Taking this into consideration, in the first embodiment, the switching process PR2 restricts the transmission of the vehicle side voice signal to the other party's terminal device 10 in state ST3 or ST4. This corresponds to the driver's statement during an electronic conference being prohibited in state ST3 or ST4, and safe driving is prioritized. In addition, making a call to others or viewing a conference image while the vehicle CR is traveling is not preferable in terms of safe driving. For this reason, in state ST3 or ST4, the switching processes PR3 and PR4 restrict calling to others and displaying the conference image.

When the vehicle CR is stopped, listening to what other participants are saying, speaking yourself, and viewing the conference image will not impede safe driving. On the other hand, calling others is a more complicated action than these, so it is preferable to prioritize safe driving. Taking this into consideration, the switching processes PR1 to PR4 are configured as described above for state ST2 (see Figure 10).

There is no safety hazard in participating fully in the electronic conference when the vehicle CR is parked, so the switching processes PR1 to PR4 are configured as described above (see Figure 10).

On the other hand, if the contents of the electronic conference are leaked outside the vehicle CR when the doors or windows of the vehicle CR are open, or if the conference images are seen by people outside the vehicle CR, security issues may arise for the conference. The above-mentioned switching processes PR1 to PR4 prevent such problems from occurring.

In addition, when the remaining battery capacity is low, it is believed that there is a greater benefit to the user of the in-vehicle terminal device 100 in reducing power consumption and extending the operating time of each electrical device. The above-mentioned switching processes PR1 to PR4 related to state ST7 contribute to extending the operating time of each electrical device. This is particularly effective in the case of electric vehicles that do not have a power generation function, such as gasoline-powered vehicles.

The data shown in FIG. 10 indicating the relationship between the operating mode, the vehicle state (the state of the vehicle CR), the in-vehicle sensor information, and the participation state of the person PS1 in the electronic conference is stored as table data in the storage unit 120. The terminal control unit 130 (mainly the electronic conference processing unit 270) executes the above-mentioned processes and operations, including the switching processes PR1 to PR4, based on the table data in the storage unit 120. This may be similar for the other embodiments described below; for example, in the second embodiment described below, the data shown in FIG. 13 is stored as table data in the storage unit 120, and in the third embodiment described below, the data shown in FIG. 14 is stored as table data, and the processes and operations of the second or third embodiment are executed based on the corresponding table data.

In the first embodiment, it is assumed that all of the switching processes PR1 to PR4 are executed, but the in-vehicle terminal device 100 may execute any one or more of the switching processes PR1 to PR4 while not executing the remaining switching processes.

<<Second Example>>
A second embodiment will be described. FIG. 13 shows the relationship between the operation mode of the in-vehicle terminal device 100 according to the second embodiment and the state of the vehicle CR. In the second embodiment, the state ST3 and ST4 are excluded from the restricted state RS2 based on the first embodiment, and the second embodiment is the same as the first embodiment except for this modification. Therefore, the control unit 273 according to the second embodiment stops the transmission of the vehicle-side voice signal to the other party's terminal device 10 when the state of the vehicle CR is classified into any of the states ST5 to ST7, that is, when the operation mode is set to the mode MD4, while transmitting the vehicle-side voice signal to the other party's terminal device 10 when the state of the vehicle CR is classified into any of the states ST1 to ST4, that is, when the operation mode is set to any of the modes MD1 to MD3.

In the second embodiment, in conjunction with excluding states ST3 and ST4 from restricted state RS2, the microphone sensitivity is controlled as follows. The microphone sensitivity described here refers to the sensitivity of the microphone 170 of the in-vehicle terminal device 100, and refers to the sensitivity when generating a vehicle-side audio signal using the microphone 170. When the microphone 170 is made to pick up a constant and predetermined sound, the higher the microphone sensitivity, the greater the strength of the vehicle-side audio signal (i.e., the greater the intensity of the sound represented by the vehicle-side audio signal). For example, a sound-collecting amplifier (not shown) that generates a vehicle-side audio signal by amplifying the output audio signal of the microphone 170 can be provided in the in-vehicle terminal device 100, and the microphone sensitivity can be increased or decreased by increasing or decreasing the amplification degree of the sound-collecting amplifier.

The conference participation status control unit 273 adjusts the microphone sensitivity according to the status of the vehicle CR, paying attention to the speed of the vehicle CR. Specifically, when the status of the vehicle CR is classified as status ST1 or ST2, i.e., when the operation mode is set to mode MD1 or MD2, the control unit 273 sets the microphone sensitivity to a predetermined sensitivity MS _L. On the other hand, when the status of the vehicle CR is classified as status ST3, the control unit 273 sets the microphone sensitivity to a predetermined sensitivity MS _M , and when the status of the vehicle CR is classified as status ST4, the control unit 273 sets the microphone sensitivity to a predetermined sensitivity MS _H. When the status of the vehicle CR is classified as any of statuses ST5 to ST7, the transmission of the vehicle side voice signal to the other party's terminal device 10 is stopped, so the microphone sensitivity is meaningless.

Here, the sensitivities _{MS_M} and _{MS_H} are higher than the sensitivity _{MS_L} . That is, when the speed of the vehicle CR exceeds the predetermined speed _{SPD_TH} , the microphone sensitivity is set higher than when the speed does not exceed the predetermined speed SPD_TH. As described above, the predetermined speed _{SPD_TH} may typically be zero. In this case, when the speed of the vehicle CR exceeds zero, the microphone sensitivity is set higher than when the speed does not exceed zero (in other words, when the vehicle CR is moving, it is set higher than when the vehicle CR is stopped).

The level of noise changes depending on the speed of the vehicle CR, making it easier or harder for the microphone 170 to pick up the speech of person PS1. By adjusting the microphone sensitivity as described above depending on the speed of the vehicle CR, it becomes possible to properly convey the speech of person PS1 to other participants.

In addition, it is assumed here that the directional axis of the microphone 170 extends from the microphone 170 toward the face of the person PS1. Therefore, when the person PS1 turns his/her face from the front of the vehicle CR to the right or left, the speech of the person PS1 is less likely to be picked up by the microphone 170 than when the face of the person PS1 faces the front of the vehicle CR. In other words, assuming that the microphone sensitivity is constant and the person PS1 makes a certain speech, the vibration strength of the diaphragm of the microphone 170 based on the speech of the person PS1 is smaller in state ST4 than in state ST3, and as a result, the strength of the output audio signal of the microphone 170 and the strength of the vehicle-side audio signal are smaller. In consideration of this, when the vehicle CR is running (when the speed of the vehicle CR exceeds zero), the microphone sensitivity is varied according to the steering angle θ of the vehicle CR. More specifically, the sensitivity MS _H is set higher than the sensitivity MS _M.

This makes it possible to appropriately convey the speech content of person PS1 to other participants, taking into account the steering angle θ of vehicle CR.

In addition, in state ST3 or ST4, the microphone sensitivity may be increased stepwise or steplessly as the speed of the vehicle CR increases.

<<Third Example>>
A third embodiment will now be described. Fig. 14 shows the relationship between the operation mode of the in-vehicle terminal device 100 according to the third embodiment and the state of the vehicle CR. In the third embodiment, the control of the output volume level is added to the first embodiment. Except for this addition, the third embodiment is the same as the first embodiment. However, the second embodiment and the third embodiment can be combined.

The output volume level here refers to the volume of the output sound from the speaker 180 of the in-vehicle terminal device 100. Assuming that the voice signal of the other party is constant, the higher the output volume level, the louder the output sound from the speaker 180 when the voice signal of the other party is output from the speaker 180. For example, a playback amplifier (not shown) that amplifies the voice signal of the other party received via the network 50 can be provided in the in-vehicle terminal device 100, and the output volume level can be increased or decreased by increasing or decreasing the amplification degree of the playback amplifier.

The conference participation status control unit 273 adjusts the output volume level according to the state of the vehicle CR, paying attention to the speed of the vehicle CR. Specifically, when the state of the vehicle CR is classified as state ST1 or ST2, i.e., when the operation mode is set to mode MD1 or MD2, the control unit 273 sets the output volume level to a predetermined volume level VOL _L , whereas when the state of the vehicle CR is classified as state ST3 or ST4, i.e., when the operation mode is set to mode MD3, the control unit 273 sets the output volume level to a predetermined volume level VOL _H. When the state of the vehicle CR is classified as any of states ST5 to ST7, the output of the voice signal from the speaker 180 of the other party is stopped, so the output volume level is meaningless.

Here, the volume level VOL _H is higher than the volume level VOL _L. That is, when the speed of the vehicle CR exceeds the predetermined speed SPD _TH , the output volume level is set higher than when the speed does not exceed the predetermined speed SPD TH. As described above, the predetermined speed SPD _TH may typically be zero. In this case, when the speed of the vehicle CR exceeds zero, the output volume level is set higher than when the speed does not exceed zero (in other words, when the vehicle CR is moving, the output volume level is set higher than when the vehicle CR is stopped).

Depending on the speed of the vehicle CR, the output sound of the speaker 180 may become hard for person PS1 to hear. By adjusting the output volume level as described above depending on the speed of the vehicle CR, it is believed that person PS1 will be able to hear the contents of the speech of person PS2 more easily.

In addition, in state ST3 or ST4, the output volume level may be increased stepwise or steplessly as the speed of the vehicle CR increases. This is to make the output sound of the speaker 180 easier for the person PS1 to hear, despite the increase in wind noise that accompanies the increase in speed.

<<Fourth Example>>
A fourth embodiment will be described. In the fourth embodiment, another method of controlling the output volume level described above will be described. The fourth embodiment is implemented in combination with the first or second embodiment.

The conference participation status control unit 273 may control the output volume level depending on whether the engine of the vehicle CR is operating when the other party's audio signal is output from the speaker 180. Specifically, when the engine of the vehicle CR is operating when the other party's audio signal is output from the speaker 180, the volume level VOL _H is set for the output volume level, and when the engine of the vehicle CR is not operating, the volume level VOL _L is set for the output volume level. As described above, the volume level VOL _H is higher than the volume level VOL _L. When the engine of the vehicle CR is operating when the other party's audio signal is output from the speaker 180, the output volume level may be increased stepwise or steplessly as the speed of the vehicle CR increases.

When the engine is running, the noise level is louder than when the engine is not running by the amount of engine noise (however, it is assumed here that the engine noise is present to a level that cannot be ignored). For this reason, it is believed that if the output volume level is controlled according to whether the engine is running or not, as described above, it will be easier for person PS1 to hear the content of person PS2's speech.

Alternatively, the conference participation status control unit 273 may control the output volume level according to the vehicle position information and map information in a situation where the other party's voice signal is output from the speaker 180. For example, the control unit 273 estimates the level of noise accompanying the running of the vehicle CR based on the vehicle position information and map information, and sets the volume level VOL _H for the output volume level in a first estimated case in which the noise is estimated to be relatively loud, and sets the volume level VOL _L for the output volume level in a second estimated case in which the noise is estimated to be relatively quiet. More specifically, for example, in a case where the map information includes information indicating that a first road on the map is a gravel road and information indicating that a second road on the map is a paved road, when the vehicle speed information, vehicle position information, and map information indicate that the vehicle CR is traveling on the first road, the control unit 273 can estimate that the noise is relatively loud and set the output volume level to volume level VOL _H , whereas when the vehicle speed information, vehicle position information, and map information indicate that the vehicle CR is traveling on the second road, the control unit 273 can estimate that the noise is relatively quiet and set the output volume level to volume level VOL _L.

By controlling the output volume level as described above based on vehicle position information and map information, it is believed that person PS1 will be able to easily hear the speech of person PS2.

<<Fifth Example>>
A fifth embodiment will be described. In the fifth embodiment, the function of the state notification unit 274 in Fig. 8 will be described. The technique shown in the fifth embodiment can be combined with any of the embodiments described above or below.

Figure 15 shows an example of the display screen 14 of the other party's terminal device 10 during the electronic conference. In the other party's terminal device 10, the terminal control unit 13 sets a conference image display area 660 and a participant area 670 within the entire display area of the display screen 14, displays a conference image in the conference image display area 660, and displays an image showing the status of each participant of the electronic conference in the participant area 670. Photographed images of each participant may be displayed in the participant area 670. Here, a status notification area 680 associated with person PS1 is provided in the participant area 670. The status notification area 680 is an area for informing person PS2 of the status related to person PS1 or vehicle CR.

The status notification unit 274 in FIG. 8 transmits a predetermined initial notification signal to the server device 30 when the in-vehicle terminal device 100 is incorporated into the conference system 1 and person PS1 joins the electronic conference. In response to receiving the initial notification signal, the server control unit 33 transmits a vehicle boarding suggestion signal to the other party's terminal device 10. In response to receiving the vehicle boarding suggestion signal, the terminal control unit 13 of the other party's terminal device 10 displays an image 681 (such as a text image or an icon image) indicating that person PS1 is driving the vehicle CR in the status notification area 680, as shown in FIG. 16. By looking at the image 681, person PS2 can recognize that person PS1's participation status (participation mode) in the electronic conference may change from moment to moment depending on person PS1's driving situation.

After that, during the electronic conference, the status notification unit 274 outputs (i.e., transmits) a status notification signal corresponding to the status of the vehicle CR to the network 50. The status notification signal may be output to the network 50 periodically, or may be output whenever the status of the vehicle CR changes. The status notification signal is received by the other party's terminal device 10 via the server device 30. For this reason, it can also be said that the status notification unit 274 transmits the status notification signal to the other party's terminal device 10 via the server device 30. The status notification unit 274 may also be able to transmit the status notification signal to the other party's terminal device 10 without going through the server device 30. In any case, the status notification unit 274 transmits the status notification signal to the other party's terminal device 10. When the status notification signal is received, the terminal control unit 13 of the other party's terminal device 10 displays a status notification image corresponding to the status notification signal in the status notification area 680, thereby notifying the person PS2 according to the status of the vehicle CR.

By looking at the status notification image, person PS2 can recognize the status of the vehicle CR, the driving load status of person PS1, or the participation status of person PS1 in the electronic conference. In other words, person PS2 can know from the status notification image whether the content of his/her speech has reached person PS1, whether person PS2 is in a state where he/she can speak, etc., and can appropriately conduct the electronic conference while ensuring the safe driving of the vehicle CR, etc.

When the state of the vehicle CR is classified into states ST1 to ST7, the state notification unit 274 outputs the first to seventh state notification signals to the network 50, respectively. Therefore, when the state of the vehicle CR is classified into states ST1 to ST7, the first to seventh state notification signals are received by the other party's terminal device 10, respectively. The first to seventh state notification signals may be different state notification signals. However, since the third and fourth state notification signals both correspond to mode MD3, the third and fourth state notification signals may be the same state notification signal. Similarly, since the fifth to seventh state notification signals all correspond to mode MD4, the fifth to seventh state notification signals may be the same state notification signal.

Examples of status notification images are shown in Figures 17(a) to (d). A status notification image 682 in Figure 17(a) is an image displayed in the status notification area 680 when a first status notification signal is received by the remote terminal device 10. A status notification image 683 in Figure 17(b) is an image displayed in the status notification area 680 when a second status notification signal is received by the remote terminal device 10.
A status notification image 685 in Fig. 17(d) is an image displayed in the status notification area 680 when the fifth, sixth or seventh status notification signal is received by the remote terminal device 10. A status notification image 684 in Fig. 17(c) is an image displayed in the status notification area 680 when the third or fourth status notification signal is received by the remote terminal device 10 in a combination of the first embodiment (Fig. 10) and the fifth embodiment. In a combination of the second embodiment (Fig. 13) and the fifth embodiment, a status notification image 683 is displayed in the status notification area 680 when the third or fourth status notification signal is received by the remote terminal device 10.

The status notification images 682 to 685 are images showing different contents. The status notification image 682 indicates that the vehicle CR is parked and that there are no restrictions on the participation of the person PS1 in the electronic conference. Therefore, the status notification image 682 indicates that two-way conversation is possible between the persons PS1 and PS2 and that calling to others is possible. The status notification image 683 indicates that the vehicle CR is stopped and that two-way conversation is possible between the persons PS1 and PS2 but calling to others is not possible. The status notification image 684 indicates that the vehicle CR is moving and that the person PS1 can hear the speech of the person PS2 but the vehicle side voice signal is not being transmitted to the other party's terminal device 10. The status notification image 685 indicates that neither a call from the person PS1 to the person PS2 nor a call from the person PS2 to the person PS1 is possible.

<<Sixth Example>>
A sixth embodiment will be described. When the state of the vehicle CR is classified as state ST3 or ST4, the magnitude of the driving load can be estimated based on the vehicle position information and map information, and the participation state of the person PS1 in the electronic conference can be controlled. For example, the following modifications can be made to the first embodiment (see FIG. 10).

When the state of the vehicle CR is classified as state ST3 or ST4, the conference participation state control unit 273 estimates the magnitude of the driving load based on the vehicle position information and map information. If the driving load is estimated to be relatively high, the conference participation state control unit 273 determines that the state of the vehicle CR corresponds to the restricted state RS2 and stops the transmission of the vehicle-side voice signal to the other party's terminal device 10, whereas if the driving load is estimated to be relatively low, the conference participation state control unit 273 determines that the state of the vehicle CR does not correspond to the restricted state RS2 and transmits the vehicle-side voice signal to the other party's terminal device 10. Specifically, for example, if it is known based on the vehicle position information and map information that the vehicle CR is currently traveling in an urban area, the conference participation state control unit 273 estimates that the driving load is relatively high, whereas if it is known that the vehicle CR is currently traveling on a highway, the conference participation state control unit 273 estimates that the driving load is relatively low.

If it is clear that the vehicle CR is currently traveling on a rough mountain road or the like, it is estimated that the driving load is very high, so it is possible to determine that the state of the vehicle CR corresponds to both restricted states RS1 and RS2, and in addition to stopping the transmission of the vehicle side audio signal to the other party's terminal device 10, to also stop the output of the other party's audio signal from the speaker 180.

<<Seventh Example>>
A seventh embodiment will be described. An automatic driving control device (not shown) may be mounted on the vehicle CR. The automatic driving control device may be a device built into the in-vehicle terminal device 100, or may be a device provided separately from the in-vehicle terminal device 100. The automatic driving control device executes automatic driving processing, and in the automatic driving processing, performs operation control of the vehicle CR without relying on the driver's driving operation. The operation control of the vehicle CR includes control of starting, stopping, accelerating, decelerating, shifting, and steering angle θ of the vehicle CR. Then, when the automatic driving processing is being executed, the operations and processes described in each of the above embodiments may be modified as follows.

For example, when the automatic driving process is being executed, the conference participation status control unit 273 may determine that the state of the vehicle CR does not fall into any of the restricted states RS1 to RS4 in the above-mentioned switching processes PR1 to PR4, unless the state of the vehicle CR is classified into states ST5, ST6, or ST7 (in other words, it may determine that states ST1 to ST4 do not fall into any of the restricted states RS1 to RS4). That is, for example, when the automatic driving process is being executed, even when the state of the vehicle CR is classified into any of states ST2 to ST4, the electronic conference processing unit 270 may perform the same operation as when the state of the vehicle CR is classified into state ST1. If the operation control of the vehicle CR is performed even when the vehicle CR moves backwards in the automatic driving process, state ST5 is also treated as not falling into the restricted states RS1 to RS4. In this way, even when the state of the vehicle CR is classified as state ST5, the electronic conference processing unit 270 will perform the same operation as when the state of the vehicle CR is classified as state ST1.

<<Eighth Example>>
An eighth embodiment will now be described. The above-mentioned embodiments have been described on the assumption that the person PS1 is the driver of the vehicle CR, but if the person PS1 is a passenger other than the driver of the vehicle CR (hereinafter, referred to as a passenger), the operations and processes described in the above-mentioned embodiments may be modified as follows.

For example, when person PS1 is a passenger and the state of the vehicle CR is classified into any of states ST1 to ST5, the conference participation state control unit 273 may always determine in the above-mentioned switching processes PR1 to PR4 that the state of the vehicle CR does not fall into any of the restricted states RS1 to RS4. That is, when person PS1 is a passenger, even when the state of the vehicle CR is classified into any of states ST2 to ST5, the electronic conference processing unit 270 may perform the same operation as when the state of the vehicle CR is classified into state ST1. This is because the passenger is not burdened with driving. However, even when person PS1 is a passenger, it is preferable to determine that the state of the vehicle CR falls into the restricted state RS4 in state ST5, stop displaying the conference image on the display screen 140, and display the image captured by the rear camera 231 on the display screen 140 instead. The behavior when the state of the vehicle CR is classified as state ST6 or ST7 is the same whether person PS1 is the driver or a passenger.

It is assumed that occupant information indicating whether person PS1 is the driver or a passenger is provided to the in-vehicle terminal device 100 in advance before the electronic conference is held, for example by an operational input to the operation unit 150, and the conference participation status control unit 273 performs an operation appropriate for the case where person PS1 is a driver (for example, the operation shown in the first to seventh embodiments described above) based on the occupant information if person PS1 is the driver, and performs an operation appropriate for the case where person PS1 is a passenger (for example, the operation described above in this embodiment) if person PS1 is a passenger.

In addition, in the vehicle CR, a microphone and speaker for the driver and a microphone and speaker for the passengers may be provided separately. As these microphones and speakers, the microphones and speakers of a terminal device (such as a smartphone) carried by the driver or passengers may be used.

<<Ninth Example>>
A ninth embodiment will be described. Referring to FIG. 18, the server control unit 33 may include a recording management unit 34 and a playback management unit 35. The recording management unit 34 performs a recording process for recording conference data related to an electronic conference in a recording medium DB. In response to a playback request from the in-vehicle terminal device 100 or the other terminal device 10, the playback management unit 35 reads all or a part of the conference data from the recording medium DB and transmits the read data to the source of the playback request (the in-vehicle terminal device 100 or the other terminal device 10). The recording medium DB is built into the server device 30 or is provided separately from the server device 30. It may be understood that the recording medium DB is also included in the components of the conference system 1.

Figure 19 shows the structure of the conference data. The conference data includes conference main data. The conference main data includes conference audio data and conference image data. The conference audio data includes vehicle-side audio signals output from the in-vehicle terminal device 100 to the network 50 during the electronic conference and remote-side audio signals output from the remote-side terminal device 10 to the network 50 during the electronic conference. The conference image data includes image data of the conference image displayed on the display screen 140 of the in-vehicle terminal device 100 or the display screen 14 of the remote-side terminal device 10 during the electronic conference. The conference data further includes additional data. The additional data will be described later.

After the electronic conference period ends, if any person PS (person PS1 or PS2) inputs a predetermined playback request operation to the operation unit 15 of any terminal device (vehicle-mounted terminal device 100 or counterpart terminal device 10), the conference data is read from the recording medium DB under the control of the playback management unit 35 after a predetermined authentication and is received by the terminal device 10. Each terminal device 10 has a function for playing back the received conference data, and this playback causes sound based on the conference voice data to be output from the speaker 18 and images based on the conference image data to be displayed on the display screen 14. The playback of the conference data in any terminal device 10 (vehicle-mounted terminal device 100 or counterpart terminal device 10) reproduces the contents of the past electronic conference in that terminal device 10. That is, after the electronic conference period ends, the playback of the conference data in any terminal device 10 causes the conference images displayed on the terminal device 10 during the conference to be displayed again in chronological order, and the speech contents of each person during the conference to be output again in chronological order.

The additional data includes vehicle position information at each time during the electronic conference. Therefore, by reading out the additional data, it is possible to freely check later where the vehicle CR was located at what point during the electronic conference. By a user specifying as a keyword the name of the area in which the vehicle CR was traveling during the electronic conference on any terminal device 10, it is also possible to selectively play back on the terminal device 10 the conference audio data and conference image data during the period in which the vehicle CR was traveling in that area.

The additional data may also include on-board sensor information and vehicle status information at each time during the electronic conference. The vehicle status information indicates which of statuses ST1 to ST7 the vehicle CR's status was classified into. During the electronic conference, the electronic conference processing unit 270 transmits vehicle position information, on-board sensor information, and vehicle status information to the server device 30 so that the additional data can be recorded in the recording medium DB.

When conference audio data and conference image data at a certain time during an electronic conference are played back on any terminal device 10 (vehicle-mounted terminal device 100 or other party's terminal device 10), the vehicle position information, vehicle-mounted sensor information, and vehicle status information at that time may be displayed on the display screen 14 of the terminal device 10. In addition to the above, the additional data may include any data, such as material data used in the electronic conference.

<<Tenth Example>>
A tenth embodiment will now be described. In the tenth embodiment, modified techniques or supplementary matters that can be applied to the above-described embodiments will be described.

During the electronic conference, the multiple counterpart terminal devices 10 may be distributed in various locations. For example, some of the multiple counterpart terminal devices 10 may be located at the workplace of person PS2, and other parts of the multiple counterpart terminal devices 10 may be located at the homes of other people PS2.

A specific program that defines any specific processing and specific operation to be realized in the in-vehicle terminal device 100, the other terminal device 10, or the server device 30 may be created, and the specific program may be executed by a processor provided in the in-vehicle terminal device 100, the other terminal device 10, or the server device 30, thereby realizing the specific processing and specific operation. The program PG stored in the memory unit 120 in FIG. 6 or the program (not shown) stored in the memory unit 32 in FIG. 3 are examples of the specific program. As already mentioned, a processor is provided in each of the terminal control unit 130 in FIG. 6 and the server control unit 33 in FIG. 3.

Methods for realizing the operation of the vehicle CR itself or the operation of the in-vehicle terminal device 100 include a method in which the in-vehicle terminal device 100 executes the necessary processing and control without relying on the server device 30, and a method in which the server device 30 executes the necessary processing and control. The latter method requires the transmission and reception of necessary commands or data between the in-vehicle terminal device 100 and the server device 30.

The embodiments of the present invention can be modified in various ways as appropriate within the scope of the technical ideas set forth in the claims. The above embodiments are merely examples of the present invention, and the meanings of the terms of the present invention or each of the constituent elements are not limited to those described in the above embodiments. The specific numerical values shown in the above description are merely examples, and can, of course, be changed to various numerical values.

1. Conference system (electronic conference system)
2 Vehicle-mounted system 10 Terminal device 30 Server device 50 Network 260 Navigation processing unit 261 Navigation unit 262 Map information acquisition unit 270 Teleconference processing unit 271 Vehicle-side voice signal acquisition unit 272 Partner-side voice signal acquisition unit 273 Conference participation status control unit 273a Operation mode setting unit 274 Status notification unit

Claims (14)

An in-vehicle terminal device that is included in a plurality of terminal devices constituting an electronic conference system for holding an electronic conference and is mounted on a vehicle, the in-vehicle terminal device having a control unit,
Acquire a vehicle-side voice signal corresponding to the speech content of an occupant of the vehicle ;
acquiring a counterpart voice signal corresponding to the contents of a speech of a user of a counterpart terminal device which is a terminal device different from the in-vehicle terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices;
A process of outputting the other party's audio signal from a speaker in the vehicle and a process of transmitting the vehicle side audio signal to the other party's terminal device,
execute a switching process for switching between outputting and not outputting the voice signal of the other party from a speaker in the vehicle according to a state of the vehicle;
In the switching process, when the state of the vehicle corresponds to a predetermined limit state, output of the voice signal of the other party from a speaker in the vehicle is stopped,
The restricted state includes at least one of a state in which a door or a window of the vehicle is open and a state in which an output voltage value or a remaining capacity of a battery mounted in the vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined value.
, vehicle-mounted terminal device. An in-vehicle terminal device that is included in a plurality of terminal devices constituting an electronic conference system for holding an electronic conference and is mounted on a vehicle, the in-vehicle terminal device having a control unit,
Acquire a vehicle-side voice signal corresponding to the speech content of an occupant of the vehicle ;
acquiring a counterpart voice signal corresponding to the contents of a speech of a user of a counterpart terminal device which is a terminal device different from the in-vehicle terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices;
A process of outputting the other party's audio signal from a speaker in the vehicle and a process of transmitting the vehicle side audio signal to the other party's terminal device,
execute a switching process for switching between transmission and non-transmission of the vehicle-side voice signal to the other party's terminal device according to a state of the vehicle;
In the switching process, when the state of the vehicle corresponds to a predetermined limit state, transmission of the vehicle side voice signal to the other party side terminal device is stopped,
The restricted state includes at least one of a state in which the traveling direction of the vehicle is set to a reverse direction, a state in which a door or a window of the vehicle is open, a state in which an output voltage value or a remaining capacity of a battery mounted in the vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined value, and a state in which the speed of the vehicle exceeds a predetermined speed.
, vehicle-mounted terminal device. An in-vehicle terminal device that is included in a plurality of terminal devices constituting an electronic conference system for holding an electronic conference and is mounted on a vehicle, the in-vehicle terminal device having a control unit,
Acquire a vehicle-side voice signal corresponding to the speech content of an occupant of the vehicle ;
acquiring a counterpart voice signal corresponding to the contents of a speech of a user of a counterpart terminal device which is a terminal device different from the in-vehicle terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices;
A process of outputting the other party's audio signal from a speaker in the vehicle and a process of transmitting the vehicle side audio signal to the other party's terminal device,
execute a first switching process of switching between outputting and not outputting the other party's audio signal from a speaker in the vehicle according to a state of the vehicle, and a second switching process of switching between transmitting and not transmitting the vehicle-side audio signal to the other party's terminal device according to the state of the vehicle;
In the first switching process, when the state of the vehicle corresponds to a predetermined first restriction state, output of the other party's audio signal from a speaker in the vehicle is stopped,
the first restricted state includes at least one of a state in which a door or a window of the vehicle is open and a state in which an output voltage value or a remaining capacity of a battery mounted in the vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined value;
In the second switching process, when the state of the vehicle corresponds to a predetermined second restricted state, transmission of the vehicle side audio signal to the other party side terminal device is stopped;
The second restricted state includes at least one of a state in which the traveling direction of the vehicle is set to a reverse direction, a state in which a door or a window of the vehicle is open, a state in which an output voltage value or a remaining capacity of a battery mounted in the vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined value, and a state in which the speed of the vehicle exceeds a predetermined speed.
, vehicle-mounted terminal device. An in-vehicle terminal device is included in a plurality of terminal devices constituting an electronic conference system for holding an electronic conference and is mounted on a vehicle, the in-vehicle terminal device having a control unit and an operation unit, the control unit comprising:
Acquire a vehicle-side voice signal corresponding to the speech content of an occupant of the vehicle ;
acquiring a counterpart voice signal corresponding to the contents of a speech of a user of a counterpart terminal device which is a terminal device different from the in-vehicle terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices;
A process of outputting the other party's audio signal from a speaker in the vehicle and a process of transmitting the vehicle side audio signal to the other party's terminal device,
When a plurality of the terminal devices are present, the operation unit can receive a request for communication with some of the users of the terminal devices as communication partners;
The control unit prohibits acceptance of the request operation when a state of the vehicle corresponds to a predetermined restricted state,
The restricted state includes at least one of a state in which a door or a window of the vehicle is open and a state in which an output voltage value or a remaining capacity of a battery mounted in the vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined value.
, vehicle-mounted terminal device. An in-vehicle terminal device that is included in a plurality of terminal devices constituting an electronic conference system for holding an electronic conference and is mounted on a vehicle, the in-vehicle terminal device having a control unit,
Acquire a vehicle-side voice signal corresponding to the speech content of an occupant of the vehicle ;
acquiring a counterpart voice signal corresponding to the contents of a speech of a user of a counterpart terminal device which is a terminal device different from the in-vehicle terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices;
A process of outputting the other party's audio signal from a speaker in the vehicle and a process of transmitting the vehicle side audio signal to the other party's terminal device,
a conference image shared by all terminal devices in the electronic conference system can be displayed on a display screen in the vehicle, and when a state of the vehicle corresponds to a predetermined restricted state, the display of the conference image on the display screen in the vehicle is stopped;
The restricted state includes at least one of a state in which a door or a window of the vehicle is open and a state in which an output voltage value or a remaining capacity of a battery mounted in the vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined value.
, vehicle-mounted terminal device. An in-vehicle terminal device that is included in a plurality of terminal devices constituting an electronic conference system for holding an electronic conference and is mounted on a vehicle, the in-vehicle terminal device having a control unit,
Acquire a vehicle-side voice signal corresponding to the speech content of an occupant of the vehicle ;
acquiring a counterpart voice signal corresponding to the contents of a speech of a user of a counterpart terminal device which is a terminal device different from the in-vehicle terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices;
A process of outputting the other party's audio signal from a speaker in the vehicle and a process of transmitting the vehicle side audio signal to the other party's terminal device,
While the vehicle is traveling, a sensitivity when generating the vehicle-side audio signal using a microphone installed in the vehicle is controlled in accordance with a steering angle of the vehicle.
, vehicle-mounted terminal device. An electronic conference system for holding an electronic conference among a plurality of persons using a plurality of terminal devices connected to each other via a network, the plurality of terminal devices including an in-vehicle terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 . An electronic conference method for use in an in-vehicle terminal device included in a plurality of terminal devices constituting an electronic conference system for holding an electronic conference and mounted in a vehicle, comprising:
Acquire a vehicle-side voice signal corresponding to the speech content of an occupant of the vehicle;
acquiring a counterpart voice signal corresponding to the contents of a speech of a user of a counterpart terminal device which is a terminal device different from the in-vehicle terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices;
A process of outputting the other party's audio signal from a speaker in the vehicle and a process of transmitting the vehicle side audio signal to the other party's terminal device,
execute a switching process for switching between outputting and not outputting the voice signal of the other party from a speaker in the vehicle according to a state of the vehicle;
In the switching process, when the state of the vehicle corresponds to a predetermined limit state , output of the voice signal of the other party from a speaker in the vehicle is stopped,
The electronic conferencing method , wherein the restricted state includes at least one of a state in which a door or window of the vehicle is open, and a state in which an output voltage value or remaining capacity of a battery installed in the vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined value. An electronic conference method for use in an in-vehicle terminal device included in a plurality of terminal devices constituting an electronic conference system for holding an electronic conference and mounted in a vehicle, comprising:
Acquire a vehicle-side voice signal corresponding to the speech content of an occupant of the vehicle ;
acquiring a counterpart voice signal corresponding to the contents of a speech of a user of a counterpart terminal device which is a terminal device different from the in-vehicle terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices;
A process of outputting the other party's audio signal from a speaker in the vehicle and a process of transmitting the vehicle side audio signal to the other party's terminal device,
execute a switching process for switching between transmission and non-transmission of the vehicle-side voice signal to the other party's terminal device according to a state of the vehicle;
In the switching process, when the state of the vehicle corresponds to a predetermined limit state, transmission of the vehicle side voice signal to the other party side terminal device is stopped,
The restricted state includes at least one of a state in which the traveling direction of the vehicle is set to a reverse direction, a state in which a door or a window of the vehicle is open, a state in which an output voltage value or a remaining capacity of a battery mounted in the vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined value, and a state in which the speed of the vehicle exceeds a predetermined speed.
,Electronic conferencing methods. An electronic conference method for use in an in-vehicle terminal device included in a plurality of terminal devices constituting an electronic conference system for holding an electronic conference and mounted in a vehicle, comprising:
Acquire a vehicle-side voice signal corresponding to the speech content of an occupant of the vehicle ;
acquiring a counterpart voice signal corresponding to the contents of a speech of a user of a counterpart terminal device which is a terminal device different from the in-vehicle terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices;
A process of outputting the other party's audio signal from a speaker in the vehicle and a process of transmitting the vehicle side audio signal to the other party's terminal device,
execute a first switching process of switching between outputting and not outputting the other party's audio signal from a speaker in the vehicle according to a state of the vehicle, and a second switching process of switching between transmitting and not transmitting the vehicle-side audio signal to the other party's terminal device according to the state of the vehicle;
In the first switching process, when the state of the vehicle corresponds to a predetermined first restricted state, output of the other party's audio signal from a speaker in the vehicle is stopped,
The first restricted state includes at least one of a state in which a door or a window of the vehicle is open and a state in which an output voltage value or a remaining capacity of a battery mounted on the vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined value,
In the second switching process, when the state of the vehicle corresponds to a predetermined second restricted state, transmission of the vehicle side audio signal to the other party side terminal device is stopped;
The second restricted state includes at least one of a state in which the traveling direction of the vehicle is set to a reverse direction, a state in which a door or a window of the vehicle is open, a state in which an output voltage value or a remaining capacity of a battery mounted in the vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined value, and a state in which the speed of the vehicle exceeds a predetermined speed.
,Electronic conferencing methods. An electronic conference method for use in an in-vehicle terminal device included in a plurality of terminal devices constituting an electronic conference system for holding an electronic conference and mounted in a vehicle, comprising:
Acquire a vehicle-side voice signal corresponding to the speech content of an occupant of the vehicle ;
acquiring a counterpart voice signal corresponding to the contents of a speech of a user of a counterpart terminal device which is a terminal device different from the in-vehicle terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices;
A process of outputting the other party's audio signal from a speaker in the vehicle and a process of transmitting the vehicle side audio signal to the other party's terminal device,
When a plurality of the counterpart terminal devices are present, a request operation for requesting communication with some of the plurality of users of the plurality of counterpart terminal devices as communication partners can be accepted by an operation unit provided in the in-vehicle terminal device,
The control unit prohibits acceptance of the request operation when a state of the vehicle corresponds to a predetermined restricted state,
The restricted state includes at least one of a state in which a door or a window of the vehicle is open and a state in which an output voltage value or a remaining capacity of a battery mounted in the vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined value.
,Electronic conferencing methods. An electronic conference method for use in an in-vehicle terminal device included in a plurality of terminal devices constituting an electronic conference system for holding an electronic conference and mounted in a vehicle, comprising:
Acquire a vehicle-side voice signal corresponding to the speech content of an occupant of the vehicle ;
acquiring a counterpart voice signal corresponding to the contents of a speech of a user of a counterpart terminal device which is a terminal device different from the in-vehicle terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices;
A process of outputting the other party's audio signal from a speaker in the vehicle and a process of transmitting the vehicle side audio signal to the other party's terminal device,
a conference image shared by all terminal devices in the electronic conference system can be displayed on a display screen in the vehicle, and when a state of the vehicle corresponds to a predetermined restricted state, the display of the conference image on the display screen in the vehicle is stopped;
The restricted state includes at least one of a state in which a door or a window of the vehicle is open and a state in which an output voltage value or a remaining capacity of a battery mounted in the vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined value.
,Electronic conferencing methods. An electronic conference method for use in an in-vehicle terminal device included in a plurality of terminal devices constituting an electronic conference system for holding an electronic conference and mounted in a vehicle, comprising:
Acquire a vehicle-side voice signal corresponding to the speech content of an occupant of the vehicle ;
acquiring a counterpart voice signal corresponding to the contents of a speech of a user of a counterpart terminal device which is a terminal device different from the in-vehicle terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices;
A process of outputting the other party's audio signal from a speaker in the vehicle and a process of transmitting the vehicle side audio signal to the other party's terminal device,
While the vehicle is traveling, a sensitivity when generating the vehicle-side audio signal using a microphone installed in the vehicle is controlled in accordance with a steering angle of the vehicle.
,Electronic conferencing methods. A program for causing a processor to implement the electronic conference method according to any one of claims 8 to 13 .