Electronic conference system and its controlling method

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD [Detailed description of the invention]

【0001】

[Technical field to which the invention belongs]

The present invention relates to an electronic conferencing system and a control method thereof.

【0002】

[Conventional technology]

As a device for supporting meetings with a small number of people, multiple electronic pens are connected as an input device for a workstation having a display device horizontally arranged in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 06-59813, and multiple conference participants themselves. An electronic pen has been proposed that allows you to change the display direction of the window in the direction you want to see.

【0003】

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

However, when having a meeting around the table as described above, discussions are held while looking at the materials spread out in the center, and notes are taken at the hands of each individual. In this case, it is inconvenient for the personal memo area to be written or manipulated by another person, but the above-mentioned prior art does not consider such a difference between the common area and the personal area.

【0004】

Also, in the case of idea generation, I sometimes write the idea I came up with on the spot on a memo paper and paste it on a large piece of paper for discussion, but when I try to write with an electronic pen in the center of the display screen, I lean forward. It is difficult to do because it has to be written in.

【0005】

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the information can be obtained by allowing each user attending the conference to operate his / her own terminal and display his / her own information on a shared display device. It is intended to provide an electronic conferencing system that also enables sharing.

【0006】

[Means for solving problems]

In order to solve this problem, for example, the electronic conferencing system of the present invention has the following configuration. That is.

【0007】

An electronic conferencing system composed of a plurality of terminals operating independently and a central device independent of each terminal and provided with a shared display device, wherein each terminal communicates with the central device. The central device includes a communication means of the above and a transmission control means for transmitting the information to the central device via the first communication means when a transfer instruction of the information possessed by the user is given, and the central device includes the terminal and the terminal. It is characterized by including a second communication means for communicating and a display control means for displaying information received from the terminal via the second communication means on the display device.

【0008】

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

【0009】

FIG. 1 is an external configuration diagram of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram of the apparatus.

【0010】

In the figure, 6 is this device (hereinafter referred to as a table device), which has a table shape as shown in the figure. 1 to 4 are electronic pens, 5 are displays, and 7 to 10 are pen computers (electronic information processing devices by pen input). Pen computers 7 to 10 include a small display and a transparent coordinate input panel provided on the display.

【0011】

In the internal block configuration of the table device 6, reference numeral 11 denotes a CPU that controls the entire device, and includes a ROM that stores a processing procedure (program) described later and a RAM that is used as a work area. 12 is a storage device such as a hard disk, 13 is a pen input detector, 14 is a network interface, 15 is a local area network (LAN), and 16 is a communication interface for communicating with each pen computer.

【0012】

The pen input detection unit 13 is provided as a transparent coordinate input plate on the display surface so as not to interfere with the display of the display 6. The table device 6 can identify each electronic pen. For this purpose, each electronic pen emits radio waves of different frequencies and carries ID information and pen up / down information on it. For example, an electrode for each pen tip to have a different capacitance. Each pen may emit a different frequency as long as it is provided with the above or the coordinate is detected by the delay time due to the propagation of vibration. In any case, on the table device 6 side, the coordinate detection by each pen and the pen up / down are detected by time division processing.

【0013】

The contents of the display 5 can be displayed by writing with an electronic pen or by calling a file stored in another computer (not shown) connected to the LAN 15 by operating the electronic pen. The information input by the electronic pen and the information of the file read from another computer are stored in the storage device 12, and are displayed on the display 5 according to the instruction of the CPU 11. The communication interface 16 is for communicating with the pen computers 7 to 10.

【0014】

On the other hand, regarding the pen computer 7, the appearance shown in FIG. 3 and its configuration are shown in FIG. Other pen computers have the same configuration.

【0015】

In the figure, reference numeral 17 denotes a display, and a pen input detection unit 20 as a transparent coordinate input plate is provided on the 17th surface of the display so as not to obstruct the display. The principle of coordinate detection is the same as that of the table device 6. The pen computer communicates with the table device 6 wirelessly or by wire. In this embodiment, communication is performed wirelessly.

【0016】

In addition, 18 is a CPU that controls the pen computer, and internally has a ROM that stores a program that performs pen coordinate detection, various applications, and communication processing with the table device 6, and a RAM that is used as a work area. Has been done. Reference numeral 19 denotes a storage device, such as a memory card or a hard disk, in which various data can be stored and applications can be additionally stored. 20 is a pen input detection unit, and 21 is a communication interface (as described above, wirelessly communicates with the communication interface of the table device 6).

【0017】

Input is performed on the pen computer 7 using an electronic pen. The electronic pen used is the same as the one used for input to the table body, and each pen computer accepts only input from the corresponding electronic pen. Therefore, the electronic pen and the pen computer are used as a pair. The information input by the electronic pen is stored in the storage device 19. The pen computer can be used as an independent computer, and can be used alone even in a place where communication with the table body is not possible. When communication with the table body is established, various data can be transmitted to the table body side via the communication interface 21 according to the instruction.

【0018】

The data to be transmitted may be strokes (handwritten characters, etc.) input from the pen, or may be data processed inside the pen computer.

【0019】

Next, a procedure for inputting / outputting information to / from the display of the table device 6 using each pen computer and holding a conference will be described.

【0020】

First, prior to the meeting, a table is created that associates which electronic pen user is sitting at which position on the table device 6. When connecting the pen computer to the table body by wire, there is a one-to-one correspondence between the user of the pen computer and the electronic pen and its seating position, but in the case of wireless, it is necessary to associate the electronic pen with the user. is there.

【0021】

Follow the procedure below for association.

【0022】

First, the user touches the display of the table device 6 with his / her electronic pen. Here, it is assumed that the point I in Fig. 5 is touched. The pen input detection unit 13 provided on the display 5 identifies this electronic pen by the frequency and the ID superimposed on the frequency.

【0023】

Then check if this electronic pen is already registered. If the electronic pen has not been registered yet, the closest side is obtained from the coordinates touched on the display, and the electronic pen registration menu is displayed assuming that the user is on that side.

【0024】

In the case of FIG. 5, the lengths of the line segments IE, IF, IG, and IH are compared, and since IE is the shortest, the menu 22 is displayed assuming that the user is sitting on the side AB. Menu 22 has, for example, a message prompting the user to input the name of the user (identification information of the pen computer) and a character input field, which recognizes characters by a known technique and memorizes the correspondence between the pen and the user. Register with device 12.

【0025】

Once the electronic pen is registered, if the seating position of the user of the electronic pen is determined and then the window or menu is displayed by the operation with the electronic pen, the registered seating position (side) should be on the bottom. In other words, the displayed information is displayed so that it stands upright.

【0026】

Since the electronic pen is common to the table body and the pen computer, in addition to writing in a common place on the table body, take personal notes at the user's hand without being seen by other attendees. Can be done. However, if necessary, the contents input by the pen computer and the processing result can be transferred to the table device 6 and displayed.

【0027】

Next, the procedure for transferring the contents input to the pen computer to the table body will be described with reference to FIG.

【0028】

First, the user gives an instruction to transfer the contents displayed at that time to the table device 6 on his / her pen computer. Then, the pen computer sends a message of waiting for the transfer position instruction to the table body together with the information for identifying the pen computer (user identification information registered in the table device 6).

【0029】

The table device 6 waits for the transfer position to be indicated by the electronic pen, identifies the requesting pen computer when the coordinates are specified, and sends a data transfer request message to the pen computer. In response to this, the pen computer transfers the data to the table device 6, and the CPU 11 in the table device 6 displays the received data at the instructed position. This sequence is as shown in FIG. 6 (a).

【0030】

If the transfer instruction is canceled before the transfer position is specified on the display of the pen computer, the pen computer sends a message to the table body to cancel the transfer, and the data is not transferred. This sequence is as shown in FIG. 6 (b).

【0031】

Here, if the processing of the CPU 11 in the table device 6 of the embodiment is shown more clearly, it will be as shown in the flowchart of FIG. The program corresponding to the figure is stored in the ROM of the CPU 11, but may be stored in the storage device 12, loaded into the RAM, and executed.

【0032】

First, it is determined in step S1 whether or not there is transfer position instruction information.

【0033】

When the transfer position is instructed, the process proceeds to step S2, and the user is identified based on the user identification information contained therein. Then, in step S3, a data transfer request is transmitted to the corresponding pen computer, and in step S4, reception is performed from the pen computer. Then, it is determined whether or not the information received in step S5 is a cancel message. If it is a cancel message, this process is terminated, but if it is other information, the received data is the data to be displayed, so proceed to step S6 and display that information on the display 5. Display at the indicated position of.

【0034】

The processing on the pen computer side will be easily understood by those skilled in the art from the above description, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted.

【0035】

By the above procedure, the data written in the pen computer at hand can be easily displayed at a desired position on the display as if a memo paper is attached to the paper.

【0036】

In addition, although it is a method of specifying the position of the display 5 on the table device 6 on the pen computer, it is also possible to input a number for specifying the coordinate position and recognize the character, but this takes time to input. In the embodiment, the display 5 of the table device 6 is reduced and displayed on the display 17 of the pen computer (the display direction is the direction seen from the pen computer), and the displayed position is specified by the pen. .. To do so, first specify the data to be transferred (if not specified, the data on the full screen on the display 17 will be the transfer target), and then specify the transfer position by performing a predetermined operation. ..

【0037】

Also, regarding the information to be transferred, in the case of handwritten characters, the amount of information increases when the image is transferred, so if stroke information or the character code that is the result of character recognition is transmitted, the amount of information is small. I'm done.

【0038】

Further, when transmitting, for example, in the case of a message or the like directed to another specific user (assumed to be user A), it is desirable to display an upright image for that user A. Therefore, when specifying the position of the display of the table device 6, the direction may be specified.

【0039】

Further, although the number of users of the table device 6 has been described as four in the embodiment, as described above, the number of users may be more or less.

【0040】

Further, the table device 6 functions as a display device shared by a plurality of users. As described in the above embodiment, a table shape may be used for about four users, but when used by a large number of users, it is more convenient to make it large like a blackboard and make it vertical. good. In this case, since an unspecified number of users can display their own messages, the CPU on the table device 6 side displays information indicating which user the message is from in close proximity to the displayed message. You may try to do it. Further, when the display is placed vertically, it is desired that the information from any user is displayed in the same direction. For this purpose, the CPU in the table device 6 should not only display the received data at the instructed position but also always display the received data in the same direction.

【0041】

On the contrary, the contents displayed on the display can be transferred to the pen computer. In this case, request simple layout information indicating the displayed contents of the table device 6, display the area indicating the layout on the display on the pen computer based on the layout information, and specify the desired area. By doing so, it is possible to have the information of the area corresponding to the table device 6 transmitted. Further, after displaying this layout on the own pen computer, the information in a specific area can be erased from the display of the table device.

【0042】

Further, in the above embodiment, the pen computer and the table device 6 communicate wirelessly, but the present invention is not limited to the communication format, which may be wired. However, as described in the above embodiment, since the pen computer is characterized by its portability, wireless communication is desirable.

【0043】

As described above, according to the embodiment, each user can display the content edited / created by himself / herself on the shared display by operating his / her own pen computer, and share it as necessary. It will also be possible to capture and save information on the desired position displayed on the display. Therefore, by using the system of the present embodiment, it becomes possible to easily configure an electronic conference system.

【0044】

In the embodiment, the table device has been described as a single device having a table shape, but for example, a display device and an information processing device for processing information to be displayed may be separate bodies. In particular, when a general-purpose information processing device such as a personal computer is used as the information processing device, the processing described in the above embodiment can be realized by executing a program supplied from the outside.

【0045】

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium in which a program code of software that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment is stored to a system or device, and a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or device is a storage medium. Needless to say, it can be achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in.

【0046】

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the function of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

【0047】

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a non-volatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

【0048】

Further, by executing the program read by the computer, not only the function of the above-described embodiment is realized, but also the OS (operating system) running on the computer is actually realized based on the instruction of the program code. Needless to say, there is a case where a part or all of the processing of the above is performed and the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by the processing.

【0049】

Further, the program code read from the storage medium is written in the memory provided in the function expansion board inserted in the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, and then the function is expanded based on the instruction of the program code. Needless to say, there are cases where the CPU provided in the board or the function expansion unit performs a part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment.

【0050】

[Effect of the invention]

As described above, according to the present invention, information can be shared by allowing users attending a conference to operate their own terminals and display their own information on a shared display device. It will be possible.

[Simple explanation of drawings]

[Figure 1]

It is the schematic of the system of embodiment.

[Figure 2]

It is a block block diagram of the table apparatus of embodiment.

[Fig. 3]

It is an external view of the pen computer in embodiment.

[Fig. 4]

It is a block block diagram of the pen computer in embodiment.

[Fig. 5]

It is a figure which shows the operation of the registration of the electronic pen in an embodiment.

[Fig. 6]

It is a figure explaining the procedure of the data transfer of the pen computer and the table apparatus in embodiment.

[Fig. 7]

It is a flowchart which shows the processing procedure of a part of the operation of the table apparatus in embodiment.