Communication support device, communication support method and program

Embodiments of the present invention relate to communication support devices, communication support methods and programs.

Conventionally, various systems have been proposed to support communication between users by exchanging messages using information and communication technology. In particular, group calls, chat systems, intercom systems, etc. of mobile phone systems are known to realize conversations between users in a group.

When a conversation is held between users in a group, a group of users who participate in the conversation is first generated. At this time, in the conventional system, the user who wants to start the conversation can individually specify other users who want to participate in the conversation and send a participation request, or specify the user conditions for wanting to participate in the conversation. It is required and complicated. In addition, the user who receives the request for participation in the conversation often hesitates to decide whether or not to respond to the request for participation without knowing the theme of the conversation. For this reason, it is desired to request participation in which the theme of the conversation can be conveyed by a simple operation so that the conversation between specific users can be efficiently realized.

<p><patcit num="1"><text>Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2008-67083</text></patcit><patcit num="2"><text>Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-184288</text></patcit><patcit num="3"><text>Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-355202</text></patcit></p>

<p><nplcit num="1"><text>Kentaro Torii, "SNS for home medical care and long-term care that can be registered by voice anytime, anywhere", [online], September 12, 2014, [Search on April 15, 2015], Internet &lt;http://www.chubu. meti.go.jp/technology_jyoho/download/20140912/20140912toshiba.pdf&gt;</text></nplcit></p>

<p> The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a communication support device, a communication support method, and a program that can efficiently realize conversations between specific users by requesting participation in which the theme of conversation can be conveyed by a simple operation. is there.</p>

<p> The communication support device of the embodiment delivers a message to a user terminal to support communication between users. This communication support device includes a message receiving unit, a participation request transmission control unit, a response receiving unit, and the like.<u style="single">Response notification section and</u>It includes a group generation unit and a conversation control unit. The message receiving unit receives a message from the user terminal. When the received message is a participation request message requesting participation in the conversation mode, the participation request transmission control unit controls to transmit the participation request message to the user terminal to which the participation request message should be transmitted. The response receiving unit is the participation request message.<u style="single">Of the destination</u>Receive the response to the participation request message from the user terminal.<u style="single">When the response notification unit receives the response to the participation request message from the user terminal, the response notification unit sends the response notification unit to another user terminal other than the user terminal of the source of the received response among the user terminals to which the participation request message is sent. In response, the response is notified.</u>The group generation unit generates a conversation group whose members are the user terminal that responded to the participation request message and the user terminal that is the source of the participation request message. The conversation control unit controls the delivery of the message in the conversation mode so that the message received from the member of the conversation group is transmitted to other members of the conversation group.</p>

<figref num="1">The schematic diagram which shows the outline of a voice communication system.</figref><figref num="2">The figure which shows an example of a headset.</figref><figref num="3">A block diagram showing a hardware configuration example of a communication support device.</figref><figref num="4">A block diagram showing a functional configuration example of a communication support device.</figref><figref num="5">The figure which shows an example of a group management table.</figref><figref num="6">The figure which shows an example of a conversation member list.</figref><figref num="7">A block diagram showing a functional configuration example of a user terminal.</figref><figref num="8">A flowchart showing a processing procedure from receiving a participation request message to generating a conversation group.</figref><figref num="9">A flowchart showing a processing procedure of distribution control in a conversation mode.</figref>

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the communication support device, the communication support method, and the program will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. The embodiments shown below assume an example of application to a server for a voice communication system disclosed in Non-Patent Document 1, but the applicable embodiment is not limited to this example. The communication support device, the communication support method, and the program can be effectively applied to, for example, a form in which a terminal directly sends and receives a message without going through a server, or a form in which a message other than voice is handled.

First, the outline of the voice communication system assumed in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of the voice communication system assumed in the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, each user who receives the service of this system has a user terminal 200 such as a smartphone and performs various operations while wearing a headset 300 connected to the user terminal 200. When the user utters a message related to the work or something that he / she notices during the work, the utterance is recorded by the microphone 310 of the headset 300 and transmitted to the server 100 as a voice message. When the server 100 receives the voice message from the user terminal 200, the server 100 stores the voice message together with the metadata. The metadata may be generated, for example, by performing voice recognition processing on the voice message in the server 100, or may be added when the voice message is transmitted on the user terminal 200 side. Moreover, you may use the metadata which combined these.

In addition, the server 100 uses the stored voice message metadata, user information such as pre-registered information about each user's business, and sensor data separately transmitted from each user terminal 200, and stores the voice message. Determine the destination and transmission timing of. Then, the server 100 transmits the accumulated voice message to the other user terminal 200 determined as the destination at an appropriate timing. At this time, the voice message judged to be highly urgent is sent immediately (nearly in real time). On the other hand, the voice message is transmitted to the user terminal 200, which is temporarily difficult to receive the voice message, such as when the radio wave is hard to reach, with a delay when the voice message can be received. The other user terminal 200 that has received the voice message automatically plays back the received voice message and outputs it from the speaker 320 of the headset 300. As a result, the utterance of one user is heard by another user, and information is shared among the users through voice messages.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a headset 300 worn by a user. The headset 300 illustrated in FIG. 2 can be used by inserting the phone plug 330 into the phone jack of the user terminal 200 described above. The cable 340 having the phone plug 330 at the tip can be wound inside the housing of the speaker 320. The microphone 310 is integrated with the housing of the speaker 320.

The housing of the speaker 320 is provided with an operation button 350 at a position where the user can easily operate the speaker 320. The operation button 350 is a button operated by the user when starting / ending the recording of the utterance. That is, when the user presses the operation button 350 while the voice message is not being played, the recording of the utterance is started, and when the operation button 350 is pressed again, the recording of the utterance ends. The configuration of the headset 300 illustrated in FIG. 2 is merely an example, and is not limited to this example.

The communication support device of this embodiment is realized as, for example, the server 100 shown in FIG. In this case, the server 100 has a function of controlling the delivery of the voice message in the conversation mode in addition to the above-mentioned basic voice message delivery function. The conversation mode is an operation mode in which a temporary group (hereinafter referred to as a conversation group) having some user terminals 200 capable of responding immediately is generated, and voice messages are sent and received only between the members of this conversation group. ..

The user who starts the conversation mode performs a predetermined operation such as pressing the above-mentioned operation button 350 of the headset 300 twice in succession, and then utters a message requesting participation in the conversation mode. As a result, metadata indicating that the voice message is a participation request message requesting participation in the conversation mode is added to the voice message recorded by the microphone 310 of the user's utterance, and the server from the user terminal 200. Sent to 100. Since the request for participation in the conversation mode is made by voice message, the user who starts the conversation mode can convey the theme of the conversation by including it in the request for participation.

When the server 100 determines that the voice message is a participation request message based on the metadata added to the received voice message, it participates from the user information corresponding to the user terminal 200 that is the source of the participation request message. Another user terminal 200 to which the request message is sent is automatically determined, and the participation request message is transmitted to the determined user terminal 200.

The user terminal 200 that has received the participation request message automatically reproduces the received participation request message, and outputs the utterance of the user who starts the conversation mode from the speaker 320. Then, when there is a predetermined operation such as pressing the above-mentioned operation button 350 of the headset 300 within a predetermined time (for example, 20 seconds) from the reception and playback of the participation request message, the response to the participation request message is performed. To server 100. At this time, a voice message recording the user's utterance after the predetermined operation may be transmitted to the server 100 together with the response to the participation request message.

The server 100 receives a response from the user terminal 200 that has sent the participation request message for a predetermined time after the participation request message is transmitted. Then, the server 100 generates a conversation group having the user terminal 200 that responded to the participation request message and the user terminal 200 that is the source of the participation request message as members. In the conversation group, for example, the user terminal 200 that is the source of the participation request message is registered as the first member, and the user terminal 200 that responds to the participation request message is additionally registered as a member of the conversation group each time a response is received. Is generated by. Then, the server 100 controls the delivery of the voice message in the conversation mode so that the voice message received from the member of the conversation group is transmitted to other members of the conversation group.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the voice message uttered by the user who starts the conversation mode is treated as a participation request message, the user terminal 200 to which the participation request message should be transmitted is automatically determined, and the participation request message is responded to. A conversation group having the user terminal 200 and the user terminal 200 from which the participation request message is sent is generated, and the delivery of the voice message in the conversation mode is controlled. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to efficiently realize a conversation between specific users by requesting participation in which the theme of the conversation is also conveyed by a simple operation.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that the user terminal 200 and the user who uses the user terminal 200 are associated with each other on a one-to-one basis. Therefore, the user terminal 200 is a member of the conversation group. It means that the user who uses the user terminal 200 is a member of the conversation group.

Next, a specific configuration example of the communication support device of the present embodiment assuming that the server 100 will be realized will be described. Hereinafter, the communication support device of the present embodiment will be described with a reference numeral 100 common to that of the server 100 described above.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration example of the communication support device 100 of the present embodiment. The communication support device 100 can adopt, for example, a hardware configuration as a general computer. In this case, as shown in FIG. 3, the communication support device 100 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 12, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 13, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 14, and a network I. Equipped with / F15, external device I / F16, bus 17 connecting these, etc.

The communication support device 100 of the present embodiment has various functions as the server 100 in the above-mentioned voice communication system by, for example, the CPU 11 using the RAM 12 as a work area and executing a program stored in the ROM 13 or the HDD 14. Can be realized. The network I / F 15 is a communication interface for the communication support device 100 to communicate with the user terminal 200. Further, the external device I / F 16 is an interface for connecting a display device such as a liquid crystal display, an operation input device such as a keyboard and a mouse, and the like to the communication support device 100.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration example of the communication support device 100 of the present embodiment. The communication support device 100 includes, for example, the communication unit 110, the message D / B 120, and the message D / B 120, as shown in FIG. 4, as functional components realized by the collaboration between the above hardware and software (program). It includes a user D / B 130, a user management unit 140, and a distribution control unit 150.

The message D / B 120 is a database that stores voice messages received from the user terminal 200 together with metadata, and is realized by using, for example, a storage area secured in the HDD 14. The user D / B 130 is a database that holds user information of each user registered in advance, and is realized by using, for example, a storage area secured in the HDD 14. The user information includes various information about the user, such as information about the user's business, schedule information, and information about the user terminal 200 used by the user. In particular, as user information related to the conversation mode, the group management table Tb (see FIG. 5), which will be described later, is held in the user D / B 130.

The communication unit 110 is a functional module for communicating with the user terminal 200 using the network I / F15. The communication unit 110 includes each submodule of the message receiving unit 111, the message transmitting unit 112, the response receiving unit 113, and the sensor data receiving unit 114.

The message receiving unit 111 receives a voice message from the user terminal 200. The voice message received by the message receiving unit 111 is stored in the message D / B 120 together with the metadata of the voice message. At this time, if the voice message received by the message receiving unit 111 is a highly urgent message such as a participation request message, the voice message is immediately read from the message D / B 120.

The message transmitting unit 112 transmits the voice message read from the message D / B 120 to the designated destination under the control of the distribution control unit 150.

The response receiving unit 113 receives the response when the response to the participation request message is transmitted from the user terminal 200 that has transmitted the participation request message. The response to the participation request message received by the response receiving unit 113 is passed to the distribution control unit 150.

The sensor data receiving unit 114 receives the sensor data transmitted from the user terminal 200. The sensor data is data representing sensor outputs such as a position sensor and an acceleration sensor included in the user terminal 200, for example. The sensor data received by the sensor data receiving unit 114 is passed to the user management unit 140.

The user management unit 140 is a functional module that estimates the user's state by using the user information held in the user D / B 130, the sensor data received by the sensor data receiving unit 114, and the like. For example, the user management unit 140 can estimate whether or not the user is in a state of being able to respond to the above-mentioned participation request message based on the user's schedule information, sensor data, and the like. The user management unit 140 also has a function of reading user information such as the group management table Tb from the user D / B 130 in response to a request from the distribution control unit 150. The user status estimated by the user management unit 140 and the user information read from the user D / B 130 are passed to the distribution control unit 150.

The delivery control unit 150 is a functional module that controls the delivery of voice messages. The delivery control unit 150 determines the destination and the transmission timing of the voice message based on the metadata of the voice message stored in the message D / B 120, the information from the user management unit 140, and the like. Then, the operation of the message transmitting unit 112 is controlled so that the voice message is transmitted to an appropriate destination at an appropriate timing. In particular, the distribution control unit 150 in the communication support device 100 of the present embodiment has metadata analysis unit 151, destination determination unit 152, participation request transmission control unit 153, response notification unit 154, and group generation unit as functions related to the conversation mode. Includes each submodule of 155 and conversation control unit 156.

The metadata analysis unit 151 determines whether or not the voice message is a participation request message based on the metadata added to the voice message. When the voice message received from the user terminal 200 by the message receiving unit 111 is a participation request message, this voice message is stored in the message D / B 120 together with the metadata indicating that the voice message is a participation request message. Therefore, the metadata analysis unit 151 can determine that the voice message is a participation request message based on the metadata added to the voice message.

When the voice message received from the user terminal 200 is a participation request message, the destination determination unit 152 determines the user terminal 200 to which the participation request message should be transmitted. For example, the destination determination unit 152 can determine the user terminal 200 to which the participation request message should be transmitted according to the group management table Tb read from the user D / B 130 by the user management unit 140.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the group management table Tb. The group management table Tb stores the participation request destination group preset for each user and the group to which the user belongs in association with the user ID which is the identification information of the user. The group here represents the unit of holding the conversation, and the user can belong to a plurality of groups. In addition, the participation request destination group indicates a group of users to whom the participation request message is sent. That is, the participation request message received from the user terminal 200 of a certain user indicates that the participation request message should be sent to the user terminal 200 of another user belonging to the participation request destination group associated with the user ID of the user. ..

The destination determination unit 152 can refer to the group management table Tb as shown in FIG. 5 and determine the user terminal 200 to which the participation request message should be transmitted. In the example of the group management table Tb shown in FIG. 5, for example, when a participation request message is received from the user terminal 200 of "taro", it belongs to "group 1" set as the participation request destination group of "taro". The user terminal 200 of "hanako" and the user terminal 200 of "jiro" can be determined as the destinations of the participation request message.

Further, the destination determination unit 152 is a user of the user terminal 200 determined as the destination of the participation request message based on the group management table Tb, which is presumed to be unable to respond to the participation request message by the user management unit 140. Terminal 200 may be excluded from the destination. As a result, for example, the participation request message is played back on the user terminal 200 of the user who cannot respond to the participation request message during work, so that the inconvenience that the user's work is hindered can be avoided.

The participation request transmission control unit 153 controls the operation of the message transmission unit 112 so that the participation request message is transmitted to the user terminal 200 determined by the destination determination unit 152. At this time, the participation request transmission control unit 153 determines whether or not the user terminal 200 determined by the destination determination unit 152 is in a state where the voice message can be received, and the participation request message is sent to the user terminal 200 capable of receiving the voice message. The operation of the message transmitting unit 112 may be controlled so as to transmit. That is, the participation request transmission control unit 153 excludes the user terminal 200, which is in a state where the voice message cannot be received, from the user terminals 200 determined by the destination determination unit 152 as the destination of the participation request message, and voices. Control so that the voice message is sent only to the user terminal 200 that is ready to receive the message. Whether or not the user terminal 200 determined by the destination determination unit 152 can receive the voice message can be determined, for example, by sending a predetermined signal to the user terminal 200 and returning a response.

When the response receiving unit 113 receives a response to the participation request message from any of the user terminals 200 among the user terminals 200 that have sent the participation request message, the response notification unit 154 receives the participation request message from which user terminal 200. Notifies the other user terminal 200 that sent the participation request message whether or not there was a response to. The notification of the response to the participation request message can be realized, for example, when the response is accompanied by a voice message, the voice message is transmitted from the voice message transmission unit 112 to another user terminal 200. If the response is not accompanied by a voice message, a standard voice message notifying the user who responded to the participation request message, for example, a voice message such as "Mr. XX will participate in the conversation" is sent from the voice message transmission unit 112. It may be sent to the user terminal 200 of.

By notifying the other user terminal 200 of the response to such a participation request message by the response notification unit 154, the user using the other user terminal 200 can grasp which user participates in the conversation mode. It can be used as a judgment material when deciding whether or not to participate in the conversation mode.

The group generation unit 155 generates a conversation group having the user terminal 200 that responded to the participation request message and the user terminal 200 that is the source of the participation request message as members. The conversation group generated by the group generation unit 155 can be represented in the form of a conversation member list L, for example. That is, when the voice message received from the user terminal 200 is a participation request message, the group generation unit 155 prepares an empty conversation member list L, and the user terminal of the sender of the participation request message is added to the conversation member list L. Initially register 200. Then, each time the response receiving unit 113 receives a response to the participation request message, the user terminal 200 that responds to the participation request message is additionally registered in the conversation member list L.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the conversation member list L, and shows an example when a participation request message is sent from "taro" to "hanako" and "jiro" according to the group management table Tb in FIG. In the conversation member list L shown in FIG. 6, "taro", which is the sender of the participation request message, is initially registered, and "hanako" in response to this participation request message is additionally registered. On the other hand, "jiro" is not registered because the response to the participation request message has not been received from "jiro". If a response is received from "jiro" within a predetermined time after the participation request message is sent, "jiro" is additionally registered in the conversation member list L at that time. Similarly, when the destination of the participation request message includes a user terminal 200 other than "hanako" or "jiro", a response is received within a predetermined time after the participation request message is sent to the user terminal 200. Then, the user terminal 200 is additionally registered in the conversation member list L.

The conversation control unit 156 controls the delivery of the voice message in the conversation mode so that the voice message received from the member of the conversation group generated by the group generation unit 155 is transmitted to other members of the conversation group. The conversation control unit 156 can control the delivery of the voice message in such a conversation mode by using the conversation member list L described above. That is, when the source of the voice message received by the message receiving unit 111 is the user terminal 200 registered in the conversation member list L, the conversation control unit 156 is another user terminal registered in the conversation member list L. 200 is determined as the destination of the voice message, and the operation of the message transmission unit 112 is controlled so that the voice message is transmitted to the determined destination. Note that the voice message sent and received in the conversation mode is provided with metadata indicating that the voice message is in the conversation mode.

In addition, the conversation control unit 156 deletes the conversation member list L and ends the conversation mode when a predetermined time (for example, 30 seconds) elapses without receiving a message from any member of the conversation group. Notify each member of the conversation group of the end of conversation mode. The notification of the end of the conversation mode can be realized by sending a standard voice message such as "End the conversation mode" from the voice message transmission unit 112 to all the user terminals 200 that are members of the conversation group. ..

Next, the user terminal 200 will be described. Various functions of the user terminal 200 are realized, for example, by installing a dedicated application program for receiving the service of the voice communication system on a smartphone or the like and executing this application program on the computer system of the smartphone.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration example of the user terminal 200. As shown in FIG. 7, the user terminal 200 has a communication unit 210 and terminal state management as functional components realized by cooperation between hardware such as a smartphone and software (the above-mentioned application program). It includes a unit 220, an operation input unit 230, a message input unit 240, a message reproduction unit 250, and a sensor data input unit 260.

The communication unit 210 is a functional module for communicating with the above-mentioned communication support device 100 via a network. The communication unit 210 responds to the above-mentioned participation request message by the message transmission unit 211 that sends a voice message to the communication support device 100, the message reception unit 212 that receives the voice message from the communication support device 100, and the communication support device 100. The response transmission unit 213 that transmits the above and the sensor data transmission unit 214 that transmits the sensor data to the communication support device 100 are included as each submodule.

The terminal state management unit 220 comprehensively manages the operating state of the user terminal 200. For example, when the message receiving unit 212 receives a voice message from the communication support device 100, the terminal state management unit 220 activates the message reproducing unit 250 to output the voice message received by the message receiving unit 212 from the speaker 320. Further, when the operation of the operation button 350 by the user is received by the operation input unit 230 when the voice message is not being played, the terminal state management unit 220 activates the message input unit 240 and records with the microphone 310. The utterance of the user is transmitted as a voice message from the message transmitting unit 211 to the communication support device 100. At this time, if the user performs a predetermined operation such as pressing the operation button 350 twice in succession and the predetermined operation is accepted by the operation input unit 230, the terminal state management unit 220 sends a voice message as a participation request message. The message transmission unit 211 adds metadata indicating that the message is transmitted to the communication support device 100.

Further, when the operation of the operation button 350 by the user is received by the operation input unit 230 while the message input unit 240 is activated, the terminal state management unit 220 stops the message input unit 240 and speaks with the microphone 310. End the recording. Further, the terminal state management unit 220 activates the sensor data input unit 260 at a predetermined timing, and transmits the output of the sensor 30 such as the position sensor and the acceleration sensor as sensor data from the sensor data transmission unit 214 to the communication support device 100. Let me.

When the message receiving unit 212 receives the above-mentioned participation request message from the communication support device 100, the terminal state management unit 220 activates the message reproduction unit 250 to output the participation request message from the speaker 320. At this time, the terminal state management unit 220 determines whether the operation of the operation button 350 by the user is received by the operation input unit 230 within a predetermined time (for example, 20 seconds) from the reception of the participation request message. Then, when the operation of the operation button 350 by the user is received by the operation input unit 230 within a predetermined time from the reception of the participation request message, the response to the participation request message is transmitted from the response transmission unit 213 to the communication support device 100. .. At this time, the terminal state management unit 220 may activate the message input unit 240 to cause the communication support device 100 to transmit the user's utterance recorded by the microphone 310 as a voice message accompanying the response.

Next, a specific example of the operation of the present embodiment related to the conversation mode will be described. First, an outline of a series of operations from the start to the end of the conversation mode will be described.

The user who starts the conversation mode performs a predetermined operation such as pressing the operation button 350 of the headset 300 twice in succession, for example, "I want to check about XX, but those who are free will participate. When a message requesting participation in the conversation mode such as "Please" is uttered, this utterance is recorded by the microphone 310 and transmitted as a voice message from the user terminal 200 to the communication support device 100. At this time, the voice message is provided with metadata indicating that the voice message is a participation request message.

When the communication support device 100 determines that the voice message is a participation request message based on the metadata attached to the voice message received from the user terminal 200, the participation request message is determined, for example, according to the above-mentioned group management table Tb. Determine other user terminals 200 to send. Then, a participation request message is transmitted to the determined user terminal 200. Further, the communication support device 100 starts generating a conversation group using the conversation member list L described above, and initially registers the user terminal 200, which is the source of the participation request message, in the conversation member list L.

The participation request message transmitted from the communication support device 100 to the other user terminal 200 is reproduced by the user terminal 200. As a result, the above-mentioned utterance is output from the speaker 320 and heard by the user who uses the user terminal 200. Then, when this user performs a predetermined operation such as pressing the operation button 350 within a predetermined time from the reception and playback of the participation request message, the response to the participation request message is transmitted from the user terminal 200 to the communication support device 100. Will be done. At this time, the user terminal 200 may record the user's utterance such as " will participate" by the microphone 310, and transmit this as a voice message to the communication support device 100 together with the response to the participation request message. Good.

When the communication support device 100 receives a response to the participation request message from the user terminal 200 within a predetermined time after transmitting the participation request message, the communication support device 100 additionally registers the user terminal 200 in the conversation member list L, and additionally registers the user terminal 200 in the conversation member list L. Add 200 as a member of the conversation group. Further, the communication support device 100 notifies the other user terminal 200 that has sent the participation request message of the response to the participation request message received from the user terminal 200, so that which user terminal 200 participates in the conference mode. Inform.

When the conversation group is generated, the communication support device 100 controls the delivery of the voice message in the conversation mode so that the voice message received from the member of the conversation group is transmitted to other members of the conversation group. Then, when a predetermined time (for example, 30 seconds) elapses without receiving a message from any member of the conversation group, the conversation member list L is deleted, the conversation mode is terminated, and each member of the conversation group is talked to. Notify the end of mode.

Next, the processing procedure of the communication support device 100 in the conversation mode will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure from receiving the participation request message to generating the conversation group.

When the participation request message is received from the user terminal 200, the group generation unit 155 first prepares an empty conversation member list L, and initially registers the user terminal 200 from which the participation request message is sent in the conversation member list L. (Step S101).

Next, the destination determination unit 152 refers to the group management table Tb, identifies the participation request destination group set for the user terminal 200 that is the source of the participation request message, and identifies the participation request destination group. Another user terminal 200 belonging to the group is determined as the destination of the participation request message (step S102).

Next, the participation request transmission control unit 153 determines whether or not there is a user terminal 200 that cannot receive the voice message among the user terminals 200 determined as the destination of the participation request message in step S102 (step S103). .. Then, if there is a user terminal 200 that cannot receive the voice message (step S103: Yes), the user terminal 200 is excluded from the destinations of the participation request message (step S104), and the process proceeds to step S105. On the other hand, if there is no user terminal 200 that cannot receive the voice message (step S103: No), the process proceeds to step S105 as it is. Then, in step S105, the participation request transmission control unit 153 controls to transmit the participation request message to the user terminal 200 determined as the transmission destination.

After that, the group generation unit 155 determines whether or not a response to the participation request message has been received from the user terminal 200 that has sent the participation request message (step S106). Then, when the response to the participation request message is received (step S106: Yes), the group generation unit 155 additionally registers the user terminal 200 that responded to the participation request message to the conversation member list L (step S107). Further, the response notification unit 154 notifies the response from the user terminal 200 to the other user terminal 200 that has sent the participation request message (step S108).

Until a predetermined time (for example, 20 seconds) elapses from the transmission of the participation request message in step S105 (step S109: No), the group generation unit 155 and the response notification unit 154 perform the processes from step S106 to step S108. repeat. Then, when a predetermined time elapses from the transmission of the participation request message (step S109: Yes), a series of processes shown in the flowchart of FIG. 8 is completed.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of distribution control in the conversation mode. The conversation mode is started when a plurality of user terminals 200 become members of the conversation group, that is, when one or more user terminals 200 that respond to the participation request message are additionally registered in the conversation member list L.

When the conversation mode is started, the conversation control unit 156 controls the delivery of the voice message in the conversation mode. That is, the conversation control unit 156 determines whether or not a voice message from a member of the conversation group has been received (step S201), and when receiving a voice message from a member of the conversation group (step S201: Yes), Control the voice message to be sent to other members of the conversation group (step S202).

If the conversation control unit 156 has not received a voice message from a member of the conversation group (step S201: No), the conversation control unit 156 has a predetermined time (for example, 30 seconds) since the last voice message was received from the member of the conversation group. ) Has elapsed (step S203), and when a predetermined time has elapsed since the last voice message was received from a member of the conversation group (step S203: Yes), the conversation member list L is deleted (step S203). In step S204), each member of the conversation group is notified that the conversation mode has ended (step S205). As a result, a series of processes shown in the flowchart of FIG. 9 is completed.

As described in detail above with reference to specific examples, according to the present embodiment, the communication support device 100 receives the utterance of the user who starts the conversation mode from the user terminal 200 as a participation request message, and the communication support device 100 receives the utterance of the user who starts the conversation mode from the user terminal 200. The participation request message is sent to another user terminal 200 determined as the destination. Then, the communication support device 100 generates a conversation group having the user terminal 200 that is the source of the participation request message and the user terminal 200 that responds to the participation request message as members, and the voice message transmitted from the member of the conversation group. Controls the delivery of voice messages in conversation mode so that the message is sent to other members of the conversation group. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to efficiently realize a conversation between specific users by requesting participation in which the theme of the conversation is also conveyed by a simple operation.

Further, according to the present embodiment, when the communication support device 100 receives a response to the participation request message from any user terminal 200 that has sent the participation request message, another user terminal that has sent the participation request message. I am trying to notify 200 of the response. Therefore, a user who uses the other user terminal 200 can grasp which user participates in the conversation mode, and can use it as a judgment material when deciding whether or not to participate in the conversation mode. ..

In the above description, it is assumed that the communication support device 100 transmits the participation request message received from the user terminal 200 to the other user terminal 200 in almost real time, but the participation request message is sent to the other user terminal 200. The timing of transmission is not limited to this. For example, the participation request message received from the user terminal 200 may be transmitted to another user terminal 200 at a time specified by the user terminal 200. This also makes it possible to start the conversation mode at a time desired by the user.

Further, in the above description, whether or not the voice message is a participation request message is determined based on the metadata of the voice message, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the communication support device 100 performs voice recognition processing on a voice message received from the user terminal 200, and when the obtained text data contains a predetermined keyword, it is determined that the voice message is a participation request message. It may be configured to be used.

Further, in the above description, the communication support device 100 determines the destination of the participation request message received from the user terminal 200 according to the group management table Tb held in the user D / B 130, but the present invention is limited to this. Absent. For example, the destination of the participation request message may be determined based on other user information about the user, such as information about the business of the user who uses the user terminal 200 that is the source of the participation request message and schedule information.

Further, in the above description, it is assumed that the message transmitted and received by the user terminal 200 via the communication support device 100 is a voice message, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the user terminal 200 may send and receive a message other than a voice message, such as a message by text data, via the communication support device 100.

Further, in the above description, the user terminal 200 is configured to send and receive messages via the communication support device 100, but the user terminals 200 may be configured to directly send and receive messages without going through the communication support device 100. In this case, if at least the user terminal 200 of the user who starts the conversation mode has the function of the communication support device 100 described above, the user terminals 200 can send and receive messages in the same conversation mode as the above-described embodiment. can do.

&lt;Supplemental Information&gt; Each function of the communication support device 100 of the above-described embodiment can be realized by executing a predetermined program on the computer, for example, when a computer is used as the hardware configuration of the communication support device 100. Programs that run on a computer are, for example, files in an installable or executable format such as CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory), Flexible Disk (FD), CD-R (Compact Disk Recordable), DVD ( It is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as Digital Versatile Disc) and provided as a computer program product.

Further, the program executed by the computer may be stored on another computer connected to a network such as the Internet and provided by downloading the program via the network. In addition, a program executed by a computer may be configured to be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet. Further, the program executed by the computer may be configured to be provided by being incorporated in the ROM 13 or HDD 14 inside the computer in advance.

The program executed by the computer has a module configuration including the above-mentioned functional components of the communication support device 100. For example, the CPU 11 reads the program from the recording medium and executes the program to execute each of the above configurations. The elements are loaded on the main memory such as RAM12, and each of the above components is generated on the main memory. Some or all of the functional components of the communication support device 100 can be realized by using dedicated hardware such as ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) and FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array). It is possible.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the embodiments described here are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. The novel embodiments described here can be implemented in various other embodiments, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. The embodiments and modifications thereof described here are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are also included in the scope of the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof.

100 Communication support device 110 Communication unit 111 Message reception unit 112 Message transmission unit 113 Response reception unit 114 Sensor data reception unit 130 User D / B 150 Distribution control unit 151 Metadata analysis unit 152 Destination determination unit 153 Participation request transmission control unit 154 Response notification unit 155 Group generation unit 156 Conversation control unit 200 User terminal 300 Headset 310 Microphone 320 Speaker 350 Operation buttons