Two-way interactive system, terminal equipment and image pickup apparatus having mechanism for matching lines of sight between interlocutors through transmission means

Abstract

A two-way interactive system that includes an apparatus for matching the line of sight of interlocutors in order to enhance communication through a transmission means when the interlocutors are located in remote areas. Terminal equipment, located at the site of each interlocutor, includes a display unit, a position regulator means and an image pickup apparatus. The display unit includes a monitor that displays an image of a partner interlocutor. The position regulating means regulates the position of the interlocutor with respect to the monitor. The image pickup apparatus includes an image pickup unit which captures an image of the interlocutors and a support means which sets the image pickup unit in a predetermined position between the interlocutor and a monitor of the display unit. More particularly, the image pick up unit is positioned in a line-of-sight matching area defined by the distance from the interlocutor to the monitor and a parallactic angle formed by the lines of sight of the interlocutor to the image of the partner interlocutor and the image pickup unit.

Description

[0001]This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08 / 606,044, filed Feb. 16, 1996 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,197.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The present invention relates to a two-way interactive system having a mechanism for matching lines of sight between interlocutors through a transmission means, and a terminal equipment and an image pickup apparatus constituting the system and, more particularly, to a counseling system which realizes a two-way interactive operation between, e.g., a doctor and a patient or a counselor and a client in remote areas through a transmission means and is mainly oriented to a one-to-one two-way interactive operation, and an apparatus constituting the system.[0004]2. Related Background Art[0005]Conventionally, counseling in the field of education, medical service, psychology, or the like is generally performed between interlocutors directly facing each other while establishing an intimate reliability relationship betw...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0039]At this time, the display unit displays the output volume in the voice/acoustic data processing unit (the volume of the interlocutor, which is output to the partner side). An unexperienced person cannot determine the voice volume when the person talks to another person on the screen without having a microphone in sight. Therefore, a smoother interactive operation can be realized by adjusting the volume of talk. In addition, when the output volume of the interlocutor is displayed on the monitor screen to cause the interlocutor to recognize the volume, the volume can be fed back to the interlocutor, so that the interlocutor can determine whether the output volume is appropriate for transmission.

[0040]A voice/acoustic output control unit for controlling the voice output unit has a function of outputting a background music (BGM) and detecting the interactive operation volu

Problems solved by technology

Inevitably, a large space is required to accommodate such a large mirror.

Particularly, it is difficult to manufacture an apparatus with a screen size of 40 inches or more.

In addition, since a half mirror is used, an image picked up by the image pickup apparatus arranged at a position offset from the screen where an interlocutor's image is displayed is darkened, so no ideal counseling environment can be realized.

The second prior art using a special display apparatus for selecting reflection/transmission of light cannot be incorporated in a commercially available mass-produced TV set.

For this reason, to realize a system using this principle, a dedicat

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