Information processing system, information processing device, information processing device control method and program

Abstract

An information processing device is provided, which is connected to a peripheral device provided with a sound input component that outputs a sound signal representing surrounding sounds, wherein when sound input is required in processing of a predetermined application, the information processing device performs control to receive the sound signal received from the peripheral device and provide only the sound signal to the processing of the predetermined application in a state in which the sound signal received from the peripheral device is cut off.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing system, an information processing device, a control method of an information processing device, and a program. Background Art

[0002] Some of the peripheral devices connected to an information processing apparatus (such as a portable phone, a tablet terminal, a personal computer, or a home game console) include a sound input device (such as a microphone) and output a sound signal obtained by sound collection of the sound input device to the information processing apparatus. Summary of the invention

[0003] [Technical issues]

[0004] However, in a case where it is difficult to input a sound signal or in a case where it is not expected to input a sound signal (for example, in the middle of the night and in a case where a voice is hesitant to be uttered or under similar conditions), it is preferable to perform a muting process so that processing of the sound signal is not performed.

[0005] However, if the mute process just described is performed, the input of the sound signal is cut off even when the application side requires the input of the sound signal, thereby reducing convenience. On the other hand, in this case just described, the sound signal is output only for the application that requires the input of the sound signal.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and one of the objects of the present invention is to provide an information processing system, an information processing device, a control method of an information processing device, and a program by which the convenience of silent control can be improved.

[0007] [Solution to the problem]

[0008] According to one aspect of the present invention that solves the problems of the above-mentioned prior art, there is provided an information processing system including a peripheral device and an information processing device. The peripheral device includes a sound input component for outputting a sound signal representing surrounding sounds, and the information processing device includes a component for receiving the sound signal output from the peripheral device and a mute control component for cutting off the sound signal received from the peripheral device. In a case where sound input is required in the processing of a predetermined application, the mute control component is caused to receive the sound signal received from the peripheral device in a state where the sound signal received from the peripheral device is cut off by the mute control component, so that the sound signal is used only in the processing of the predetermined application.

[0009] [Advantageous Effects of the Invention]

[0010] The present invention can improve the convenience of silent control. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] Figure 1 is a block diagram depicting a configuration example of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0012] Figure 2 is a block diagram depicting a configuration example of a sound input control unit of an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0013] Figure 3 is a functional block diagram depicting an example of a control unit of an information processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0014] Figure 4 Explanatory views depicting an operation example of the information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention are depicted. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] The embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawings. An information processing system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention is configured as follows Figure 1 , and includes an information processing device 10 such as a home game console or a personal computer (PC) and a controller 20. Here, a plurality of controllers 20 may be included. In addition, the information processing system 1 may further include a peripheral device including a sound input device, such as a chat controller 30, a headset 40, or a head-mounted display 50, which may be connected to the information processing device 10.

[0016] like Figure 1 As illustrated in FIG. 1 , the information processing device 10 includes a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, an operation control unit 13, an output control unit 14, a sound input control unit 15, and a communication unit 16. In addition, the controller 20 includes an operation unit 21, a microphone 22, a communication unit 23, a display unit 24, and a sound output unit 25. In addition, the chat controller 30 includes an operation unit 31, a microphone 32, a communication unit 33, and a display unit 34.

[0017] Control unit 11 of information processing apparatus 10 is a program controlled device such as a central processing unit (CPU) and operates according to a program stored in storage unit 12. In the present embodiment, control unit 11 is assumed to execute a plurality of application programs in parallel (performing a process generally called a multitasking process).

[0018] In particular, in the case where the information processing device 10 is a home game console, the control unit 11 executes various application programs, such as a game application and a chat application for transmitting sound signals via a network. In addition, the control unit 11 executes a system program, and as a process of the system program, performs a process for authenticating a user who uses a relevant device (such as the controller 20 or the headset 40) for each device, associates information for specifying a user (e.g., a user name) with each information for specifying a device (such as the controller 20) and stores the associated information.

[0019] Then, if the control unit 11 receives input of operation information together with information for specifying the controller 20 from the operation control unit 13, the control unit 11 selects an application that becomes an output destination of the operation information from among the applications being executed. Here, it is sufficient that the condition for selecting the output destination is predetermined in the following manner: For example, when a game application is run, the game application is selected in principle and predetermined operation information is processed by the system abnormally and selection is performed according to the condition.

[0020] As a process of an application or system of an output destination of the operation information, the control unit 11 performs a process using information for specifying the controller 20 and the operation information input from the operation control unit 13. In addition, when a plurality of pieces of sound information received individually from a plurality of devices are to be mixed, the control unit 11 determines a mixed volume of each sound signal. The operation of the control unit 11 will be described later.

[0021] The storage unit 12 is a memory device, a hard disk drive, or the like and stores programs to be executed by the control unit 11. In addition, the storage unit 12 also operates as a working memory of the control unit 11.

[0022] The operation control unit 13 is connected to the controller 20 via wireless or wired communication for communication, and receives operation information representing the essence of the operation performed by the user using the controller 20 from the controller 20, so as to output the received operation information together with information for specifying the controller 20 as the transmission source of the operation information to the control unit 11.

[0023] In addition, in the present embodiment, the operation control unit 13 sends a display control signal or the like to the controller 20 indicated by the instruction according to the instruction input from the control unit 11 .

[0024] The output control unit 14 is connected to a display device such as a home television, a monitor, or a head mounted display 50, and outputs signals such as sound, video, etc. to the display device according to the instruction input from the control unit 11. In addition, the output control unit 14 can output video and sound signals to different devices from each other. For example, the video can be output to the monitor, and the sound signal can be output to the controller 20 or the headphone 40.

[0025] The sound input control unit 15 receives a sound signal from peripheral devices including a sound input device such as the controller 20, the chat controller 30, the headset 40, and the head mounted display 50. Figure 2 As illustrated in the figure, the sound input control unit 15 includes a mixer unit 151, a mute unit 152, a switch unit 153 and an output unit 154, and synthesizes the sound signals input from devices other than a predetermined device (for example, other than the chat controller 30) among the received sound signals through the mixer unit 151.

[0026] Specifically, the mixer unit 151 performs synthesis by determining the volume of each sound signal received from each device such as the controller 20, the headphone 40, and the head mounted display 50 and synthesizing the sound signals received from each device having the determined volume. In a certain example of the present embodiment, the mixer unit 151 determines the volume of the sound signal received from each device according to an instruction input from the control unit 11.

[0027] In addition, for example, in the case where the control unit 11 sets the volume of the sound signal from the headphone 40 to "255" and sets the volume of other sound signals to "0", the mixer unit 151 also functions as a selection component. In this example, the mixer unit 151 selectively outputs the sound signal only from the headphone 40. In addition, in this case, even if there is a sound signal received from the controller 20, the head mounted display 50, etc. other than the headphone 40, such a sound signal is not included in the output of the mixer unit 151.

[0028] In addition, in the example of the present embodiment, a plurality of controllers 20 may be connected to the information processing apparatus 10. Also in this case, the mixer unit 151 determines the volume of the sound signal received from each controller 20 according to the instruction input from the control unit 11. For example, in the case where an instruction is input from the control unit 11 to set the volume of the sound signal received from the controller 20a used by the user A to "255" and the volume of the sound signal received from the controllers 20b and 20c used by the other users B and C to "0", the mixer unit 151 selectively outputs the sound signal received from the controller 20a.

[0029] The mute unit 152 switches the sound signal output from the mixer unit 151 between outputting it as is or not outputting it (muting) according to an instruction input from the control unit 11. When the control unit 11 outputs an instruction not to mute, the mute unit 152 outputs as is the sound signal output from the mixer unit 151. On the other hand, when the control unit 11 outputs a mute instruction, the mute unit 152 discards (mutes) the sound signal output from the mixer unit 151 without outputting the signal to the switch unit 153.

[0030] The switch unit 153 receives an input of a sound signal from the device that is not input to the mixer unit 151 (such a sound signal is hereinafter referred to as an interruption sound signal; in the example here, a sound signal received from the chat controller 30) from among the sound signals received by the information processing device 10. In addition, when the mute unit 152 outputs a sound signal, the switch unit 153 receives an input of the sound signal. The switch unit 153 selectively outputs one of the sound signal (if any) received from the mute unit 152 and the interruption sound signal (if any) according to an instruction input from the control unit 11.

[0031] The output unit 154 outputs the sound signal output from the switch unit 153 to the control unit 11. In this way, the sound input control unit 15 according to one example of the present embodiment receives a sound signal, a mixed sound signal, or one of selected sound signals from peripheral devices each including a sound input device, and outputs the resulting sound signal for processing in the control unit 11.

[0032] The communication unit 16 is a network interface or the like, and transmits various information through the network according to an instruction input from the control unit 11. In addition, the communication unit 16 outputs information received through the network to the control unit 11.

[0033] The operation unit 21 of the controller 20 includes a button, a joystick, etc., and receives an operation of the user to output operation information representing the essence of the operation performed by the user to the communication unit 23. At the same time, the microphone 22 collects ambient sounds and outputs a digital sound signal representing the collected sounds. In addition, in the present embodiment, the operation unit 21 may be arranged with a button for outputting an instruction to change the mute state to the information processing device 10.

[0034] The communication unit 23 is a wireless communication component such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), and outputs information (operation information) representing the essence of an operation performed by the user on the operation unit 21 to the information processing device 10. In addition, the communication unit 23 outputs a sound signal output from the microphone 22 to the information processing device 10. In addition, the communication unit 23 outputs a display control signal output from the information processing device 10 to the display unit 24. In addition, upon receiving a sound signal from the information processing device 10, the communication unit 23 outputs the received sound signal to the sound output unit 25.

[0035] The display unit 24 includes, for example, a light emitting diode (LED), etc. The display unit 24 receives an input of a display control signal from the communication unit 23 and turns the LED on or off. The sound output unit 25 is a device including a vibrator such as a speaker and generates sound based on a sound signal received from the information processing device 10.

[0036] In addition, the chat controller 30 is a device generally called a push-to-talk device (PTT device) that receives and outputs sound input only when a user gives an instruction about the sound input, and the operation unit 31 of the chat controller 30 includes, for example, buttons. In addition, the microphone 32 collects surrounding sounds and converts them into sound signals and outputs the sound signals.

[0037] The communication unit 33 is a wireless communication component such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), and outputs the sound signal output from the microphone 32 to the information processing device 10 while the user presses the button of the operation unit 31. On the other hand, when the user does not press the button of the operation unit 31, the communication unit 33 discards the sound signal output from the microphone 32 and does not output the sound signal to the information processing device 10. In addition, the communication unit 33 outputs the display control signal output from the information processing device 10 to the display unit 34.

[0038] Display unit 34 includes, for example, LEDs, etc. Display unit 34 receives an input of a display control signal from communication unit 33 and turns the LED on or off. The operation of chat controller 30 will also be described later.

[0039] The headset 40 includes, for example, earphones, a microphone, etc. The headset 40 causes a speaker to generate sound based on a sound signal output from the information processing device 10. In addition, the headset 40 sends the sound signal collected by the microphone to the information processing device 10.

[0040] The head mounted display 50 includes a display, a speaker, and a microphone. The head mounted display 50 receives the video signal and the sound signal output from the information processing device 10 to display an image on the display and to generate sound through the speaker. In addition, the head mounted display 50 sends the sound signal collected by the microphone to the information processing device 10.

[0041] Here, the operation of the control unit 11 of the information processing device 10 is described. In this embodiment, the control unit 11 functionally includes a sound input processing unit 111, a mute processing unit 112, an interrupt processing unit 113, and a display processing unit 114. Figure 3 The processing of the system is illustrated in FIG.

[0042] Note that, in the following description of the present embodiment, it is assumed that the control unit 11 preliminarily determines one of the devices connected to the information processing apparatus 10 and including a sound input device as an interruption device.

[0043] The sound input processing unit 111 performs the following processing on the target device as a device including the sound input device (in the case of determining the interrupt device, the interrupt device is excluded from the target device). The sound input processing unit 111 determines the mixed volume for each target device connected to the information processing device 10 according to a predetermined rule. This predetermined rule can be, for example, such as described below. In particular, the control unit 11 predetermines the priority order of the target devices, and sets the mixed volume of the sound signal received from the target device with the highest priority order among the target devices connected thereto to a value that is predetermined and greater than 0 (excluding 0). For this value, for example, the highest value can be set, or different values ​​that differ according to the type of the target device can be set for each target device; in the following description, a value greater than 0 is referred to as an output value. In addition, the mixed volume of the sound signal received from the target device other than the target device with the highest priority order among the connected devices is set to the lowest value. It is sufficient that this lowest value is a value representing, for example, a volume of "0". This lowest value is hereinafter referred to as a "cutoff value".

[0044] It should be noted that the rules and volume settings here are just examples, and various other methods are available. For example, the control unit 11 can set the volume of the mixture of sound signals received from the selected target device to a predetermined output value for the target device selected by the user, and set the volume of the mixture of sound signals received from any other target device to a cutoff value.

[0045] In addition, considering a case where a plurality of users use the information processing device 10, the rule may be such as described below. Specifically,

[0046] (1) In principle, a target device is selected for each user;

[0047] (2) in a case where the target device selected for each user is a target device predetermined to include a sound input device that is unlikely to collect sounds other than the voice of the relevant user, the mixed volume of the relevant target device is set as the output value;

[0048] (3) in a case where the target device selected for each user is not a target device that is predetermined as a device including a sound input device that is less likely to collect sounds other than the voice of the relevant user (for convenience of description, such a target device just described is referred to as a wide-range sound collecting device), one user is selected from among users whose selected target devices are the wide-range sound collecting devices, and the volume of the mixture of the target devices selected for the selected user is set as the output value; and

[0049] (4) The volume of the mixture of the target device whose volume in the mixture is not set to the output value in (2) and (3) is set to the cutoff value.

[0050] According to this example, for a user who uses the headphone 40 or a similar device in which the directivity of a microphone is relatively high as a sound input device, the sound signal collected by the headphone 40 is caused to be used in the processing as an application. On the other hand, for a user who uses the controller 20 as a wide-range sound collecting device in which the directivity of a microphone is relatively low as a sound input device, the sound signal collected by only the controller 20 operated by one of the users who uses the controller 20 as the sound input device is caused to be used in the processing as an application.

[0051] It should be noted that in both cases, when a user using a wide-range sound collecting device operates the controller 20 to issue a request for an input sound signal, the mixed volume of the wide-range sound collecting device (such as the user's controller 20) is set to an output value, and the mixed volume of any other wide-range sound collecting device is set to a cutoff value.

[0052] The mute processing unit 112 retains mute state information representing the current mute state. This mute state information is initially set to a predetermined state (for example, set to a state of canceling the mute (non-mute state)). Then, when operation information indicating that the mute state is to be switched is received as operation information received from the controller 20 operated by the user (in short, when a mute instruction from the user is received), the mute processing unit 112 switches the mute state information. In short, when the mute state information indicates canceling the mute state, the mute processing unit 112 that receives this operation information sets the mute state information to state information indicating a muted state. On the other hand, when the mute state information indicates a muted state, the mute processing unit 112 that receives this operation information sets the mute state information to state information indicating canceling the mute state. Then, when the mute processing unit 112 sets the mute state information to state information indicating a muted state, it outputs a mute instruction to the sound input control unit 15.

[0053] The interrupt processing unit 113 may output an instruction to select a sound signal received from the interrupt device according to an instruction (e.g., an instruction to request selection) input from a predetermined interrupt device to the sound input control unit 15. In addition, if an instruction to cancel the selection is received from the interrupt device, the control unit 113 outputs an instruction to select a sound signal received from any device other than the interrupt device to the sound input control unit 15.

[0054] The display processing unit 114 outputs a display control signal to the device to indicate the input state of the sound signal in response to the instructions output from the sound input processing unit 111, the mute processing unit 112, and the interrupt processing unit 113. A specific example of this display control signal is described later.

[0055] [Example of operation]

[0056] The information processing system 1 of the present embodiment basically includes such a configuration as described above and operates in the following manner. Next, an example will be described in which three users A, B, and C play a game sharing one information processing device 10 ( Figure 4 (a) in the figure.

[0057] At this time, it is assumed that users A, B, and C operate by holding controllers 20a, 20b, and 20c, respectively. In particular, the information processing device 10 initially authenticates the user operating the controller 20 and records the information specifying the authenticated user in association with the information specifying the controller. In addition, it is assumed that the chat controller 30 as an interruption device is connected to the information processing device 10.

[0058] At this time, it is assumed that the information processing device 10 complies with the following rules as predetermined rules.

[0059] (1) In principle, a target device is selected for each user;

[0060] (2) In the case where the target device selected for each user is a target device predetermined to include a sound input device that is unlikely to collect sounds other than the voice of the relevant user, the mixed volume of the relevant target device is set as the output value ( Figure 4 255 in );

[0061] (3) in a case where the target device selected for each user is not a target device that is predetermined as a device including a sound input device that is less likely to collect sounds other than the voice of the relevant user (for convenience of description, such a target device just described is referred to as a wide-range sound collecting device), one user is selected from among users whose selected target devices are the wide-range sound collecting devices, and the volume of the mixture of the target devices selected for the selected user is set as the output value; and

[0062] (4) The volume of the mixture of the target device whose volume in the mixture is not set to the output value in (2) and (3) is set to the cutoff value.

[0063] Therefore, the controllers 20a, 20b, and 20c connected to the information processing device 10 are set as target devices, and the information processing device 10 determines the volume of the mixture for each target device according to a predetermined rule. Here, it is assumed that the controller 20 is a wide-range sound collection device. In this example, based on the above-mentioned predetermined rule, the information processing device 10, for example, sets the volume of the mixture of the controller 20 connected first (assuming that this is the controller 20a of user A) to the output value, and sets the volume of the mixture of the sound signals output from any other target device to the cutoff value.

[0064] Therefore, in the information processing device 10 , the sound signal collected by the controller 20 a used by the user A and sent to the information processing device 10 is used in the processing of the application.

[0065] For example, if the application is a chat application, the information processing device 10 sends to the chat partner a sound signal that has been collected by the controller 20a and sent to the information processing device 10. On the other hand, the information processing device 10 outputs the sound signal received from the partner to an output destination determined by a predetermined method (for example, the controllers 20a, 20b, and 20c here).

[0066] At this time, the sound signals sent from the controllers 20b and 20c are discarded by the operation of the sound input control unit 15 of the information processing device 10. Therefore, the sounds collected by the controllers 20a, 20b and 20c are prevented from being mixed, thereby avoiding the silencing of voices or the generation of echoes.

[0067] In addition, if the user C wears the headphones 40 and is authenticated as the user of the headphones 40 by the information processing device 10 ( Figure 4 (b)), then using the authentication of the new device as a trigger, the information processing device 10 again sets the controllers 20a, 20b and 20c connected to the information processing device 10 and the headphones 40 used by user C as target devices, and determines the mixed volume of each target device according to the above-mentioned rules.

[0068] Here, assuming that the headset 40 is not a wide-range sound collecting device, the information processing device 10 here first determines the mixed volume of the headset 40 as the output value for the user C based on the above-mentioned predetermined rule. On the other hand, for other users A and B, the information processing device 10, for example, first determines the mixed volume of the connected controller 20 (here, the controller 20a of user A) as the output value, and determines the mixed volume of the sound signal received from any other target device (the controller 20b of user B) as the cutoff value.

[0069] At this time, the sound uttered by user C is collected by the headphone 40. Then, the sound signal collected by the controller 20a used by user A and sent to the information processing device 10 and the sound signal sent from the headphone 40 are mixed and used in the processing of the application.

[0070] At this time, the sound signals sent from the controllers 20b and 20c are discarded by the operation of the sound input control unit 15 of the information processing device 10. Therefore, the sounds collected by the controllers 20a, 20b, and 20c are prevented from being mixed, thereby avoiding the silencing of the voice or the generation of the echo. It should be noted that since the headset 40 has a relatively high directivity, the voice of the user A included in the sound signal output from the headset 40 is sufficiently small. Therefore, even if the sound signal obtained by the sound collection of the headset 40 is mixed with the sound signal sent from the controller 20a, the sound signals are prevented from being mixed, thereby avoiding the silencing of the voice or the generation of the echo.

[0071] In addition, if the user B operates the controller 20b here to perform an operation for requesting an input sound signal, information representing the substance of the operation is transmitted to the information processing device 10. The information processing device 10 receives the request, and maintains the mixed volume of the headphone 40 at the output value for the user C. In addition, the information processing device 10 sets the mixed volume of the controller 20b that has requested the input sound signal to the output value, and sets the mixed volume of the sound signal received from any other target device (controller 20a of user A) to the cutoff value.

[0072] At this time, the sound signals sent from the controllers 20a and 20c are discarded by the operation of the sound input control unit 15 of the information processing device 10. Therefore, the sounds collected by the controllers 20a, 20b and 20c are prevented from being mixed, thereby avoiding the silencing of voices or the generation of echoes.

[0073] In addition, the information processing device 10 that executes the processing of the chat application outputs a sound signal received from the chat partner to each controller 20 so that the sound is generated by the controller 20 .

[0074] [Silence]

[0075] In addition, in the example of the present embodiment, if one of the users operates its controller 20 to make an instruction to switch the silent state and the control unit 11 determines that the silent state is established (if the silent state information is set to the muted state), then the sound signal from each device including the sound input device (except the interruption device) is muted. In short, in the example of the present embodiment, if a silent instruction is issued from any one of the controllers 20, etc., each sound input is cut off.

[0076] Specifically, if one of users A, B, and C operates controller 20 operated by the user himself to issue an instruction to switch mute, operation information indicating that an operation based on the instruction to switch mute has been performed is sent to information processing apparatus 10.

[0077] The information processing device 10 receives operation information for switching the mute state from the controller 20 and switches the mute state information (information indicating whether to perform mute) at the time point of receiving the operation information. In particular, when the mute state information at this time point indicates canceling the mute state, the information processing device 10 that has received this operation information sets the mute state information to information indicating a muted state and outputs a mute instruction to the sound input control unit 15.

[0078] On the other hand, when the mute status information at this point in time indicates a muted state, the mute processing unit 112 that has received this operation information sets the mute status information to status information indicating a canceled mute state, and outputs an unmute instruction (cancel mute instruction) to the sound input control unit 15.

[0079] Then, when a mute instruction is output, in the sound input control unit 15, in any volume setting in which the mixer unit 151 mixes the sound signals sent from the various devices, the mute unit 152 performs control so that the sound signal output from the mixer unit 151 is not output (muted).

[0080] When an instruction not to mute is output, the mute unit 152 outputs the sound signal output from the mixer unit 151 as it is.

[0081] Therefore, by one operation of the user, switching of the mute is performed collectively, thereby not requiring the labor of setting the mute for each device and improving the operability of the mute.

[0082] In addition, depending on the nature of the mute switching instruction (for example, in the case where the button for the mute switching instruction is long pressed, etc.), the control unit 11 can perform such control as not to output a sound signal (all muting) as a process of the output control unit 14. Thereby, the sound output from the TV, the headphones, and the controller 20 is also stopped.

[0083] [Muting the peripheral devices including the sound input device]

[0084] Here, in a case where it is possible for a peripheral device side (such as a controller 20) including a sound input device to control whether to send a sound signal, when a user operates his controller 20 to issue an instruction to switch to a mute state and thereby perform mute, the information processing device 10 can instruct the above-mentioned peripheral device to stop sending a sound signal.

[0085] In the case where mute control (control for stopping sending out sound signals) is performed by the peripheral device side in this manner, when the information processing device 10 wants to (temporarily) establish a non-mute state, as in the example described below, it instructs the peripheral device that temporarily inputs the sound signal to resume sending out the sound signal.

[0086] [Output mode]

[0087] In addition, in the present embodiment, the control unit 11 receiving the input of the sound signal from the sound input control unit 15 generally performs such control that the input sound signal can be used by any application being executed by the control unit 11. Hereinafter, for the convenience of description, the operation mode in which the control unit 11 performs such control just described is referred to as a sharing mode. However, in a certain example of the present embodiment, it is sometimes preferred that the input sound signal is used only by a specific application.

[0088] In addition, if the muted state is valid even if the application requires the sound input, the sound input is disabled. Therefore, a state in which the muting can be canceled can be temporarily established in response to a request from the application side. At this time, the information processing device 10 outputs only the sound signal input in the temporarily canceled muted state to the application that has issued the canceled muting request.

[0089] Therefore, if sound input becomes necessary in the processing of one application, the control unit 11 outputs a display indicating that sound input is requested to a monitor or the like, and temporarily retains information specifying the application (which may be an application name).

[0090] Here, if the user performs a predetermined operation to cancel the mute (operation to switch the mute state) through his controller 20, the control unit 11 detects that the operation has been performed and controls the mixer unit 151 of the sound input control unit 15 so that the mixed volume of the controller 20 for which the operation has been performed is set to the output value (e.g., the maximum value) (for other controllers 20, etc., the mixed volume is set to the cutoff value). It is to be noted that when the unmute operation is performed on multiple controllers 20, the mixed volume may be set to the output value (e.g., the maximum value) only for the controller 20 for which the unmute operation was performed earliest.

[0091] Then, the control unit 11 uses the sound signal that has been received from the controller 20 for a period of time until the user subsequently performs a mute operation (an operation to switch the mute state) through his controller 20 or until a predetermined period of time has passed, for processing the application specified by the previously temporarily retained information (temporarily canceling the mute state). This sound signal is set to be unavailable for any application other than the application specified by the information. For ease of description, the operation mode of the control unit 11 when this setting is performed is referred to as an exclusive mode.

[0092] Such control of the exclusive mode just described is similar to the operation of a well-known operating system that uses input information in processing of only a specific application, and therefore a detailed description is omitted here.

[0093] [Control the mute state by running and ending the application]

[0094] In a further example, when an application requiring sound input is running, a state in which muting can be canceled can be established in response to a request from the application side. At this time, the information processing device 10 outputs only the sound signal input in the muted state to the application.

[0095] In addition, in this case, when the user performs an operation for ending the application, the information processing device 10 returns to the operation of controlling the mute unit 152 based on the mute state information. In this example, when an application requiring sound input is operated, even if a mute instruction is issued, it is possible to output only sound information to the application.

[0096] [Relationship between applications and peripheral devices]

[0097] Additionally, the sound signal from the interrupt device (in this example, chat controller 30) may be used only by specific applications.

[0098] In particular, the information processing device 10 receives in advance a setting that associates information specifying an interruption device and information specifying an application that uses a sound signal received from the interruption device. In short, in this example, a device recorded in the setting and including a sound input device is identified as an interruption device.

[0099] If the user operates the interruption device (chat controller 30) to perform input of a sound signal (for example, if input of a sound signal is performed in a state where a button included in operation unit 31 of chat controller 30 is pressed), then chat controller 30 transmits the sound signal to information processing device 10. In addition, at this time, chat controller 30 transmits information for specifying chat controller 30 itself (information for specifying the interruption device) to information processing device 10.

[0100] The sound input control unit 15 of the information processing device 10 receiving the sound signal from the chat controller 30 does not input this sound signal (which becomes an interruption sound signal) to the mixer unit 151 but inputs the sound signal to the switch unit 153, and the control unit 11 instructs the switch unit 153 and the output unit 154 to output the interruption sound signal to the control unit 11. Here, since the switch unit 153 is arranged on the output unit 154 side relative to the mute unit 152, the interruption sound signal is output to the control unit 11 even if the mute unit 152 is in the mute state.

[0101] The control unit 11 refers to the information transmitted thereto together with the sound signal and specifying the interruption device to find out the information specifying the application associated with the information. Then, the control unit 11 runs the application specified by the found information and causes the application to process the received interrupted sound signal. At this time, the control unit 11 performs control to prohibit any other application from accessing the received interrupted sound signal. Such a process and control can be implemented by various processes of well-known system software, so a detailed description thereof is omitted here.

[0102] According to this example of the present embodiment, the sound signal input when the button of the operation unit 31 is pressed is transmitted from the chat controller 30 to the information processing device 10 as an interrupted sound signal, and the information processing device 10 runs an application (e.g., a chat application) pre-set in association with the chat controller 30 and causes the interrupted sound signal to be processed by the application.

[0103] [Display of mute status, etc.]

[0104] Now, an example of the display control signal of the display processing unit 114 is described. In one example of the present embodiment, the control unit 114 outputs

[0105] (1) a display control signal for turning off the LED of the display unit 24 in a non-mute state (in a state in which the mute state information indicates that the mute state is canceled),

[0106] (2) a display control signal for turning on the LED of the display unit 24 in the mute state (in the state where the mute state information indicates the muted state), and

[0107] (3) A display control signal for blinking the LED of the display unit 24 in the full mute state (in a state in which the mute state information indicates that the mute state is canceled and the information processing device 10 performs control so that the information processing device 10 itself does not output a sound signal).

[0108] Accordingly, since a display control signal representing the mute / unmute state is output from the information processing device 10 and the controller 20 etc. changes the display of the display unit 24 (to off, on or flashing) according to the display control signal to clearly indicate that the mute state is valid, the user can easily identify whether the state in which sound may be input is valid.

[0109] In addition, in this embodiment, the control unit 11

[0110] (4) A display control signal that flashes the LED of the display unit 24 in a pattern that can be distinguished from flashing in a fully silent state may be output to the device whose mixed volume is set to the cutoff value.

[0111] Here, the pattern that can distinguish the flashing from the flashing in the full silent state can be to make the flashing cycle longer than in the full silent state. Accordingly, the situation that the sound input cannot be performed by the controller 20 owned by the user himself can be clearly indicated as the situation that a different person is performing the sound input.

[0112] In addition, although the LED of the display unit 24 is controlled here, the display unit 24 may be formed as, for example, a liquid crystal display unit so that the color of the backlight of the liquid crystal display unit is changed or the display content is changed to notify the user of the status.

[0113] [reference numerals list]

[0114] 1: Information Processing System

[0115] 10: Information processing device

[0116] 11: Control unit

[0117] 12: Storage unit

[0118] 13: Operation control unit

[0119] 14: Output control unit

[0120] 15: Sound input control unit

[0121] 16: Communication unit

[0122] 20: Controller

[0123] 21: Operation unit

[0124] 22: Microphone

[0125] 23: Communication unit

[0126] 24: Display unit

[0127] 25: Sound output unit 30: Chat controller 31: Operation unit 32: Microphone

[0128] 33: communication unit 34: display unit 40: headphone 50: head mounted display 111: sound input processing unit 112: mute processing unit 113: interrupt processing unit 114: display processing unit 151: mixer unit 152: mute unit 153: switch unit 154: output unit.

Claims

1. An information processing device connected to a peripheral device, the peripheral device including a sound input component for outputting a sound signal representing surrounding sound, comprising: means for receiving a sound signal output from said peripheral device; as well as A mute control component, used to cut off the sound signal received from the peripheral device, wherein: In a case where sound input is required in the processing of a predetermined application, in a state where the sound signal received from the peripheral device is cut off by the mute control component, control is performed so that the mute control component receives the sound signal received from the peripheral device and the sound signal is used only in the processing of the predetermined application.

2. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein: When a sound signal is received from a peripheral device predetermined as an interruption device, the sound signal is controlled to be used in the processing of the predetermined application regardless of whether the sound signal is cut off by the mute control section.

3. The information processing device according to claim 2, wherein The predetermined application is an application that is preset in association with the information specifying the interruption device.

4. The information processing device according to claim 3, wherein The application preset in association with the information specifying the interruption means is a chat application.

5. An information processing system comprising a peripheral device and an information processing device, wherein The peripheral device includes a sound input component for outputting a sound signal representing surrounding sound, The information processing device comprises: means for receiving a sound signal output from said peripheral device; as well as a mute control component for cutting off the sound signal received from the peripheral device, and In a case where sound input is required in the processing of a predetermined application, in a state where the sound signal received from the peripheral device is cut off by the mute control component, control is performed so that the mute control component receives the sound signal received from the peripheral device and the sound signal is used only in the processing of the predetermined application.

6. A control method for an information processing device connected to a peripheral device, the peripheral device including a sound input part for outputting a sound signal representing surrounding sound, comprising: a step of receiving, by means for receiving a sound signal, a sound signal output from the peripheral device; The step of cutting off the sound signal received from the peripheral device by a mute control component; as well as The control step is performed by the control component, so that when sound input is required in the processing of a predetermined application, the sound signal received from the peripheral device is cut off by the mute control component, and the mute control component receives the sound signal received from the peripheral device and the sound signal is only used in the processing of the predetermined application.

7. A computer program product comprising a computer program, wherein: The computer program implements the steps of the method according to claim 6 when executed by a processor.

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