Information sharing support system, information sharing support device, information sharing support method, and program

Abstract

To improve efficiency of information sharing in a conference.SOLUTION: An information sharing support system receives an input of sentences indicating the details of utterance uttered in a conference, the details of description described in electronic mail, electronic file, or chat data, or combinations of these, determines the types of the sentences input through the input, and outputs a list of specific sentences having a type to be set, of the types, on the basis of a result of determination through the determination.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information sharing support system, an information sharing support device, an information sharing support method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, a method is known in which a conference support system reduces the burden of cumbersome tasks such as time adjustment and manages the progress of a conference so that the chairperson can concentrate on the agenda and proceed with the proceedings appropriately. In this method, the conference support system displays the progress of the conference and controls the display according to the progress of the conference. Specifically, the conference support system first sets the planned proceeding time required for each of a plurality of conference agendas in advance and creates a timetable for the entire conference. Next, the conference support system displays an indicator showing the elapsed time of the conference agenda at any time. Furthermore, the conference support system detects the end of the conference agenda and shifts the indicator to the next conference agenda. Then, when the conference agenda is ended, the conference support system reallocates the remaining planned proceeding time to each remaining conference agenda. In this way, the conference support system automatically adjusts the time so that the conference ends within the planned proceeding time, and the burden of the time adjustment work is reduced. Therefore, the chairperson can concentrate on the agenda and manage the progress of the proceedings appropriately (for example, Patent Document 1, etc.). Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0003] However, in the conventional method, only the time management of each agenda item in the meeting was performed. On the other hand, there was a demand for efficient information sharing in the meeting by visualizing the contents of the meeting.

[0004] An object of one aspect of the present invention is to provide an information sharing support system that can improve the efficiency of information sharing in a meeting or the like. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] In one aspect, an information sharing support system for supporting information sharing, comprising one or more information processing devices, an input unit for inputting one or more sentences indicating the contents of a statement made in a conference, the contents of a statement written in an e-mail, an electronic file, or chat data, or a combination thereof; a judgment unit for judging a type of the sentence input by the input unit; an output unit that outputs a list of specific sentences that fall into a set type among the types based on a result of the determination by the determination unit; Equipped with. Effect of the Invention

[0006] It can make information sharing at meetings etc. more efficient. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of an overall configuration of a conference support system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of an information processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a conference support system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed by the conference support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a setting screen for setting an agenda, a goal, and the like in the conference support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example in which an alert and remaining time are displayed on a screen displayed by the conference support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a process for determining a type of statement content by the conference support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for switching between a summary and a full text in the conference support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] 11 is a flowchart showing an example of a process for switching between a summary and a full text by the conference support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a screen showing a summary displayed by the conference support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a display of a topic generated by the conference support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] 4 is a flowchart showing an example of topic generation by the conference support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 13] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a display of an alert or the like by the conference support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 14] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a list of specific sentences output by the conference support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 15] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a display of a history by the conference support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 16] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a communication diagram displayed by the conference support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 17] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of display of a log in a communication diagram displayed by the conference support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 18] FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a conference support system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 19] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a summary screen displayed by the conference support system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 20]FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of an evaluation screen displayed by the conference support system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 21] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for inputting a subjective evaluation displayed by the conference support system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 22] 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process of performing an evaluation based on a time during which a conference is held by the conference support system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 23] FIG. 13 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of natural language processing using machine learning by a conference support system according to a third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 24] FIG. 13 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of an overall configuration of an information sharing support system according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 25] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of an output by the information sharing support system according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 26] 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing by the information sharing support system according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 27] FIG. 13 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of an overall configuration of an information sharing support system according to another embodiment of the fourth embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0008] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below. In the following description, an example will be given in which information is shared at a conference, and a conference support system, which is an example of an information sharing support system, is used at the conference. Therefore, in the following example, an example will be given in which one or more sentences (hereinafter simply referred to as "sentences") input to the conference support system are only what was said at the conference. A sentence is the smallest unit that indicates complete content when expressing thoughts or feelings in words.

[0009] (First embodiment) (Overall configuration example) 1 is a conceptual diagram for explaining an example of the overall configuration of a conference support system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. For example, as shown in the figure, the conference support system 1 has a server 10, which is an example of an information sharing support device, and one or more terminals 11. The server 10 and each terminal 11 are connected via a network 12. The server 10 and the terminals 11 are information processing devices such as PCs (Personal Computers), and have, for example, the following hardware configuration.

[0010] (Hardware configuration example) FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of an information processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. For example, the server 10 and the terminal 11 have a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 10H1, an I / F (interface) 10H2, and an output device 10H3. The server 10 and the terminal 11 also have an input device 10H4, an HD (Hard Disk) 10H5, and a storage device 10H6. Furthermore, each piece of hardware is connected via a bus 10H7. The server 10 and the multiple terminals 11 may have the same hardware configuration or different hardware configurations. Below, an example in which the server 10 and the multiple terminals 11 have the same hardware configuration will be described using the server 10 as an example.

[0011] The CPU 10H1 is a calculation device that performs calculations to realize various processes and processing of various data, and a control device that controls each piece of hardware, etc. The server 10 may have a plurality of calculation devices or control devices.

[0012] The I / F 10H2 is, for example, a connector and a processing IC (Integrated Circuit), etc. For example, the I / F 10H2 transmits and receives data to and from an external device via a network, etc.

[0013] The output device 10H3 is a display or the like that displays a display screen, a GUI (Graphical User Interface), and the like.

[0014] The input device 10H4 is a touch panel, a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, or a combination of these, for inputting user operations, etc. It is more preferable that the microphone is a so-called directional microphone that can determine the direction of a sound source.

[0015] The HD 10H5 is an example of an auxiliary storage device, which stores programs, files, and data such as various settings used in processing.

[0016] The storage device 10H6 is a so-called memory, etc. That is, programs or data stored in the HD 10H5 are read out to the storage device 10H6.

[0017] (Example of functional configuration) 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a conference support system according to an embodiment of the present invention. For example, the conference support system 1 includes an input unit 1F1, a control unit 1F2, a storage unit 1F3, and an output unit 1F4.

[0018] For example, in the conference support system 1, the input unit 1F1 and the output unit 1F4 are included in the terminal 11 (FIG. 1). The control unit 1F2 and the storage unit 1F3 are included in the server 10 (FIG. 1). Note that each unit shown in the figure may be included in either the terminal 11 or the server 10.

[0019] The input unit 1F1 inputs the contents of statements made in a conference. For example, the input unit 1F1 is realized by the input device 10H4 (FIG. 2) or the like.

[0020] The control unit 1F2 performs control to realize each process. Specifically, the control unit 1F2 has a judgment unit 1F21. As shown in the figure, the control unit 1F2 may also have a decoration unit 1F22, a time management unit 1F23, and a speaker judgment unit 1F24. For example, the control unit 1F2 is realized by the CPU 10H1 (FIG. 2) or the like.

[0021] The storage unit 1F3 stores data that is input in advance. The storage unit 1F3 realizes a database, etc. The storage unit 1F3 also stores the contents of comments. For example, the storage unit 1F3 is realized by the HD 10H5 (FIG. 2) and the storage device 10H6 (FIG. 2), etc.

[0022] The output unit 1F4 displays or prints the meeting contents, and outputs the meeting contents such as minutes, evaluation results, summaries, remarks, judgment results, or a combination of these to the participants of the meeting, etc. For example, the output unit 1F4 is realized by the output device 10H3 (FIG. 2) or the like.

[0023] First, in the conference support system 1, the content of a statement made during a conference by a person who made the statement (hereinafter referred to as the "speaker") or a minutes keeper or the like is input by the input unit 1F1. Specifically, the content of a statement is input in text format, for example, by a keyboard or the like. The content of a statement may be the content that a participant verbally states and then input by a keyboard or the like later. In addition, in an online conference between remote locations using chat or the like, when a participant inputs the content he or she wishes to say by a keyboard, the content of a statement may be the content input in the chat or the like. In other words, the content of a statement is not limited to the content that is verbally stated. In other words, the content of a statement may be the content that is not verbally stated but is input by a keyboard or the like.

[0024] Alternatively, the content of the speech may be input by voice using a microphone, etc. In other words, when the content of the speech is input by voice, the conference support system 1 may perform voice recognition on the input voice and generate text data, etc.

[0025] Furthermore, the content of the remarks may be input by handwriting, for example, on an electronic whiteboard or a tablet terminal. In other words, the meeting support system 1 may convert characters handwritten on an electronic whiteboard or the like into text data or the like using OCR (Optical Character Recognition) or the like and input the converted data.

[0026] Furthermore, the content of a statement is an example of a sentence, and in addition, for example, the content written in an e-mail when sharing information via e-mail or the like may be input to the conference support system via input unit 1F1. In this case, the content is input, for example, as text data describing the content of the e-mail. Note that the sentence is not limited to being input as text data, and may be input as other document data or the like.

[0027] Additionally, data indicating, for example, a daily report or a report may be input to the input unit 1F1. For example, the data such as a daily report input to the input unit 1F1 may be text data indicating the contents of the daily report, data created on a Web application, or data generated by reading a handwritten document using OCR or the like.

[0028] In addition, when the speaker determination unit 1F24 identifies who the speaker is from among the participants, the speaker determination unit 1F24 may use a plurality of directional microphones or the like to link the speaker with the direction in which the source of the sound can be determined to be located, and identify the speaker from among the participants. Alternatively, the speaker determination unit 1F24 may perform voice authentication on the input voice data and identify the speaker based on the authentication result. Alternatively, the speaker determination unit 1F24 may identify the speaker by photographing the speaker with a camera or the like connected to the network 12 (FIG. 1) and performing face authentication using the photographed image.

[0029] Furthermore, information that can identify who made the statement may be input by the input unit 1F1 or the like. Specifically, for example, speaker information is first assigned in advance to each of a plurality of function keys ("F1" to "F12") on the keyboard. Then, when the statement is to be input, the conference support system 1 may add the speaker information to the statement when the function key is pressed. In this way, the statement may be linked to the speaker.

[0030] In addition, when sharing information via e-mail, sender information is added based on data such as the sender and recipient contained in the header of the e-mail.

[0031] Next, the conference support system 1 judges the type of the inputted utterance by the judgment unit 1F21. Specifically, the types of utterances are, for example, "proposal," "question," "answer," "positive opinion," "negative opinion," "neutral opinion," "information," "request," "issue," "action item" (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "AI"), and "decision item." Below, an example of classifying the contents of utterances into such utterance types will be described.

[0032] First, in the conference support system 1, expressions defined in advance for each type of utterance are stored in the storage unit 1F3 in order to determine the type of utterance. Moreover, an expression is a sentence, a phrase, a turn of phrase, etc., and the type of utterance and an expression specific to that type of utterance are stored in association with each other in the storage unit 1F3. Then, when the content of the utterance is input by the input unit 1F1, the determination unit 1F21 determines whether the content of the utterance includes an expression stored in the storage unit 1F3. Next, when the content of the utterance includes an expression stored in the storage unit 1F3, the determination unit 1F21 identifies the corresponding type from among the types of utterance. In this way, the conference support system 1 can determine the type of utterance of the content of the utterance made in the conference.

[0033] The output unit 1F4 also lists the conference contents and outputs them. The output unit 1F4 may also display the comment contents in a decorated manner based on the type of comment determined by the determination unit 1F21. Details of the listing and the like will be described later.

[0034] (Input and output examples) In the conference support system, for example, each terminal displays a screen such as the one shown below and performs each process.

[0035] 4 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed by the conference support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. For example, the screen displayed on each screen of each terminal has a display and a GUI (Graphical User Interface) as shown in the figure. The following description will be given taking the screen shown in the figure as an example.

[0036] In this example, an output unit displays an agenda 301 and the purpose of the meeting, i.e., a goal 302, on the screen. When the agenda 301 and the goal 302 are displayed during the meeting, it is possible to align the participants' recognition and the vector of the discussion. Therefore, the meeting support system can reduce deviations in the meeting. The agenda 301 and the goal 302 are set in advance, for example, before the meeting is held or at the beginning of the meeting, as follows.

[0037] 5 is a diagram showing an example of a setting screen for setting an agenda, goals, etc. in the conference support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. For example, a setting screen as shown in the figure is displayed by the conference support system at the beginning of a conference. After the settings shown below are made on the setting screen, the settings are completed when start button 505 is pressed. In other words, after start button 505 is pressed, the screen shown in FIG. 4 and the like are displayed by the conference support system.

[0038] As shown in the figure, a participant inputs an agenda into an agenda setting text box 501. Furthermore, the participant sets a goal for each agenda input into the agenda setting text box 501. The goal is input, for example, into a goal setting text box 502. In this way, the agenda and goal input into the agenda setting text box 501 and goal setting text box 502 are displayed by the conference support system as agenda 301 and goal 302, as shown in FIG.

[0039] Also, there are cases where a meeting notice or the like is created before a meeting is held. In such cases, the agenda and goal written in the meeting notice may be displayed as agenda 301 and goal 302 by the meeting support system as shown in FIG. 4. When the meeting notice or the like is notified to the participants in advance in this way, the participants can make preparations in advance, making the meeting more efficient. Furthermore, when the meeting notice or the like is notified to the participants in advance, the participants can determine whether or not they need to participate, and can avoid participating in unnecessary meetings.

[0040] Returning to Fig. 4, the current time 306, time allocation 307, progress status 308, etc. are displayed on the screen by the conference support system. The current time 306 is displayed based on a preset time or data indicating the time acquired via a network or the like. Furthermore, the time allocation 307 is displayed based on the scheduled time for each agenda item that is preset. For example, the scheduled time for each agenda item is input in the scheduled time setting text box 503 shown in Fig. 5. Furthermore, the progress status 308 is displayed as a so-called progress bar or the like that indicates the proportion of the time that has elapsed based on the time that has elapsed from the conference start time to the current time 306, as shown in the figure.

[0041] The time management unit 1F23 (FIG. 3) and the output unit 1F4 (FIG. 3) may also display the following. For example, when the scheduled end time of the entire meeting or each agenda item approaches, the meeting support system may display the remaining time or an alert to encourage wrapping up the meeting. For example, in an example using the screen shown in FIG. 4, the meeting support system displays the following:

[0042] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an alert and remaining time displayed on a screen displayed by the conference support system according to an embodiment of the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the remaining time 401 and the alert 402 may be displayed by the conference support system. In the example shown in the figure, the remaining time 401 is an example of a display indicating that the time from the current time to the scheduled end time of the entire conference is "less than 10 minutes". In addition, the alert 402 is an example of a display notifying the participants that the remaining time of the conference is getting short, and therefore that they should conclude the conference, for example. When such a display is made, the participants can easily secure time to conclude the discussion. Therefore, the conference support system can reduce the occurrence of participants becoming too engrossed in the discussion, running out of time, and making the conclusion or action items of the conference unclear.

[0043] The alert and remaining time are not limited to be output in the format shown in the drawing, and may be output, for example, by voice or the like.

[0044] Returning to FIG. 4, the comment content 303 is displayed on the screen. The comment content 303 is decorated based on the judgment result by the judgment unit 1F21 (FIG. 3). For example, as shown in the figure, each comment content is displayed with a display indicating the type of comment, such as "Q:", "A:", "Proposal:", "Opinion (P):", "Opinion (N):", "Information:", "Agenda:" and "AI candidate:", added to the beginning or end of the sentence. The decoration may be any decoration that can distinguish the type of each comment. For example, the decoration may be color coding, character decoration such as italics and bold, font type, addition of characters to the beginning or end of the sentence, or a combination of these. The way of decoration can be set in advance in the conference support system. Specifically, for example, a comment content determined to be a "positive opinion" is set to be displayed in blue and the display of "Opinion (P)" is added to the beginning of the sentence. Additionally, comments that are judged to be "negative opinions" and "issues" are displayed in red, and the indications "Opinion (N)" and "Issues" are added to the beginning of each sentence. In this way, when the type of comment is indicated by decoration, participants can intuitively grasp important points in the meeting, the contents of the discussion, and the trends of the meeting. Note that decoration may be processed by the server 10 (FIG. 1), or may be processed by a browser installed on the terminal 11 (FIG. 1).

[0045] Furthermore, when a speaker is specified, the speaker may be displayed by the conference support system as shown in the figure. In the example shown in the figure, the speaker's name is displayed in parentheses. Note that the speaker may be displayed in a format other than that shown in the figure. Also, a person who is a candidate for a speaker, that is, a participant, is set in advance in a participant setting text box 504 on the setting screen shown in FIG. 5, for example. Also, as shown in FIG. 4, the participant set in the participant setting text box 504 is displayed by the conference support system as in participant display 305.

[0046] In the illustrated example, a function key is set to be associated with each participant displayed in participant display 305. For example, in the illustrated example, when one of the participants, "Sato", speaks, if the function key "F2" is pressed when inputting the content of the speech made by "Sato" in the speech content input text box 304, the inputted content of the speech is associated with "Sato", which is the speaker information. That is, in the illustrated example, when the function key "F2" is pressed when inputting the content of the speech in the speech content input text box 304, the conference support system displays the inputted content of the speech with "(Sato)" added.

[0047] The type of comment is determined, for example, by the process shown below. In the following, an example will be described in which the types of comments are "question", "answer", "suggestion", "issue", and "opinion".

[0048] 7 is a flowchart showing an example of a process for determining the type of remarks by the conference support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. When written content is input in addition to the remarks, the written content is also processed in the same manner.

[0049] In step S01, the conference support system initializes the question flag. Specifically, the conference support system sets the question flag to "FALSE." The question flag is an example of data indicating whether the type of the previously input utterance is a "question." Hereinafter, when the question flag is "FALSE," this indicates that the type of the previously input utterance is a type other than a "question." On the other hand, when the question flag is "TRUE," this indicates that the type of the previously input utterance is a "question."

[0050] In step S02, the conference support system inputs the content of the statement. Specifically, the conference support system inputs the content of the statement by the input unit 1F1 (FIG. 3). That is, in the example shown in FIG. 4, the content of the statement is input as text or the like into the content input text box 304.

[0051] In step S03, the conference support system determines whether the question flag is "TRUE." If the question flag is "TRUE" (YES in step S03), the conference support system proceeds to step S04. On the other hand, if the question flag is not "TRUE," that is, if it is "FALSE" (NO in step S03), the conference support system proceeds to step S05.

[0052] In step S04, the conference support system determines that the type of the utterance content is an "answer". The "answer" is a utterance content that is returned to the utterance content that corresponds to the utterance type of the "question". Therefore, the "answer" is allowed to be expressed freely. In other words, there are cases where an expression that can be determined as an "answer" cannot be set in advance for the "answer". Therefore, as shown in step S03, the conference support system determines whether the immediately preceding utterance content is a "question", that is, whether the type of the utterance content is an "answer" based on the question flag. In other words, if the immediately preceding utterance content is a "question", the conference support system determines that the type of the utterance content of the next utterance content is an "answer". On the other hand, if the immediately preceding utterance content is other than a "question", the conference support system determines that the type of the utterance content of the next utterance content is other than an "answer". In this way, the conference support system classifies the utterance content of the "answer". In addition, in step S04, the conference support system sets the question flag to "FALSE".

[0053] In step S05, the conference support system judges whether the utterance content includes an expression of "question". For example, the conference support system judges the type of the utterance content based on the auxiliary verb portion of the utterance content. Specifically, first, expressions such as "?", "Is it ~?", or "Is it not ~?" are stored in advance in storage unit 1F3 (FIG. 3). Next, the conference support system judges by judgment unit 1F21 (FIG. 3) whether all or part of the utterance content input by input unit 1F1 (FIG. 3) matches the stored expression. That is, the judgment is realized by so-called pattern matching or the like.

[0054] Next, if it is determined in step S05 that the utterance content includes the expression "question" (YES in step S05), the conference support system proceeds to step S06. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S05 that the utterance content does not include the expression "question" (NO in step S05), the conference support system proceeds to step S08.

[0055] In step S06, the conference support system determines that the type of the comment content is a "question."

[0056] In step S07, the conference support system sets the question flag to "TRUE."

[0057] In step S08, it is determined whether the utterance content includes the expression "suggestion." For example, the conference support system determines the type of the utterance content based on the auxiliary verb portion of the utterance content, similar to "question." Specifically, first, expressions such as "should" or "it would be better to do" are stored in advance in storage unit 1F3 (FIG. 3). Next, using determination unit 1F21 (FIG. 3), the conference support system determines whether all or part of the utterance content input by input unit 1F1 (FIG. 3) matches the stored expression.

[0058] Next, if it is determined in step S08 that the content of the statement includes the expression "proposal" (YES in step S08), the conference support system proceeds to step S09. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S08 that the content of the statement does not include the expression "proposal" (NO in step S08), the conference support system proceeds to step S10.

[0059] In step S09, the conference support system determines that the type of the comment content is a "proposal."

[0060] In step S10, it is determined whether the utterance content includes an expression of "issue." For example, the conference support system determines the type of utterance content based on the auxiliary verb portion of the utterance content, similar to "question." Specifically, first, expressions such as "need to do" or "have to do" are stored in advance in storage unit 1F3 (FIG. 3). Next, using determination unit 1F21 (FIG. 3), the conference support system determines whether all or part of the utterance content input by input unit 1F1 (FIG. 3) matches the stored expression.

[0061] Next, if it is determined in step S10 that the utterance content includes the expression "issue" (YES in step S10), the conference support system proceeds to step S11. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S10 that the utterance content does not include the expression "issue" (NO in step S10), the conference support system proceeds to step S12.

[0062] In step S11, the conference support system determines that the type of the comment content is "topic."

[0063] In step S12, the conference support system determines that the type of the comment content is an "opinion."

[0064] As described above, steps S02 to S12 are repeatedly performed for each comment content. By performing such processing, the conference support system can determine the type of comment content.

[0065] The conference support system may also display a summary. For example, when the following operations are performed, the conference support system switches between the summary and the full text.

[0066] 8 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for switching between a summary and a full text by the conference support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The illustrated screen is an example of a screen displayed during a conference. When the summary instruction button BN1, which is shown as "Display extracted important sentences", is pressed, the conference support system switches the screen to display the summary.

[0067] 9 is a flowchart showing an example of a process for switching between a summary and a full text by the conference support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The conference support system performs the process shown in the figure to generate a summary. The types of comments are as follows: "suggestion", "question", "answer", "positive opinion", "negative opinion", "neutral opinion", "information", "request", "issue", "action item", "decision", etc.

[0068] In step S21, the conference support system initializes a summary flag. Specifically, the conference support system sets the summary flag to "FALSE." The summary flag is a flag that switches between extracting important parts of the input remarks and displaying a summary, or displaying the full text showing all remarks. Hereinafter, when the summary flag is "FALSE," the conference support system is set to display the full text. On the other hand, when the summary flag is "TRUE," the conference support system is set to display a summary.

[0069] In step S22, the conference support system accepts pressing of the summary instruction button BN1 (FIG. 8). Each time the summary instruction button BN1 is pressed, the display switches between the full text and the summary.

[0070] In step S23, the conference support system determines whether the summary flag is "TRUE." If it is determined that the summary flag is "TRUE" (YES in step S23), the conference support system proceeds to step S24. On the other hand, if it is determined that the summary flag is not "TRUE," that is, is "FALSE" (NO in step S23), the conference support system proceeds to step S26.

[0071] In step S24, the conference support system displays the entire text. Specifically, for example, a screen shown in Fig. 8 is displayed by the conference support system. That is, in the entire text, the conference support system displays all types of utterance contents among the utterance contents inputted.

[0072] In step S25, the conference support system sets the summary flag to "FALSE."

[0073] In step S26, the conference support system displays the summary. Specifically, for example, the following screen is displayed by the conference support system.

[0074] Fig. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen showing a summary displayed by the conference support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Compared with the screen shown in Fig. 8, the screen shown in Fig. 10 is different in that a summary display ABS is displayed.

[0075] The summary is a result of extracting important utterance contents from among the utterance contents input. Whether or not the utterance contents are important is determined based on whether or not the utterance contents are of a type of utterance contents that is set in advance as important. For example, the summary is a result of extracting utterance contents of utterance types determined as "proposal," "issue," and "action item" from all types of utterance contents input. That is, the summary is a meeting minutes generated by the conference support system extracting utterance contents of a predetermined utterance type from the utterance contents input. Note that the illustrated example is an example in which the utterance contents of the utterance types determined as "issue" and "action item" are extracted by the conference support system from the full text shown in FIG. 8, and a summary is generated. As illustrated, the conference support system displays the utterance contents of the target utterance type and hides the utterance contents of the other utterance types. That is, when the summary shown in FIG. 10 is displayed, the participants can easily create action items. In this way, when the summary is displayed, the participants can review the key points of the conference. Therefore, the conference support system can make the participants organize the issues, action items, or decisions without missing anything. In this way, the conference support system can make the conference more efficient.

[0076] Returning to FIG. 9, in step S27, the conference support system sets the summary flag to "TRUE."

[0077] As described above, steps S22 to S27 are repeatedly performed by the conference support system. By performing such processing, the conference support system can switch between displaying the full text and the summary.

[0078] The conference support system may also generate topics of remarks, etc. A topic is a word that indicates a subject, a topic, or a subject of a plurality of sentences. For example, the conference support system displays the generated topics as follows.

[0079] 11 is a diagram showing an example of display of topics generated by the conference support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the example shown, the conference support system generates topics 1101, and arranges and displays corresponding comment contents 1102 for each topic 1101.

[0080] In many cases, the contents of statements made in a conference are made up of multiple topics 1101. Note that the contents of statements made in a conference may be made up of multiple topics 1101 or may be the same as the topic 1101.

[0081] As shown in the figure, the comment contents 1102 are grouped by topic 1101. The comment contents 1102 grouped by topic are then decorated according to the type of each comment content 1102. The example shown in the figure is an example in which, among the comment contents 1102, the comment contents 1102 of "positive opinions" are arranged on the left side, while the comment contents 1102 of "negative opinions" and "issues" are arranged on the right side. In this way, when the sentences are arranged according to their type, the conference support system can display the contents of the discussion in a way that makes it easy for the user to intuitively grasp them.

[0082] Furthermore, if the utterance content 1102 is long, the conference support system may shorten the sentences of the utterance content 1102. For example, the conference support system may perform so-called sentence compression or the like. That is, the conference support system may convert each utterance content into a simple format by using sentence compression or the like.

[0083] Specifically, the conference support system first performs a syntactic analysis of the utterance content using a syntactic analysis tool or the like. The syntactic analysis then divides the utterance content into multiple elements. The conference support system then assigns an importance level to each element. The conference support system then deletes elements with low importance based on the importance level. In this way, the conference support system can reduce the number of elements in a sentence and shorten the utterance content without destroying the sentence structure.

[0084] The importance is determined, for example, as follows:

[0085] · Nouns, proper nouns, subjects and objects have high importance.

[0086] Elements, adverbs, or attributive clauses that include "etc." or the particle "ya" to indicate examples are of low importance.

[0087] Therefore, the conference support system compresses sentences by deleting attributive clauses, embedded sentences, subordinate clauses, etc., to shorten the content of speech. Sentence compression is, for example, a method disclosed in "Fundamentals of Natural Language Processing" by Manabu Okumura, published by Corona Publishing.

[0088] In this way, when the topics are displayed by the conference support system, the user can easily review the conference. In other words, the conference support system displays the "tasks," "action items," and "decisions" associated with each topic, allowing the user to efficiently summarize the information shared during the conference.

[0089] The conference system is not limited to being used at the end of a conference. For example, the conference system may be used after the conference is over by inputting minutes and the like. In addition, it is preferable that the distance between topics is generated so as to reduce gaps and overlaps, for example, by the methods disclosed in "http: / / ryotakatoh.hatenablog.com / entry / 2015 / 10 / 29 / 015502" and "http: / / tech-sketch.jp / 2015 / 09 / topic-model.html".

[0090] The topic 1101 is generated, for example, as follows.

[0091] 12 is a flowchart showing an example of topic generation by the conference support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. For example, when the process shown in the figure is performed, the conference support system can display a screen as shown in FIG.

[0092] In step S31, the conference support system inputs a sentence. For example, if a conference has already been held using the conference support system, the conference support system is in a state in which the content of a statement made in the conference has been input.

[0093] In step S32, the conference support system estimates topic boundaries. Specifically, since a topic is generated for each group of comment contents, the conference support system first divides the comment contents into groups. Therefore, the conference support system estimates topic boundaries that serve as delimiters for dividing the comment contents into groups. For example, the conference support system estimates topic boundaries so that comment contents with common content or comment contents that can be estimated to be highly related to each other are grouped together.

[0094] Topic boundaries are estimated, for example, in the following four ways:

[0095] First, the first estimation method is an estimation method in which a topic boundary is estimated when a keyword that can be estimated to cause a topic transition is detected. Specifically, keywords that can be estimated to cause a topic transition are "By the way," "By the way," etc. Also, such keywords are sentences that are set in advance in the meeting support system by a user, etc., before the meeting, etc.

[0096] The second estimation method is an estimation method that estimates a topic boundary when "a word indicating a change of dialogue initiative is detected." Specifically, the second estimation method is an estimation method that estimates a topic boundary when words such as "just now," "the other day," or "long ago" appear. Furthermore, such words are sentences that are set in advance in the meeting support system by a user or the like before the meeting, for example.

[0097] The first and second estimation methods are, for example, the methods disclosed in "Detecting Topic Transitions in Information Seeking Chat," http: / / www.cl.cs.titech.ac.jp / _media / publication / 632.pdf.

[0098] Furthermore, the third estimation method is a method in which, when a sentence of the type "question" appears, it is estimated as a topic boundary. In other words, when there is a sentence that is determined to be a "question," the meeting support system estimates it as a topic boundary.

[0099] Furthermore, the fourth estimation method is an estimation method that estimates topic boundaries using "lexical cohesion." In the fourth estimation method, for example, "lexical cohesion" is calculated using a thesaurus or the like. Specifically, a chain consisting of a set of sentences that have a "lexical cohesion" relationship, that is, a so-called "lexical chain," is first detected. Then, in the fourth estimation method, "lexical cohesion" is considered to indicate a meaningful grouping of sentences, and the starting and ending points of the "lexical chain" are estimated to be topic boundaries. For example, the fourth estimation method is a method disclosed in "Text Segmentation Based on Lexical Cohesion," "https: / / ipsj.ixsq.nii.ac.jp / ej / index.php?action=pages_view_main&active_action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=49265&item_no=1&attribute_id=1&file_no=1&page_id=13&block_id=8," and "Fundamentals of Natural Language Processing," by Manabu Okumura, Corona Publishing Co., Ltd.

[0100] In step S33, the conference support system generates topics. That is, in step S33, the conference support system generates each topic for each topic boundary estimated in step S32. Therefore, step S33 is repeated the number of times corresponding to the number of groups separated by the topic boundaries.

[0101] Topics are inferred, for example, by the following three methods:

[0102] The first generation method is a method in which proper nouns or sentences not registered in a dictionary, so-called unknown words, are extracted from sentences grouped by topic boundaries and used as topics.

[0103] In the second generation method, first, nouns, verbs, or adjectives are extracted from the sentences grouped by topic boundaries. Next, in the second generation method, the conjugations of the extracted sentences are restored to their original forms. Then, the sentences that appear frequently are set as topics. In this way, the conference support system can display topics, etc.

[0104] Alternatively, in the third generation method, the topic may be, for example, an important word included in a group separated by a topic boundary. For example, the important word can be identified by a Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency (TF-IDF) method or the like.

[0105] The conference support system then outputs a list of pre-set types of sentences (hereinafter referred to as "specific sentences") from the utterances. First, assume that a conference is held using the conference support system. Next, assume that the conference system is set to perform the following processing when there are specific sentences that are pre-classified as "issues," "action items," or "decisions."

[0106] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the display of an alert or the like by the conference support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. First, assume that a conference is held using the conference support system, and a statement or the like that falls into the category of "issue" is made during the conference. That is, an example in which a specific sentence classified as "issue" is input will be described below. Then, for example, when the conference ends, the conference system outputs a screen as shown in the figure. Note that when the contents of an e-mail are input to the conference support system, the conference system outputs a screen as shown in the figure when the e-mail is received, etc.

[0107] Specifically, as shown in the figure, the conference support system displays an alert 1201. In the example shown in the figure, the alert 1201 is a message displaying utterances that are "issues" among the utterances made in the conference. In other words, the alert 1201 makes it possible to identify utterances tagged with "issues", that is, specific sentences, from among the utterances.

[0108] Note that alert 1201 may be a link that, when pressed, displays minutes or the like corresponding to the displayed comment content. When the user presses alert 1201, which serves as a link, minutes or the like are displayed, allowing the user to know the background of the comment content displayed in alert 1201 or the process leading to a decision. In this way, for example, if the user is a manager, the manager can quickly grasp newly occurring "issues" before a regular report or the like is sent. This allows the manager to sense problems early and quickly follow up on the problems.

[0109] Next, in the illustrated example, when the list button 1202 is pressed, the conference support system outputs a list of sentences of the type "tasks," "action items," or "decisions," for example, as follows:

[0110] Fig. 14 is a diagram showing an example of specific sentences listed and output by the conference support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the example shown, the conference support system extracts utterance contents of the type that become "issues" and "action items", i.e., specific sentences, from the utterance contents and the like, and displays them as a list 1301. For example, the screen shown in Fig. 14 is a screen displayed by the conference support system when the list button 1202 is pressed on the screen in Fig. 13.

[0111] As shown in the figure, in list 1301, among the utterances made in the conference, the utterances of the types "tasks," "action items," and "decisions" are listed in order and displayed. Moreover, the types of sentences to be listed, such as "tasks," "action items," and "decisions" in this example, are preset in the conference support system.

[0112] When each specific sentence is displayed in a list in this manner, for example, if the user is a manager, the manager can view list 1301 and centrally manage issues and the like related to his or her own department.

[0113] As shown in the figure, a link 1302 may be provided for the list 1301. Specifically, when the link 1302 is pressed, for example, details of the scene where the "issue", "action item" and "decision" indicated by the list 1301 occurred, that is, the minutes of a meeting related to a specific sentence, etc. are displayed. This allows the user to understand the details of the process and background of how the "issue", "action item" and "decision" were decided.

[0114] The sentences displayed as list 1301 may be, for example, the result of being limited to sentences related to one's own department. For example, if the participants in the input minutes of a meeting, etc. include people who belong to one's own department, the conference support system determines that the sentences spoken at the meeting relate to one's own department. In addition, in the case of e-mail, if the sender or recipient of the e-mail includes people who belong to one's own department, the conference support system determines that the sentences written in the e-mail relate to one's own department. Furthermore, when sending e-mail, the conference support system can be set as one of the destinations, and when the e-mail is the destination, the conference support system determines that the sentences written in the sent e-mail relate to one's own department.

[0115] Additionally, the conference support system may display the history of the conference and emails as follows.

[0116] Fig. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a display of a history by the conference support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The screen shown in the figure is an example of a screen displayed when, for example, button 1303 is pressed on the screen shown in Fig. 14. When the user wants to refer to the history of a comment content among the listed comment content, the user performs an operation of pressing the corresponding button 1303.

[0117] When button 1303 is pressed, the conference support system extracts utterances related to the listed utterances and displays them in chronological order. Extraction may be by topic, for example. As shown in the figure, "action items" and "decisions" related to the extracted utterances may also be displayed. Items to be displayed, such as "action items" and "decisions" shown in the figure, are set in advance in the conference support system.

[0118] The chronological position of the comment content 1501 is determined by the date and time entered in the minutes, etc. The chronological position of the comment content 1502 entered in an e-mail, etc. is determined by the transmission date and time entered in the SMTP header, etc.

[0119] In this way, when sentences such as the statement content 1501 and the written content 1502 are displayed in chronological order, the user can understand the history of past decision-making, etc. For example, when a new manager is assigned due to a transfer, handover can be easily made, and when a problem occurs, review or cause analysis can be easily performed.

[0120] Furthermore, the conference support system may display a screen that visualizes communication as follows: Hereinafter, a diagram that visualizes communication is referred to as a "communication diagram."

[0121] 16 is a diagram showing an example of a communication diagram displayed by the conference support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the illustrated communication diagram, the amount of communication between users is expressed by the thickness of the lines connecting the users. Note that the communication diagram is displayed by the conference support system when the visualization button 1203 is pressed on the screen shown in FIG. 13, for example.

[0122] First, the conference support system extracts the participants and the conference time from the input minutes, etc. Then, the conference support system calculates the strength of communication between each user (hereinafter referred to as "communication strength") based on the participants, the conference time, etc.

[0123] For example, the communication intensity is a value calculated by adding up the conference time of the conferences in which each user participated together. Alternatively, the conference support system may calculate the communication intensity by weighting the conference time based on the number of participants, for example. Specifically, in a conference with a small number of participants, for example, a one-on-one conference with two participants, there is a high possibility that close communication will take place. Therefore, the conference support system calculates the communication intensity by multiplying the conference time of a conference with a small number of participants by a weighting coefficient that is a large value. In this way, the communication intensity is calculated to be strong between users who spend a long time in a conference with a small number of participants.

[0124] In the case of e-mail, the communication strength is calculated based on the number of times e-mail is sent and received, and on the weighting of whether the recipient is a "Destination" or a "CC (Carbon Copy, broadcast)" recipient.

[0125] Then, the conference support system changes the thickness of the line connecting each user based on the calculated communication strength. For example, in the illustrated example, when the communication strength between "user B" and "user A" is strong, "user B" UB and "user A" UA are connected by a thick line LN1 as illustrated.

[0126] On the other hand, when the communication strength between "User D" UD and "User E" UE is weaker than that between "User B" UB and "User A" UA, "User D" UD and "User E" UE are connected by a line LN2 thinner than the thick line LN1, as shown in the figure. In other words, like the thick line LN1 and the thin line LN2, the conference support system changes the thickness of the line connecting each user based on the communication strength.

[0127] In this way, the conference support system can visualize the density of communication between users. Furthermore, such a communication diagram allows users to understand the strength of connections between users in the workplace. This allows users to understand who the key users are in the organization and who are important users who connect departments.

[0128] In addition, in the communication diagram, as shown in the figure, the conference support system may treat multiple users as "teams," such as "Team A" TA and "Team B" TB. As in the example shown in the figure, the conference support system may display lines connecting users and teams and teams and teams based on communication strength, just like between users.

[0129] Furthermore, when a line is pressed on the communication diagram, the conference support system may display a screen such as the one below.

[0130] Fig. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a display of a log in a communication diagram displayed by the conference support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. For example, when a thick line LN1 or a thin line LN2 in Fig. 16 is pressed, the conference support system displays a record of communication such as minutes of meetings between the users, that is, a so-called log (hereinafter simply referred to as "log 1601"), as shown in Fig. 17. For example, as shown in the figure, the log 1601 shows a list of minutes of meetings attended by the users connected by lines. In addition, when a link indicated by the log 1601 is pressed, the conference support system displays details of the minutes, etc., in the same way as when the link 1302 shown in Fig. 14 is pressed.

[0131] In this way, when the details of each communication are displayed by the log 1601 etc., the user can understand the contents of each communication, etc. Specifically, by the log 1601 etc., the user can understand what kind of reports are being made, or what kind of decisions are being made by users who are liaisons with other departments, etc.

[0132] Second embodiment The second embodiment is an embodiment that is realized, for example, by the same overall configuration and hardware configuration as the first embodiment. Therefore, the description of the overall configuration and hardware configuration will be omitted, and the following description will focus on the differences. The second embodiment has a different functional configuration from the first embodiment.

[0133] Fig. 18 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of the functional configuration of a conference support system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Compared with Fig. 3, the functional configuration illustrated in Fig. 18 is different in that the control unit 1F2 includes a cost calculation unit 1F31 and an evaluation unit 1F32.

[0134] The cost calculation unit 1F31 calculates the cost incurred by holding the conference based on the personnel expenses of the participants.

[0135] The evaluation unit 1F32 evaluates the conference based on the duration of the conference, the number of remarks, the types of remarks, and the ratio of the types of remarks.

[0136] The cost calculation unit 1F31 calculates the cost and the evaluation unit 1F32 evaluates the cost, for example, when a summary button 309, which is a button for "to summary / save screen" shown in Fig. 4, is pressed or when an alert 402 is displayed as shown in Fig. 6. For example, the conference system displays a summary screen as shown below.

[0137] 19 is a diagram showing an example of a summary screen displayed by the conference support system according to an embodiment of the second embodiment of the present invention. In the example of the screen shown in the figure, an agenda display 801 displays an agenda set by the conference support system in the agenda setting text box 501 (FIG. 5) in the opening notice or at the beginning of the conference. Furthermore, in the example of the screen shown in the figure, a goal display 802 displays a goal set by the conference support system in the goal setting text box 502 (FIG. 5) in the opening notice or at the beginning of the conference.

[0138] Based on the contents displayed in the agenda display 801 and the goal display 802, a conclusion to the discussion is entered in a conclusion input text box 803. Based on the contents displayed in the agenda display 801 and the goal display 802, an action item decided in the meeting is entered in an action item input text box 804. A date, i.e., a deadline, may be set for the action item. Additionally, a person in charge may be set for the action item. In addition, in the action item input text box 804, the meeting support system may display remarks that it has determined to be "action items" as candidates for action items.

[0139] Furthermore, the conference support system displays the cost calculation by the cost calculation unit 1F31 (FIG. 18) and the evaluation by the evaluation unit 1F32 (FIG. 18) on an evaluation screen such as the one shown below.

[0140] 20 is a diagram showing an example of an evaluation screen displayed by the conference support system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. For example, the conference support system displays the cost and evaluation result of the conference as a score, amount, etc. as shown in the figure.

[0141] The meeting score 901 is a comprehensive score obtained by adding up the scores of the achievement evaluation score 902 , the meeting time evaluation score 903 , the activity evaluation score 904 , and the positive evaluation score 905 .

[0142] The achievement evaluation score 902 is an evaluation result of whether or not a conclusion has been input for each of the previously set goals for each agenda set in the agenda setting text box 501 (FIG. 5) etc. For example, when four agendas are set in the agenda setting text box 501 (FIG. 5) etc. and two conclusions are input for the four agendas, the conference support system sets the achievement evaluation score 902 to half of the full score.

[0143] The meeting time evaluation score 903 is an evaluation result obtained by comparing the scheduled time set in the meeting notification or the scheduled time setting text box 503 (FIG. 5) with the time the meeting took place. For example, if the time the meeting took place is shorter than the scheduled time, the meeting time evaluation score 903 will be high. On the other hand, if the time the meeting took place is longer than the scheduled time, the meeting time evaluation score 903 will be low.

[0144] The activity evaluation score 904 is an evaluation result based on the number of remarks or the number of remarks per unit time. For example, if the number of remarks or the number of remarks per unit time is large, the activity evaluation score 904 is high. On the other hand, if the number of remarks or the number of remarks per unit time is small, the activity evaluation score 904 is low. For this reason, if the activity evaluation score 904 is low, the meeting may be a place for unnecessary information sharing, or people unrelated to the agenda may be gathered and so-called side work may be taking place. Therefore, the meeting support system can encourage improvements in the management of the meeting by feeding back these possibilities.

[0145] The positivity evaluation score 905 is an evaluation result based on the types of utterances and the proportion of the types of utterances judged by the judgment unit 1F21 (FIG. 18). For example, if the proportion of types of utterances evaluated as "suggestions" is high, the positivity evaluation score 905 will be high. On the other hand, if the proportion of types of utterances evaluated as "suggestions" is low, the positivity evaluation score 905 will be low. For this reason, if the positivity evaluation score 905 is low, there is a possibility that the meeting is one with a lot of criticism and comments, and does not move closer to a conclusion. Therefore, the meeting support system can suggest this possibility and encourage participants to offer constructive opinions toward the goal.

[0146] The conference support system performs the above evaluation using the evaluation unit 1F32 (FIG. 18). Next, the conference support system can provide participants with objective feedback of the evaluation result for the conference by outputting the evaluation result to a screen or the like using the output unit 1F4 (FIG. 18). When feedback is provided in this way, the conference support system can suggest to participants which parts of the conference are likely to be problematic, or make participants aware of the time when the conference took place, etc. This allows the conference support system to have participants reconsider which members to include in the conference or how the conference will proceed.

[0147] The conference support system may display each evaluation result, the number of utterances, the type of utterances, and the like during the conference. For example, in the example shown in Fig. 4, the evaluation results and the like may be displayed as in evaluation display 310. That is, the evaluation results and the like may be displayed in real time during the conference. In this way, the conference support system can, for example, encourage people who do not speak much to speak more.

[0148] Furthermore, the conference support system may weight utterances that are determined to be "issues" and "suggestions" in the evaluation. In this way, the conference support system can encourage participants to make more utterances that are types of "issues" and "suggestions". Therefore, the conference support system can encourage more useful discussions.

[0149] Additionally, the conference support system may display the cost calculation results, etc., on the evaluation screen. For example, the cost is calculated by the cost calculation unit 1F31 (FIG. 18) based on the conference time 906 and the labor costs of each participant, etc. The calculated cost is displayed, for example, as a cost display 907, etc.

[0150] To calculate the cost, first, the labor cost per unit time of the participants is input to the conference support system. The labor cost may be a fixed amount for all participants, or may be set for each position. Alternatively, the labor cost may be set based on actual salary, etc.

[0151] Next, the conference support system measures the time that has elapsed from the conference start time to the conference end time, and displays the measurement result in conference time 906. The conference support system then multiplies the labor cost per unit time of each participant by conference time 906 to calculate the cost of each participant. Next, the conference support system sums up the costs of each participant, and displays the calculation result in cost display 907.

[0152] Furthermore, the evaluation result for each participant may be displayed on the evaluation screen by the conference support system. For example, the evaluation result for each participant may be displayed as a contribution level display 908 or the like.

[0153] The contribution display 908 shows the evaluation result for each participant based on, for example, the type of comment and the number of comment contents judged by the judgment unit 1F21 (FIG. 18). Note that the comment contents are linked to the participant who made each comment by the speaker judgment unit 1F24 shown in FIG. 3, etc.

[0154] The contribution level display 908 is calculated by the conference support system, for example, as follows. First, the participants set weights for the types of comments that are considered important in accordance with the purpose of the conference, such as assigning "1 point" to a "neutral opinion" and "5 points" to "issues" and "suggestions." It is preferable that the conference support system be set so that constructive opinions such as "issues" and "suggestions" are given greater weight. When set in this way, the conference support system can encourage useful discussions toward problem solving.

[0155] Next, the conference support system evaluates each participant by multiplying the result of the judgment by the judgment unit 1F21 (FIG. 18) and the number of comments. The values ​​calculated by this evaluation are the "degree of contribution" and "earned points" shown in the contribution display 908. In this way, when the "degree of contribution" etc. is fed back to the participants by the conference support system, the participants can use the "degree of contribution" etc. to reconsider which members to allow to participate in the conference. Therefore, the conference support system can encourage more useful discussions. Furthermore, the conference support system can reduce the cost of the conference by reducing the number of unnecessary members participating.

[0156] The above-mentioned screens may be shared in real time by the terminals 11 connected to the network 12 shown in Fig. 1. In this way, even if a conference is held in a place without a display, if the participants bring their own terminals 11 such as notebook PCs, they can view the above-mentioned screens and hold the conference.

[0157] Furthermore, the comments and the like may be edited collaboratively from each terminal 11. For example, the server 10 converts the content to be displayed on the screen and the like into, for example, an HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) file and transmits it to each terminal 11. Next, when the comments and the like are input and data indicating the comments and the like is transmitted to the server 10, the server 10 transmits an HTML file reflecting the new comments and the like to each terminal 11.

[0158] The words displayed on the screen may be subjected to a translation process. For example, when a statement or the like is input and data indicating the statement or the like is transmitted to the server 10, the server 10 translates the statement and generates an HTML file indicating the statement before translation and the statement after translation. The server 10 then transmits the HTML file indicating the statement before translation and the statement after translation to each terminal 11. In this way, the conference support system can reduce miscommunication even when participants speak different languages.

[0159] Furthermore, each terminal 11 may perform user authentication. For example, user authentication is performed by inputting a user name into a user name input text box displayed on the screen. Alternatively, user authentication may be performed using an IC card, RFID, or the like. In this manner, similar to the function key assignment shown in FIG. 4, the speaker and the content of the speech may be linked based on the authentication result of the above user authentication and the terminal into which the content of the speech was input. Note that information related to the speaker may be added by coloring, displaying the beginning or end of a sentence, or the like, similar to the first embodiment.

[0160] Furthermore, a subjective evaluation may be input for the content of the speech, and the conference support system may perform an evaluation based on the input subjective evaluation. For example, the subjective evaluation may be input as follows:

[0161] Fig. 21 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for inputting a subjective evaluation displayed by the conference support system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Compared to Fig. 6, the example of the screen shown in the figure is different in that a subjective evaluation button 1001 is added for each of the displayed remarks.

[0162] As shown in the figure, a subjective evaluation button 1001 is displayed for each utterance content. Then, when each participant judges that the utterance content is one that he or she supports, the participant presses the subjective evaluation button 1001 displayed for the utterance content that he or she supports. The subjective evaluation button 1001 may be pressed by the participant in charge of inputting the subjective evaluation, or each participant may press the button based on their own judgment. The subjective evaluation button 1001 may also be a button that is pressed when the participant does not support the utterance. In this way, when the subjective evaluation is input, the conference support system can evaluate whether or not each utterance content is a good utterance based on the subjective opinion of each participant. Then, the conference support system can display the evaluation result based on the subjective evaluation, and encourage the participants to make good utterances that will help achieve the purpose of the conference.

[0163] Furthermore, the conference support system may display the speech content with decoration based on the input from the subjective evaluation button 1001. For example, in the illustrated screen, the conference support system displays the speech content for which the subjective evaluation button 1001 is pressed as a large display 1002. As illustrated, the large display 1002 is an example of decoration in which the font size of the characters indicating the speech content is larger than that of other speech contents. When the speech content is output with decoration in this way, the participants can intuitively know whether that speech content is supported among the speech contents. Furthermore, the conference support system may display the status of approval or disapproval of the speech content, such as who is in favor and who is against a particular opinion, using user information.

[0164] The decoration is realized by, for example, using support and non-support information and modifying the description of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) using a language such as Javascript (registered trademark).

[0165] Furthermore, when displaying summaries, the conference support system may display utterances that are determined to be important based on the input subjective evaluation, in addition to displaying based on the type of utterance. In this way, participants can better understand the process of the discussion leading up to the conclusion. In other words, this allows the conference support system to generate minutes that are effective for reviewing the conference and sharing information.

[0166] Furthermore, the evaluation unit 1F32 (FIG. 18) may evaluate a conference based on the time the conference took place in. For example, the evaluation unit 1F32 (FIG. 18) performs the evaluation as follows.

[0167] FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing an example of a process of performing an evaluation based on the duration of a conference by the conference support system according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[0168] In step S31, the conference support system accepts pressing of an evaluation button. For example, when an evaluation button such as "Rate this conference" shown in FIG. 10 is pressed, the conference support system starts the evaluation. The duration of the conference is assumed to be the time from when the conference started to when the conference ended (hereinafter referred to as "elapsed time"). Furthermore, the scheduled duration of the conference (hereinafter simply referred to as "scheduled duration") is assumed to be input to the conference support system in advance, such as before the evaluation button is pressed.

[0169] In step S32, the conference support system determines whether the elapsed time exceeds the scheduled time by 10% or more. If the conference support system determines that the elapsed time exceeds the scheduled time by 10% or more (YES in step S32), the conference support system proceeds to step S33. On the other hand, if the conference support system determines that the elapsed time does not exceed the scheduled time by 10% or more (NO in step S32), the conference support system proceeds to step S34.

[0170] In step S33, the conference support system sets the evaluation point to "0" points.

[0171] In step S34, the conference support system determines whether the elapsed time exceeds the scheduled time by less than 10%. If the conference support system determines that the elapsed time exceeds the scheduled time by less than 10% (YES in step S34), the conference support system proceeds to step S35. On the other hand, if the conference support system determines that the elapsed time does not exceed the scheduled time by less than 10% (NO in step S34), the conference support system proceeds to step S36.

[0172] In step S35, the conference support system assigns the evaluation score of "5" points.

[0173] In step S36, the conference support system determines whether the elapsed time exceeds the scheduled time by less than 5%. If the conference support system determines that the elapsed time exceeds the scheduled time by less than 5% (YES in step S36), the conference support system proceeds to step S37. On the other hand, if the conference support system determines that the elapsed time does not exceed the scheduled time by less than 5% (NO in step S36), the conference support system proceeds to step S38.

[0174] In step S37, the conference support system assigns the evaluation score of "10" points.

[0175] In step S38, the conference support system determines whether the elapsed time is 10% or more shorter than the scheduled time. If the conference support system determines that the elapsed time is 10% or more shorter than the scheduled time (YES in step S38), the conference support system proceeds to step S39. On the other hand, if the conference support system determines that the elapsed time is not 10% or more shorter than the scheduled time (NO in step S38), the conference support system proceeds to step S40.

[0176] In step S39, the conference support system sets the evaluation point to "25" points.

[0177] In step S40, the conference support system determines whether the elapsed time is 5% or more shorter than the scheduled time. If the conference support system determines that the elapsed time is 5% or more shorter than the scheduled time (YES in step S40), the conference support system proceeds to step S41. On the other hand, if the conference support system determines that the elapsed time is not 5% or more shorter than the scheduled time (NO in step S40), the conference support system proceeds to step S42.

[0178] In step S41, the conference support system sets the evaluation point to "20" points.

[0179] In step S42, the conference support system sets the evaluation point to "15" points.

[0180] For example, as shown in the figure, the conference support system evaluates a case where the elapsed time is shorter than the scheduled time so as to give a higher evaluation point. On the other hand, the conference support system evaluates a case where the elapsed time exceeds the scheduled time so as to give a lower evaluation point. Note that the numerical values ​​of the evaluation point and the judgment criteria are not limited to the values ​​and judgments shown in the figure, and may be changeable by settings, etc. As shown in the figure, the evaluated evaluation point is displayed by the conference support system.

[0181] The conference support system may also display the evaluation results using stars or the like, as shown in FIG. 20. Furthermore, the conference support system may also display comments or the like encouraging behavioral change, as shown in FIG. 20. Furthermore, the conference support system may display the evaluation results relating to time together with other evaluation results, as shown in FIG. 20. When the evaluation results evaluating a conference based on the time the conference was held are displayed in this way, the conference support system can make participants conscious of the time involved in the conference and encourage them to achieve their goals within the time. In this way, the conference support system can make the conference more efficient.

[0182] Third embodiment The third embodiment is an embodiment that is realized, for example, by the same overall configuration, hardware configuration, and functional configuration as the first embodiment. The following mainly describes the differences. The third embodiment is different from the first embodiment in the determination method used by the determination unit 1F21 (FIG. 3).

[0183] In the third embodiment, the conference support system uses a tagged corpus as so-called training data. The conference support system then learns a classifier that performs natural language processing by performing so-called supervised learning, which is a machine learning method. Below, an example will be described in which the tags, i.e., types of comments, are "suggestions," "questions," "answers," "positive opinions," "negative opinions," "neutral opinions," "information," "requests," "issues," "action items," and "decisions."

[0184] The machine learning method is, for example, a support vector machine (SVM), a naive Bayes classifier, decision tree learning, or a conditional random field (CRF). The machine learning method is preferably a support vector machine. A support vector machine can make decisions sequentially, improving real-time performance.

[0185] The classifier judges the type of a utterance based on the characteristics of the utterance content (hereinafter referred to as "features"). Specifically, the features use the bag of words (BoW) of the utterance, parts of speech such as auxiliary verbs, adverbs, adjectives, nouns or auxiliary verbs contained in the utterance content, who the speaker is, and the like. For example, adjectives may indicate positive or negative expressions, etc. Furthermore, nouns may be expressions indicating "action items" and "issues" such as "needs consideration" and "needs a response" in addition to positive or negative expressions, etc. Furthermore, auxiliary verbs, etc. may be expressions indicating hope, obligation, necessity, request, proposal, assertion, conjecture, hearsay, evaluation, etc. at the end of a sentence, etc. Therefore, when the classifier judges the type of utterance based on features, the conference support system can accurately judge the type of utterance.

[0186] The conference support system performs natural language processing using machine learning, for example, according to the method described in "The Fundamentals of Natural Language Processing," by Manabu Okumura, published by Corona Publishing.

[0187] FIG. 23 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of natural language processing using machine learning by the conference support system according to an embodiment of the third embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the conference support system learns a classifier CLF by supervised learning. First, data expressed as a set of feature-value pairs is input to the classifier CLF, and the classifier outputs a class to which the input test data TSD belongs. The class is indicated by a class label CLB. In other words, the class label CLB indicates the result of judging the type of utterance of the utterance content indicated by the test data TSD.

[0188] To train the classifier CLF using a machine learning algorithm, as shown in the figure, the conference support system inputs data and a set of pairs of classes to which the data belongs as training data TRD. Next, when the training data TRD is input, the conference support system trains the classifier CLF using a machine learning algorithm. After training the classifier CLF in this way, when test data TSD is input, the conference support system can output the class to which the test data TSD belongs using the classifier CLF.

[0189] The method of determining the type of speech using the classifier CLF enables the conference support system to determine the type of speech with greater accuracy than methods that use pattern matching, etc. Also, the method of determining the type of speech using the classifier CLF requires less effort, such as updating the pattern matching rules, compared to methods that use pattern matching, etc. In other words, when the method of determining the type of speech using the classifier CLF is used, so-called maintainability can be improved.

[0190] Also, the system may be configured so that the participant can change the class label. In this way, if the class label CLB resulting from the determination by the classifier CLF indicates a class different from the class intended by the participant, the participant can change the class. For example, even if the content of a statement is determined to be an "opinion" by the conference support system, if the participant thinks that it is a "question," the participant performs an operation to change the class label from "opinion" to "question."

[0191] In this way, when a change is made and feedback is provided, the meeting support system can learn the classifier CLF in the same way as when training data TRD is input in machine learning. This makes it possible to train the classifier CLF in the meeting support system with less effort, such as updating data. Therefore, the meeting support system can accurately determine the type of speech.

[0192] Alternatively, the classifier CLF may be trained using information about the person who made the identified utterance as a feature. In this way, the conference support system can determine the type of utterance taking into account the tendency of the person who made the utterance. Therefore, the conference support system can accurately determine the type of utterance.

[0193] Furthermore, the conference assistance system may determine the type of utterance based on the role in the conference of the person who made the utterance. For example, in a conference such as a report session, if the person who made the utterance is a "decision maker," the type of utterance may be determined using information on the "decision maker" as an attribute. In this way, the conference assistance system can determine the type of utterance taking into account the tendencies of the person who made the utterance. Therefore, the conference assistance system can accurately determine the type of utterance. In particular, the conference assistance system can accurately determine types of utterances such as "action items" and "decisions."

[0194] Furthermore, the accuracy of the system often decreases as the number of types of utterances, i.e., the number of labels, increases. Therefore, the meeting support system may classify the types of utterances into groups. For example, a description will be given of an example in which the types of utterances are "suggestions," "questions," "answers," "positive opinions," "negative opinions," "neutral opinions," "information," "requests," "issues," "action items," and "decisions."

[0195] For example, the groups are referred to as "first group" and "second group" as shown below.

[0196] First group: "Suggestions", "Questions", "Answers", "Positive opinions", "Negative opinions", "Neutral opinions", "Information" and "Requests". Group 2: "Action items" and "Decisions" Then, the conference support system determines which of the utterance types in the "first group" the utterance content belongs to. Next, the conference support system determines which of the utterance types in the "second group" the utterance content belongs to. In the configuration shown in Fig. 23, a classifier CLF is prepared for each group.

[0197] For example, if someone says in a meeting, "I want something to be done between the people in charge," the meeting support system will determine that this comment is a type of "answer" in the first group and a type of "action item" in the second group.

[0198] For example, assume that the contents of utterances of the utterance types "action items" and "decisions" are important in a meeting. In such a case, if important utterance types are selected and grouped, as in the above-mentioned second group, the meeting support system can accurately determine the contents of important utterance types. Furthermore, since the number of utterance types in each group is smaller than when they are not grouped, the meeting support system can accurately determine the utterance types.

[0199] (Fourth embodiment) Moreover, the information sharing support system 20 may have, for example, the following overall configuration.

[0200] FIG. 24 is a conceptual diagram for explaining an example of the overall configuration of the information sharing support system according to an embodiment of the fourth embodiment of the present invention. For example, the information sharing support system 20 has an overall configuration including a conference support system 1 and an information sharing server 21. As shown in the figure, there may be a plurality of conference support systems 1. In addition, in the information sharing support system 20, as shown in the figure, the conference support system 1, the information sharing server 21, and the terminal 11 do not have to be separate devices. For example, the conference support system 1 and the information sharing server 21 may be combined into one information processing device. Below, the overall configuration shown in the figure will be explained as an example.

[0201] The information sharing server 21 receives communication logs such as email data DEM, chat data DCH, and electronic file data DEF from external devices such as the terminals 11.

[0202] In this way, sentences in various data formats, not limited to the contents of statements made in a conference, may be input to the information sharing support system 20. Note that data such as the email data DEM, the chat data DCH, and the electronic file data DEF may be input via the conference support system 1, etc.

[0203] Then, when a certain amount of data has been collected, a predetermined person such as a manager accesses the information sharing server 21, and a screen such as that shown in Fig. 14 is displayed. Next, when a button 1303 is pressed, for example, the information sharing support system 20 outputs the sentences entered in each data format as follows:

[0204] 25 is a diagram for explaining an example of an output by the information sharing support system according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. The information sharing server 21 displays, for example, a screen as shown in the figure to the user via a display device or a terminal 11.

[0205] It should be noted that the screen as shown in the figure is not limited to being displayed based on the operation of the button 1303 or the like. For example, when a certain type of comment such as "issue" is generated from the input communication log, a push notification is first sent to a specific person such as a manager to notify them of the occurrence of the "issue". It should be noted that the type is set in advance. Then, when a link (such as a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) written in an e-mail) included in the push notification is accessed, the screen as shown in the figure may be displayed.

[0206] For example, the information sharing server 21 generates a screen as shown in the figure through the following process.

[0207] Fig. 26 is a flowchart showing a processing example by the information sharing support system according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the same processes as those in Fig. 12 are given the same reference numerals, and duplicated explanations will be omitted below.

[0208] In step S51, the information sharing support system 20 sorts the sentences. First, in the illustrated example, when the processing up to step S33 is performed, the information sharing support system 20 can extract sentences related to a specific content. Next, the information sharing support system 20 sorts the extracted sentences, for example, in chronological order.

[0209] The example shown in Fig. 25 shows the result of sorting by the information sharing support system 20 so that the oldest sentence is arranged from the top of the figure to the newest sentence. When the sorted result is output in this way, the user can see the screen as shown in the figure and understand how a certain topic was reached and the like.

[0210] The sentence to be output may be selected. For example, information sharing support system 20 selects a sentence as follows.

[0211] In step S52, the information sharing support system 20 selects a sentence. For example, the information sharing support system 20 selects a sentence to be output based on the format in which the sentence was input. Specifically, in the example shown in Fig. 24, a sentence is input from the conference support system 1 to the information sharing support system 20 in the minutes data format. Similarly, a sentence is input from the terminal 11 to the information sharing support system 20 in the email data DEM format, the chat data DCH format, and the electronic file data DEF format. Hereinafter, it is assumed that sentences are input to the information sharing support system 20 in four different formats in this way.

[0212] 25, the conference icon ICM indicates that the sentence is based on the minutes data. Similarly, the chat icon ICC indicates that the sentence is based on the chat data DCH. Furthermore, the email icon ICE indicates that the sentence is based on the email data DEM. As shown in the figure, the information sharing support system 20 can indicate where each sentence was spoken by, for example, outputting the sentence together with each icon.

[0213] In addition, in the output, for example, as shown in FIG. 25, attached data FL may be linked to each sentence. The attached data FL may be, for example, meeting materials used in a meeting, or an attached file attached to an e-mail. When the attached data FL is linked to a sentence and output in this way, it becomes easy to see the materials used when reviewing the history, and the user can understand the history in detail. In addition, for example, in a work style such as telework, the user can quickly identify and access the attached data FL even when there is no person in charge.

[0214] Then, for example, if the user wishes to focus on sentences entered in a specific format, the user inputs an operation to select the sentence to be output using check boxes CB1, CB2, CB3, and CB4, etc., shown in FIG. 25. Specifically, in the example shown in FIG. 25, when check box CB1 is set, the information sharing support system 20 outputs sentences based on the minutes data. Similarly, when check box CB2 is set, the information sharing support system 20 outputs sentences based on chat data DCH. Furthermore, when check box CB3 is set, the information sharing support system 20 outputs sentences based on email data DEM. Furthermore, when check box CB4 is set, the information sharing support system 20 outputs sentences based on electronic file data DEF.

[0215] In the example shown, check boxes CB1, CB2, and CB3 are set, so that the information sharing support system 20 selects and outputs from the input sentences, sentences based on the minutes data, sentences based on the chat data DCH, and sentences based on the email data DEM, as shown in FIG. 25.

[0216] The selection by the information sharing support system 20 is not limited to being based on the format in which the sentence is input. For example, when email data DEM is input, there is often affiliation data DAF indicating the affiliation of the person who sent the email data DEM. For example, the affiliation data DAF is an email address indicating the sender of the email.

[0217] Then, the user first sets a specific organization name or the like in the information sharing support system 20. Next, the information sharing support system 20 selects email data DEM sent by people who belong to the set organization based on the affiliation data DAF. In this way, the information sharing support system 20 can output only statements made by people who belong to a specific organization. Therefore, the user can view a screen such as that shown in FIG. 25, for example, by narrowing down the output to statements made by people in his or her own department.

[0218] (Another embodiment) Fig. 27 is a conceptual diagram for explaining an example of the overall configuration of an information sharing support system according to another embodiment of the fourth embodiment of the present invention. For example, the information sharing support system 20 may have the following overall configuration. Compared with Fig. 24, the illustrated overall configuration differs in that it does not include the conference support system 1.

[0219] In this way, the information sharing support system 20 may receive email data DEM, chat data DCH, electronic file data DEF, or a combination of these. In other words, holding a conference is not essential, and the information sharing support system 20 may receive text in any format as long as it is data showing verbal exchange, that is, a so-called communication log.

[0220] All or part of each process according to the present invention may be realized by a program written in a programming language such as assembler, C, C++, C#, Java (registered trademark), Javascript (registered trademark), Python (registered trademark), Ruby, and PHP, or an object-oriented programming language, for causing a computer to execute each procedure related to the conference support method. In other words, the program is a computer program for causing a computer such as an information processing device or an information sharing support system having one or more information processing devices to execute each procedure.

[0221] The program can be distributed by storing it in a computer-readable recording medium such as a ROM or an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM). The recording medium may be an EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), a flash memory, a flexible disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-RW, a DVD-ROM, a DVD-RAM, a DVD-RW, a Blu-ray disk, an SD (registered trademark) card, or an MO. The program can be distributed through an electric communication line.

[0222] Furthermore, the information sharing support system may have two or more information processing devices connected to each other via a network, etc. In other words, the information sharing support system may perform all or part of various processes in a distributed manner, in parallel as in a duplex system, or in a redundant manner as in a dual system.

[0223] Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to such specific embodiments, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0224] 1. Meeting support system 10 Server 11 Terminal 1F1 Input section 1F2 Control section 1F21 Judgment section 1F22 Decoration Department 1F23 Time Management Department 1F24 Speaker Judgment Section 1F31 Cost Calculation Department 1F32 Evaluation Department 1F3 Storage section 1F4 Output section CLF classifier [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0225] [Patent Document 1] JP 2007-43493 A

Claims

1. A terminal connected to another terminal, an input means for inputting the contents of comments made by the user of said terminal and the contents of comments made by the users of said other terminals; a display control means for displaying the entire text of the inputted comment; A generating means for generating a summary of the inputted comment content, The display control means displays the generated summary when an operation for displaying the summary is performed.

2. A terminal as described in claim 1, wherein the content of the statement is input as voice or text data.

3. The display control means 3. The terminal according to claim 1, further comprising: a button for accepting an operation for displaying a summary on the screen on which the full text is displayed; and, in response to pressing of the button, the summary is displayed.

4. The display control means 4. The terminal according to claim 3, wherein each time said button is pressed, the display switches between said full text, said summary, and said full text.

5. The display control means 5. The terminal according to claim 1, wherein the comment content is translated into a language different from the language in which it was input and displayed as a translated comment content.

6. The other terminal is a plurality of terminals, 6. The terminal according to claim 1, wherein said input means inputs speech contents of users of a plurality of said other terminals.

7. A terminal connected to another terminal, an input process for inputting the contents of comments made by the user of the terminal and the contents of comments made by the users of the other terminals; A display control process for displaying the entire text of the inputted comment; A process for generating a summary of the inputted utterance content is executed; The display control process is a process for displaying the generated summary when an operation for displaying the summary is performed.

8. A terminal connected to another terminal, an input step of inputting the contents of a message uttered by a user of the terminal and the contents of a message uttered by a user of the other terminal; a display control procedure for displaying the entire text of the inputted statement; A generation step of generating a summary of the inputted comment content, The display control step comprises displaying the generated summary when an operation for displaying the summary is performed.

9. An information processing system including a plurality of terminals, an input means for inputting a content of a message uttered by a user of a certain terminal among the plurality of terminals and a content of a message uttered by a user of a terminal other than the certain terminal among the plurality of terminals; a display control means for displaying the entire text of the inputted comment; A generating means for generating a summary of the inputted comment content, The display control means displays the generated summary when an operation for displaying the summary is performed.

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