Communication support system, communication support system method, and program

Abstract

To provide a communication support system and the like for supporting better communication.SOLUTION: A communication support system 100 includes: a voice acquisition unit 203 that acquires speech information uttered during communication among multiple people; an estimation unit 205 that estimates the status of communication based on speech information; an analysis unit 206 that analyzes the degree of creativity of communication from the words used in the communication extracted from the speech information; and an intervention control unit (control unit 208) that is configured to control to provide interventional stimuli to one or more persons 151 during the period in which communication is taking place based on the status of the communication and the degree of creativity of the communication.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a communication support system, a communication support method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] If communication between people is lively (in other words, activated), many benefits arise, such as smooth discussion, the ability to exchange various opinions, and the ability to obtain new knowledge by combining multiple opinions. Therefore, the degree of activation is important when communicating. Conventionally, a communication support system that supports the activation of communication has been known (see Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2022 / 004567 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, there are cases where conventional communication support systems are unable to provide appropriate support. In view of this, the present disclosure provides a communication support system and the like for more appropriately supporting communication. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] A communication support system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a voice acquisition unit that acquires voice information spoken in communication between multiple people, an estimation unit that estimates a state of the communication based on the voice information, an analysis unit that analyzes a degree of creativity of the communication from words used in the communication extracted from the voice information, and an intervention control unit that controls equipment to provide intervention stimuli to one or more people during a period during which the communication is taking place based on the state of the communication and the degree of creativity of the communication.

[0006] In addition, a communication support method according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a communication support method executed by a computer, and includes: a voice acquisition step of acquiring voice information spoken in communication between multiple people; an estimation step of estimating a state of the communication based on the voice information; an analysis step of analyzing a degree of creativity of the communication from words used in the communication extracted from the voice information; and an intervention control step of controlling equipment to provide intervention stimuli to one or more people during a period during which the communication is taking place, based on the state of the communication and the degree of creativity of the communication.

[0007] Moreover, a program according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a program for causing a computer to execute the communication support method described above. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the communication support system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, communication can be supported more appropriately. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a communication support system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between states and creativity in the communication support system according to the embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an optimal state in the communication support system according to the embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the communication support system according to the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Hereinafter, the embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the embodiments described below are all comprehensive or specific examples. The numerical values, shapes, materials, components, component arrangement and connection forms, steps, and order of steps shown in the following embodiments are merely examples and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. In addition, among the components in the following embodiments, components that are not described in the independent claims will be described as optional components.

[0011] In addition, each drawing is a schematic diagram and is not necessarily a precise illustration. In each drawing, the same reference numerals are used for substantially the same configurations, and duplicated explanations may be omitted or simplified.

[0012] (Embodiment) The overall configuration of the communication support system according to the embodiment will be described below. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the communication support system according to the embodiment.

[0013] In the communication support system of the present disclosure, as an example of communication between people, communication between participants in a conference where the date, time, place, and participants are predetermined will be given. However, communication to which the communication support system can be applied includes any situation involving conversation between people, such as spontaneous chats, presentations, seminars, etc., other than conferences.

[0014] As shown in FIG. 1, the communication support system 100 is realized using an apparatus installed in a space 150 (here, corresponding to a conference room) where the meeting takes place, and a server 200 realized by an information processing server such as a cloud server or an edge server.

[0015] The space 150 is equipped with a device 151, a camera 154, and a microphone 155 that can input and output information to and from the server 200.

[0016] Each of the devices 151 acts on a conference participant and stimulates one of the five senses of the participant. That is, the device 151 is a device that provides an intervention stimulus to the conference participant. The device 151 has a configuration according to the five-sensory stimulus to be provided. A plurality of devices 151 are provided in the space 150. In this example, the device 151 is a device that serves both as an environmental device that controls the environment of the space 150 and as a device that provides an intervention stimulus to the conference participant. That is, the device 151 provides the intervention stimulus while controlling the environment. Note that the environmental device that controls the environment and the device that provides an intervention stimulus to the conference participant may each be provided separately.

[0017] The equipment 151 includes an audio device, a lighting device, an airflow generating device, and a fragrance generating device.

[0018] The acoustic device is an electrical device that provides an intervention stimulus by an auditory stimulus. Therefore, the acoustic device generates a sound that stimulates the human hearing. The acoustic device outputs so-called environmental sounds, such as the rustling of trees, the chirps of birds such as chirps of small birds, the chirps of insects, the sound of a bonfire, the sound of water such as the babbling of a stream, or the sound of wind blowing such as a gentle breeze, into the space 150. The acoustic device may further play music. That is, it may function as a music playback device. As the acoustic device, in addition to a sound output device such as a speaker, a signal converter, a gain amplifier, and other devices may be combined and used. Note that the acoustic device may be a device that has directionality (that is, the direction in which the intervention stimulus is provided can be specified). Therefore, by setting the specified direction as the direction to track a specific participant, even if the specific participant moves within the space 150, the auditory stimulus can be continuously provided to the specific participant.

[0019] The lighting device is an electrical device that provides an interventional stimulus by visual stimulation. Therefore, the lighting device generates and irradiates light that stimulates the human vision. The lighting device may generate an image that stimulates the vision by the irradiated light. The lighting device irradiates each part in the space 150 with light such as green that evokes an image of a forest, and reflects it to illuminate the space 150 with the image color of the forest. The lighting device may also irradiate the floor with light that reproduces sunlight filtering through the trees, or may display an image showing the state of the forest including plants such as trees, animals, or rivers. The lighting device may be indirect lighting such as wall lighting and direct lighting such as spotlights, rather than ambient lighting such as base lights. As the lighting device, a light source device that emits light from a light source such as an LED, and a display device such as a projector can be used. When an image is displayed by the lighting device, either a still image or a moving image may be displayed. The spotlight may be a device having directionality. Therefore, by setting the specified direction as the direction for tracking a specific participant, it is possible to continue to provide visual stimulation to the specific participant even if the specific participant moves within space 150.

[0020] The airflow generating device is an electrical device that provides an interventional stimulus by tactile stimulation. The airflow generating device generates wind that stimulates a person's tactile sense by generating airflow. The airflow generating device generates wind that blows in a forest, for example. A blower or the like can be used as the airflow generating device. An air conditioner (air conditioner) can also be used as the airflow generating device. This allows the temperature and humidity in the space 150 to be adjusted, so that wind with changes in temperature and humidity can be generated as a stimulating element that stimulates the tactile sense. The airflow generating device may also generate an airflow for diffusing the aroma components supplied from a fragrance generating device described later into the space 150. For this purpose, the airflow generating device may be installed near the fragrance generating device. Alternatively, the fragrance generating device may be installed near the airflow generating device. As a suitable example of such an arrangement, the airflow generating device and the fragrance generating device may be configured as an integrated device. In this way, the aroma components supplied by the fragrance generating device ride on the airflow and are quickly diffused into the space 150, and the olfactory stimulation by the aroma components can be efficiently performed. The airflow generating device may be a directional device. Therefore, by setting the designated direction as a direction for tracking a specific participant, it is possible to continuously provide the specific participant with a tactile stimulus even if the specific participant moves within the space 150.

[0021] The scent generating device is an electrical device that provides an intervention stimulus by olfactory stimulation. The scent generating device generates a scent that stimulates a person's sense of smell. The scent generating device supplies a scent (e.g., a plant scent) that makes one feel as if they are in a forest or a scent component that makes one perceive a smell into the space 150. An aroma diffuser or the like can be used as the scent generating device. The scent generating device may be a device that has directionality. Therefore, by setting the specified direction as a direction for tracking a specific participant, it is possible to continue providing an olfactory stimulus to the specific participant even if the specific participant moves within the space 150.

[0022] Here, these devices 151 may be used for environmental control other than intervention control, or may be used to provide intervention stimuli to one or more specific conference participants. When used for environmental control, the devices 151 need to act on the entire environment of the space 150. On the other hand, when used to provide intervention stimuli to conference participants, the devices 151 need to act locally on the positions of the participants in the space 150. Therefore, the devices 151 are configured to be able to act on each unit position within the space 150. And the devices 151 can also act on the whole group of unit positions.

[0023] Camera 154 is a photographing device for photographing moving images within space 150. Camera 154 transmits the photographed moving images to server 200.

[0024] Microphone 155 is a sound collecting device for collecting sound within space 150. Microphone 155 transmits the collected sound to server 200 so that the time position can be made to correspond to the moving image captured by camera 154. Alternatively, as long as the time position of the moving image can be made to correspond to the sound collected by microphone 155, it is not necessary that the time position of the sound can be made to correspond.

[0025] The server 200 processes information received from each device in the space 150 and performs processing for causing the device 151 to perform environmental control and intervention stimulation. The server 200 is realized by executing a predetermined program using a processor and a memory. The server 200 includes a voice acquisition unit 203, a video acquisition unit 204, an estimation unit 205, an analysis unit 206, and a control unit 208. The control unit 208 also includes a database 209.

[0026] The voice acquiring unit 203 acquires voice (voice information) collected by the microphone 155. The voice acquiring unit 203 passes the acquired voice information of the voice to the estimation unit 205.

[0027] The video acquisition unit 204 acquires a video (video information) captured by the camera 154. The video acquisition unit 204 passes the video information of the acquired video to the estimation unit 205.

[0028] The estimation unit 205 estimates the state of the conference based on the voice information and the video image information. Here, the estimation unit 205 performs processing to detect the speech time, which is the time during which a person who is currently speaking among the participants in the conference continues speaking, the silent period, which is the period during which all participants are silent (no speech), the number of times the speaker has changed, the ratio of the amount of speech of each participant, and speech after a silent period of a certain length or more.

[0029] These processes may be processes that apply existing technology as long as the above parameters can be calculated from speech. Although only voice information is required to calculate the above parameters from speech, since sound and the like are supplied into space 150 by environmental control, it may be difficult to identify the direction of the speaker relative to microphone 155. Therefore, in this example, the above parameters are accurately calculated by identifying the direction from which the sound comes using video information. If the above parameters can be accurately calculated from voice information alone due to technological developments, camera 154 and video acquisition unit 204 may not be provided.

[0030] Furthermore, the estimation unit 205 estimates the state of the conference at that time depending on whether each of the parameters detected as described above satisfies a threshold condition (determination of whether it is larger or smaller than the threshold). In other words, the state of the conference is a concept indicated by whether each of one or more parameters is a larger or smaller value compared to a threshold. Note that the threshold here is set in advance experimentally or empirically. The estimation unit 205 estimates the state of the conference using the set threshold condition, and passes the estimation result to the control unit 208. Therefore, the threshold condition can also be interpreted as an estimation condition for estimating the state of the conference.

[0031] The analysis unit 206 analyzes the degree of creativity in a conference from words used in speech in a conference, which are extracted from the voice information. The degree of creativity here refers to the degree of voice information that generates new ideas in a conference or advances a discussion in an unexpected direction. The degree of creativity may be analyzed according to the degree of dissimilarity between the extracted words and words corresponding to the theme set for the conference. In order to analyze the degree of dissimilarity, for example, the words may be converted into numerical vectors (i.e., converted into word vectors) by linguistic analysis such as so-called Word2Vec, and the vectors of the extracted words may be compared with the vectors of the words corresponding to the theme. The vectors are compared using techniques such as cosine similarity calculation and vector distance calculation, and a low similarity or a large distance is evaluated as a high degree of creativity. The degree of creativity is evaluated on a scale of several levels, such as low, normal, and high, up to a maximum score of 100 points.

[0032] The words according to the theme may be a commonly known word set for each theme, or a word set according to a theme specific to the participants of the meeting. For the latter word set, for example, words extracted in a past meeting on the same theme may be used. In other words, it is advisable to collect word vectors for the types of words used in utterances in past meetings on the same theme.

[0033] In this embodiment, the state of the conference is changed so as to correspond to the level of the voice information with a high degree of creativity. For example, if the voice information indicates a low degree of creativity, the state of the conference cannot be said to be appropriate. Therefore, the device 151 performs intervention control so as to change the state of the conference. For example, FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the state and creativity in the communication support system according to the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, when the state of the conference (conversation state) is low, if the degree of creativity is low, the BGM (sound device) and the stage lighting (lighting device) are controlled to create a fun space, the spot lighting (spotlight) is controlled to encourage speech, and the airflow (airflow generating device) and the fragrance (fragrance generating device) are controlled to encourage speech. Alternatively, the stage lighting (lighting device) may be controlled to encourage a break or the end of the conference, or the control of the environment and the intervention control by the device 151 may be stopped.

[0034] When the state of the conference (conversation state) is low, if the degree of creativity is normal, the state of the conference may be controlled to be lively by controlling as shown in Fig. 2. Also, when the state of the conference (conversation state) is biased toward speakers, if the degree of creativity is low or normal, the state of the conference may be controlled to reduce the bias toward speakers by controlling as shown in Fig. 2, or the state of the conference may be controlled to be lively.

[0035] Also, instead of such universal control, intervention control may be performed according to a combination of participants in a meeting, that is, according to a team. Depending on the team, the optimal meeting state for increasing the level of creativity may be a dull state, a state with a bias towards speakers, or an active state, and the appropriate meeting state may vary. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the optimal state in the communication support system according to the embodiment.

[0036] For example, as shown in Fig. 3, when the estimated state of the meeting is biased toward speakers or active, the lighting effects (lighting devices) are controlled to create a calm space, and spotlights (spotlights) are controlled to suppress speech. Similarly, when the estimated state of the meeting is different from the state of the meeting that is optimal for the team, the device 151 may be controlled as shown in Fig. 3 to change the state of the meeting to approach the state of the meeting that is optimal for the team, and intervention control may be performed. In this way, when the state of the meeting that is optimal for the team is used for intervention control, it is preferable to store the state of the meeting that was estimated when the level of creativity analyzed in the past was the highest, in association with the combination of participants in the meeting included in the team.

[0037] The control unit 208 is an example of an intervention control unit, and controls environmental equipment for controlling the environment of the space 150 according to the type of meeting, and controls equipment for providing intervention stimuli to meeting participants based on the state of the meeting and the degree of creativity. The database 209 stores information used in the operation of each of the above-mentioned components, such as information indicating the optimal meeting state for the team, personal information for identifying the participants, words extracted when a meeting was held on the same topic in the past or word vectors converted from the words, and a threshold for determining whether the degree of creativity is high or low. The control unit 208 can identify the meeting state recommended for the team (i.e., the optimal meeting state) by referring to the database 209, and can be said to be an example of an identification unit.

[0038] In addition to each of the components described above, server 200 is equipped with an input unit (not shown) that accepts input of the conference theme, instructions for transitioning between conference phases, and personal IDs (IDs linked to the personal information described above) for identifying conference participants.

[0039] Hereinafter, the operation of the control unit 208 and the operation of the communication support system will be described with reference to Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the communication support system according to the embodiment.

[0040] As shown in FIG. 4, first, a conference is started and environmental control is started (S11). Next, the server 200 acquires audio information and video information (S12). Step S12 is an example of an audio acquisition step and a video acquisition step. The estimation unit 205 estimates the state of the conference by calculating various parameters (S13). Step S13 is an example of an estimation step. Furthermore, the analysis unit 206 analyzes the degree of creativity in the conference (S14). Step S14 is an example of an analysis step. The control unit 208 determines whether the degree of creativity is lower than a preset threshold (S15). If it is determined that the degree of creativity is lower than the preset threshold (Yes in S15), intervention control is performed to change the state of the conference to achieve an optimal conference state (S16).

[0041] Here, intervention control is performed when the conference phase belongs to a question-and-answer period or a discussion period, which require a high degree of creativity. Therefore, after step S15 is Yes, a step of determining whether the conference phase belongs to a question-and-answer period or a discussion period may be inserted. Alternatively, a similar determination may be made after step S11. If step S15 is No and it is determined that the conference phase belongs to a question-and-answer period or a discussion period, step S16 is performed, and if step S15 is Yes and it is determined that the conference phase does not belong to a question-and-answer period or a discussion period, step S16 is not performed.

[0042] On the other hand, if it is determined that the degree of creativity is equal to or greater than the preset threshold (No in S15), the state of the conference is maintained unchanged (environment control is continued, and if intervention control is being performed, the same intervention control is continued). Then, the optimal conference state stored in the database 209 is updated (S17). Step S17 is, for example, a process of comparing the degree of creativity associated with the optimal conference state already stored with the degree of creativity newly obtained by analysis, and linking the higher one with the optimal conference state and re-storing it in the database 209. After steps S16 and S17, it is determined whether the conference has ended (step S18). If the conference has not ended (No in step S18), the process is repeated from step S12. On the other hand, if it is determined that the conference has ended (Yes in step S18), for example, when the sound in the space 150 has been silent for a certain period of time, the process is terminated.

[0043] In the above explanation, an example of the operation of performing intervention control to create an optimal meeting state for the team has been described. However, in the case of intervention control for changing the general meeting state as shown in FIG. 2, intervention control for changing the meeting state to a state different from the current state in step S16 can be performed without executing step S17.

[0044] [Effects, etc.] As described above, the communication support system 100 according to the first aspect of the present disclosure includes a voice acquisition unit 203 that acquires voice information spoken in communication between multiple people, an estimation unit 205 that estimates the state of the communication based on the voice information, an analysis unit 206 that analyzes the degree of creativity of the communication from words used in the communication extracted from the voice information, and an intervention control unit (control unit 208) that controls a device 151 for providing an intervention stimulus to one or more people during a period during which communication is taking place based on the state of communication and the degree of creativity of the communication.

[0045] According to this, it is possible to provide an intervention stimulus that can change the state of communication based on the level of creativity. For example, when the level of creativity is low, it is possible to increase the level of creativity by changing the state of communication (bringing the state of communication to a different state). Therefore, it is easy to avoid lowering the level of creativity by changing the state of communication without considering the level of creativity, and it is possible to support communication more appropriately.

[0046] Furthermore, the communication support system 100 according to the second aspect of the present disclosure is the communication support system 100 described in the first aspect, and includes an identification unit (part of the function of the control unit 208) that identifies a recommended communication state for a team composed of multiple people based on past communication states and the degree of creativity of the past communication, and the intervention control unit controls a device 151 for providing intervention stimuli to one or more people so as to achieve the recommended communication state.

[0047] According to this, it is possible to provide an intervention stimulus so as to achieve a recommended communication state based on the state of past communication and the degree of creativity of the past communication. Since it is possible to provide an intervention stimulus using the recommended communication state based on past results as an index, taking into account the degree of creativity, it is possible to more appropriately support communication.

[0048] Furthermore, a communication support system 100 according to a third aspect of the present disclosure is the communication support system 100 described in the second aspect, in which the identification unit identifies whether the recommended communication state is an active state, a biased state, or a calm state.

[0049] This makes it possible to specify a recommended communication state from among an active state, an unbalanced state, and a calm state.

[0050] Furthermore, a communication support system 100 according to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure is a communication support system 100 according to any one of the first to third aspects, in which the estimation unit 205 calculates, based on the audio information, at least one of the speech time during which at least one of the multiple people continues to speak, the silence period during which the multiple people are silent, the number of speaker turns, and the ratio of the amount of speech of each of the multiple people, and estimates the state of communication based on whether or not at least one of the calculated speech time, silence period, number of turns, and ratio of the amount of speech satisfies a condition.

[0051] With this, the state of communication can be estimated from at least one calculation result of the speech time, silent period, number of turns, and ratio of speech volume, based on whether the calculation result satisfies a numerical condition, such as being greater than or less than a threshold value or a ratio to a standard.

[0052] Furthermore, a communication support system 100 according to a fifth aspect of the present disclosure is a communication support system 100 according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, in which the communication is communication between participants of the conference that takes place in a conference, and the intervention control unit controls the device 151 during a question and answer period or a discussion period of the conference.

[0053] According to this, in a conference as communication, an intervention stimulus can be provided only in a specific period such as a question-and-answer period or a discussion period. Providing an intervention stimulus often has an advantageous effect only in a specific period in communication, and providing the intervention stimulus in a question-and-answer period or a discussion period in a conference makes it easier to exert the effect of providing the intervention stimulus. In addition, by providing the intervention stimulus only in a specific period in communication where the intervention stimulus has an advantageous effect, such as a question-and-answer period or a discussion period in a conference, a similar effect can be exerted in other forms of communication.

[0054] Furthermore, a communication support system 100 according to a sixth aspect of the present disclosure is a communication support system 100 according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, in which the device 151 includes at least one of a spotlight, a wall light, an airflow generating device, a fragrance generating device, and an audio device.

[0055] According to this, at least one of a spotlight, a wall light, an airflow generating device, a scent generating device, and an audio device can be controlled to provide an intervention stimulus.

[0056] Furthermore, a communication support system 100 according to a seventh aspect of the present disclosure is the communication support system 100 described in the sixth aspect, wherein at least one of the spotlight, the airflow generating device, and the fragrance generating device is capable of specifying a direction for providing an intervention stimulus, and when controlling the device 151, the intervention control unit specifies a direction for tracking the target person by identifying the target person, and controls at least one of the spotlight, the airflow generating device, and the fragrance generating device.

[0057] According to this, the intervention stimulus can be provided by tracking the target person. Even if the target person moves his / her location during the period of communication, the appropriate intervention stimulus can be continuously provided to the target person.

[0058] Furthermore, the communication support system 100 according to an eighth aspect of the present disclosure is a communication support system 100 according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, in which the analysis unit 206 analyzes the degree of creativity of the communication based on the distance between a word vector of the type of words according to a theme set in the communication and a word vector of the type of words used in the communication extracted from the audio information.

[0059] This makes it possible to analyze the degree of creativity of communication based on the distance between word vectors of word types corresponding to the theme set in the communication and word vectors of word types used in the communication extracted from audio information.

[0060] Furthermore, the communication support system 100 according to a ninth aspect of the present disclosure is the communication support system 100 according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, in which the analysis unit 206 analyzes the degree of creativity of the communication based on the distance between a word vector of the type of words used in past communication on the same topic and a word vector of the type of words used in the communication extracted from the audio information.

[0061] This makes it possible to analyze the degree of creativity of communication based on the distance between word vectors of the types of words used in past communications on the same topic and word vectors of the types of words used in communication extracted from audio information.

[0062] In addition, a communication support method according to a tenth aspect of the present disclosure is a communication support method executed by a computer, the communication support method including: a voice acquisition step (step S12) of acquiring voice information spoken in communication between multiple people; an estimation step (step S13) of estimating a state of communication based on the voice information; an analysis step (step S14) of analyzing a degree of creativity of the communication from words used in the communication extracted from the voice information; and an intervention control step (step S16) of controlling a device 151 for providing an intervention stimulus to one or more people during a period during which communication is taking place based on the state of communication and the degree of creativity of the communication.

[0063] According to this, the same effects as those of the communication support system 100 described above can be achieved.

[0064] A program according to an eleventh aspect of the present disclosure is a program for causing a computer to execute the communication support method according to the tenth aspect.

[0065] According to this, the same effect as the above-mentioned communication support method can be achieved by the computer.

[0066] (Other embodiments) Although the embodiments have been described above, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments.

[0067] For example, in the above embodiment, the process executed by a specific processing unit may be executed by another processing unit. Also, the order of multiple processes may be changed, or multiple processes may be executed in parallel.

[0068] The communication support system of the present disclosure may be realized by multiple devices each having a part of the multiple components, or may be realized by a single device having all of the multiple components. Also, some of the functions of a component may be realized as the functions of another component, and each function may be distributed in any manner among the components. As long as the system has a configuration that includes all of the functions that can substantially realize the communication support system of the present disclosure, it is included in the present disclosure.

[0069] In the above embodiment, each component may be realized by executing a software program suitable for each component. Each component may be realized by a program execution unit such as a CPU or a processor reading and executing a software program recorded on a recording medium such as a hard disk or a semiconductor memory.

[0070] Furthermore, each component may be realized by hardware. For example, each component may be a circuit (or an integrated circuit). These circuits may form a single circuit as a whole, or each may be a separate circuit. Furthermore, each of these circuits may be a general-purpose circuit, or a dedicated circuit.

[0071] In addition, the general or specific aspects of the present disclosure may be realized in a system, an apparatus, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, or a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, or may be realized in any combination of a system, an apparatus, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, and a recording medium.

[0072] The present disclosure may also be realized as a communication support method executed by a communication support system. The present disclosure may also be realized as a program for causing a computer to execute such a communication support method, or as a computer-readable non-transitory recording medium having such a program recorded thereon.

[0073] In addition, the present disclosure also includes forms obtained by applying various modifications to the embodiments that would come to mind by a person skilled in the art, or forms realized by arbitrarily combining the components and functions of each embodiment within the scope that does not deviate from the spirit of the present disclosure. [Explanation of symbols]

[0074] 100 Communication Support System 150 space 151 Equipment 154 Camera 155 Mike 200 Servers 203 Voice Acquisition Unit 204 Video image acquisition unit 205 Estimation section 206 Analysis Department 208 Control Unit 209 Database

Claims

1. a voice acquisition unit that acquires voice information uttered in communication conducted by a plurality of people; an estimation unit that estimates the state of communication based on the voice information; an analysis unit that analyzes a degree of creativity of the communication from words used in the communication extracted from the voice information; and an intervention control unit that controls a device for providing an intervention stimulus to one or more people during a period during which the communication is being performed based on the state of the communication and the degree of creativity of the communication. Communication support system.

2. a specification unit that specifies a recommended communication state for the team made up of the plurality of people based on a past communication state and a degree of creativity of the past communication; The intervention control unit controls a device for providing an intervention stimulus to the one or more people so as to bring the person into the recommended communication state.

2. The communication support system according to claim 1.

3. The identification unit identifies whether the recommended communication state is an active state, a biased state, or a calm state. The communication support system according to claim 2 .

4. The estimation unit is Calculating at least one of a speech time during which at least one of the plurality of people continues speaking, a silent period during which the plurality of people are silent, a number of speaker changes, and a ratio of the amount of speech of each of the plurality of people based on the voice information; estimating the state of communication based on whether or not at least one of the calculated speech time, the silence period, the number of turns, and the ratio of the amount of speech satisfies a condition. The communication support system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. the communication is communication between participants of the conference that takes place at the conference, The intervention control unit controls the device during a question and answer period or a discussion period of the conference. The communication support system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

6. The device includes at least one of a spotlight, a wall light, an airflow generator, a scent generator, and an audio device. The communication support system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

7. At least one of the spotlight, the airflow generating device, and the scent generating device is capable of specifying a direction in which an intervention stimulus is provided; The intervention control unit, when controlling the device, identifies a target person, and controls at least one of the spotlight, the airflow generating device, and the fragrance generating device by specifying a direction in which to track the target person. The communication support system according to claim 6.

8. the analysis unit analyzes a degree of creativity of the communication based on a distance between a word vector of a type of word corresponding to a theme set in the communication and a word vector of a type of word used in the communication extracted from the voice information; The communication support system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

9. the analysis unit analyzes a degree of creativity of the communication based on a distance between a word vector of the type of words used in the past communication conducted on the same theme and a word vector of the type of words used in the communication extracted from the voice information. The communication support system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

10. A computer-implemented communication support method, comprising: A voice acquisition step of acquiring voice information uttered in communication performed by a plurality of people; an estimation step of estimating the state of communication based on the voice information; an analysis step of analyzing a degree of creativity of the communication from words used in the communication extracted from the voice information; and an intervention control step of controlling a device for providing an intervention stimulus to one or more people during a period during which the communication is being performed based on the state of the communication and the degree of creativity of the communication. Communication support methods.

11. A method for causing the computer to execute the communication support method according to claim 10, program.

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