Work support device, display device, work support system, work support method, and program

Abstract

To provide a business support device for reducing the delay of the processing of a business process.SOLUTION: The work support device includes a storage unit, a display unit, an identification unit, and a control unit. The storage unit stores workflow data including information indicating a user who is in charge of a series of processes and a progress status of the series of processes, and face image information including a face image of each user. The specifying unit specifies a user corresponding to a person appearing in a video on the basis of the video obtained by photographing the person within a predetermined range based on the display unit and the face image information (S10 of an operation of the display apparatus and S21 of an operation of the image recognizing server). The controller performs a first process of identifying, from the stored workflow records, an unprocessed workflow record in which the identified user is set as a person in charge of one of the series of processes and which is in a state ready for processing, and causing the display to display unprocessed information indicating the unprocessed workflow record (S11 to S12 of the operation of the display apparatus, S30 to S32 of the operation of the WF server).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] As a business support application for improving business efficiency, a workflow system that electronically advances processing according to business information that defines a business process is known. For example, Patent Document 1 listed below discloses a workflow system that sets an approver, a proxy approver, and a sub-proxy approver for a proposed case, and assigns the case to the most suitable approver depending on the presence status of these approvers. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-113331 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the case of a system such as that of Patent Document 1, if the approver to whom the proposal is to be forwarded is not at his or her desk, the processing of the specified business process will be delayed, resulting in a decrease in business efficiency.

[0005] The present disclosure aims to provide a business support device, a display device, a business support system, a business support method, and a program that can reduce delays in business processes. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The business support device according to the present disclosure includes a memory unit that stores workflow data including information indicating a user who is in charge of a series of processes and a progress status of the series of processes, and facial image information including a facial image of the user; a display unit; an identification unit that acquires video of a person within a predetermined range based on the display unit, and identifies a user corresponding to the person appearing in the video based on the acquired video and the facial image information; and a control unit that performs a first process of identifying, from the workflow data stored in the memory unit, workflow data in which the identified user is set as a person in charge of one of the series of processes, unprocessed workflow data in a state in which the series of processes can be performed, and displaying unprocessed information indicating the identified unprocessed workflow data on the display unit.

[0007] Preferably, the workflow data includes document data and a circulation route indicating the circulation order of the document data, and the series of processes includes a process of circulating the document data to the next circulation destination determined by the circulation route, and further includes an operation receiving unit that receives a circulation operation to circulate the document data of the workflow data indicated by the unprocessed information, and when the circulation operation is received, the control unit performs a second process of updating the circulation status of the document data as the progress status of the workflow data.

[0008] The display unit displays a document image showing document data included in the workflow data of the unprocessed information and a folder showing the next destination of the document data based on the circulation route of the workflow data, and the operation receiving unit may receive an operation to move the document image into the folder as a circulation operation.

[0009] The users include a first user and a second user, the display unit includes a first display unit and a second display unit, the memory unit stores, as user information, identification information indicating the first user and identification information indicating the first display unit in association with each other, and also stores, as user information, identification information indicating the second user and identification information indicating the second display unit in association with each other, the second user is set as the destination of the circulation route after the first user, and for workflow data that has not been circulated to the first user, the control unit may perform, as a first process, a third process of displaying, on the first display unit, unprocessed information based on the workflow data that has not been circulated to the first user, based on the user information, and when the circulation operation is accepted, displaying, on the second display unit, a circulation notification of the document data, based on the user information.

[0010] When a video includes a plurality of human subjects, the identification unit may identify one user from the plurality of human subjects based on the size of the face of the subject.

[0011] The workflow data includes authentication information that has been set in advance for viewing the document data, and the operation receiving unit receives a viewing operation for the document data of the workflow data indicated by the unprocessed information, and when the viewing operation is received, the control unit may cause the display unit to display a message requesting input of authentication information.

[0012] The display device according to the present disclosure includes an acquisition unit that acquires from an external device unprocessed workflow data indicating a user who is in charge of a series of processes and information indicating the progress of the series of processes, the user being identified from a video image of a person within a predetermined range based on the device, and set as the person in charge of the series of processes, and the unprocessed workflow data being in a state where the series of processes can be performed, and a display unit that displays the acquired unprocessed information.

[0013] The business support system according to the present disclosure includes a display device, a photographing unit, and a server, wherein the photographing unit outputs to the server video of people within a predetermined range based on the display device, and the server includes a memory unit that stores workflow data including information indicating users who are responsible for each series of processes and the progress of the series of processes, and facial image information including facial images of the users, an identification unit that acquires the video and identifies a user corresponding to a person appearing in the video based on the acquired video and facial image information, and a control unit that identifies, from the workflow data stored in the memory unit, unprocessed workflow data in which the identified user is set as a person in charge of one of the series of processes and in a state where the series of processes can be performed, and instructs the display device to display unprocessed information indicating the identified unprocessed workflow data, and the display device acquires an instruction to display the unprocessed information from the server and displays the unprocessed information.

[0014] The business support method according to the present disclosure includes a storage step of storing workflow data including information indicating a user who is in charge of a series of processes and a progress status of the series of processes, and facial image information including a facial image of the user; an identification step of acquiring video of a person within a predetermined range based on a display unit, and identifying a user corresponding to the person appearing in the video based on the acquired video and the facial image information; and a control step of performing a first process of identifying, from the workflow data stored in the storage step, unprocessed workflow data in a state where the series of processes can be performed, where the user identified in the identification step is set as the person in charge of one of the series of processes, and displaying unprocessed information indicating the identified unprocessed workflow data on the display unit.

[0015] A program according to the present disclosure causes a device that stores workflow data including information indicating a user in charge of a series of processes and a progress status of the series of processes, and facial image information including a facial image of the user, to execute computer processing. The computer processing includes an identification step of acquiring video of a person within a predetermined range based on a display unit, and identifying a user corresponding to the person appearing in the video based on the acquired video and the facial image information, and a control step of performing first processing of identifying, from the workflow data, unprocessed workflow data in which the user identified in the identification step is set as a person in charge of any of the series of processes and in a state where the series of processes can be performed, and displaying unprocessed information indicating the identified unprocessed workflow data on the display unit. [Effects of the Invention]

[0016] According to the present disclosure, a person within a specified range based on the display unit is photographed and identified, and if that person is set as the person in charge of a workflow that performs a series of processes, unprocessed workflow data is identified and the unprocessed information is displayed on the display unit to prompt the user to process it, thereby reducing delays in business processes. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of a business support system according to a first embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a display device. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image recognition server. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a WF server. [Figure 5] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a WFDB. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a document DB. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is an operational flow diagram showing the operation of the task support system in the first embodiment. [Figure 8]FIG. 10 is an image diagram showing an example of a display screen of an unprocessed list. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is an image diagram showing an example of a workflow display screen. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is an image diagram showing an example of a workflow display screen when the "Approve" button of Section Manager B is pressed in FIG. 9. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of an update to workflow management data in a WFDB. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of a business support system according to a third embodiment. [Figure 13] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of user information. [Figure 14] 10 is an example of workflow data in the third embodiment that corresponds to the WFDB in the first embodiment. [Figure 15] FIG. 11 is an operational flow diagram showing the operations of the display device and the WF server in the third embodiment. [Figure 16] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a display screen for unprocessed data in the third embodiment. [Figure 17] 17 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a workflow display screen after a viewing completion operation is accepted in FIG. 16. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0018] The business support system according to the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts are designated by the same reference characters and description thereof will not be repeated.

[0019] [First embodiment] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of a business support system 1 according to the first embodiment. The business support system 1 executes a business support application that performs progress management of a business process in accordance with workflow data that defines procedures for the business process, including proposal, approval, and decision-making. In this embodiment, the workflow data includes data for managing the progress of each procedure in the business process (hereinafter referred to as workflow management data) and data such as documents related to the business process (hereinafter referred to as document data). In the following description, a business process defined in the workflow data may be referred to as a workflow.

[0020] 1, the business support system 1 includes a display device 10, an image recognition server 20, and a WF (Workflow) server 30. The display device 10, the image recognition server 20, and the WF server 30 are connected via a communication network N such as a LAN (Local Area Network).

[0021] In this example, one display device 10 is connected to the communication network N, but multiple display devices 10 may be connected. Also, although not shown in FIG. 1, personal computers or the like are connected to the communication network N as terminals for each user. The terminals are used by users to create workflows and documents.

[0022] In this embodiment, the display device 10 is installed in a shared space different from where the user's terminal (not shown) is installed. In other words, the display device 10 is a shared display shared by multiple users. Each component will be specifically described below.

[0023] Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of display device 10. As shown in Fig. 2, display device 10 includes a control unit 110 that controls the entire display device 10, a camera 120 connected to control unit 110, a touch display 130 (an example of a display unit or an operation receiving unit), and a communication unit 140.

[0024] Camera 120, under the control of control unit 110, captures an image of a subject in front of display device 10, i.e., on the display surface side. The image capturing range of camera 120 is a predetermined range based on display device 10, including the front of display device 10. Camera 120 outputs the captured image data to control unit 110.

[0025] The touch display 130 includes a display unit 131 and an operation unit 132. The display unit 131 includes a display panel such as a liquid crystal panel. The display unit 131 displays images under the control of the control unit 110. The operation unit 132 includes a touch panel such as a capacitive touch panel installed on the display panel. The operation unit 132 detects a touch operation by the user on the touch panel, and outputs operation information indicating the touch operation to the control unit 110. The operation information includes information identifying various operations such as a tap operation or drag-and-drop, and information indicating the touch position of the touch panel information.

[0026] The communication unit 140 includes a LAN interface, and under the control of the control unit 110, exchanges data with the image recognition server 20 and the WF server 30 via the communication network N.

[0027] The control unit 110 realizes various functions by reading and executing various programs stored in memory (ROM (Read Only Memory) and RAM (Random Access Memory)). The control unit 110 may be realized by one or more control devices / arithmetic units (CPU (Central Processing Unit), SoC (System on a Chip)). The control unit 110 may also be composed of one or more control circuits, and by executing control programs, it controls each unit connected to the control unit 110 and functions as a user interface for the business support application. The same applies to the control units 210 and 310 described later.

[0028] Specifically, the control unit 110 acquires video data output from the camera 120 and transmits the video data to the image recognition server 20 via the communication unit 140. The control unit 110 also acquires a workflow display instruction from the WF server 30 via the communication unit 140 and causes the touch display 130 to display a display screen of the instructed workflow. In response to a touch operation received on the workflow display screen via the operation unit 132, the control unit 110 updates the display screen or transmits an instruction to update the workflow to the WF server 30.

[0029] Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of image recognition server 20. As shown in Fig. 3, image recognition server 20 includes a control unit 210 that controls the entire image recognition server 20, a communication unit 220 connected to control unit 210, and a storage unit 230.

[0030] The communication unit 220 includes a LAN interface, and under the control of the control unit 210, exchanges data with the display device 10 and the WF server 30 via the communication network N (FIG. 1).

[0031] The storage unit 230 includes a nonvolatile memory such as a hard disk. The storage unit 230 stores facial image information (not shown) and video data output from the display device 10. The facial image information includes identification information of a user who uses the business support system 1 and a facial image of the user registered in advance.

[0032] The control unit 210 includes a CPU and memory (ROM and RAM). The control unit 210 performs image recognition processing by causing the CPU to execute a control program stored in the memory. Specifically, the control unit 210 acquires video data from the display device 10 via the communication unit 220 and stores the video data in the storage unit 230. The control unit 210 also identifies a person's face in the video data acquired from the display device 10. If the video data shows only one person, the control unit 210 compares the image of the identified face with face images registered in an image recognition database stored in the storage unit 230 to identify the identification information of the user corresponding to the person shown in the video data. The control unit 210 transmits the identified user's identification information to the WF server 30 via the communication unit 220.

[0033] If there are multiple people in the video data, the control unit 210 may specify the identification information of the user corresponding to the face image of the person who is closer to the display device 10. In this case, for example, the identification information of the user of the person whose face area is the largest in the video data may be specified.

[0034] Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the WF server 30. As shown in Fig. 4, the WF server 30 includes a control unit 310 that controls the entire WF server 30, a communication unit 320 connected to the control unit 310, and a storage unit 330.

[0035] The communication unit 320 includes a LAN interface, and under the control of the control unit 310, exchanges data with the display device 10 and the image recognition server 20 via the communication network N (FIG. 1).

[0036] The storage unit 330 includes a nonvolatile memory such as a hard disk, etc. The storage unit 330 stores various data such as a workflow database (hereinafter referred to as WFDB) and a document database (hereinafter referred to as document DB).

[0037] Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a WFDB. The WFDB 400 stores workflow management data 401, 402 for each task. Specifically, as shown in Fig. 5, the WFDB 400 pre-registers workflow management data 401 and the like, in which data for each item such as "No.", "Date of Proposal," "Title," "Department," "Proposer," "Circulation Route," "Approver," "Decision-Maker," and "Status" is associated with each data item.

[0038] "No." stores identification information that uniquely identifies the workflow management data 401, 402, etc.

[0039] "Date of proposal" stores the date of proposal, i.e., the date the workflow was created. "Title" stores the subject of the proposal. "Department" stores the department to which the proposer belongs. "Proposer" stores the name of the proposer. "Circulation route" stores the destination and circulation order of the proposal. "Approver" stores the name of the approver of the proposal, and "Decision maker" stores the name of the decision maker of the proposal. In this embodiment, the person in charge of "approval" and "decision" processing for the proposal is set as the destination of the workflow.

[0040] The "status" stores the progress of each procedure (process) of a business. For example, the "status" of the workflow management data 401, 402 shown in FIG. 5 stores "waiting for approval." This indicates an unprocessed situation where the approval and circulation process for the proposal has not been completed by the "Approver (Section Manager B)." In other words, the "status" indicates the progress of circulation and processing. In this embodiment, one of "drafting," "waiting for approval," and "waiting for decision" is set as an example of the "status."

[0041] Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a document DB. As shown in Fig. 6, the document DB 410 stores document data 411 to 413, etc., in which data for the items "No.", "Draft document," and "Material" are associated. As with the WFDB 400, "No." stores identification information for workflow data. "Draft document" stores identification information for draft document data, and "Material" stores identification information for material data related to drafting. The identification information for the draft document and material data includes information such as a uniquely identifiable file name.

[0042] 4, the control unit 310 of the WF server 30 includes a CPU and memory (ROM and RAM). The control unit 310 performs the following first process and second process by the CPU executing a control program stored in the memory.

[0043] Specifically, in the first process, the control unit 310 acquires the identification information of the user identified by the image recognition server 20. Then, the control unit 310 extracts unprocessed workflow management data (hereinafter, unprocessed data) corresponding to the user of the acquired identification information from the WFDB 400, and transmits the unprocessed data together with an instruction to display the unprocessed data to the display device 10 via the communication unit 320. The unprocessed data is workflow management data in which the user indicated by the user identification information is set as a person in charge (an approver or a decision maker) of a process (e.g., approval or decision) defined in the workflow, and the status is stored as "waiting for approval" or "waiting for decision." In other words, the unprocessed data indicates a workflow in a state in which the user set as a person in charge of any one of a series of processes in a business operation can perform that process.

[0044] [Second embodiment] Furthermore, in the second process, when the control unit 310 receives a workflow update instruction from the display device 10, it updates the "status" of the workflow management data in the WFDB 400 that was instructed to be updated. The workflow update instruction indicates that the "approval" or "decision" process and the forwarding process have been completed. These processes are operated on the display device 10 or the user's terminal.

[0045] 7 is an operational flow diagram showing the operation of the business support system 1 in the first embodiment. The left side shows an operational flow diagram of the display device 10, the center shows an operational flow diagram of the image recognition server 20, and the right side shows an operational flow diagram of the WF server 30. Because the display device 10, the image recognition server 20, and the WF server 30 operate in relation to each other, the following explanation will be given with reference to these three operational flow diagrams in the order of operation.

[0046] First, referring to the operation flow diagram of display device 10, display device 10 transmits video data captured by camera 120 to image recognition server 20 (step S10). Specifically, control unit 110 acquires the video data from camera 120 and transmits the acquired video data from communication unit 140 to image recognition server 20 via communication network N. After transmitting the video data to image recognition server 20, control unit 110 may temporarily suspend capturing by camera 120 until an instruction to display the workflow is received from WF server 30.

[0047] 7, image recognition server 20 acquires video data from display device 10 (step S20). Specifically, control unit 210 acquires the video data transmitted from display device 10 via communication unit 220, and stores the data in storage unit 230.

[0048] The image recognition server 20 transmits user identification information identified from the facial image information (not shown) in the storage unit 230 and the acquired video data to the WF server 30 (step S21). Specifically, the control unit 210 identifies a person's facial portion from the acquired video data and compares the identified facial portion with a facial image in the facial image information stored in the storage unit 230. The control unit 210 then identifies, from the user information, user identification information of a facial image that has a higher similarity to the identified facial portion. The control unit 210 transmits the identified user identification information from the communication unit 220 to the WF server 30 via the communication network N.

[0049] 7, the WF server 30 acquires user identification information from the image recognition server 20 (step S30). Specifically, the control unit 310 acquires the user identification information transmitted from the image recognition server 20 via the communication unit 320.

[0050] The WF server 30 determines whether there is unprocessed data corresponding to the user identification information in the WFDB 400 (step S31). Specifically, the control unit 310 determines whether there is unprocessed data in the WFDB 400 stored in the storage unit 330, in which the user indicated by the user identification information is set as an "approver" or "decisor" and whose "status" is "waiting for approval" or "waiting for decision."

[0051] When the WF server 30 determines that there is unprocessed data corresponding to the user identification information in the WFDB 400 (YES in step S31), it instructs the display device 10 to display the unprocessed data (step S32). Specifically, the control unit 310 extracts the unprocessed data corresponding to the user identification information from the WFDB 400, and extracts the document data (draft document and materials) corresponding to the unprocessed data from the document DB 410 (FIG. 6). Then, the control unit 310 transmits an instruction to display the unprocessed data, including the extracted unprocessed data and document data, from the communication unit 320 to the display device 10.

[0052] 7, the display device 10 waits until it receives an instruction to display unprocessed data (NO in step S11). When the display device 10 receives the instruction to display unprocessed data (YES in step S11), it displays the unprocessed data (step S12). Specifically, the control unit 110 acquires the unprocessed data and document data along with the instruction to display the unprocessed data, and generates a display screen for the unprocessed list based on the acquired unprocessed data and displays it on the touch display 130.

[0053] Fig. 8 is an image diagram showing an example of a display screen of the unprocessed list L. As shown in Fig. 8, the unprocessed list L includes data for each of the items "No.", "Status", "Approver", "Title", and "Number of days since proposal".

[0054] The items "No.", "Status", "Approver", and "Title" are extracted from the unprocessed data received by the display device 10. "Number of days since proposal" is the number of days from the "proposal date" of the unprocessed data to the present. "Number of days since proposal" may be calculated by the display device 10, or may be calculated by the WF server 30 and sent to the display device 10 together with the unprocessed data.

[0055] 8 lists some of the workflows whose approver is "Section Manager B" and whose status is "Waiting for approval." In other words, the unprocessed list L shows a list of workflows that have not been processed by "Section Manager B," who was identified from the video captured by the camera 120.

[0056] The unprocessed data includes workflow management data awaiting approval or decision by a user identified from the video captured by the camera 120. Therefore, when the unprocessed data for one user includes both workflow management data awaiting approval and decision, the same user is set as the approver for the workflow management data awaiting approval and the approver for the workflow awaiting decision. The display device 10 identifies the user for whom the unprocessed data is targeted based on the "status" and "approver or approver" of each workflow management data item of the unprocessed data.

[0057] 7, after instructing the display device 10 to display unprocessed data (S12), the display device 10 waits until an operation is accepted (NO in step S13). Furthermore, upon accepting an operation (YES in step S13), the display device 10 transmits a display and workflow update instruction according to the accepted operation (step S14).

[0058] Specifically, when the control unit 110 receives an operation to select a "No." from the unprocessed list L shown in FIG. 8 via the operation unit 132, it causes the touch display 130 to display a display screen of the workflow corresponding to the selected "No."

[0059] 9 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a workflow display screen. As shown in FIG. 9, the workflow display screen includes display areas R1 to R5.

[0060] Display area R1 is an area where a draft document D corresponding to the workflow of the selected "No." is displayed. Draft document D is document data stored in document DB 410 (FIG. 6) corresponding to the selected "No."

[0061] Draft document D includes draft content 421 and a seal field 422. The seal field 422 is a field where, for example, the electronic seals of the drafter, approver, and authorizer are attached. In this example, the electronic seal s1 of the drafter "Person in charge A" is attached. Note that, although this embodiment shows an example in which an electronic seal is used, the electronic signature or electronic signature of the person in charge (user) may also be used.

[0062] Display area R2 is an area where a thumbnail image Sd of the material data corresponding to the workflow of the selected "No." is displayed. The material data corresponding to the thumbnail image Sd is material data stored in the document DB 410 (FIG. 6) corresponding to the selected "No."

[0063] Display area R3 is an area that displays folders for the source and destination of a workflow. In this example, a folder labeled with "Person in Charge A," the source of the proposal, and a folder labeled with "Manager C," the destination of the proposal, are displayed. The source and destination folders are displayed based on the circulation route of the unprocessed data. In this example, "Manager B" is identified on the display device 10 as the target user of the unprocessed data. Then, "Manager B" is set as the approver, and folders indicating "Person in Charge A," the source of the workflow, and "Manager C," the destination of the workflow, are displayed in display area R3 from the circulation route "Person in Charge A → Manager B → Manager C" corresponding to workflow "No. 01," for which the status "Waiting for Approval" is set.

[0064] Display area R4 is an area where buttons labeled "Approve" or "Decide" are displayed and where approval or approval operations are accepted. In this example, the "Approve" button is displayed. By pressing the "Approve" or "Decide" button, control unit 110 affixes the approver's or approver's electronic seal to stamp field 422 of draft document D.

[0065] The electronic seal data of the user who will be the approver or decision maker may be stored in the display device 10, or may be stored in the image recognition server 20 or the WF server 30. When the electronic seal data of each user is stored in the image recognition server 20 or the WF server 30, the control unit 110, upon receiving a button press operation, may send a request for electronic seal data including the user's identification information to the image recognition server 20 or the WF server 30, and acquire the electronic seal data from the image recognition server 20 or the WF server 30.

[0066] Display area R5 is an area where a button labeled "Back" is displayed and where an operation to return to the display screen of the unprocessed list L (FIG. 8) is accepted.

[0067] That is, in this embodiment, the unprocessed list L and the workflow display screen are examples of unprocessed information. The display device 10 displays the unprocessed list L, which shows a list of unprocessed data, as a display screen for unprocessed data. The display device 10 also displays a workflow display screen, which shows the contents of the unprocessed data, as a display screen for unprocessed data. The workflow display screen includes at least an area where document data related to the unprocessed data is displayed, and an area where the user can instruct (execute) workflow processing such as approval or decision-making, and circulation.

[0068] Fig. 10 is an image diagram showing an example of the workflow display screen when the "Approve" button of Section Manager B is pressed in Fig. 9. When the operation of pressing the "Approve" button is accepted in Fig. 9, the control unit 110 adds the electronic seal s2 of "Section Manager B" next to the electronic seal s1 of "Person in charge of A" in the seal field 422, as shown in Fig. 10.

[0069] Furthermore, when the control unit 110 receives a workflow forwarding operation in which the draft document D10 (see FIG. 6) with the electronic seal s2 is dragged and dropped into the "Manager C" folder R32 as indicated by the arrow in the figure, the control unit 110 transmits a workflow update instruction to the WF server 30 via the communication unit 140. The update instruction includes the workflow "No.", the draft document D with the electronic seal s2, and operation information indicating that the forwarding operation has been received.

[0070] In addition, when the control unit 110 receives an operation to drag and drop the draft document D into the "A's Person" folder R31 as a workflow return operation, it sends the workflow "No." and operation information indicating that the return operation has been received to the WF server 30 as an instruction to update the workflow.

[0071] Referring to the operation flow of the WF server 30 on the right side of FIG. 7, when the WF server 30 receives an instruction to update the workflow via the communication unit 320 (YES in step S33), it updates the workflow data based on the update instruction (step S34).

[0072] 11 is a diagram showing an example of an update to the workflow management data 401 in the WFDB 400. When the WF server 30 receives from the display device 10 an update instruction including a draft document D (D10) with an electronic seal s2 of "Section Manager B" attached for the workflow "No. 01" and operation information indicating a circulation operation, the control unit 310 reads the workflow management data 401 corresponding to "No. 01" from the WFDB 400 (FIG. 5). The control unit 310 updates the "status" of the read workflow management data 401 from "waiting for approval" (FIG. 5) to "waiting for decision." The control unit 310 also attaches the approver's electronic seal s2 to the draft document D10 in the document DB 410 (FIG. 6) and stores it.

[0073] Also, for example, when an update instruction including operation information indicating a return operation from "Section Manager B" to "Person in Charge A" is received for workflow "No. 01," the control unit 310 updates the "status" of the workflow management data corresponding to "No. 01" from "waiting for approval" to "being drafted" (not shown). In this example, since "Person in Charge A," who is the source of the return, is set as the "drafter" in the workflow management data corresponding to "No. 01," the status is updated to "being drafted."

[0074] 7, the display device 10 repeats the processes from step S13 onwards until it receives an operation to end the display of unprocessed data (NO in step S15). When it receives an operation to end the display of unprocessed data (YES in step S15), the display device 10 transmits operation information indicating an operation to end the display of the workflow to the WF server 30, and ends the display of the workflow.

[0075] Specifically, when the control unit 110 receives an operation to terminate the display of the display screen (Figure 8) of the unprocessed list L via the operation unit 132 as an operation to terminate the display of unprocessed data, it sends operation information indicating the display termination operation to the WF server 30.

[0076] 7, after the processing of step S34, or when the WF server 30 has not received a workflow update instruction from the display device 10 (NO in step S33), if the WF server 30 receives operation information indicating a display termination operation from the display device 10 (YES in step S35), the WF server 30 terminates the processing for the target unprocessed data. That is, when the control unit 310 receives operation information indicating a display termination operation for the unprocessed list L from the display device 10 via the communication unit 320, the control unit 310 terminates the processing for the unprocessed data.

[0077] In step S31, if the WFDB 400 does not contain unprocessed data corresponding to the user identification information (NO in step S31), the WF server 30 ends the process without processing the workflow of the user identification information.

[0078] The business support system 1 of the first embodiment described above identifies a user from an image captured by the camera 120 on the display device 10 installed in a shared space, and causes the identified user to display unprocessed workflow data on the display device 10. Therefore, every time a user moves to the shared space, the unprocessed workflow is displayed on the display device 10, which can prompt the user to execute the workflow processing, thereby improving business efficiency.

[0079] Furthermore, the business support system 1 updates the display screen of unprocessed data displayed on the display device 10 in response to operations on the display device 10, and updates the workflow data in the WF server 30. Therefore, the user can use not only the terminal at his / her own desk but also the display device 10 installed in the shared space as a user interface for the workflow, which improves convenience and processing efficiency compared to using only the terminal at his / her own desk.

[0080] [Third embodiment] Fig. 12 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of a business support system 1A according to the third embodiment. As shown in Fig. 12, the business support system 1A includes a display device 10a (10) installed in the space of sales department A, a display device 10b (10) installed in the space of sales department B, an image recognition server 20, and a WF server 30A. The display device 10a and the display device 10b have the same configuration as the display device 10 in the first embodiment.

[0081] The WF server 30A stores user information in addition to the WFDB 400 (FIG. 5) and the document DB 410 (FIG. 6) in the storage unit 330 (see FIG. 4). The user information is information that defines the display device 10 to be shared in the department (Sales Department A or Sales Department B) to which each user belongs.

[0082] Fig. 13 is a diagram showing an example of user information. As shown in Fig. 13, the user information 420 stores a display ID, a user ID, and an affiliation in association with each other. The user ID is identification information for identifying a user. The display ID is identification information for identifying the display device 10. The affiliation indicates the department to which the user belongs. The display IDs "DPa" and "DPb" are identification information for identifying the display device 10a and the display device 10b, respectively.

[0083] In this example, the display ID "DPa" is associated with the user ID of a user present in sales department A, and the display ID "DPb" is associated with the user ID of a user present in sales department B. In other words, the display device 10a is shared by users in sales department A, and the display device 10b is shared by users in sales department B. In this embodiment, the sales departments A and B are examples of a first user and a second user, and the display devices 10a and 10b are examples of a first display unit and a second display unit.

[0084] FIG. 14 is an example of workflow data in the third embodiment that corresponds to the WFDB 400 (see FIG. 5) in the first embodiment. The workflow management data 403 shows a business process in which an initiator circulates a proposal from "Responsible A" of "Sales Department A" to "Sales Department A" and then to "Sales Department B" indicated by a circulation route. "Sales Department A" is set as the "status" in the workflow management data 403, which indicates that the workflow is being circulated in "Sales Department A." When the workflow is circulated to the last circulation destination in the circulation route and the last circulation destination performs an operation to complete viewing, the status is updated to "circulation completed." In this example, when the workflow is circulated from "Sales Department A" to "Sales Department B" and an operation to complete viewing is performed, "circulation completed" is stored as the status.

[0085] FIG. 15 is an operational flow diagram showing the operation of the display device 10 (10a and 10b) and the WF server 30A in the third embodiment. The left side shows the operational flow of the display device 10, and the right side shows the operational flow of the WF server 30A. The image recognition server 20 performs the same processing as in the first embodiment (see FIG. 7), and is therefore not shown in FIG. 15. The following mainly describes the operation of the WF server 30A and the display device 10.

[0086] Referring to the operational flow of display devices 10a and 10b on the left side of Figure 15, as in the first embodiment, display devices 10a and 10b transmit video data captured by camera 120 to image recognition server 20 (step S10), and identification information (user ID) of the user identified by image recognition server 20 is transmitted from image recognition server 20 to WF server 30A (S20 to S21 in the operational flow of image recognition server 20 in the center of Figure 7, and S30 in the operational flow of WF server 30 on the right side of Figure 7).

[0087] Referring to the operational flow of the WF server 30A on the right side of Figure 15, if there is unprocessed data for the department in the WFDB 400 that corresponds to the user identification information acquired in S30 of the operational flow of the WF server 30 on the right side of Figure 7 (YES in step S311), the WF server 30A extracts the unprocessed data from the WFDB 400, extracts the draft document corresponding to the unprocessed data from the document DB 410 (Figure 6), and sends a display instruction including the unprocessed data and the draft document to the display device 10 (S312).

[0088] For example, if the user ID "user03" is identified as user identification information in the image recognition server 20 from the video data transmitted from the display device 10a to the image recognition server 20, the WF server 30A obtains the user ID "user03" from the image recognition server 20.

[0089] The WF server 30A identifies the department "Sales Department A" and display ID "DPa" corresponding to the user ID "user03" from the user information 420 (FIG. 13). The WF server 30A extracts, as unprocessed data, workflow management data 403 (FIG. 14) that has not yet been returned to the department "Sales Department A" from the WFDB 400. The WF server 30A also extracts document data (draft document) (not shown) corresponding to "No. 11" in the workflow management data 403 from the document DB 410 (FIG. 6). The WF server 30A sends a display instruction for the extracted unprocessed data, including the draft document, to the display device 10a corresponding to the identified display ID "DPa."

[0090] The following description will be made with reference to the operation flow of the display devices 10a and 10b and the WF server 30A in Fig. 15 and the workflow display screens in Fig. 16 and 17. As in Fig. 7, when the display device 10a receives an instruction to display unprocessed data transmitted from the WF server 30A (YES in step S11), it displays the unprocessed data on the touch display 130 (step S12).

[0091] Fig. 16 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a display screen for unprocessed data in the third embodiment. In Fig. 16, a draft document D30 corresponding to the unprocessed data (workflow management data 403) is displayed in display area R1. In addition, a folder R31 labeled "Sales Department B" as the workflow destination folder is displayed in display area R3, and a "Complete" button for accepting an operation to complete viewing of the draft document is displayed in display area R41.

[0092] Fig. 17 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a workflow display screen after accepting the viewing completion operation in Fig. 16. As shown in Fig. 17, when accepting the pressing operation of the "Complete" button in Fig. 16 (YES in step S13), the display device 10a affixes the electronic seal s4 of "Sales Department A" to the seal field 422 of the draft document D30 (step S14).

[0093] 17, when the display device 10a receives a circulation operation of dragging and dropping the draft document D30 into the "Sales Department B" folder R31 as indicated by the arrow in the figure (YES in step S13), it sends a workflow update instruction to the WF server 30A (step S14). The update instruction includes workflow "No. 11," the draft document D30 with the electronic seal s4 attached, and operation information indicating the circulation operation.

[0094] Referring to the operational flow of the WF server 30A on the right side of Figure 15, when the WF server 30A receives a workflow update instruction from the display device 10a (YES in step S33), it updates the workflow data based on the update instruction (step S34). Specifically, the WF server 30A reads the workflow management data 403 for "No. 11" acquired from the display device 10a in the WFDB 400 and updates the "status" of the workflow management data 403 from "Sales Department A" to "Sales Department B." The WF server 30A also affixes an electronic seal s4 to the draft document D30 corresponding to "No. 11" in the document DB 410 and stores it. As a result, the workflow management data indicates that the workflow has been circulated to "Sales Department B."

[0095] If the WF server 30A has completed all the circulation of the workflow for which an update instruction has been issued (YES in step S313), the WF server 30A proceeds to the processing of step S35. Specifically, if "Circulation Completed" is stored in the status of the workflow management data 403 for "No. 11," the WF server 30A determines that the circulation is complete.

[0096] Furthermore, if the WF server 30A has not yet completed all of the routing of the workflow for which an update instruction has been issued (NO in step S313), it transmits a routing notification to the next routing destination (step S314). Specifically, the WF server 30A transmits the routing notification to the display device 10b corresponding to the routing destination "Sales Department B" indicated in the status in the workflow management data 403 for "No. 11."

[0097] 15, when the display device 10b receives a circulation notification transmitted from the WF server 30A (YES in step S16), the display device 10b displays a notification screen based on the circulation notification (step S17). Specifically, for example, a notification screen indicating that a document related to the workflow management data 403 has been circulated is displayed on the touch display 130.

[0098] This is an example of a third process in which unprocessed information based on workflow data that has not yet been circulated by the user is displayed on the first display unit based on user information, and when a circulating operation is accepted, a circulating notification of the document data is displayed on the second display unit based on the user information.

[0099] The business support system 1A in the third embodiment can be used for circulating documents that do not require approval or authorization between departments, etc. In addition, since a workflow circulation notification is notified on a shared display of the department, etc., to which the document is circulated, the document can be circulated quickly.

[0100] The above describes embodiments of the present disclosure. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiments and can be implemented in various forms without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. The drawings mainly show each component in a schematic manner to facilitate understanding, and the thickness, length, number, etc. of each component shown in the drawings may differ from the actual ones due to the convenience of creating the drawings. Furthermore, the shape, dimensions, etc. of each component shown in the above embodiments are merely examples and are not particularly limited, and various modifications are possible within a scope that does not substantially deviate from the effects of the present disclosure.

[0101] Next, a modified example will be described.

[0102] (1) In the WF servers 30 and 30A of the above-described embodiments, authentication information for viewing workflow data may be stored in association with the workflow data. When the display device 10 receives an instruction to display unprocessed data associated with the authentication information from the WF server 30 and 30A and accepts an operation to view the workflow data, the display device 10 displays a message requesting input of authentication information. When the display device 10 accepts an operation to input authentication information, the display device 10 displays the unprocessed data if the input authentication information matches the authentication information associated with the workflow data.

[0103] Since the display device 10 is installed in a shared space, if authentication information is not set, anyone can view the unprocessed data displayed on the display device 10. By setting authentication information in the workflow data, it is possible to restrict viewing of the workflow data to specific users.

[0104] The authentication information may be arbitrarily set by the user of the destination for each workflow transfer destination. Alternatively, when the workflow data is generated in the WF server 30, 30A, authentication information common to all the destinations may be set, and the authentication information may be notified to each destination by e-mail or the like.

[0105] (2) In the above-described embodiment, the camera 120 is provided on the display device 10, but it may be installed separately from the display device 10. Specifically, for example, the camera 120 may be installed in a shared space where the display device 10 is installed. In such a configuration, the camera 120 is installed so as to capture an image of a predetermined range based on the display device 10, including the front of the display device 10. Furthermore, the camera 120 and the display device 10 may be electrically connected, and video data captured by the camera 120 may be transmitted to the image recognition server 20 via the display device 10.

[0106] (3) In the above-described embodiment, when the image captured by the camera 120 includes multiple people, an example is shown in which the identification information of the person who is closer to the display device 10 is identified. However, it is also possible to identify the identification information of the person among the multiple people whose image recognition accuracy is higher.

[0107] (4) In the first embodiment described above, if the video captured by the camera 120 includes multiple people, the identification information of the users corresponding to each of the multiple people may be identified. In this case, the display device 10 may display each piece of unprocessed data corresponding to the identification information of each user for each piece of user identification information.

[0108] (5) In the above-described embodiments, the business support systems 1 and 1A may be configured with only the display device 10 and the WF server 30, without including the image recognition server 20. In this case, it is sufficient that either the display device 10 or the WF server 30 has the functions of the image recognition server 20 described above.

[0109] (6) The functional units in the business support systems 1 and 1A shown in the above embodiments may be individually implemented as single chips using semiconductor devices such as LSIs, or may be integrated into a single chip so as to include some or all of the functional units.

[0110] Furthermore, some or all of the processing of the functional units (control units) of the business support systems 1 and 1A described in the above embodiments may be executed by a program. Specifically, the processing of the WF servers 30 and 30A described in the above embodiments may be executed by a program. That is, the program causes a device that stores workflow data including information indicating users responsible for each process in a series of processes and the progress of each process, and facial image information including facial images of each user, to execute computer processing. The computer processing includes an identifying step and a control step. The identifying step acquires a video of a person within a predetermined range based on the display unit, and identifies the user corresponding to the person in the video based on the acquired video and the facial image information. The control step performs a first process of identifying, from the workflow data, unprocessed workflow data in which the user identified in the identifying step is set as the person responsible for one of the processes and in a state where the user can perform the process, and displaying unprocessed information indicating the identified unprocessed workflow data on the display unit. [Industrial Applicability]

[0111] The present disclosure can be used in business support applications because it can reduce delays in business processes. [Explanation of symbols]

[0112] 1. 1A Business Support System 10, 10a, 10b display device 20 Image Recognition Server 30, 30A WF Server 110, 210, 310 Control unit 120 Camera 131 Display section 132 Operation section 230, 330 storage section 401~403 Workflow management data L Unprocessed List

Claims

1. a storage unit that stores workflow data including information indicating a user who is in charge of a series of processes and a progress status of the series of processes, and face image information including a face image of the user; A display unit; an identification unit that acquires a video of a person within a predetermined range based on the display unit, and identifies the user corresponding to the person appearing in the video based on the acquired video and the facial image information; a control unit that performs a first process of identifying, from the workflow data stored in the storage unit, unprocessed workflow data for which the specified user is set as a person in charge of any of the series of processes and for which the series of processes can be performed, and displaying unprocessed information indicating the identified unprocessed workflow data on the display unit.

2. the workflow data includes document data and a circulation route indicating a circulation order of the document data; the series of processes includes a process of circulating the document data to a next circulation destination determined in the circulation route, an operation receiving unit that receives a circulation operation for circulating the document data of the workflow data indicated by the unprocessed information, The business support device according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit performs a second process of updating a circulation status of the document data as the progress status of the workflow data when the circulation operation is accepted.

3. the display unit displays a document image indicating the document data included in the workflow data of the unprocessed information and a folder indicating the next circulation destination of the document data based on the circulation route of the workflow data; The task support device according to claim 2 , wherein the operation accepting unit accepts, as the circulation operation, an operation to move the document image into the folder.

4. The users include a first user and a second user; the display unit includes a first display unit and a second display unit, the storage unit stores, as user information, identification information indicating the first user and identification information indicating the first display unit in association with each other, and also stores, as user information, identification information indicating the second user and identification information indicating the second display unit in association with each other; 4. The business support device according to claim 2, wherein the second user is set as the destination of the circulation route after the first user, and for workflow data that has not been circulated by the first user, the control unit, as the first processing, displays the unprocessed information based on the workflow data that has not been circulated by the first user on the first display unit based on the user information, and when the circulation operation is accepted, performs a third processing of displaying a circulation notification of the document data on the second display unit based on the user information.

5. 4. The business support device according to claim 1, wherein, when the video includes a plurality of human subjects, the identification unit identifies one of the users from the plurality of human subjects based on the size of a face portion of the subject.

6. the workflow data includes authentication information preset for viewing the document data, the operation receiving unit receives a viewing operation of the document data of the workflow data indicated by the unprocessed information, The business support device according to claim 2 , wherein the control unit, when the viewing operation is accepted, causes the display unit to display a message requesting input of the authentication information.

7. an acquisition unit that acquires from an external device unprocessed workflow data in which a user identified from a video of a person within a predetermined range based on the device itself is set as the person in charge of the process, among workflow data including information indicating a user who is in charge of a series of processes and a progress status of the series of processes, and the user is in a state where the process can be performed; a display unit that displays the acquired unprocessed information; A display device comprising:

8. The device includes a display device, an imaging unit, and a server, the image capturing unit captures an image of a person within a predetermined range based on the display device and outputs the image to the server; The server a storage unit that stores workflow data including information indicating users who are responsible for each of a series of processes and progress statuses of the series of processes, and face image information including face images of the users; an identification unit that acquires the video and identifies the user corresponding to the person appearing in the video based on the acquired video and the face image information; a control unit that identifies, from the workflow data stored in the storage unit, workflow data for which the identified user is set as the person in charge of any one of the series of processes and for which the series of processes can be performed, unprocessed workflow data, and instructs the display device to display unprocessed information indicating the identified unprocessed workflow data, The display device receives an instruction to display the unprocessed information from the server and displays the unprocessed information.

9. a storage step of storing workflow data including information indicating a user who is in charge of a series of processes and a progress status of the series of processes, and face image information including a face image of the user; an identifying step of acquiring a video of a person within a predetermined range based on a display unit, and identifying the user corresponding to the person appearing in the video based on the acquired video and the facial image information; a control step of performing a first process of identifying, from the workflow data stored in the storing step, unprocessed workflow data in a state where the user specified in the specifying step is set as the person in charge of any of the series of processes and in which the series of processes can be performed, and displaying unprocessed information indicating the identified unprocessed workflow data on the display unit.

10. A program for causing a device to execute computer processing, the program storing workflow data including information indicating a user who is in charge of a series of processes and a progress status of the series of processes, and face image information including a face image of the user, the program comprising: The computer processing an identifying step of acquiring a video of a person within a predetermined range based on a display unit, and identifying the user corresponding to the person appearing in the video based on the acquired video and the facial image information; a control step of performing a first process of identifying, from the workflow data, unprocessed workflow data in a state where the user identified in the identification step is set as the person in charge of any of the series of processes and in which the series of processes can be performed, and displaying unprocessed information indicating the identified unprocessed workflow data on the display unit.

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