Information processing system and information processing method

Abstract

To enable a person working in a virtual office and a person working in a real office to easily recognize states of each other and easily communicate with each other.SOLUTION: An information processing system comprises an information collection unit 10 which collects location information and state information in a real space of a person working in a real office, an interface unit 20 which receives location information and state information in a virtual space of a person working in a virtual office and outputs location information resulting from converting the location information in the real space of the person working in the real office to a location in the virtual space corresponding to the real space and the location information in the virtual space of the person working in the virtual office, an account information storage unit 40 in which the location information and state information of the persons working in the real office and the virtual office respectively are stored, and a state recognition unit 30 which recognizes states of the persons. The state recognition unit recognizes the states of the persons on the basis of the state information of the persons / a distance in the virtual space between the persons, and the interface unit outputs markers corresponding to the states of the persons and associated with the persons together with the location information of the persons.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing system and an information processing method, and more particularly to a hybrid officework communication system and a communication method using the system. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, as a result of work style reforms and the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more people are working remotely from their usual offices, such as working from home or teleworking. This has led to problems such as not being able to grasp the situation of others, such as colleagues, making it difficult to communicate with them. As a solution to this problem, technologies have emerged that make it easier for people working in the same workplace to communicate with each other by building a virtual office (hereinafter referred to as a virtual office) within an IT system.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a large-room-like virtual office system that aims to prevent each member from feeling alienated or isolated and from losing their sense of solidarity by displaying a large-room-like virtual office made up of each member in a distributed personal office. This large-room-like virtual office system processes audio information and video information of members of the same workplace in three dimensions and places this in appropriate locations in the virtual office. This office system is characterized by providing audio information based on the distance and direction from which other members should be able to hear it, and video information from an angle from which other members should be able to see it, and placing these in appropriate locations in the virtual office.

[0004] Patent Document 2 discloses an office virtual reality system that makes telecommuting feel like going to work in the office, preventing communication from becoming weak. This system uses VR (virtual reality) technology to create a virtual office using an office computer and the computers of telecommuting employees, and this virtual office provides an environment for employees to feel as if they are actually going to work in the office. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-288645 [Patent Document 2] JP 2019-128683 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] The above-mentioned conventional technology is intended to make it easier for people who work in places other than their usual office (workplace) to work and communicate in a virtual office built in an IT system. However, some people actually go to their workplace (hereinafter also referred to as a real office) and work there. In this way, when people who work in real offices and people who work in virtual offices are mixed, the conventional technology cannot handle it well. For example, people who work in real offices can immediately recognize situations such as having a meeting in a conference room, talking at a desk, or talking while standing, but people who work in virtual offices cannot immediately check the situation of people working in real offices. In addition, people who work in real offices have to use the virtual office system every time to know the situation of people working in the virtual office, so it is troublesome to log in to the system. Therefore, with the conventional technology, even if communication between people working in virtual offices and people who log in to the system at a real office is activated, there is still a problem that it is difficult to communicate between people working in virtual offices and people working in real offices.

[0007] Therefore, the present invention provides an information processing system and an information processing method that enable people working in a virtual office and people working in a real office to easily recognize each other's status and to easily communicate with each other. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to solve the above problem, an information processing system for promoting communication between remote users is provided, the information processing system comprising: an information collection unit that collects position information and status information in the real space of a first user present in a predetermined area; an interface unit that accepts input of position information and status information in the virtual space of a second user not present in the area and outputs position information obtained by converting the position information in the real space of the first user collected by the information collection unit into a position in the virtual space corresponding to the real space and position information of the second user in the virtual space; an account information storage unit that stores the position information and status information of the first user collected by the information collection unit and the position information and status information of the second user accepted by the interface unit; and a status recognition unit that recognizes the status of each user based on the information stored in the account information storage unit, wherein the status recognition unit recognizes the status of each user based on the status information of each user and / or the distance between each user in the virtual space, and the interface unit outputs a sign associated with each user according to the status of each user recognized by the status recognition unit together with the position information of each user. According to this, location information of a person working in a real office (first user) is automatically collected and converted into location information in the corresponding virtual space, which is then output, arranged, and displayed together with location information of a person working in a virtual office (second user), so that the person working in the virtual office can immediately know where the person working in the real office is. In addition, by recognizing the status information of each user and outputting and displaying a sign (icon) associated with each user according to that status, people working in both offices can immediately know each other's status. This makes it possible to provide an information processing system that makes it easy for people working in a virtual office and people working in a real office to recognize each other's status and communicate with each other.

[0009] Furthermore, the status information of the first user collected by the information collecting unit may be obtained from a remote conference system that allows users located remotely to communicate with each other. According to this, by recognizing the status from the usage status of the remote conference system, it is possible to accurately recognize the status of people working in a real office, where it is difficult to recognize their status.

[0010] Furthermore, the state recognition unit may recognize that when the users remain close to each other in the virtual space for a certain period of time or more, and when the users are communicating with each other via a remote conference system, that the users are in a state where they cannot be contacted by other users, and the interface unit may output an indicator indicating that the users are in a state where they cannot be contacted by other users. This allows people working in a virtual office to easily recognize when someone is in a meeting or conversation, which is easily recognizable in a real office, and to determine whether or not it is appropriate to contact them.

[0011] Furthermore, the interface unit may be characterized by placing and outputting markers for each user who has been in close proximity to each other for a certain period of time or more, and for each user who is communicating via a remote conference system, in close positions. This makes it easy to see who is in a meeting or conversation among people working in the office, whether in real life or virtually.

[0012] Furthermore, the status information stored in the account information storage unit may include first status information input by each user themselves, second status information obtained from the remote conference system, and third status information indicating that positions in the virtual space are close to each other for a certain period of time or more, and the status recognition unit may recognize the first status information with a first priority, the second status information with a second priority, and the third status information with a third priority. This allows the status of workers to be accurately recognized by prioritizing status information with greater certainty.

[0013] The remote conference system may further include a collaboration management system that manages the communication terminals provided in the area, and the collaboration management system, upon a request from the second user, accepts from the interface unit an identification number of the communication terminal to which the second user wishes to connect and an account ID of the second user, and transmits the account ID to the communication terminal having that identification number, and upon receiving the account ID via the communication terminal, the remote conference system may transmit a communication start request to the terminal used by the second user, and connect the terminal used by the second user to the communication terminal. With this system, people working in a virtual office can check the location of people working in a real office and attach themselves to a communication terminal installed in the real office, allowing the people working in the virtual office to easily communicate with each other.

[0014] Furthermore, the collaboration management system may periodically detect and update the connection status between the terminal used by the second user and the communication terminal, the information collection unit collects location information of the second user from the collaboration management system, and the interface unit places and outputs a sign associated with the second user in the vicinity of the communication terminal. According to this, the information collection unit collects the location information of the second user from the collaboration management system and places a sign of the second user near the communication terminal, so that a third party can see as if a person working in a real office and a person working in a virtual office are having a conversation in the real office. Also, by periodically detecting and updating the connection status, the connection of the communication terminals can be managed accurately.

[0015] In order to solve the above problem, an information processing method is provided for promoting communication between remote users, which includes collecting position information and status information in the real space of a first user who is present in a predetermined area, converting the collected position information in the real space of the first user into position information in a virtual space corresponding to the real space, accepting input of position information and status information in the virtual space of a second user who is not present in the area, storing the converted position information and status information of the first user and the accepted position information and status information of the second user, recognizing the status of each user based on the stored information and / or the distance between each user in the virtual space, and outputting a sign associated with each user according to the recognized status of each user together with the position information of each user in the virtual space. According to this, location information of a person working in a real office (first user) is automatically collected and converted into location information in the corresponding virtual space, which is then output, arranged, and displayed together with location information of a person working in a virtual office (second user), so that the person working in the virtual office can immediately know where the person working in the real office is. In addition, by recognizing the status information of each user and outputting and displaying a sign associated with each user according to that status, people working in both offices can immediately know each other's status. This makes it possible to provide an information processing method that makes it easy for people working in a virtual office and people working in a real office to communicate with each other. Effect of the Invention

[0016] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an information processing system and an information processing method that allow people working in a virtual office and people working in a real office to easily recognize each other's status and to easily communicate with each other. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a hybrid office communication system according to a first embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2]FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of a virtual office system of the hybrid office communication system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display output by an interface unit of the virtual office system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] 3 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a screen display output by an interface unit of the virtual office system according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. [Diagram 5] 5 is a flowchart showing the control of an information collecting unit of the virtual office system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] 5 is a flowchart showing the control of an interface unit of the virtual office system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] 5 is a flowchart showing the control of a state recognition unit of the virtual office system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] 3A and 3B are diagrams showing the contents of account information and a location information log, respectively, contained in a storage unit of a virtual office system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a hybrid office communication system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] FIG. 11 is a hardware configuration diagram of a virtual office system of a hybrid office communication system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display output by an interface unit of a virtual office system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] FIG. 11 is an image diagram showing how a communication terminal in a break room is used in a hybrid office communication system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 13] 10 is a flowchart showing the control of an information collecting unit of a virtual office system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 14] 10 is a flowchart showing the control of a communication interface unit of a virtual office system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 15]10 is a flowchart showing the control of a communication management unit of a virtual office system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 16] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the contents of communication terminal information stored in a storage unit of a virtual office system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0018] Each embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. <First Example> A hybrid office communication system 1 and a virtual office system 100 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 1 to 8. The hybrid office communication system 1 and the virtual office system 100 are information processing systems for promoting communication between people working in a virtual office (hereinafter also referred to as a virtual office) and people working in a real office (hereinafter also referred to as an actual office or workplace). A real office is a place provided by an entity such as a company for people working there, and includes other locations of the same entity (for example, a Tokyo branch office, an Osaka branch office, etc.). A virtual office is usually a home of a person working in a real office, a business trip destination, or a rental office rented by a company, and is a place distant from the real office. The hybrid office communication system 1 and the virtual office system 100 are IT systems including a computer and a network for promoting communication between such users who are in such a remote location.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 1, the hybrid office communication system 1 comprises a virtual office system 100 which is the central system within the hybrid office communication system 1, a location information acquisition system 200 which acquires location information of people working in real offices within their workplaces, an office user terminal 600 used by people working in the real office, a radio wave transmitter 500 which is installed in the real office and emits radio waves to acquire location information of the office user terminal 600, a remote user terminal 700 used by people working in the virtual office, a remote conference system 300 which exchanges voices and images in real time for meetings, conversations, etc. between people in remote locations, and a schedule management system 400 for managing the schedules of people belonging to the business entity.

[0020] A plurality of radio wave transmitters 500 are installed in an actual office and transmit a predetermined radio wave. The predetermined radio wave is preferably a radio wave conforming to a wireless personal area network with a maximum reach of about several meters for the purpose of indoor positioning, for example, a Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy beacon. The office user terminal 600 is a mobile terminal, typically a smartphone, carried by a person working in a real office, and includes a receiver for radio waves transmitted by the radio wave transmitter 500. An application is installed in the office user terminal 600 that measures the position in the actual office based on the strength of each radio wave transmitted by the plurality of radio wave transmitters 500 by this receiver. Alternatively, the office user terminal 600 transmits the strength of each radio wave transmitted by the plurality of radio wave transmitters 500 directly to the position information acquisition system 200 by this receiver. Measurement of the position is possible if radio waves from at least three radio wave transmitters 500 can be received.

[0021] The location information acquisition system 200 is an indoor positioning system that communicates with the application installed in the office user terminal 600 or receives the intensity of radio waves, and recognizes and acquires location information in the actual office of a person working in the real office holding the office user terminal 600. The location information acquisition system 200 communicates with the office user terminal 600 via a wireless LAN (e.g., Wi-Fi (registered trademark)) that covers the same area as the communication area covered by the multiple radio wave transmitters 500. When the office user terminal 600 enters the communication area of ​​the location information acquisition system 200, it receives radio waves from the radio wave transmitter 500 and automatically transmits location information in the real office to the location information acquisition system 200. The location information acquisition system 200 sequentially acquires current location information of each person according to movement in the real office, and stores the location information in a database as each person's location information.

[0022] The remote conference system 300 realizes one-to-one or many-to-many voice and video communication with remote parties by voice communication or video communication for holding a conference or the like between people in remote locations. The remote conference system refers to a so-called Web conference system or video conference system. The remote conference system 300 may have functions such as chat, screen sharing, and file transmission and reception in addition to voice and video communication. The remote conference system 300 grasps the status of which users are holding a remote conference with which other users, and stores the status information (information on accounts in use) in a database. The remote conference system 300 is connected to a network so as to be accessible from the virtual office system 100, the remote user terminal 700, and the schedule management system 400. The schedule management system 400 is a calendar system for managing people's schedules. The account information of the remote conference system 300 may be linked to schedule information for each account stored in the schedule management system 400.

[0023] The remote user terminal 700 is a mobile terminal held by a person working in the virtual office or a personal computer installed in the virtual office, and can be connected to the virtual office system 100, the remote conference system 300, and the schedule management system 400 via a network from a browser or a specific application. The communication format is not particularly limited, and any method that allows data exchange using a specific protocol, such as a public line, the Internet, or a dedicated communication line, may be used. These mobile terminals and personal computers have a microphone, speaker, camera, and display, and can communicate by voice or video with people in remote locations such as a real office or another virtual office.

[0024] The virtual office system 100 comprises an information collection unit 10 that collects position information and status information in the actual office of people working in a real office, an interface unit 20 that accepts input of position information and status information in the virtual space of people working in a virtual office and outputs position information and status information in the virtual space of people working in the real office and the virtual office, an account information storage unit 40 that stores position information and status information in the virtual space of people working in a real office and position information and status information in the virtual space of people working in a virtual office, a status recognition unit 30 that recognizes the status of each person working in the real office and the virtual office, and a position information log 50 that stores positional relationship information in the virtual space of people working in the real office and the virtual office.

[0025] Here, an example of the hardware configuration of the virtual office system 100 will be described with reference to Fig. 2. The virtual office system 100 is, for example, a server computer, and is connected to the network NW so as to be directly accessible from at least the position information acquisition system 200, the remote conference system 300, and the remote user terminal 700. The processing unit Prc is composed of a central processing unit (CPU) which is a computing device, the storage unit Mem is composed of a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a hard disk, and an external storage device, and the communication unit Com is composed of a network interface which is connected to the network NW and performs various communications. The output display unit Dsp is usually composed of a display device such as a display, and the operation input unit Opr is composed of a keyboard, a mouse, and the like as input devices to the virtual office system 100. The virtual office system 100 is composed of these connected to each other via a transmission path bus such as an internal bus or an external bus.

[0026] The processing unit Prc realizes its functions by a computing device (CPU, processor) having one or more processors and their peripheral circuits capable of executing multiple programs in parallel, and the control unit Ctl controls the virtual office system 100 in an integrated manner. The processing unit Prc has an internal memory for storing control programs such as an OS (Operating System), programs that define various processing procedures, and required data, and executes various information processing based on these stored (loaded) programs. The OS may be a known general-purpose OS for operating a server computer. The processing unit Prc is loaded with executable programs for realizing the functions of the information collecting unit 10, the interface unit 20, and the state recognizing unit 30. Programs related to the virtual office system 100 other than the information collecting unit 10, the interface unit 20, and the state recognizing unit 30 are also loaded and executed by the control unit Ctl as appropriate.

[0027] The storage unit Mem realizes its functions by a memory or a hard disk, and stores various databases, tables, files, and the like. The storage unit Mem records a program for cooperating with the OS to give instructions to the processing unit Prc to perform various processes. The program may be recorded in a non-transient computer-readable recording medium that includes programmed instructions for causing the CPU to execute the processes described in this embodiment, and is loaded into the virtual office system 100 as necessary. This program is executed by being loaded into the RAM, and constitutes the processing unit Prc in cooperation with the CPU. The storage unit Mem stores data stored in the account information storage unit 40 and data stored in the location information log 50. A recording medium (including any "portable physical medium" such as a USB memory) that stores a program for executing the processes or processing methods described in this specification also constitutes the present invention. This program is executed by being loaded into the RAM, and constitutes the processing unit Prc in cooperation with the CPU.

[0028] The virtual office system 100 receives data etc. from the remote user terminal 700, the position information acquisition system 200, the remote conference system 300 etc. via the network NW and sends it to the processing unit Prc, and transmits data etc. generated by the processing unit Prc to the remote user terminal 700, the remote conference system 300 etc. via the network NW. The communication unit Com is a network interface for connecting to the remote user terminal 700 etc. via the network NW, and more specifically, is, for example, a LAN card or a communication device for line connection.

[0029] The output display unit Dsp and the operation input unit Opr are controlled by the processing unit Prc via an input / output interface. The processing unit Prc acquires data, commands, etc. from the communication unit Com and the operation input unit Opr, and outputs the generated data, etc. to the communication unit Com and the output display unit Dsp. The output display unit Dsp and the operation input unit Opr may be devices that are directly locally connected to the server computer, or may be devices that are remotely connected via the network NW.

[0030] The network NW is any communication line or network that enables communication related to information processing or data between the virtual office system 100 and other systems or terminals. Thus, the network NW may be a wide access network (WAN), a wired network, a fiber network, a wireless network (e.g., a mobile or cellular network), a cellular or telecommunication network (e.g., Wi-Fi, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network), or any suitable combination thereof. The network NW may include one or more portions of a private network, a public network (e.g., the Internet), or any suitable combination thereof. Note that these are examples and are not limited to these.

[0031] In this figure, the virtual office system 100, location information acquisition system 200, remote conference system 300, schedule management system 400, office user terminal 600 in the office facilities, and remote user terminal 700 are each connected to the same network NW, but this is not limited to this, and it is sufficient if the virtual office system 100 and the location information acquisition system 200 / remote conference system 300 / remote user terminal 700, and the location information acquisition system 200 and the office user terminal 600 can communicate and transmit data, etc.

[0032] The virtual office system 100 will be described in detail. The information collection unit 10 periodically collects position information of people working in the real office from the position information acquisition system 200, and status information of people working in the real office from the remote conference system 300. The information collection unit 10 periodically stores the collected position information and status information in the account information storage unit 40 for each person. As shown in FIG. 5, the information collection unit 10 collects position information from the position information acquisition system 200 in S100, collects status information from the remote conference system 300 in S102, and updates the account information in the account information storage unit 40 with the collected position information and status information in S106 (note that S in the flowcharts means a step).

[0033] The location information acquisition system 200 acquires location information in a real office (real space) of a person (first user) who holds an office user terminal 600 and works in the real office, which is a predetermined area in which a plurality of radio wave transmitters 500 are installed. Therefore, the information collection unit 10 collects location information in the real space of a person who works in a real office that exists in a predetermined area. Note that in this embodiment, the predetermined area is an office, but it goes without saying that it may be a place such as a factory or a warehouse.

[0034] The information collecting unit 10 also collects status information of people working in real offices from the remote conference system 300 having status information based on the account information in use. When a person working in a real office is using the remote conference system 300, it is highly likely that the person is in a meeting and is currently busy, i.e., cannot be contacted by other users. In this way, by recognizing the status based on the usage status of the remote conference system 300, it is possible to accurately recognize the status of a person working in a real office whose status is difficult to recognize. The information collecting unit 10 may also collect status information of people working in virtual offices from the remote conference system 300 based on the account information in use. Similarly, when a person working in a virtual office is using the remote conference system 300, it is highly likely that the person is in a meeting and is currently busy.

[0035] A person in a virtual office, i.e., a person not in a predetermined area (real office), uses a remote user terminal 700 to input his / her location information in the virtual office and his / her status information (available, busy, in a meeting, etc.) to the virtual office system 100. The interface unit 20 accepts the input of the location information and status information in the virtual space of a person working in the virtual office from the remote user terminal 700. When a person working in a real office logs in to the virtual office system 100, the interface unit 20 may accept the input of the location information and status information in the virtual space of the person working in the real office from the office user terminal 600.

[0036] 6, the interface unit 20 checks in S200 whether or not an input has been received from the remote user terminal 700 or the like, and if an input has been received, updates the information in the account information storage unit 40 in S202, reads the account information in the account information storage unit 40 in S204, and outputs the position information and status information of the people working in the real office and virtual office to the remote user terminal 700 in S206 for display. The screen to be displayed will be described later. The position information of the people working in the real office collected by the information collection unit 10 is converted (mapped) to a position in the virtual space corresponding to the physical space of the real office by the control unit Ctl.

[0037] The account information storage unit 40 stores the latest position information in the virtual space of people working in real offices (position information in which real office position information is mapped to virtual space) and status information collected by the information collection unit 10. The account information storage unit 40 also stores position information in the virtual office and status information of people working in virtual offices received by the interface unit 20 from the remote user terminal 700.

[0038] A more specific description will be given with reference to FIG. 8(A). The account information storage unit 40 is composed of a table having columns of account ID, login type, office floor, location, internal state, external state, location estimation state, and collection date and time. The account ID column stores the account ID of the user who uses the hybrid office communication system 1. The login type column stores information on whether or not the user has logged in and, if logged in, from where the user has logged in. For example, the login type stores information on "Real" indicating that the user has come to work with the office user terminal 600 in the real office and has automatically logged in to the virtual office system 100 by the information collection unit 10, "Virtual" indicating that the user has logged in from the virtual office using the remote user terminal 700, and "Not Login" indicating that the user has not logged in from either.

[0039] In the column of office floor and location, for an account ID with a login type of "Real", location information mapped to the virtual space corresponding to the location of the workplace, which is a real office, is stored, and for an account ID with a login type of "Virtual", location information of the virtual office input by the person working in the virtual office on the remote user terminal 700 is stored. For example, for an account ID of 0001, the office floor corresponding to the actual location in the real office is "1-1" and the location is "133.50" in the virtual space. Also, for an account ID of 0002, the office floor is "1-1" and the location is "133.64" in the virtual space as the location of the virtual office input by the person on the remote user terminal 700. This indicates that the account IDs of 0001 and 0002 are actually in remote locations in the real office and virtual office, but are in close locations within the virtual office system 100.

[0040] The internal state, external state, and location estimation state columns store status information of people working in a real office or a virtual office, respectively. The internal state column stores status information (first status information) that a person working in a real office or a virtual office voluntarily inputs about his or her status using the office user terminal 600 or the remote user terminal 700. The external state column stores status information (second status information) collected from the remote conference system 300 via the information collection unit 10. The location estimation state column stores status information (third status information) that is estimated based on whether or not a close state continues for a certain period of time or more based on position information in the virtual space (see also the lower table in FIG. 4).

[0041] For example, account IDs 0001 and 0002 have set themselves to "busy," indicating that they cannot be contacted by other users, and the status information of the remote conference system 300 is also "busy," indicating that 0001 in the real office and 0002 in the virtual office are holding a scheduled conference using the remote conference system 300. Also, account ID 0003 has not set itself to "busy," and is not using the remote conference system 300, so the internal status / external status column is "contactable," but because it has been in close proximity to others in the virtual space of the virtual office for a certain period of time or more, it has been estimated to be "busy" by the virtual office system 100.

[0042] The state recognition unit 30 periodically recognizes the state of each person working in the real office and the virtual office based on the position information stored in the account information storage unit 40. The state recognition unit 30 periodically updates the position information log 50 shown in FIG. 8(B) based on the position information stored in the account information storage unit 40. The position information log 50 stores positional relationship information in the virtual space of the people working in the real office and the virtual office. The position information log 50 stores a list of accounts that are close in distance in the virtual space for each account of the person working in the virtual office / real office. For example, an account ID of 0001 is stored as being close to an account ID of 0002, and an account ID of 0003 is stored as being close to account IDs of 0015 and 0018. As described above, the internal status / external status column for account ID 0003 shows “contactable”, but based on location information log 50, it has been in close proximity to 0015 / 0018 for a certain period of time or more, so it is estimated to be “busy”, and this status information is recorded in the location estimation status of account information storage unit 40.

[0043] In this way, when the states differ between the internal state / external state / location estimation state, the state recognition unit 30 may recognize the internal state reflecting the user's intention as a first priority, the external state in which it is clear that the remote conference system 300 is being used as a second priority, and the location estimation state as a third priority (see the lower table in FIG. 4). In this way, the state of the worker can be accurately recognized by prioritizing the state information with certainty. In addition, the certain period of time or more is appropriately determined depending on the relationship between the number of users and the system load, but the accuracy of the location information is high if it is a short period of time.

[0044] In this way, not only can users set their own status information, but the status recognition unit 30 also recognizes that users cannot be contacted by other users when the users remain close to each other in the virtual space for a certain period of time or when the users are communicating with each other via the remote conference system 300. When other users recognize such status information, people working in a virtual office can easily recognize a meeting or conversation status that can be easily recognized in a real office, and can determine whether or not it is OK to contact them.

[0045] 7, in S300, the state recognition unit 30 accesses the account information storage unit 40 and checks the state information of the account of interest. If the internal state is busy in S302, or if the external state is busy in S304, the state recognition unit 30 does not perform the following process. If both are available for contact, the state recognition unit 30 accesses the location information log 50 in S306. If the account ID is not in the location information log 50 in S308, the state recognition unit 30 registers the account ID in the location information log 50.

[0046] If the account ID is registered in the location information log 50, the state recognition unit 30 checks the list of account IDs that are close to the account ID in the virtual space in S310. If the list of the account ID is empty, the state recognition unit 30 clears (deletes) the record of the account ID in the location information log 50 in S312. The process shown in this figure is performed periodically, and if the same account ID as the previous time is present in the list, the state recognition unit 30 updates the location estimation status of the account information storage unit 40 to "busy" in S318 since it is considered that the close state has continued for a certain period of time or more. If the list includes an account ID different from the previous time, the state recognition unit 30 updates the location estimation status of the account information storage unit 40 to "contactable" in S316 since it is considered that the close state has not continued for a certain period of time or more. In this way, the state recognition unit 30 recognizes the state of each user based on one or both of the state information of each user in the real office and the virtual office and the distance between each user in the virtual space.

[0047] The interface unit 20 outputs an icon (sign) associated with each user according to the state of each user recognized by the state recognition unit 30 as described above, together with the position information of each user. For example, the information output by the interface unit 20 is displayed on a screen as shown in FIG. 3 by the remote user terminal 700. This screen as a whole represents a virtual space, with the left half displaying an arrangement of office desks simulating a real office and a conference room A / rest room, and the right half displaying a virtual office. The position information of people working in the real office in the real space is displayed corresponding to the position information in the virtual space simulating a real office. As shown in the upper table of FIG. 4, a light gray icon in a solid line frame represents a state in which the person has come to the real office and is available to be contacted, a dark gray icon in a solid line frame represents a state in which the person has come to the real office and is busy, a light gray icon in a dotted line frame represents a state in which the person has come to the virtual office and is available to be contacted, and a dark gray icon in a dotted line frame represents a state in which the person has come to the virtual office and is busy.

[0048] In FIG. 3, for example, "Yamada" in the real office and "Kin" in the virtual office are displayed as being close to each other and busy in a position that mimics the real office, and other people who see this screen can recognize that these two are probably having a conversation. Similarly, "Sato" and "Furukawa" and "Kato" and "Ito" in the real office and "Kitamura" and "Tanaka" in the virtual office are also displayed as being close to each other and busy, and other people who see this screen can recognize that these two are probably having a conversation. In this way, the interface unit 20 outputs not only the status information that it has set, but also icons of users who have been close to each other for a certain period of time or more, and users who are communicating through the remote conference system 300, in positions close to each other. This makes it easy to see who is in a meeting or conversation among people working in an office, regardless of whether it is real or virtual.

[0049] Also, it can be recognized that "Ando" who exists in the virtual office is in the virtual office, but is working on something alone and cannot be contacted by other users. Also, it can be recognized that "Suzuki" who exists in the real office, and "Maruta" and "Mori" who exist in the virtual office are in their respective offices and can be contacted by other users at present. Note that, although the icon associated with each user is shown as a name in the example of this figure, it is not limited to this and may be a photograph or initials that other users can identify as that person.

[0050] As described above, the location information of the person working in the real office (first user) is automatically collected and converted into the corresponding location information in the virtual space, and is output, arranged, and displayed together with the location information of the person working in the virtual office (second user), so that the person working in the virtual office can immediately know where the person working in the real office is. In addition, by recognizing the status information of each user and outputting and displaying a sign (icon) associated with each user according to that status, people working in both offices can immediately know each other's status. This makes it possible to provide a virtual office system 100 (information processing system) that makes it easy for people working in the virtual office and people working in the real office to recognize each other's status and communicate with each other.

[0051] The above is also an information processing method executed by an IT system (computer) for promoting communication between remote users. This information processing method collects position information and status information in a real office (actual space) of a person working in a real office (a first user existing in a predetermined area), converts the collected position information in the real office of the person working in the real office into corresponding position information in a virtual space, accepts input of position information and status information in the virtual space of a person working in a virtual office (a second user not existing in the area), stores the converted position information and status information of the person working in the real office and the accepted position information and status information of the person working in the virtual office, recognizes the status of each user based on the stored information and / or the distance between each user in the virtual space, and outputs an icon (sign) associated with each user according to the recognized status of each user together with the position information of each user in the virtual space.

[0052] According to this system, the location information of people working in real offices is automatically collected and converted into corresponding location information in the virtual space, which is then output, arranged, and displayed together with the location information of people working in virtual offices, so that people working in the virtual office can immediately know where people working in the real office are. In addition, by recognizing the status information of each user and outputting and displaying a sign associated with each user according to that status, people working in both offices can immediately know each other's status. This provides an information processing method that makes it easy for people working in virtual offices and people working in real offices to communicate with each other.

[0053] <Second embodiment> A hybrid office communication system 1A and a virtual office system 100A according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 9 to 16. In order to avoid duplication, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and their descriptions are omitted, and the description will focus on the differences from the above embodiment.

[0054] As shown in Figures 9 and 10, the hybrid office communication system 1A comprises a virtual office system 100A, a location information acquisition system 200 (not shown) that acquires location information of people working in real offices within their workplaces, an office user terminal 600 (not shown) used by the people working in the real office, a radio wave transmitter 500 (not shown) installed in the real office and emitting radio waves to acquire location information of the office user terminal 600, a remote user terminal 700 used by the people working in the virtual office, a remote conference system 300A that exchanges voices and images in real time for holding conferences, conversations, etc. between people in remote locations, a schedule management system 400 for managing the schedules of people belonging to the business entity, a communication terminal 800 installed in the real office, and a collaboration management system 900 that manages the communication terminal 800.

[0055] The virtual office system 100A comprises an information collection unit 10A that collects position information and status information of people working in a real office and the usage status of a communication terminal 800; an interface unit 20A that accepts input of position information and status information in the virtual space of people working in a virtual office and outputs position information and status information in the virtual space of people working in the real office and the virtual office, and communicates with a collaboration management system 900; an account information storage unit 40 that stores position information and status information in the virtual space of people working in the real office and position information and status information in the virtual space of people working in the virtual office; a status recognition unit 30 that recognizes the status of each person working in the real office and the virtual office; and a position information log 50 that stores positional relationship information in the virtual space of people working in the real office and the virtual office.

[0056] 13, the information collection unit 10A collects position information from the position information acquisition system 200 in S100, collects status information from the remote conference system 300A in S102, collects the usage status of the communication terminal 800 from the collaboration management system 900 in S104, and updates the account information in the account information storage unit 40 based on the collected position information, status information, and usage status in S106. In addition, the information collection unit 10A periodically collects the usage status from the collaboration management system 900 and updates the position information of the account ID.

[0057] The remote conference system 300A not only realizes communication through voice and video communication for holding conferences between people in remote locations, but is also connected to a network that can be accessed from the communication terminal 800, and acts as an intermediary for the mutual communication of voice / video signals between the remote user terminal 700 and the communication terminal 800.

[0058] As shown in FIG. 12, the communication terminal 800 is equipped with a display, a camera, a speaker, and a microphone, and is installed in, for example, a break room (see FIG. 11) of a real office. The communication terminal 800 displays the face of a person working in the virtual office taken by the camera of the remote user terminal 700 on the display via the remote conference system 300A, and outputs the person's voice from the speaker. The communication terminal 800 also takes a picture of a person working in the real office in the break room with the camera, collects the person's voice with the microphone, and transmits it to the remote user terminal 700 via the remote conference system 300A. In this way, the hybrid office communication system 1A in this embodiment is equipped with a communication terminal 800 attached to a person working in the virtual office in a real office, and promotes communication between the person working in the virtual office and the person working in the real office, making it easier to communicate.

[0059] The collaboration management system 900 manages the use of a communication terminal 800 by a person working in a virtual office using a remote user terminal 700. The collaboration management system 900 is composed of a collaboration system 910 and a communication management unit 920 associated with the communication terminal 800. In this embodiment, the collaboration system 910 is connected to a network NW and is a system independent of the virtual office system 100A, but may be built on the same system as the virtual office system 100A. The hardware configuration of the collaboration system 910 may be the same as the hardware configuration of the virtual office system 100A.

[0060] The collaboration system 910 includes a communication interface unit 911 that performs display output and operation input for managing the communication terminal 800 via the interface unit 20A of the virtual office system 100A, and a communication terminal information storage unit 912 that includes the usage status of the communication terminal 800. As shown in FIG. 16, the communication terminal information storage unit 912 includes a column of the ID of the communication terminal 800, a column of the position information of the communication terminal 800, a column of the account ID of the communication terminal 800, and a column of pre-use position information that stores the position information in the virtual space before the user using the communication terminal 800 uses it. For example, the communication terminal 800 with ID 0001 has position information of 120.10 in the virtual space and is currently used by a user with account ID 0001. When the user with account ID 0001 finishes using the communication terminal, the position information in the virtual space of the user becomes 133.50. The communication management unit 920 communicates with the communication interface unit 911 and issues instructions to the remote conference management unit 810 of the communication terminal 800.

[0061] When a person working in a virtual office wants to talk to a person working in a real office using a communication terminal 800, the person uses the remote user terminal 700 to specify a communication terminal 800 that is close to the location of the person they want to talk to. The interface unit 20A of the virtual office system 100A receives this input and transmits it to the communication interface unit 911 of the collaboration system 910. In order to start a session between the remote user terminal 700 and the communication terminal 800, the communication interface unit 911 that receives this input accepts and confirms connection information such as the account ID of the person working in the virtual office who uses the communication terminal 800, the location information of the account, and the ID of the communication terminal 800 desired by the person, in S400, as shown in FIG. 14(A).

[0062] In S402, the communication interface unit 911 checks the usage status of the communication terminal 800 in the communication terminal information storage unit 912. If the communication terminal 800 is available, the communication interface unit 911 updates the communication terminal 800 in S406 by inputting the requested account ID into the column of the account ID used for the communication terminal 800 in the communication terminal information storage unit 912. In S408, the communication interface unit 911 transmits remote conference connection information (account ID) to the communication management unit 920 of the communication terminal 800. If the desired communication terminal 800 is not available in S404, the communication interface unit 911 notifies the interface unit 20A that it is full in S410.

[0063] When the communication management unit 920 receives the remote conference connection information from the communication interface unit 911, in S500, as shown in Fig. 15(A), it checks the remote conference connection information. In S502, the communication management unit 920 instructs the remote conference management unit 810 to connect to the remote user terminal 700 used by the received account ID, and starts a remote conference. Upon receiving the instruction from the remote conference management unit 810, if a person working in the virtual office using the instructed remote user terminal 700 agrees, the remote conference system 300A connects the instructed remote user terminal 700 to the communication terminal 800 in which the remote conference management unit 810 exists, and starts audio / video communication.

[0064] The communication management unit 920 periodically checks the connection status of the remote conference, as shown in Fig. 15(B). If the communication is ongoing, the check continues. When the end of the communication is detected (S552), the communication management unit 920 notifies the communication interface unit 911 in S554. Upon receiving the notification, the communication interface unit 911 detects that the remote conference has ended in S450, as shown in Fig. 14(B), and updates the column of the account ID of the communication terminal 800 in the communication terminal information storage unit 912 to Null in S452, making the communication terminal available to other users.

[0065] As described above, the collaboration management system 900 receives the ID (identification number) of the communication terminal 800 to which the person working in the virtual office wishes to connect and the account ID of the person working in the virtual office from the interface unit 20A based on a request from the person working in the virtual office, and transmits the account ID to the communication terminal 800 having the ID of the communication terminal 800. Then, when the remote conference system 300A receives the account ID via the communication terminal 800, it transmits a communication start request to the remote user terminal 700 used by the person working in the virtual office, and connects the remote user terminal 700 used by the person working in the virtual office to the communication terminal 800. In this way, the person working in the virtual office can confirm the location of the person working in the real office and possess the communication terminal 800 installed in the real office, so that the person working in the virtual office and the person working in the real office can easily communicate with each other.

[0066] The interface unit 20A outputs an icon associated with each user according to the status of each user together with the location information of each user. For example, the information output by the interface unit 20A is displayed on a screen as shown in FIG. 11 by the remote user terminal 700, similar to FIG. 3. In this figure, it is shown that "Kato" and "Ito" who exist in the real office are in the break room and can be contacted. Then, "Maruta" and "Mori" who exist in the virtual office see the status, and "Mori" makes a connection request from the remote user terminal 700 to the communication terminal A of the communication terminal 800 and "Maruta" makes a connection request to the communication terminal B of the communication terminal 800, and each possesses the communication terminal 800. As a result, "Maruta" and "Mori" who exist in the virtual office can easily communicate with "Kato" and "Ito" who exist in the real office (see FIG. 12). "Kato" and "Ito" who exist in the real office do not need to use their own office user terminal 600. Furthermore, when other users look at this screen, they can recognize that "Mori" and "Maruda" in the virtual office are located near the communication terminal 800, and therefore "Kato" and "Ito" in the real office and "Mori" and "Maruda" in the virtual office are chatting in the break room.

[0067] As described above, it is preferable that the information collection unit 10A collects the location information of the person working in the virtual office from the collaboration management system 900, and the interface unit 20A outputs an icon associated with the person working in the virtual office by placing it near the communication terminal 800. This allows a third party to see as if the person working in the real office and the person working in the virtual office are having a conversation in the real office. In addition, by periodically detecting and updating the connection status, the connection of the communication terminal 800 can be appropriately managed.

[0068] The present invention is not limited to the illustrated examples, and may be implemented in any configuration that does not deviate from the scope of the claims. That is, the present invention has been particularly illustrated and described mainly with respect to specific embodiments, but those skilled in the art may make various modifications to the above-described embodiments in terms of the number and other details of the configuration without departing from the scope of the technical idea and purpose of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0069] 1 Hybrid Office Communication System 100 Virtual office system (information processing system) 10. Information Gathering Department 20 Interface section 30 State recognition unit 40 Account information storage unit 50 Location Log 200 Location Information Acquisition System 300 Remote Conference System 400 Schedule Management System 500 Radio transmitter 600 Office user terminals 700 Remote user terminal 800 Communication Terminals 810 Remote Conference Management Department 900 Collaboration Management System 910 Collaboration System 911 Communication Interface Section 912 Communication terminal information storage unit 920 Communications Management Department PRC Processing Unit Mem storage Com Communication Department Opr Operation input section DSP output display NW Network

Claims

1. An information processing system for promoting communication between remote users, comprising: an information collection unit that collects position information and state information in real space of a first user who is present in a predetermined area; an interface unit that receives input of position information and status information in the virtual space of a second user who is not present in the area, and outputs position information obtained by converting the position information in the real space of the first user collected by the information collecting unit into a position in the virtual space corresponding to the real space, and the position information in the virtual space of the second user; an account information storage unit that stores the location information and status information of the first user collected by the information collection unit and the location information and status information of the second user accepted by the interface unit; a status recognition unit that recognizes a status of each user based on the information stored in the account information storage unit; Equipped with the state recognition unit recognizes a state of each of the users based on state information of each of the users and / or a distance between each of the users in a virtual space; The interface unit outputs a sign associated with each of the users according to the state of each of the users recognized by the state recognition unit, together with position information of each of the users. Information processing system.

2. The information processing system according to claim 1 , wherein the status information of the first user collected by the information collecting unit is obtained from a remote conference system that enables users located remotely to communicate with each other.

3. the state recognition unit recognizes that, when the state in which the users are close to each other in the virtual space continues for a certain period of time or more, and when the users are communicating with each other via the remote conference system, the users are in a state in which they cannot be contacted by other users; 3. The information processing system according to claim 2, wherein the interface unit outputs a sign indicating that the user is in a state where he or she cannot be contacted by other users.

4. The information processing system according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the interface unit places and outputs markers for each of the users who have been in close proximity to each other for a certain period of time or more, and each of the users who are communicating via the remote conference system, in close positions.

5. the status information stored in the account information storage unit includes first status information input by each of the users themselves, second status information obtained from the remote conference system, and third status information indicating that positions in a virtual space have been close to each other for a certain period of time or more; 5. An information processing system according to claim 2, wherein the status recognition unit recognizes the first status information with a first priority, the second status information with a second priority, and the third status information with a third priority.

6. A collaboration management system that manages the communication terminals provided in the area is further provided, the collaboration management system receives, based on a request from the second user, an identification number of the communication terminal to which the second user wishes to connect and an account ID of the second user from the interface unit, and transmits the account ID to the communication terminal having the identification number; An information processing system as described in any one of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that when the remote conference system receives the account ID via the communication terminal, it sends a communication start request to the terminal used by the second user and connects the terminal used by the second user to the communication terminal.

7. the collaboration management system periodically detects and updates a connection state between the terminal used by the second user and the communication terminal; The information collecting unit collects location information of the second user from the collaboration management system; 7. The information processing system according to claim 6, wherein the interface unit outputs a marker associated with the second user by placing it near the communication terminal.

8. An information processing method for promoting communication between remote users, comprising: Collecting position information and status information in real space of a first user who is present in a predetermined area; Converting the collected position information of the first user in the real space into position information in a virtual space corresponding to the real space; receiving input of position information and status information in a virtual space of a second user who is not present in the area; storing the converted location information and status information of the first user and the received location information and status information of the second user; Recognizing a state of each user based on state information of each user and / or a distance between each user in a virtual space based on the stored information; outputting a sign associated with each of the users according to the recognized state of each of the users together with position information of each of the users in the virtual space; Information processing methods.

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