Conference support device, system, method and program

Abstract

A conference assistance device (1) comprises: an acquisition unit (11) for acquiring a first authentication result of an attendee identified by individual authentication at the time of attendance at an online conference, including attendance in a conference room and remote attendance from outside the conference room; a determination unit (12) for determining, on the basis of the source from which the first authentication result is acquired, whether the mode of attendance of the attendee at the conference is the attendance in the conference room or the remote attendance; an updating unit (13) for updating attendance state display information so that the mode of attendance determined for the attendee can be discerned; and an output unit (14) for outputting the attendance state display information.

Description

[Technical field]

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

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a technology related to a face recognition conference system. The face recognition conference system according to Patent Document 1 captures images of the faces of conference attendees, and issues an alarm if the captured face images are not included in the face image data of the people scheduled to attend the conference.

[0003] In recent years, online conference systems have become widespread, and the ways in which conferences are attended have become more diverse. For example, multiple attendees gather in conference rooms at multiple locations, and video and audio are transmitted between the online conference equipment in the conference rooms, or each attendee's terminal is connected to a common online conference system. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2015-099537 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Here, in an online conference in which attendees are both in person and remotely, it is difficult to grasp in real time who is actually attending and who is absent.

[0006] In consideration of the above-mentioned problems, the object of the present disclosure is to provide a conference support device, system, method, and program for assisting in identifying actual attendees and absentees in real time in online conferences that include both conference room attendees and remote attendees. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] A conference support device according to the present disclosure includes: An acquisition means for acquiring a first authentication result of an attendee identified by personal authentication when attending an online conference, including attendance in a conference room and remote attendance from outside the conference room; A determination means for determining whether the attendee's attendance at the online conference is in a conference room or remotely based on a source of the first authentication result; an update means for updating attendance status display information so that the determined attendance style of the attendee can be identified; an output means for outputting the attendance status display information; Equipped with.

[0008] The conference support system according to the present disclosure comprises: An authentication device that performs personal authentication of attendees of an online conference, including attendance in a conference room and attendance remotely from outside the conference room; a conference support device connected to the authentication device, The conference support device includes: An acquisition means for acquiring a first authentication result of an attendee identified by personal authentication when attending the online conference; A determination means for determining whether the attendee's attendance at the online conference is in a conference room or remotely based on a source of the first authentication result; an update means for updating attendance status display information so that the determined attendance style of the attendee can be identified; an output means for outputting the attendance status display information; Equipped with.

[0009] The meeting support method according to the present disclosure includes: The computer Obtain a first authentication result of an attendee identified by personal authentication at the time of attendance at an online conference, including attendance in a conference room and attendance remotely from outside the conference room; determining whether the attendee attends the online conference in a conference room or remotely based on a source of the first authentication result; updating attendance status display information so that the determined attendance style of the attendee is identifiable; The attendance status display information is output.

[0010] The conference support program according to the present disclosure is An acquisition process for acquiring a first authentication result of an attendee identified by personal authentication when attending an online conference, including attendance in a conference room and remote attendance from outside the conference room; A determination process for determining whether the attendee's attendance at the online conference is in a conference room or remotely based on a source of the first authentication result; an update process for updating attendance status display information so that the determined attendance style of the attendee is identifiable; an output process for outputting the attendance status display information; to be executed by the computer. Effect of the Invention

[0011] The present disclosure provides a conference support device, system, method, and program for assisting in identifying actual attendees and absentees in real time in an online conference that includes a mix of attendees in a conference room and those attending remotely. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conference support device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of a conference supporting method according to the first embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conference support system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an authentication device according to a second embodiment. [Diagram 5] 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of face information registration processing by the authentication device according to the second embodiment. [Figure 6]FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of conference information according to the second embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a list of expected attendees according to the second embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conference support device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of a conference support process according to the second embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of a conference support process according to the second embodiment. [Figure 11] 11 is a flowchart showing the flow of face authentication processing by the authentication device according to the second embodiment. [Figure 12] 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of a conference supporting process in the conference supporting device according to the second embodiment. [Figure 13] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a display example of attendance status display information according to the second embodiment. [Figure 14] 13 is a flowchart showing the flow of attendance permission processing for an unregistered person according to the second embodiment. [Figure 15] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a display example of attendance status display information according to the second embodiment. [Figure 16] FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the concept of displaying attendance status display information according to a modified example of the second embodiment. [Figure 17] 13 is a flowchart showing the flow of a conference supporting process in the conference supporting device according to the third embodiment. [Figure 18] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a display example of attendance status display information according to the third embodiment. [Figure 19] 13 is a flowchart showing the flow of a conference supporting process in the conference supporting device according to the fourth embodiment. [Figure 20] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a display example of attendance status display information according to the fourth embodiment. [Figure 21] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a display example of attendance status display information according to another embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In each drawing, the same or corresponding elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and duplicated descriptions will be omitted as necessary for clarity of explanation.

[0014] <Embodiment 1> 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conference support device 1 according to the present embodiment 1. The conference support device 1 is an information processing device for managing attendance status of an online conference including attendance in a conference room and remote attendance from outside the conference room. The conference support device 1 includes an acquisition unit 11, a determination unit 12, an update unit 13, and an output unit 14.

[0015] The acquisition unit 11 acquires a first authentication result of an attendee identified by personal authentication when attending the online conference. Here, the personal authentication is, for example, biometric authentication such as face authentication in an authentication terminal or an information terminal, authentication processing when attending an online conference, personal authentication using an IC (Integrated Circuit) card or the like storing electronic personal authentication information, but is not limited to these.

[0016] The acquisition unit 11 may acquire the result of personal authentication performed in an authentication terminal (not shown) that performs personal authentication at least when entering the conference room, from the authentication terminal. In this case, the authentication terminal is assumed to be installed inside or outside the conference room (for example, near the entrance / exit). In this case, the source of acquisition of the first authentication result is the authentication terminal. Alternatively, the acquisition unit 11 may acquire the result of personal authentication performed regarding attendance at the online conference from a conference system (not shown) that manages the online conference. In this case, the source of acquisition of the first authentication result is the conference system.

[0017] The determination unit 12 determines whether the attendee's attendance at the conference is conference room attendance or remote attendance based on the source of the first authentication result. For example, when the source of the first authentication result is the authentication terminal, the determination unit 12 determines that the attendance is conference room attendance. On the other hand, when the source of the first authentication result is the conference system, the determination unit 12 determines that the attendance is remote attendance.

[0018] The update unit 13 updates the attendance status display information for attendees so that the attendance mode determined by the determination unit 12 can be identified. Here, the attendance status display information is information for displaying the attendance status in the online conference. Note that "updating the attendance status display information" includes the update unit 13 generating new attendance status display information when the attendance status display information in the online conference has not been generated.

[0019] The output unit 14 outputs the attendance status display information updated by the update unit 13. For example, the output unit 14 transmits the attendance status display information to the terminals of attendees and prospective attendees of the online conference. The output unit 14 also transmits the attendance status display information to a display device installed in the conference room. The output unit 14 also transmits the attendance status display information to the authentication terminal. The output unit 14 also transmits the attendance status display information to the online conference system.

[0020] 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of the conference support method according to the first embodiment. First, the acquisition unit 11 acquires a first authentication result of an attendee identified by personal authentication at the time of attendance at an online conference, including attendance in a conference room and remote attendance from outside the conference room (S11). Next, the determination unit 12 determines whether the attendee's attendance form at the conference room or remote attendance is based on the acquisition source of the first authentication result (S12). Then, the update unit 13 updates the attendance status display information for the attendee so that the attendance form determined in step S12 is identifiable (S13). After that, the output unit 14 outputs the attendance status display information (S14).

[0021] In this way, the attendance status display information according to the present embodiment allows the parties in an online conference to identify the attendance style of each attendee in the conference. Therefore, in an online conference in which attendees in a conference room and attendees remotely are mixed, it is possible to help grasp the actual attendees and absentees in real time.

[0022] The conference support device 1 includes a processor, a memory, and a storage device, which are not shown in the figure. The storage device stores a computer program that implements the processing of the conference support method according to the present embodiment. The processor loads the computer program and the like from the storage device into the memory and executes the computer program. In this way, the processor realizes the functions of an acquisition unit 11, a determination unit 12, an update unit 13, and an output unit 14.

[0023] Alternatively, each component of the conference support device 1 may be realized by dedicated hardware. Also, a part or all of each component of each device may be realized by a general-purpose or dedicated circuit, processor, or a combination of these. These may be configured by a single chip, or may be configured by multiple chips connected via a bus. A part or all of each component of each device may be realized by a combination of the above-mentioned circuits, etc. and a program. Also, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), a quantum processor (quantum computer control chip), etc. may be used as the processor.

[0024] <Embodiment 2> The second embodiment is a specific example of the first embodiment described above. Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conference support system 1000 according to the second embodiment. The conference support system 1000 is an information system for managing the attendance status of an online conference including attendance in a conference room and remote attendance from outside the conference room. Here, an example is shown in which an online conference is held by connecting a conference room 611 at a site 61, a site 62, ..., a site 6n (n is a natural number equal to or greater than 2).

[0025] The conference support system 1000 includes an authentication terminal 101, information terminals 102-1 to 102-n, a display device 103, an authentication device 200, a conference system 300, and a conference support device 400. The authentication terminal 101, the information terminals 102-1 to 102-n, the authentication device 200, the conference system 300, and the conference support device 400 are communicatively connected via a network N. The display device 103 may also be communicatively connected via the network N. Here, the network N is a wired or wireless communication line or communication network, such as a LAN (Local Area Network), the Internet, a wireless communication line network, a mobile phone line network, etc. Furthermore, the network N may use any type of communication protocol.

[0026] The conference room 611 is the main venue for the online conference, and is assumed to be a place where at least two people are gathered. The conference room 611 also has an authentication terminal 101 installed near the entrance (door 104), and when a prospective attendee U0 enters the conference room 611, he or she must be successfully authenticated by the authentication terminal 101. Therefore, it is assumed that the conference room attendees U1-1 to U1-5 in the conference room 611 have been successfully authenticated by the authentication terminal 101.

[0027] An information terminal 102-1 and a display device 103 are installed in the conference room 611. In addition, a camera, a microphone, and a speaker for online conferences may be installed in the conference room 611. The information terminal 102-1 and the display device 103 are connected to each other so as to be able to communicate with each other via wire or wirelessly. The display device 103 may display a screen of the online conference output from the information terminal 102-1 and attendance status display information to be described later.

[0028] It is assumed that conference room attendees U1-1 to U1-5 are seated at the conference table in the conference room 611 and attend the online conference. For example, the conference room attendee U1-1 may be the organizer of the online conference. It is assumed that the conference room attendee U1-1 operates the information terminal 102-1 to start the online conference and proceed with the proceedings. The conference room attendees U1-2 to U1-5 may attend the online conference without using an information terminal. In other words, the conference room attendees U1-2 to U1-5 participate in the conference from the local conference room 611, and can be said to participate offline. In that case, the conference room attendees U1-2 to U1-5 communicate with the remote attendees U2 to Un of the online conference who are in a remote location via a camera, a microphone, and a speaker installed in the conference room 611 or built into the information terminal 102-1, and the screen of the display device 103. Alternatively, at least a part of the conference room attendees U1-2 to U1-5 may attend the online conference using the information terminal 102.

[0029] A remote attendee U2 at the site 62 attends the online conference using an information terminal 102-2. Base 6nA remote attendee Un at the location 62 attends the online conference using an information terminal 102-n. In addition, at any of the locations 62 to 6n (other locations), multiple people may attend the online conference from a conference room that requires successful personal authentication at the time of entry, similar to the conference room 611. In this case, some of the conference attendees at the conference rooms at the other locations may attend the online conference without using an information terminal, similar to the conference room attendees U1-2, etc. In other words, some of the conference attendees at the conference rooms at the other locations may participate in the conference from a local conference room, that is, offline participation. In addition, the organizer of the conference does not necessarily have to be an attendee at the conference room 611. For example, the organizer of the conference may be a remote attendee who does not participate in the conference from a local conference room. For example, the organizer of the conference may be a remote attendee at a location other than the location 61.

[0030] In the following description, conference room attendees U1-1 to U1-5 in conference room 611 may be collectively referred to as "conference room attendee U1." Conference room attendee U1 and remote attendees U2 to Un may be collectively referred to as "conference attendees." Furthermore, expected attendee U0 and conference attendees may be collectively referred to as "user U." Each of information terminals 102-1 to 102-n has the same functions, and may be collectively referred to as "information terminal 102" in the following description.

[0031] The authentication terminal 101 controls personal authentication, and if the personal authentication is successful, permits entry into the conference room 611 and transmits the authentication result to the conference support device 400 via the network N. For example, the authentication terminal 101 performs face authentication using an image including the face of the prospective attendee U0 captured by a built-in camera. At that time, the authentication terminal 101 transmits a face authentication request including the captured image to the authentication device 200 via the network N, and receives the face authentication result from the authentication device 200. Then, the authentication terminal 101 transmits the face authentication result to the conference support device 400 via the network N. Furthermore, when permitting entry, the authentication terminal 101 controls the door 104 of the conference room 611 to be unlocked.

[0032] The information terminal 102 is an information processing device such as a tablet terminal, a smartphone, a notebook PC (Personal Computer), or a desktop PC. The information terminal 102 is assumed to have installed therein software for communicating with the conference system 300 to attend (participate in) an online conference, and software for receiving attendance status display information according to the present embodiment and displaying it on a screen. Note that the software for attending an online conference may be any known software.

[0033] Display device 103 has a screen such as a liquid crystal display, and displays the online conference display contents and attendance status display information output from information terminal 102-1 on the screen. Note that display device 103 may be one that can be used in a so-called video conference system.

[0034] The authentication device 200 is an information processing device that manages facial feature information of users and performs facial authentication. In response to a facial authentication request received from the outside, the authentication device 200 compares the facial image or facial feature information included in the request with the facial feature information of each user and returns the comparison result (authentication result) to the request source.

[0035] FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the authentication device 200 according to the second embodiment. The authentication device 200 includes a face information DB (DataBase) 210, a face detection unit 220, a feature point extraction unit 230, a registration unit 240, and an authentication unit 250. The face information DB 210 stores a user ID 211 and face feature information 212 of the user ID in association with each other. The face feature information 212 is a set of feature points extracted from a face image. The authentication device 200 may delete the face feature information 212 in the face information DB 210 in response to a request from a user or the like corresponding to the face feature information 212. Alternatively, the authentication device 200 may delete the face feature information 212 after a certain period of time has elapsed since registration.

[0036] The face detection unit 220 detects a face area included in a registration image for registering face information, and outputs the face area to the feature point extraction unit 230. The feature point extraction unit 230 extracts feature points from the face area detected by the face detection unit 220, and outputs face feature information to the registration unit 240. The feature point extraction unit 230 also extracts feature points included in a face image received from the conference support device 400 or the like, and outputs the face feature information to the authentication unit 250.

[0037] The registration unit 240 issues a new user ID 211 when registering the facial feature information. The registration unit 240 registers the issued user ID 211 in the facial feature information DB 210 in association with the facial feature information 212 extracted from the registered image. The authentication unit 250 performs face authentication using the facial feature information 212. Specifically, the authentication unit 250 compares the facial feature information extracted from the face image with the facial feature information 212 in the facial information DB 210. If the comparison is successful, the authentication unit 250 specifies the user ID 211 associated with the compared facial feature information 212. The authentication unit 250 returns the presence or absence of a match of the facial feature information to the request source as a facial authentication result. The presence or absence of a match of the facial feature information corresponds to the success or failure of authentication. Incidentally, the facial feature information matches (matches) when the degree of match is equal to or greater than a threshold. Furthermore, if the facial authentication is successful, the facial authentication result includes the specified user ID.

[0038] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of face information registration processing by the authentication device 200 according to the second embodiment. First, the authentication device 200 receives a face information registration request (S201). For example, the authentication device 200 receives a face information registration request from the conference supporting device 400 via the network N. Next, the face detection unit 220 detects a face area from a face image included in the face information registration request (S202). Then, the feature point extraction unit 230 extracts feature points (facial feature information) from the face area detected in step S202 (S203). Then, the registration unit 240 issues a user ID 211 (S204). Then, the registration unit 240 associates the extracted facial feature information 212 with the issued user ID 211 and registers them in the face information DB 210 (S205). After that, the registration unit 240 returns the issued user ID 211 to the request source (for example, the conference supporting device 400) (S206). The authentication device 200 may perform face information registration processing in response to a face information registration request received from an arbitrary information registration terminal. For example, the information registration terminal is an information processing device such as a personal computer, a smartphone, or a tablet terminal.

[0039] Returning to FIG. 3, the explanation will be continued. The conference system 300 is an information system including a server that provides an online conference service. The conference system 300 includes a conference information DB 301 that manages conference information 310. The conference system 300 accepts a conference attendance request for the preset conference information 310 from each of the multiple information terminals 102, performs conference attendance processing, and returns a conference attendance notice. At this time, the conference system 300 transmits an authentication result of the remote attendee to the conference, including the user ID of the attendee included in the conference attendance request and the system ID of the conference system 300, to the conference support device 400 via the network N.

[0040] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the conference information 310 according to the second embodiment. The conference information 310 is setting information of an online conference including attendance in a conference room and remote attendance from outside the conference room. The conference information 310 is, for example, information in which a conference ID 311, a conference name 312, a time period 313, conference rooms 3141 to 314m (m is a natural number of 1 or more), and a list of expected attendees 315 are associated with each other. The conference ID 311 is identification information of the target online conference. The conference name 312 is text information of the name of the target online conference. The time period 313 is a set of the start time and the end time of the target online conference. The conference room 3141, etc. are information of the conference room used in the target online conference. Note that the conference room 3141, etc. may not be set in the conference information 310. In that case, the conference information 310 can be said to be setting information of a normal online conference. In addition, two or more conference rooms 3141, etc. may be set in the conference information 310. In other words, it may be an online conference held by connecting conference rooms with attendees (who do not use information terminals) between multiple locations.

[0041] The planned attendees list 315 is a list of users who are set in advance as planned attendees of the target online conference. In the planned attendees list 315, a user ID 3151, a mandatory flag 3152, and a host flag 3153 are associated with one record for each planned attendee. The planned attendees list 315 includes two or more such records. The user ID 3151 is identification information of the planned attendee. The mandatory flag 3152 is flag information indicating whether or not the planned attendee is a mandatory attendee in the target online conference. The host flag 3153 is flag information indicating whether or not the planned attendee is a host in the target online conference.

[0042] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the expected attendees list 315 according to the second embodiment. Here, an example is shown in which the expected attendees list 315 includes, in addition to the above-mentioned user ID 3151, mandatory flag 3152, and organizer flag 3153, a group of belonging 3154 and a user name 3155. When the mandatory flag 3152 is ON, it indicates that the corresponding user is a required attendee of the conference, and when the mandatory flag 3152 is OFF, it indicates that the corresponding user is an optional attendee of the conference. When the organizer flag 3153 is ON, it indicates that the corresponding user is the organizer of the conference, and when the organizer flag 3153 is OFF, it indicates that the corresponding user is not the organizer of the conference. The group of belonging 3154 and the user name 3155 may be included in the user information 412 managed by the conference support device 400 described later. Therefore, the expected attendees list 315 may be information in which at least the above-mentioned user ID 3151, mandatory flag 3152, and organizer flag 3153 are associated with each other. It is possible to deny attendance to the conference to unregistered people who are not registered in the list of expected attendees 315. Alternatively, unregistered people may be allowed to attend the conference if they complete the procedures for additional attendance or proxy attendance.

[0043] Returning to FIG. 3, the explanation will be continued. The conference supporting device 400 is an example of the above-mentioned conference supporting device 1. The conference supporting device 400 is an information processing device for managing the attendance status of an online conference including attendance in a conference room 611 and remote attendance from a base 62 or the like. The conference supporting device 400 may be made redundant with a plurality of servers, and each functional block may be realized by a plurality of computers.

[0044] 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conference supporting device 400 according to the second embodiment. The conference supporting device 400 includes a storage unit 410, a memory 420, a communication unit 430, and a control unit 440. The storage unit 410 is an example of a storage device such as a hard disk or a flash memory. The storage unit 410 stores a program 411 and user information 412. The program 411 is a computer program (conference supporting program) in which the conference supporting process and the like according to the second embodiment are implemented.

[0045] The user information 412 is information for managing users who can attend an online conference from each location. The user information 412 is information in which a user ID 4121, a user name 4122, a group to which the user belongs 4123, and a job title 4124 are associated with each other. The user ID 4121 is identification information for a target user. The user ID 4121 is information that is identical to or uniquely corresponds to the user ID 211 that is associated with the facial feature information 212 and managed in the face information DB 210 of the authentication device 200. Therefore, the user information 412 can be said to be information associated with the user's registration characteristic information (biometric information, personal authentication information, personal identification information, etc.) via the user ID 2121. The user name 4122 is the name of the target user, etc. The group 4123 is information indicating the group to which the target user belongs. The position 4124 is information for identifying the position of the target user, for example, whether or not the user is a representative of the group.

[0046] The storage unit 410 is required to store at least the program 411. Therefore, the user information 412 may be saved in an external storage device connected to the conference support device 400. The storage unit 410 may also store the above-mentioned conference information 310. The storage unit 410 or the memory 420 may also store attendance status display information, data indicating attendance status, etc., which will be described later.

[0047] The memory 420 is a volatile storage device such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), and is a storage area for temporarily holding information during operation of the control unit 440. The communication unit 430 is a communication interface with the network N.

[0048] The control unit 440 is a processor, i.e., a control device, that controls each component of the conference supporting device 400. The control unit 440 loads the program 411 from the storage unit 410 into the memory 420 and executes the program 411. In this way, the control unit 440 realizes the functions of a registration unit 441, an acquisition unit 442, a determination unit 443, an update unit 444, and an output unit 445.

[0049] The registration unit 441 registers the user information 412. For example, the registration unit 441 accepts a user ID 4121, a user name 4122, a group 4123, and a job title 4124 from a terminal of an arbitrary user U, generates user information 412 by associating them, and registers the user information 412 in the storage unit 410. In this case, the registration unit 441 may register face information in the authentication device 200. For example, the registration unit 441 receives a registration request including the user name 4122, the group 4123, and the job title 4124, as well as a face image of the user, from the terminal, and transmits a face information registration request including the face image included in the registration request to the authentication device 200 via the network N. Then, the registration unit 441 receives a user ID issued at the time of face information registration from the authentication device 200. Then, the registration unit 441 associates the user name 4122, the group 4123, and the position 4124 included in the registration request with the issued user ID 4121, and registers them in the storage unit 410 as user information 412. Note that the registration unit 441 may register the above-mentioned attendee list 315 in the conference system 300 in response to a request to register conference information from the terminal of the host of the online conference.

[0050] The acquisition unit 442 is an example of the above-mentioned acquisition unit 11. The acquisition unit 442 acquires an authentication result from the authentication terminal 101 or the conference system 300 via the network N. The authentication result includes a user ID of an attendee identified by personal authentication at the time of attendance at the target online conference, and a terminal ID of the authentication terminal 101 or a system ID of the conference system 300.

[0051] The acquisition unit 442 may acquire an attendance permission including the attendance reason of the unregistered person from any of the planned attendees included in the planned attendee list. Specifically, the acquisition unit 442 may acquire an attendance permission including the attendance reason of the unregistered person as additional attendance from an attendee other than the unregistered person among the planned attendees included in the planned attendee list. The acquisition unit 442 may also acquire an attendance permission including the attendance reason of the unregistered person as attendance on behalf of the absent person from an absent person among the planned attendees included in the planned attendee list.

[0052] The determination unit 443 is an example of the above-mentioned determination unit 12. The determination unit 443 determines whether the attendance mode of the attendee at the conference is conference room attendance or remote attendance, based on the acquisition source of the authentication result acquired by the acquisition unit 442. Specifically, when the authentication result includes the terminal ID of the authentication terminal 101, the determination unit 443 determines that the attendance mode of the attendee corresponding to the user ID included in the authentication result is conference room attendance. On the other hand, when the authentication result includes the system ID of the conference system 300, the determination unit 443 determines that the attendance mode of the attendee corresponding to the user ID included in the authentication result is remote attendance.

[0053] Furthermore, the determination unit 443 determines the attendance status of each of the planned attendees included in the planned attendees list based on the online conference attendees list and the authentication result. In particular, when an attendee in the authentication result is not included in the planned attendees list, the determination unit 443 determines the attendee as an unregistered person. Furthermore, the determination unit 443 determines the other attendees among the planned attendees included in the planned attendees list as absent.

[0054] The update unit 444 is an example of the update unit 13 described above. The update unit 444 updates the attendance status display information so that the attendance mode determined by the determination unit 443 for the attendee can be identified. When the attendance mode of a specific attendee corresponds to both "attendance in a conference room" and "remote attendance", the update unit 444 may update the attendance status display information with the attendance mode set to "attendance in a conference room". For example, when the conference room attendee U1-1 is the organizer of the conference, first, the conference room attendee U1-1 succeeds in personal authentication by the authentication terminal 101 when entering the conference room 611, and the attendance mode corresponds to "attendance in a conference room". Then, in order to start an online conference, the conference room attendee U1-1 makes a conference start request in the conference system 300 after succeeding in personal authentication in the information terminal 102-1. Therefore, the attendance mode of the conference room attendee U1-1 also corresponds to "remote attendance". In such a case, since the conference room attendee U1-1 is one of the attendees in the conference room 611, it can be said that the conference room attendee U1-1 is substantially "attendance in a conference room" from the viewpoint of the attendees at other locations. Therefore, in this example, the update unit 444 updates the attendance status display information by setting the attendance mode of the conference room attendee U1-1 to "attendance in conference room."

[0055] Furthermore, the update unit 444 updates the attendance status display information for each planned attendee included in the planned attendee list to reflect the attendance status determined by the determination unit 443. Specifically, the update unit 444 updates the attendance status display information by adding a notation to an unregistered attendee. Furthermore, the update unit 444 may update the attendance status display information so that each planned attendee included in the planned attendee list is displayed classified as attending in a conference room, attending remotely, or absent.

[0056] Furthermore, when the acquisition unit 442 acquires the reason for attendance of an unregistered person, the update unit 444 adds the reason for attendance to the unregistered person and updates the attendance status display information. Specifically, when the acquisition unit 442 acquires the reason for attendance of an unregistered person as additional attendance, the update unit 444 adds a notice of additional attendance to the unregistered person and updates the attendance status display information. Furthermore, when the acquisition unit 442 acquires the reason for attendance of an unregistered person as additional attendance, the update unit 444 adds a notice of attendance on behalf of the absent person and updates the attendance status display information.

[0057] The output unit 445 is an example of the above-mentioned output unit 14. The output unit 445 transmits the attendance status display information updated by the update unit 444 to the information terminal 102 via the network N. The output unit 445 may transmit the attendance status display information to the authentication terminal 101, the display device 103, and the conference system 300 via the network N. The output unit 445 may also store the attendance status display information updated by the update unit 444 in the storage unit 410 or the memory 420.

[0058] 9 and 10 are sequence diagrams showing the flow of the conference support process according to the second embodiment. First, it is assumed that the expected attendee U0 at the site 61 is the organizer of a given online conference, and has registered the expected attendee list 315 of FIG. 7 in advance in the conference system 300. Also, the conference room 3141 in the conference information 310 is the conference room 611. The expected attendee U0 goes to the conference room 611 before the start time of the conference, and performs personal authentication at the authentication terminal 101. Specifically, the authentication terminal 101 captures a face of an entry person (expected attendee U0) who is about to enter the conference room 611 (S311). Then, the authentication terminal 101 transmits a face authentication request including the face image to the authentication device 200 via the network N (S312). In response to this, the authentication device 200 performs face authentication processing (S313).

[0059] FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the flow of face authentication processing by the authentication device 200 according to the second embodiment. First, the authentication device 200 receives a face authentication request from the authentication terminal 101 via the network N (S211). Next, the authentication device 200 extracts face feature information from the face image included in the face authentication request in the same manner as in steps S202 and S203 described above. Then, the authentication unit 250 of the authentication device 200 collates the face feature information extracted from the face image included in the face authentication request with the face feature information 212 of the face information DB 210 (S212) and calculates the degree of match. Then, the authentication unit 250 determines whether the degree of match is equal to or greater than a threshold (S213). If the face feature information matches, that is, if the degree of match of the face feature information is equal to or greater than a threshold, the authentication unit 250 identifies the user ID 211 associated with the face feature information 212 (S214). Then, the authentication unit 250 returns the face authentication result including the fact that the face authentication was successful and the identified user ID 211 to the authentication terminal 101 via the network N (S215). If the degree of match is less than the threshold in step S213, the authentication unit 250 returns the face authentication result including the fact that the face authentication was unsuccessful to the authentication terminal 101 via the network N (S216).

[0060] Returning to FIG. The authentication terminal 101 receives the face authentication result from the authentication device 200 via the network N (S314). Then, the authentication terminal 101 judges whether the face authentication has been successful. Specifically, the authentication terminal 101 refers to the face authentication result, and judges that the face authentication has been successful if the face authentication result includes a user ID. In that case, the authentication terminal 101 unlocks the door 104 of the conference room 611 and allows the expected attendee U0 to enter the room (S315). In this case, the expected attendee U0 is referred to as a conference room attendee U1-1 in the conference room 611. Note that, if it is determined that the face authentication has been unsuccessful, the authentication terminal 101 displays on the screen that the expected attendee U0 is not allowed to enter the room. If it is determined that the face authentication has been successful, the authentication terminal 101 transmits the authentication result including the user ID included in the face authentication result and the terminal ID of the authentication terminal 101 to the conference support device 400 via the network N (S316). In response to this, the conference supporting apparatus 400 acquires the authentication result from the authentication terminal 101 via the network N, and performs the conference supporting process (S317).

[0061] 12 is a flowchart showing the flow of conference support processing in the conference support device according to the present embodiment 2. It is assumed that the conference support device 400 has already acquired the conference ID 311 of the conference information 310, which is the current time and the time period 313 within a predetermined range, from the conference system 300 via the network N. In other words, the conference support device 400 has already identified the conference ID of the target online conference.

[0062] Then, first, the conference supporting device 400 acquires the authentication result from the authentication terminal 101 via the network N (S411). Next, the conference supporting device 400 acquires the current attendance status display information for the target conference ID from the storage unit 410 or memory 420 (S412). Note that the information held in the conference supporting device 400 does not have to be attendance status display information, but only needs to be "attendance status information" indicating the attendance status. Note that at this point, since the online conference for the target conference ID has not yet started, there is no attendance status display information, and therefore the conference supporting device 400 may generate empty attendance status display information.

[0063] Then, the conference support device 400 determines the attendance mode from the acquired authentication result (S413). Here, since the authentication result was acquired from the authentication terminal 101, the conference support device 400 determines that the attendance mode of the attendee indicated by the user ID included in the authentication result is "attendance in conference room."

[0064] Next, the conference support device 400 judges whether the attendee in the authentication result is not registered in the expected attendee list (S414). For example, the conference support device 400 transmits a registration confirmation request including the user ID included in the authentication result and the identified conference ID to the conference system 300 via the network N. In response to this, the conference system 300 searches the conference information DB 301 and identifies the conference information 310 corresponding to the received conference ID. Then, the conference system 300 judges whether the received user ID is included in the expected attendee list 315 of the identified conference information 310. If the user ID is not included, the conference system 300 returns a message to the conference support device 400 via the network N indicating that the attendee is not registered. On the other hand, if the user ID is included, the conference system 300 identifies the required flag 3152 and the organizer flag 3153 associated with the user ID 3151. For example, in the case of the conference room attendee U1-1, both the required flag 3152 and the organizer flag 3153 indicate "ON". Then, the conference system 300 returns information about the registrant, including the specified user ID 3151, the required flag 3152, and the organizer flag 3153, to the conference support apparatus 400 via the network N.

[0065] The conference supporting device 400 judges whether the attendee is not registered in the list of expected attendees, according to the contents received from the conference system 300. The conference supporting device 400 may acquire the list of expected attendees 315 corresponding to the identified conference ID from the conference system 300 via the network N. Alternatively, the conference supporting device 400 may periodically acquire the conference ID 311 and the list of expected attendees 315 of the conference information 310, which is the current time and the time period 313 within a predetermined range, from the conference system 300 via the network N. In these cases, if the acquired list of expected attendees 315 does not include the user ID included in the authentication result, the conference supporting device 400 judges the attendee as an unregistered person, and if the user ID is included, the conference supporting device 400 judges the attendee as a registered person.

[0066] If it is determined that the attendee is not registered (YES in S414), the conference support device 400 updates the attendance status display information by adding the attendance type and a notice that the attendee is not registered (S415). On the other hand, if it is determined that the attendee is registered in S414 (NO in S414), the conference support device 400 updates the attendance status display information by adding the attendance type to the attendee (S416). Here, adding the attendance type may mean, for example, updating the display content to classify the attendees into attendance type groups by the conference support device 400, or adding a notation of the attendance type to the attendee.

[0067] After step S415 or S416, the conference support device 400 determines whether the target online conference has already started (S417). At this point, the organizer has just entered the conference room 611, so it is determined that the online conference has not yet started (NO). Then, the conference support device 400 saves the updated attendance status display information (S421).

[0068] The authentication terminal 101 may perform face authentication via the conference supporting device 400. For example, the authentication terminal 101 may transmit a face authentication request to the conference supporting device 400 via the network N. In this case, the conference supporting device 400 transmits the received face authentication request to the authentication device 200 via the network N, and receives a face authentication result from the authentication device 200. Then, the conference supporting device 400 performs the conference supporting process, regarding the authentication terminal 101 as the acquisition source of the received face authentication result.

[0069] Returning to FIG. Thereafter, the conference room attendee U1-1, who is the organizer of a given online conference and has entered the conference room 611, starts the online conference using the information terminal 102-1. Specifically, the information terminal 102-1 accepts the conference ID (conference passcode), user ID (and password), and the like input by the conference room attendee U1-1. Then, the information terminal 102-1 transmits a conference start request including at least the user ID and conference ID to the conference system 300 via the network N (S318). In response to this, the conference support device 400 starts an online conference corresponding to the conference ID included in the received conference start request (S319). Then, the conference system 300 returns a conference start notification to the information terminal 102-1 via the network N (S320). The conference system 300 performs conference attendance processing by treating the conference room attendee U1-1 as an attendee of the conference. Therefore, the conference system 300 may assume that conference room attendee U1-1 has been successfully authenticated when attending the conference, and may transmit the authentication results, including the conference room attendee U1-1's user ID, conference ID, and system ID, to the conference support device 400 via the network N.

[0070] After that, the remote attendee U2 at the site 62 attends the online conference using the information terminal 102-2. Specifically, the information terminal 102-2 captures an image of the face of the remote attendee U2 (S321). Then, the information terminal 102-2 transmits a face authentication request including the face image to the authentication device 200 via the network N (S322). In response to this, the authentication device 200 performs face authentication processing (S323).

[0071] The information terminal 102-2 receives the face authentication result from the authentication device 200 via the network N (S324). Here, it is assumed that the remote attendee U2 has been successfully authenticated. Therefore, the information terminal 102-2 transmits a conference attendance request including the user ID and the conference ID included in the face authentication result to the conference system 300 via the network N (S325). Then, in response to the received conference attendance request, the conference system 300 performs conference attendance processing for the conference corresponding to the conference ID by the remote attendee U2 corresponding to the user ID. Then, the conference system 300 returns a conference attendance notice to the information terminal 102-2 via the network N (S327). In addition, the conference system 300 assumes that the authentication of the remote attendee U2 at the time of attendance at the conference has been successful, and transmits the authentication result including the user ID, conference ID, and system ID of the remote attendee U2 to the conference support device 400 via the network N (S328). In response to this, the conference supporting apparatus 400 acquires the authentication result from the conference system 300 via the network N, and performs the conference supporting process according to the above-mentioned FIG. 12 (S329).

[0072] That is, the conference supporting device 400 acquires an authentication result from the conference system 300 via the network N (S411). Next, the conference supporting device 400 acquires the current attendance status display information for the target conference ID that was saved in the previous conference supporting process (S317 in FIG. 9) (S412). Then, the conference supporting device 400 determines that the acquisition source is the conference system 300 based on the system ID included in the acquired authentication result, and determines that the attendance mode of the remote attendee U2 is "remote attendance" (S413). Then, steps S414 to S416 are performed in the same manner as above.

[0073] Then, the conference support device 400 judges whether the target online conference has already started (S417). At this time, the conference has been started by the organizer, so it is judged that the online conference has started (YES). Then, the conference support device 400 judges absentees from the current attendance status display information and the list of expected attendees (S418). For example, at this time, the attendance status display information indicates that the conference room attendee U1-1 and the remote attendee U2 are attendees, so the conference support device 400 judges other expected attendees in the list of expected attendees as absentees. Then, the conference support device 400 classifies the expected attendees into one of conference room attendance, remote attendance, and absentees, and updates the attendance status display information (S419). Note that the attendance mode of the conference room attendee U1-1 may be judged as both "conference room attendance" in step S317 and "remote attendance" in step S319. In this case, the conference support device 400 may prioritize "conference room attendance" as the attendance mode. That is, the conference supporting apparatus 400 may update the attendance status display information by setting the attendance mode of the conference room attendee U1-1 to “attendance in conference room.” Then, the conference supporting apparatus 400 outputs the updated attendance status display information (S420).

[0074] Specifically, conference support device 400 transmits attendance status display information to information terminal 102-1 and information terminal 102-2 via network N (S330 and S331 in FIG. 10). In response, information terminal 102-2 displays the received attendance status display information on its screen (S332). Information terminal 102-1 also displays the received attendance status display information on its screen (S333), and further outputs the attendance status display information to display device 103 (S334). In response, display device 103 displays the attendance status display information received from information terminal 102-1 on its screen (S335).

[0075] After that, another prospective attendee U0 at the site 61 (for example, a later conference room attendee U1-2) goes to the conference room 611 to attend the online conference started by the conference room attendee U1-1, and performs personal authentication at the authentication terminal 101. Specifically, the authentication terminal 101 photographs the face of the person about to enter the conference room 611 (S341). Then, the authentication terminal 101 transmits a face authentication request including the face image to the authentication device 200 via the network N (S342). In response to this, the authentication device 200 performs face authentication processing (S343).

[0076] The information terminal 102 receives the face authentication result from the authentication device 200 via the network N (S344). Here, it is assumed that the expected attendee U0 has been successful in the face authentication. Therefore, the authentication terminal 101 unlocks the door 104 of the conference room 611 and allows the expected attendee U0 to enter (S345). In this case, it is assumed that the expected attendee U0 is called the conference room attendee U1-2 in the conference room 611. The authentication terminal 101 transmits the authentication result including the user ID included in the face authentication result and the terminal ID of the authentication terminal 101 to the conference supporting device 400 via the network N (S346). In response to this, the conference supporting device 400 acquires the authentication result from the authentication terminal 101 via the network N and performs the conference supporting process according to FIG. 12 described above (S347).

[0077] That is, the conference supporting device 400 acquires the authentication result from the conference system 300 via the network N (S411). Next, the conference supporting device 400 acquires the current attendance status display information for the target conference ID that was saved in the previous conference supporting process (S329 in FIG. 9) (S412). Then, the conference supporting device 400 determines that the acquisition source is the authenticated terminal 101 based on the terminal ID included in the acquired authentication result, and determines that the attendance mode of the conference room attendee U1-2 is "attended in conference room" (S413). Then, steps S414 to S416 are performed in the same manner as above. Then, it is determined that the online conference has started (YES in S417), and the conference support device 400 determines whether or not there are absentees from the current attendance status display information and the list of expected attendees (S418). Here, since the conference room attendee U1-2 is also an attendee in addition to the conference room attendee U1-1 and the remote attendee U2, the conference support device 400 determines that the other expected attendees in the list of expected attendees are absentees. Therefore, the conference support device 400 classifies the expected attendees into one of conference room attendance, remote attendance, and absentees, and updates the attendance status display information (S419). Here, the conference support device 400 classifies the conference room attendees U1-1 and U1-2 into the attendance type "conference room attendance", the remote attendee U2 into the attendance type "remote attendance", and classifies the other expected attendees into "absentee". Then, the conference support device 400 outputs the updated attendance status display information (S420).

[0078] Specifically, conference support device 400 transmits attendance status display information to information terminal 102-1 and information terminal 102-2 via network N (S350 and S351 in FIG. 10). In response, information terminal 102-2 displays the received attendance status display information on its screen (S352). Information terminal 102-1 also displays the received attendance status display information on its screen (S353), and further outputs the attendance status display information to display device 103 (S354). In response, display device 103 displays the attendance status display information received from information terminal 102-1 on its screen (S355).

[0079] 13 is a diagram showing a display example of attendance status display information 5a according to the second embodiment. Here, an example is shown in which attendance status display information 5a is displayed on the display device 103. Attendance status display information 5a includes a meeting name 501, a meeting ID 502, a time period 503, attendance form display sections 51 and 52, and an absentee display section 53. The meeting name 501 is the meeting name 312 in the corresponding meeting information 310. The meeting ID 502 is the meeting ID 311 in the corresponding meeting information 310. The time period 503 is the time period 313 in the corresponding meeting information 310.

[0080] The attendance type display section 51 is a section that displays a list of attendees whose attendance type is "attendance in conference room". In the attendee list, for example, the group name, user name, and attributes are displayed for each attendee. For example, attribute 5113 indicates that A1 in X is a required attendee and the organizer of the meeting. Attribute 5123 indicates that A4 in X is not registered in the list of attendees scheduled for the meeting.

[0081] The attendance type display section 52 is a section that displays a list of attendees whose attendance type is "remote attendance". The composition of the attendee list is the same as that of the attendance type display section 51 described above, but is not limited to this. Attributes 5213, 5223, 5253, and 5273 indicate that the corresponding remote attendee is a required attendee of the conference. In other words, B2 in the Y section has an attribute of "-", indicating that the attendee is an optional attendee of the conference. Attributes 5243 and 5263 indicate that the remote attendee is not registered in the list of attendees scheduled for the conference.

[0082] The absentee display section 53 is a field that displays a list of absentees among the expected attendees in the expected attendees list. Here, it shows that four people are absent, that is, not currently attending the online conference. The attribute 5333 shows a notation indicating that the corresponding absentee C1 is a required attendee of the conference. And the other three absentees have the attribute "-", indicating that they are optional attendees of the conference.

[0083] In this way, the attendance status display information 5a allows the conference room attendees A1 and A4 in the conference room 611 and the remote attendee A2 at another site, etc., to view the current attendance status in the target online conference through each screen. In other words, the affiliation and user name of the attendees and absentees in the online conference can be easily understood. For example, it is easy to recognize that four people, A3, B3, C1, and D2, are not present at the moment. In addition, it is easy to recognize from the list which attendees are conference room attendees and which are remote attendees. For example, even if they are in the same X department, it is easy to recognize that A1 and A4 are present in the conference room, but A2 is present remotely. In addition, it is easy to recognize that the required attendees are present based on the attributes. Therefore, it is possible to support the organizer of the conference in deciding whether to start the proceedings. In addition, it is easy to recognize that the attendees include unregistered people based on the attributes. This makes it possible to recognize that people other than those originally scheduled to attend are present.

[0084] Next, a method for changing the attribute display of the attendance status display information when an unregistered person attends an online conference will be described. In this embodiment, for example, a superior of the unregistered person in the same department, related parties, and absentees can give permission for the unregistered person to attend along with the reason for attendance.

[0085] Fig. 14 is a flowchart showing the flow of the attendance permission process for an unregistered person according to the second embodiment. Here, since A4 of the X department is attending as an unregistered person in the example of Fig. 13, it is assumed that an absentee (absentee) A3 of the X department applies for attendance permission including A4's reason for attendance (proxy attendance). Specifically, the information terminal 102-1 accepts a designation from the absentee A3 that the reason for the attendance of the unregistered person A4 is to attend as a proxy for the original scheduled attendee A3, and transmits attendance permission including the reason for the attendance of the unregistered person A4 to the conference supporting device 400 via the network N. In response to this, the conference supporting device 400 acquires the reason for the attendance of the unregistered person A4 from the information terminal 102-1 via the network N (S431).

[0086] Then, the conference supporting device 400 acquires the current attendance status display information for the target conference ID, similar to step S412 described above (S432). Then, the conference supporting device 400 updates the attendance status display information by adding the reason for attendance to the unregistered person (S433). For example, the conference supporting device 400 adds a notation indicating "Attending on behalf of scheduled attendee A3" as the reason for attendance of the unregistered person A4. Then, the conference supporting device 400 outputs the updated attendance status display information (S434). Then, the conference supporting device 400 saves the updated attendance status display information (S435).

[0087] In the above example, absentee A3 applied for permission to attend on his / her behalf, including the reason for attendance of unregistered A4. However, the applicant for permission to attend of unregistered A4 can be attendee A1 from the same department as A3 and A4, other attendees included in the list of expected attendees, or people related to A3 and A4 who are not expected to attend.

[0088] Another example of the reason for attendance of an unregistered person is additional attendance. For example, in the example of FIG. 13, unregistered person B4 from department Y is attending, so attendee B1 from department Y applies for attendance permission including subordinate B4's reason for attendance (additional attendance). In this case, in step S433, the conference support device 400 adds a notation indicating "subordinate of B1, additional attendance" as the reason for attendance of unregistered person B4. The applicant for attendance permission of unregistered person B4 may be another attendee in the same department as B4, another planned attendee included in the planned attendee list, or a person related to B1 and B4 who is not a planned attendee.

[0089] FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a display example of the attendance status display information 5b according to the second embodiment. The attendance status display information 5b shows an example in which the reasons for attendance are added to the unregistered members A4, B4, and C3 in the attendance status display information 5a of FIG. 13 described above. Specifically, the attribute 5123b shows that the reason for attendance of A4 in the X division is written as "Attendance on behalf of A3 (who is absent)". In addition, the attribute 5243b shows that the reason for attendance of B4 in the Y division is written as "Subordinate of B1" and "Additional Attendance". In addition, the attribute 5263b shows that the reason for attendance of C3 in the Z division is written as "Attendance on behalf of C1". In addition, the attributes 5313b and 5333b show that the reason for absence of A3 in the X division and C1 (who is a required attendee) in the Z division is "Absence". Therefore, since there is no description of the reason for absence for other absentees B3 and D2 listed in the absentee display section 53, it can be understood that the reason for absence is unknown.

[0090] First, the organizer of the conference can easily know if the attendees are in the conference room by looking around the room, and can easily know whether the attendees who are absent from the conference room are attending remotely or absent by looking at the attendance status display information displayed on the display device 103 or the like. Similarly, the remote attendees are not present in the online conference system, but for the attendees in the conference room, they can know whether they are attending the conference room or absent by looking at not only the video of the conference system but also the attendance status display information. Furthermore, as described above, regardless of the attendance type, the reason for attendance, such as proxy attendance or additional attendance of the absentees, can be easily understood. For example, if 30 people are registered in the list of expected attendees, it is easy to know the attendance type and the breakdown of the absentees, such as 15 people attending the conference room, 10 people attending remotely, and 5 people being absent.

[0091] In the above explanation, an example was shown in which an unregistered person can attend an online conference in a conference room or remotely, but an unregistered person may not be able to enter or log in to an online conference. In that case, an unregistered person may be able to enter or log in to an online conference if the person has permission to attend along with a reason for attendance, which will be described later.

[0092] In addition, the conference support device 400 according to the present embodiment may notify the organizer of the conference when all the required attendees are present. That is, the determination unit 443 determines whether or not all the required attendees set in the expected attendee list are included among the attendees in the online conference. Then, when all the required attendees are included, the output unit 445 notifies the organizer of the online conference that the proceedings can be started. This makes it easier for the organizer to decide to start the proceedings of the conference even if there are some absentees in the absentee display unit 53 of the attendance status display information. Also, even if there are absentees or absentees among the required attendees, if there is a substitute attendee for the required attendee, the organizer can similarly decide to start the proceedings of the conference. This reduces the effort of confirming attendance within the limited conference time. Also, even if there is an unregistered person, the reason for attendance is known, so it is easy to determine whether someone who is not qualified to attend the conference has been mixed in. This reduces the risk of information leakage, etc.

[0093] In this embodiment, personal authentication may also be performed when leaving the conference room 611, and the attendance status display information may include a determination of this fact. For example, it is assumed that an authentication terminal for unlocking the door 104 is installed in the conference room 611. It is assumed that the face of the conference room attendee U1-3 in the conference room 611 is photographed by the authentication terminal in the room when leaving the conference room. In this case, the authentication terminal performs personal authentication on the conference room attendee U1-3, and transmits the authentication result to the conference support device 400 via the network N. Then, the acquisition unit 442 acquires a second authentication result of personal authentication of the conference room attendee U1-3 whose attendance form is conference room attendance when leaving the conference room 611. Then, the update unit 444 updates the attendance status display information so that it is possible to identify that the attendee U1-3 in the second authentication result has left the online conference. For example, since the attendee who left the conference room by remote attendance can be identified by the online conference system, it is relatively easy for the attendee to identify the attendee who left midway. In contrast, in the present embodiment, conference room attendees are not necessarily detected as having left the conference room midway because the online conference system does not necessarily perform conference attendance processing. Therefore, by reflecting the result of personal authentication at the time of leaving the conference room in the attendance status display information, other attendees, particularly remote attendees, can easily grasp the person who has left the conference room midway. Note that when the conference support device 400 receives a notification from the online conference system about a remote attendee who has left the conference room, it may reflect the notification in the attendance status display information.

[0094] As a modification of this embodiment, the display device is not limited to being installed in the conference room 611 as shown in FIG. Outside In this case, the output unit 445 may output the attendance status display information to a display device 103-2 installed outside the conference room 611 via the network N.

[0095] FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining the concept of displaying the attendance status display information 5b according to the modified example of the second embodiment. On the outer wall of the conference room 611, near the door 104, which is the entrance and exit, an authentication terminal 101 and a display device 103-2 are installed. The authentication terminal 101 and the display device 103-2 are connected to a network N. The display device 103-2 may be connected to an information terminal 102-1 in the conference room 611. The display device 103-2 displays the attendance status display information 5b. The attendance status display information 5b displays "In a meeting". It is assumed that the non-conference attendee UX has come to the front of the conference room 611 because the attendee A1 has something to do with the conference. At this time, the non-conference attendee UX can confirm that the attendee A1 is attending the conference, the scheduled end time of the conference, and other attendees, particularly remote attendees, by looking at the attendance status display information 5b. For example, the non-conference attendee UX visits conference room 611 again at the scheduled end time of the conference room, intends to discuss the matter at the timing when A1 leaves the room, and can start working on other tasks.

[0096] In this embodiment, all people who wish to enter the conference room 611 are assumed to enter after successfully passing personal authentication by the authentication terminal 101, but this is not limited to the above. For example, when multiple people who wish to enter enter the conference room 611 at once, if the representative person passes personal authentication, the other people who wish to enter may enter the conference room together. In this case, however, a camera installed in the conference room 611 may photograph the people who enter the conference room, output the photographed image to the authentication terminal 101, and thereafter, the authentication terminal 101 may perform face authentication on the facial areas of each person in the photographed image one by one. Alternatively, a terminal having the same function as the authentication terminal 101 may be installed in the conference room 611, and each person may perform face authentication after entering the conference room.

[0097] Another application of this embodiment is the effective use of vacant conference rooms. For example, when it is unclear whether an unused conference room is reserved, several people who wish to use the conference room perform face authentication, and attendance status display information is displayed on the display device 103-2 installed on the outer wall of the conference room 611. At this time, the conference support device 400 generates attendance status display information from the list of people who will most recently attend the conference room and each authentication result. If there is no list of people who will most recently attend, all people who have performed face authentication are displayed as unregistered in the attendance status display information, and absent people are not displayed. Therefore, it is easy to determine that the conference room is not reserved and can be used. This promotes effective use of the conference room.

[0098] <Embodiment 3> The present embodiment 3 is a modified example of the above-mentioned embodiment 2. In the present embodiment 3, it is possible to support the start and progress of a meeting by displaying the expected attendance of absentees and notifying related parties. Note that the configuration of the meeting support system according to the present embodiment 3 is the same as that described above, and therefore illustrations and overlapping explanations will be omitted.

[0099] The output unit 445 according to the third embodiment notifies the parties concerned of the absentee that the absentee is not attending the online conference. This allows the parties concerned, for example, the absentee's superior, to understand and promptly respond. The acquisition unit 442 may also acquire location information of the absentee. In this case, the conference support device 400 further includes an estimation unit that estimates attendance expectancy information regarding the expectancy of the absentee to attend the online conference based on the location information. Then, the update unit 444 adds attendance expectancy information to the absentee to update the attendance status display information. Here, the attendance expectancy information is, for example, information indicating the status of the absentee, such as whether the absentee is moving to a conference room or a location where remote attendance equipment is located, whether the absentee is attending another conference, or whether the absentee is not moving and does not seem to have the intention to attend, and the expected time of attendance. This allows the organizer of the conference and other attendees to consider discussions, the order of proceedings, and the like according to the expectation of attendance of the absentee. In some cases, the absentee may be asked to confirm his / her intention to attend, and the conference may be progressed by clarifying whether the absentee is absent or not. In particular, the estimation unit may estimate the expected time when the absentee will attend the online conference as the expected attendance information, which makes it easier for attendees of the conference to determine whether they should wait for the absentee to arrive, etc.

[0100] FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the flow of the conference support process in the conference support device according to the third embodiment. First, steps S411 to S418 in FIG. 12 described above are executed. After that, the acquisition unit 442 acquires the location information of the absentee (S441). For example, the acquisition unit 442 may search for a mobile terminal carried by the absentee and acquire the location information. Next, the estimation unit estimates the attendance expectancy information of the absentee (S442). For example, the estimation unit analyzes the transition of the location information of the absentee within a predetermined period and refers to the schedule of the absentee. For example, if the transition of the location information of the absentee is toward a conference room at any base or a seat where remote attendance is possible, the estimation unit estimates that it is highly likely that the absentee is moving to attend the conference. Alternatively, if the transition of the location information of the absentee is constant within a predetermined period, the estimation unit estimates that the absentee is staying in the same place and is likely to be participating in another conference, is busy with work, or has forgotten the schedule for the conference. The estimation unit may also estimate the expected attendance time of the absentee from the scheduled end time of participation based on the absentee's schedule, the distance from the current location to a conference room, etc.

[0101] The update unit 444 then updates the attendance status display information by adding expected attendance information to the absentees (S443). The output unit 445 then stores the updated attendance status display information (S444).

[0102] In addition, independent of steps S441 to S444, the conference support device 400 identifies the absent person's related party (S445). For example, the conference support device 400 may refer to the user information 412 and identify a user with a higher job rank 4124 in the same group as the group 4123 associated with the absent person's user ID as the related party. Then, the conference support device 400 notifies the identified related party that the absent person is not attending the online conference (S446). This allows the related party to inquire whether the absent person is absent or to urge the absent person to attend if he or she has forgotten the conference. This makes it easier to quickly grasp the absence or attendance of the absent person and the expected attendance. In this case, the update unit 444 may update the attendance status display information by setting the expected attendance information of the absent person to "checking with related party".

[0103] FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a display example of the attendance status display information 5c according to the third embodiment. The attendance status display information 5c shows an example in which attendance expected information is added to absentees B3 and D2 in the attendance status display information 5b of FIG. 15 described above. Specifically, the attribute 5323c shows that B3 of the Y department is "attending another meeting" and "expected attendance: 30 minutes later". The attribute 5343c shows that D2 of the W department is "on the move" and "expected attendance: 15 minutes later". When the absentees B3 and D2 are notified to the related parties in step S446 described above, the attribute of the absentees in the attendance status display information 5c may show "checking with related parties in the same department". In this way, the attendance expected of the absentees is displayed, so that the attendees, especially the organizer of the meeting, can easily understand whether the absentees are coming to the meeting room, attending remotely, or are likely to have forgotten about the meeting. This makes it easier for attendees of the absent attendees to consider whether they should send someone else to attend in their place, and makes it easier for the meeting organizer to decide when to start the meeting and the order of proceedings.

[0104] <Embodiment 4> The fourth embodiment is a modified version of the second or third embodiment. In the third embodiment, attendance status display information is displayed for each group to those involved in the group, making it easier for them to understand the attendance status of their own group and encouraging them to take necessary measures. Note that the configuration of the conference support system according to the fourth embodiment is the same as that described above, and therefore illustrations and repeated explanations will be omitted.

[0105] FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the flow of the conference support process in the conference support device according to the fourth embodiment. First, steps S411 to S418 in FIG. 12 described above are executed. After that, the following process is executed independently of steps S419 to S421. First, the update unit 444 according to the fourth embodiment updates the attendance status display information so that each of the planned attendees included in the planned attendees list is displayed as classified into one of conference room attendance, remote attendance, and absentee for each group to which the attendees belong (S451). For example, the update unit 444 refers to the planned attendees list 315 and the group 4123 in the user information 412 to classify each of the planned attendees into each group to which the attendees belong. Then, the update unit 444 selects a specific group to which the attendees belong, and updates the attendance status display information so that each of the planned attendees is displayed as classified into one of conference room attendance, remote attendance, and absentee for the selected group to which the attendees belong. The update unit 444 similarly updates the attendance status display information for the remaining groups to which the attendees belong.

[0106] Then, the output unit 445 according to the fourth embodiment notifies the representative of each group of the attendance status display information of the representative's group (S452). For example, the output unit 445 identifies, from the user information 412, a user with a higher job rank 4124 in the selected group 4123 as the representative. Then, the output unit 445 notifies the identified representative of Attendance status display information for the group to which the unregistered person or absent person belongs may be notified in step S452 to the representative of the group to which the unregistered person or absent person belongs.

[0107] Fig. 20 is a diagram showing a display example of the attendance status display information 5d according to the fourth embodiment. The attendance status display information 5d is an example in which information on users of the Y department is extracted from the attendance status display information 5c of Fig. 18 described above. The representative of the Y department can know from the attendance status display information 5d that the mandatory attendee B1 will be attending, and furthermore, B2 and B4 will also be attending, and B3 is expected to be 30 minutes late to the meeting. Therefore, the representative of the Y department can take necessary measures according to the attendance status.

[0108] <Other embodiments> The attendance status display information as shown in Figures 13, 15, and 18 may be disclosed to all attendees and related parties. Alternatively, the attendance status display information may be disclosed only to the organizer, and not to other attendees or related parties. Alternatively, the attendance status display information may be disclosed to the organizer and mandatory attendees, and not to optional attendees or unregistered people.

[0109] The attendance status display information may display statistical number of attendees data. Specifically, the update unit 444 may count the number of mandatory attendees who are present in the conference room, present remotely, absent, or under confirmation, and add the total number of mandatory attendees and each counted number as statistical information to the attendance status display information to update it. FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a display example of attendance status display information 5e according to another embodiment. The attendance status display information 5e is the above-mentioned attendance status display information 5a, etc. to which statistical information 54 has been added. The statistical information 54 indicates that, of the 25 mandatory attendees, 15 are present in the conference room, 5 are present remotely, and 5 are absent or under confirmation.

[0110] This embodiment can also be expressed from the following perspective: That is, the conference support device includes an acquisition means for acquiring a first authentication result of an attendee identified by personal authentication at the time of attendance at an online conference including attendance in a conference room and remote attendance from outside the conference room, a determination means for determining the attendance status of each of the scheduled attendees included in the scheduled attendees list of the online conference based on the first authentication result, an update means for updating attendance status display information reflecting the attendance status for each scheduled attendee, and an output means for outputting the attendance status display information.

[0111] In the above embodiment, the personal authentication (authentication of identity confirmation, identity authentication, identity specification processing, etc.) has been described as face authentication, but other biometric authentication using biometric information may be used. Other technologies using a photographed image of a person may be applied to the biometric authentication and biometric information. For example, the biometric information may be data (feature amount) calculated from physical characteristics unique to an individual, such as a fingerprint, voiceprint, veins, retina, iris of the eye, or a pattern of the palm. In addition, the biometric authentication may be performed by extracting feature information indicating a person's physical characteristics from a photographed image of a part of the user's body, comparing the extracted feature information with pre-registered feature information, and assuming that the authentication is successful when the degree of match is equal to or greater than a threshold value. For example, the biometric authentication may be authentication based on the external shape of a person. In that case, the feature information is information on the external shape of a person, such as information indicating features such as body shape, height, and clothing. In addition, instead of the biometric authentication, other personal authentication may be applied, and the biometric information may be other personal authentication information. For example, the personal authentication information may include, but is not limited to, a user ID, a combination of ID and password, the contents of an identification card such as a My Number or a driver's license (identification number or password), an electronic certificate, code information, etc. The code information may be a two-dimensional code, for example, a QR code (registered trademark).

[0112] The conference room 611 is not limited to using a camera as the authentication terminal 101. The authentication terminal 101 may be a terminal that performs personal authentication by holding up an IC card on which personal authentication information is recorded, or by reading code information displayed on a user terminal or code information printed on paper. Alternatively, the authentication terminal 101 may use a camera or the like installed in the conference room 611. Two or more authentication terminals 101 may be installed in the conference room 611. Furthermore, personal authentication for remote attendance is not limited to biometric authentication, and an ID and password may be used.

[0113] In the above-mentioned second to fourth embodiments, the authentication device 200 and the conference supporting device 400 have been described as separate information processing devices, but they may be the same. For example, the conference supporting device 400 may register facial feature information in further association with the user ID 4121 of the user information 412. In that case, the control unit 440 may further include the functions of the face detection unit 220, the feature point extraction unit 230, the registration unit 240, and the authentication unit 250 in FIG. 4.

[0114] In the above examples, the program includes instructions (or software code) that, when loaded into a computer, cause the computer to perform one or more functions described in the embodiments. The program may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium or a tangible storage medium. By way of example and not limitation, the computer-readable medium or tangible storage medium includes random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, solid-state drive (SSD) or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disc (DVD), Blu-ray® disk or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassette, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage device. The program may be transmitted on a transitory computer-readable medium or communication medium. By way of example and not limitation, the transitory computer-readable medium or communication medium includes electrical, optical, acoustic, or other forms of propagated signals.

[0115] The present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and may be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. In addition, the present disclosure may be implemented by appropriately combining the respective embodiments.

[0116] A part or all of the above-described embodiments may be described as, but is not limited to, the following supplementary notes. (Appendix A1) An acquisition means for acquiring a first authentication result of an attendee identified by personal authentication when attending an online conference, including attendance in a conference room and remote attendance from outside the conference room; A determination means for determining whether the attendee's attendance at the online conference is in a conference room or remotely based on a source of the first authentication result; an update means for updating attendance status display information so that the determined attendance style of the attendee can be identified; an output means for outputting the attendance status display information; A conference support device comprising: (Appendix A2) The determination means is When the source of the first authentication result is an authentication terminal that performs personal authentication at least when entering the conference room, the attendance mode is determined to be attendance in the conference room; When the source of the first authentication result is a conference system that manages the online conference, the attendance mode is determined to be remote attendance. 2. A conference support device according to claim 1. (Appendix A3) The update means includes: When the attendance type of a particular attendee corresponds to both the conference room attendance and the remote attendance, the attendance status display information is updated so that the attendance type is the conference room attendance. 2. A conference support device according to claim 1, wherein the conference support device is a (Appendix A4) The determination means is determining an attendance status of each of the planned attendees included in the list of planned attendees for the online conference based on the first authentication result; The update means includes: Update the attendance status display information to reflect the attendance status for each scheduled attendee 2. A conference support device according to claim 1, wherein the conference support device is a (Appendix A5) The determination means is If the attendee in the first authentication result is not included in the list of expected attendees, the attendee is determined to be an unregistered person; The update means includes: The attendance status display information is updated by adding a notation indicating that the person is not registered. 2. A conference support device as described in Appendix A4. (Appendix A6) The acquisition means includes: Obtaining attendance permission, including the reason for attendance of the non-registered person, from any of the expected attendees included in the list of expected attendees; The update means includes: The attendance status display information is updated by adding the reason for attendance to the unregistered person. 2. A conference support device as described in Appendix A5. (Appendix A7) The acquisition means includes: Obtaining attendance permission including a reason for attendance of the unregistered person as additional attendance from the attendees other than the unregistered person among the attendees included in the list of expected attendees; The update means includes: The attendance status display information is updated by adding the additional attendance to the unregistered person. 2. A conference support device as described in Appendix A6. (Appendix A8) The acquisition means includes: Obtaining attendance permission from an absent person among the expected attendees included in the list of expected attendees, the attendance permission including the reason for attendance of the unregistered person as a substitute attendance for the absent person; The update means includes: The attendance status display information is updated by adding a notice to the unregistered person that the person is attending in place of the absent person. 2. The conference support device according to claim 1, (Appendix A9) The determination means is determining whether the attendees of the online conference include all of the required attendees set in the list of expected attendees; The output means includes: If all of the required attendees are included, notify the organizer of the online meeting that the meeting can begin. 2. A conference support device according to claim 1, wherein the conference support device is a (Appendix A10) The determination means is determining that all the people included in the list of people expected to attend, other than the people expected to attend, are absent; The update means includes: The attendance status display information is updated so that each of the planned attendees included in the planned attendee list is displayed classified into one of the meeting room attendance, the remote attendance, and the absence. 2. The conference support device according to claim 1, wherein the first and second channels are connected to each other. (Appendix A11) The output means includes: Notifying the absentee's related parties that the absentee is not attending the online conference. 2. The conference support device according to claim 10. (Appendix A12) The acquisition means includes: Acquire location information of the absent person; The method further includes estimating attendance probability information regarding a probability that the absentee will attend the online conference based on the location information, The update means includes: The attendance status display information is updated by adding the attendance expected information to the absent person. 2. The conference support device according to claim 10 or 11. (Appendix A13) The estimation means includes: The expected time when the absent person will attend the online conference is estimated as the expected attendance information. 2. The conference support device according to claim 12. (Appendix A14) The update means includes: updating the attendance status display information so that each of the planned attendees included in the planned attendee list is displayed classified into one of the meeting room attendance, the remote attendance, and the absence for each group to which the attendee belongs; The output means includes: The representative of each group is notified of the attendance status display information of the group to which the representative belongs. 2. A conference support device according to claim 1, wherein the conference support device is a (Appendix A15) The acquisition means includes: acquiring a second authentication result of personal authentication of the attendee whose attendance mode is attendance at the conference room when the attendee leaves the conference room; The update means includes: The attendance status display information is updated so that it is possible to identify that the attendee in the second authentication result has left the online conference. 6. The conference support device according to claim 1, (Appendix A16) The output means outputs the attendance status display information to a display device installed outside the conference room. 2. A conference support device according to claim 1, wherein the conference support device is a (Appendix B1) An authentication device that performs personal authentication of attendees of an online conference, including attendance in a conference room and attendance remotely from outside the conference room; a conference support device connected to the authentication device, The conference support device includes: An acquisition means for acquiring a first authentication result of an attendee identified by personal authentication when attending the online conference; A determination means for determining whether the attendee's attendance at the online conference is in a conference room or remotely based on a source of the first authentication result; an update means for updating attendance status display information so that the determined attendance style of the attendee can be identified; an output means for outputting the attendance status display information; A conference support system comprising: (Appendix B2) the authentication device performs the personal authentication via an authentication terminal that performs personal authentication at least when entering the conference room and a conference system that manages the online conference; The determination means is If the source of the first authentication result is the authentication terminal, the attendance mode is determined to be attendance in a conference room; If the source of the first authentication result is the conference system, the attendance mode is determined to be remote attendance. 2. A conference support system as described in Appendix B1. (Appendix C1) The computer Obtain a first authentication result of an attendee identified by personal authentication at the time of attendance at an online conference, including attendance in a conference room and attendance remotely from outside the conference room; determining whether the attendee attends the online conference in a conference room or remotely based on a source of the first authentication result; updating attendance status display information so that the determined attendance style of the attendee is identifiable; outputting the attendance status display information; Meeting support methods. (Appendix D1) An acquisition process for acquiring a first authentication result of an attendee identified by personal authentication when attending an online conference, including attendance in a conference room and remote attendance from outside the conference room; A determination process for determining whether the attendee's attendance at the online conference is in a conference room or remotely based on a source of the first authentication result; an update process for updating attendance status display information so that the determined attendance style of the attendee is identifiable; an output process for outputting the attendance status display information; A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a conference support program for causing a computer to execute the above.

[0117] Although the present invention has been described above with reference to the embodiments (and examples), the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments (and examples). Various modifications that can be understood by those skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and details of the present invention within the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0118] 1. Conference Support Equipment 11 Acquisition Department 12 Judgment section 13 Update section 14 Output section 1000 Meeting Support System N Network U User U0 Attendees U1, U1-1~U1-5 Conference room attendees U2~Un Remote Attendees UX Meeting Non-Attendee 61~6n Base Conference Room 611 101 Authentication terminal 102, 102-1 to 102-n Information terminal 103, 103-2 Display device 104 Doors 200 Authentication Device 210 Face Information DB 211 User ID 212 Facial Feature Information 220 Face detection unit 230 Feature Point Extraction Unit 240 Registration Department 250 Authentication Department 300 Conference System 301 Conference Information DB 310 Meeting Information 311 Meeting ID 312 Conference Name 313 Time Zone Conference Room 3141 314m Conference Room 315 Attendee List 3151 User ID 3152 Mandatory Flag 3153 Organizer Flag 3154 Group Affiliation 3155 Username 400 Conference Support Equipment 410 Storage section 411 Program 412 User Information 4121 User ID 4122 Username 4123 Group Affiliation 4124 Position 420 Memory 430 Communications Department 440 Control Unit 441 Registration Department 442 Acquisition Department 443 Judgment section 444 Update Department 445 Output section 5, 5a~5e Attendance status display information 501 Meeting Name 502 Meeting ID 503 Time Zone 51 Attendance type display section 52 Attendance type display section 53 Absentee display section 5113, 5123, 5213, 5223, 5243, 5253, 5263, 5273, 5333, 5123b, 5243b, 5263b, 5313b, 5323c, 5333b, 5343c Attributes 54 Statistics

Claims

1. An acquisition means for acquiring a first authentication result of an attendee identified by personal authentication when attending an online conference, including attendance in a conference room and remote attendance from outside the conference room; A determination means for determining whether the attendee attends the online conference in a conference room or remotely based on a source of the first authentication result; an update means for updating attendance status display information so that the determined attendance style of the attendee can be identified; an output means for outputting the attendance status display information; A conference support device comprising:

2. The determination means is When the source of the first authentication result is an authentication terminal that performs personal authentication at least when entering the conference room, the attendance mode is determined to be attendance in the conference room; When the source of the first authentication result is a conference system that manages the online conference, the attendance mode is determined to be remote attendance. The conference support device according to claim 1 .

3. The update means includes: When the attendance type of a particular attendee corresponds to both the conference room attendance and the remote attendance, the attendance status display information is updated so that the attendance type is the conference room attendance. The conference support device according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The determination means is determining an attendance status of each of the planned attendees included in the list of planned attendees for the online conference based on the first authentication result and the list of planned attendees; The update means includes: Update the attendance status display information to reflect the attendance status for each scheduled attendee The conference support device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. The determination means is If the attendee in the first authentication result is not included in the list of expected attendees, the attendee is determined to be an unregistered person; The update means includes: The attendance status display information is updated by adding a notation indicating that the person is not registered. The conference support device according to claim 4.

6. The acquisition means includes: Obtaining attendance permission, including the reason for attendance of the non-registered person, from any of the expected attendees included in the list of expected attendees; The update means includes: The attendance status display information is updated by adding the reason for attendance to the unregistered person. The conference support device according to claim 5.

7. The acquisition means includes: Obtaining attendance permission including a reason for attendance of the unregistered person as additional attendance from the attendees other than the unregistered person among the attendees included in the list of expected attendees; The update means includes: The attendance status display information is updated by adding the additional attendance to the unregistered person. The conference support device according to claim 6.

8. The acquisition means includes: Obtaining attendance permission from an absent person among the expected attendees included in the list of expected attendees, the attendance permission including the reason for attendance of the unregistered person as a substitute attendance for the absent person; The update means includes: The attendance status display information is updated by adding a notice to the unregistered person that the person is attending in place of the absent person. The conference support device according to claim 6 or 7.

9. The determination means is determining whether the attendees of the online conference include all of the required attendees set in the list of expected attendees; The output means includes: If all of the required attendees are included, notify the organizer of the online meeting that the meeting can begin. The conference support device according to any one of claims 4 to 8.

10. The determination means is determining that all the people included in the list of people expected to attend, other than the people expected to attend, are absent; The update means includes: The attendance status display information is updated so that each of the planned attendees included in the planned attendee list is displayed classified into one of the meeting room attendance, the remote attendance, and the absence. The conference support device according to any one of claims 4 to 9.

11. The output means includes: Notifying the absentee's related parties that the absentee is not attending the online conference. The conference support device according to claim 10.

12. The acquisition means includes: Acquire location information of the absent person; The method further includes estimating attendance probability information regarding a probability that the absentee will attend the online conference based on the location information, The update means includes: The attendance status display information is updated by adding the attendance expected information to the absent person. The conference support device according to claim 10 or 11.

13. The estimation means includes: The expected time when the absent person will attend the online conference is estimated as the expected attendance information. The conference support device according to claim 12.

14. The update means includes: updating the attendance status display information so that each of the planned attendees included in the planned attendee list is displayed classified into one of the meeting room attendance, the remote attendance, and the absence for each group to which the attendee belongs; The output means includes: The representative of each group is notified of the attendance status display information of the group to which the representative belongs. The conference support device according to any one of claims 10 to 13.

15. The acquisition means includes: acquiring a second authentication result of personal authentication of the attendee whose attendance mode is attendance at the conference room when the attendee leaves the conference room; The update means includes: The attendance status display information is updated so that it is possible to identify that the attendee in the second authentication result has left the online conference. The conference support device according to any one of claims 1 to 14.

16. The output means outputs the attendance status display information to a display device installed outside the conference room. The conference support device according to any one of claims 1 to 15.

17. An authentication device that performs personal authentication of attendees of an online conference, including attendance in a conference room and attendance remotely from outside the conference room; a conference support device connected to the authentication device, The conference support device includes: An acquisition means for acquiring a first authentication result of an attendee identified by personal authentication when attending the online conference; A determination means for determining whether the attendee attends the online conference in a conference room or remotely based on a source of the first authentication result; an update means for updating attendance status display information so that the determined attendance style of the attendee can be identified; an output means for outputting the attendance status display information; A conference support system comprising:

18. the authentication device performs the personal authentication via an authentication terminal that performs personal authentication at least when entering the conference room and a conference system that manages the online conference; The determination means is If the source of the first authentication result is the authentication terminal, the attendance mode is determined to be attendance in a conference room; If the source of the first authentication result is the conference system, the attendance mode is determined to be remote attendance. The conference support system according to claim 17.

19. The computer Obtain a first authentication result of an attendee identified by personal authentication at the time of attendance at the online conference, including attendance in a conference room and remote attendance from outside the conference room; determining whether the attendee attends the online conference in a conference room or remotely based on a source of the first authentication result; updating attendance status display information so that the determined attendance style of the attendee is identifiable; outputting the attendance status display information; Meeting support methods.

20. An acquisition process for acquiring a first authentication result of an attendee identified by personal authentication when attending an online conference, including attendance in a conference room and remote attendance from outside the conference room; A determination process for determining whether the attendee's attendance at the online conference is in a conference room or remotely based on a source of the first authentication result; an update process for updating attendance status display information so that the determined attendance style of the attendee is identifiable; an output process for outputting the attendance status display information; A meeting support program that causes a computer to execute the above.

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