Information processing device and information processing program

Abstract

To provide an information processing device that allows a user to identify association between at least one participant among participants of a conference and a business card image.SOLUTION: An information processing device includes a processor. In a conference by a plurality of participants via communication lines, the processor performs control to identify, based on an image obtained by photographing a first participant of the conference, a first business card image, which is an image obtained by reading a business card of the participant, and to display the first business card image in a form different from second business card images of other second participants.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing device and an information processing program. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses an imaging device that has an objective of easily recording and managing information about multiple people who meet at the same place and time, and that includes a CPU that performs the following processes: detects the faces of multiple people from image data of a group photo generated by an imaging unit and generates facial image data of the multiple faces; records the multiple facial image data as the same group; and, when it is determined that an instruction has been given to execute a facial image data utilization process using the multiple facial image data recorded as the same group, executes a facial image data utilization process based on the multiple facial image data.

[0003] Patent document 2 has an objective of providing an electronic business card device for exchanging business card data, and discloses that the electronic business card device comprises a storage medium for recording the owner's business card data (hereinafter referred to as "own business card data") and the business card data of the other party to whom business card data will be exchanged (hereinafter referred to as "other party's business card data"), a business card data exchange means for exchanging business card data by receiving the other party's business card data from an electronic business card device held by the other party and recording it on the storage medium, and transmitting the one's business card data recorded on the storage medium to an electronic business card terminal held by the other party, a display means for displaying on a display device a display screen on which display areas displaying specific information for identifying the other party to exchange business card data are arranged in a predetermined order based on the other party's business card data recorded on the storage medium, and a replacement means for replacing the position of the display area arranged on the display screen by the display means with the position of another display area based on an instruction from the owner.

[0004] Patent Document 3 discloses a system that uses human image recognition technology to recognize each conference participant and then displays the profile of the recognized person on a display; before video conference communication begins, a human image recognition unit generates parameters required for human image recognition from the human images of the conference participants captured by a television camera, and registers the profile of the conference participant corresponding to these on a hard disk; and when a request is made for the profile of a conference participant shown on the display of a remote terminal during video conference communication, the human image recognition unit again generates recognition parameters for the person shown on the television camera and compares the matching registered parameters on the hard disk; and a system control unit sends the profile corresponding to the matching registered parameters to the remote terminal that made the request, and displays it on the display of the remote terminal. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2009-164821 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2013-105470 A [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 06-121310 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] When a conference is held over a communication line with multiple participants, the business card images of the participants may be displayed in order to know the names of the participants. However, it is difficult for a user to associate the participants with their business card images. Therefore, the present invention aims to provide an information processing device and an information processing program that allow a user to identify the association between at least one participant of the conference and the business card image. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The gist of the present invention for achieving the above object resides in the following inventions. Please note that the "claims" below refer to the claims as originally filed. The invention of claim 1 is an information processing device comprising a processor that, in a conference held over a communication line with multiple participants, identifies a first business card image, which is an image obtained by reading the business card of a first participant in a conference, based on an image taken of the first participant, and controls the display of the first business card image in a form different from the second business card image of a second participant.

[0008] The invention of claim 2 is the information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the first participant is a participant designated by a user.

[0009] The invention of claim 3 is the information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the first participant is a participant who is displayed largest on a terminal of the user at a timing designated by the user.

[0010] The invention of claim 4 is the information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the first participant is a participant who is speaking.

[0011] The invention of claim 5 is the information processing device according to claim 4, wherein the first participant is a participant who speaks at a timing designated by a user.

[0012] The invention of claim 6 is the information processing device described in claim 1, wherein the processor receives a pair of a business card image and a facial image from each participant when starting the conference, and identifies the first business card image by comparing an image taken of the first participant with the facial image.

[0013] The invention of claim 7 is the information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the processor controls so that a participant who belongs to a group of users is not set as the first participant.

[0014] The invention of claim 8 is the information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the processor controls to set a participant who does not belong to the user's group as the first participant.

[0015] The invention of claim 9 is the information processing device according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the processor controls so that a participant who belongs to a group of users is treated as the second participant.

[0016] The invention of claim 10 is an information processing program for causing the processor of a computer having a processor to execute a process of identifying a first business card image, which is an image obtained by reading the business card of a first participant in a conference held over a communication line by multiple participants, based on an image taken of the first participant, and controlling the display of the first business card image in a form different from the second business card image of a second participant. Effect of the Invention

[0017] According to the information processing device of claim 1, the user can identify the association between at least one participant of the conference and the business card image.

[0018] According to the information processing device of claim 2, the participant designated by the user can be set as the first participant.

[0019] According to the information processing device of claim 3, the participant who is displayed largest on the terminal of the user can be set as the first participant at the timing designated by the user.

[0020] According to the information processing device of claim 4, the participant who is speaking can be regarded as the first participant.

[0021] According to the information processing device of claim 5, the participant who is speaking can be made the first participant at the timing designated by the user.

[0022] According to the information processing device of claim 6, the first business card image can be specified by comparing the image of the first participant with the face image.

[0023] According to the information processing device of claim 7, a participant who belongs to a group of users can be prevented from being the first participant.

[0024] According to the information processing device of claim 8, a participant who does not belong to the user's group can be set as the first participant.

[0025] According to the information processing device of claim 9, a participant who belongs to a group of users can be the second participant.

[0026] According to the information processing program of claim 10, the user can identify the association between at least one participant among the participants of the conference and the business card image. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0027] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a conceptual module configuration diagram of a configuration example of the present embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a system configuration using the present embodiment. [Diagram 3] 4 is a flowchart showing an example of processing according to the present embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of the data structure of a reservation information table. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the data structure of a business card image / face image management table; [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example according to the present embodiment. [Figure 7] 4 is a flowchart showing an example of processing according to the present embodiment. [Figure 8] 11 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of a display method management table; [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example according to the present embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a processing example according to the present embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example according to the present embodiment. [Figure 12] 4 is a flowchart showing an example of processing according to the present embodiment. [Figure 13] FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of the data structure of a user / group management table. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0028] Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a conceptual module configuration diagram of an example of the configuration of this embodiment. In addition, a module generally refers to a logically separable piece of software (including a computer program as an interpretation of "software"), hardware, etc. Therefore, the module in this embodiment refers not only to a module in a computer program, but also to a module in a hardware configuration. Therefore, this embodiment also describes a computer program for functioning as those modules (for example, a program for causing a computer to execute each procedure, a program for causing a computer to function as each means, a program for causing a computer to realize each function), a system, and a method. However, for convenience of explanation, words such as "store" and "store" are used, but these words mean to store in a storage device or to control to store in a storage device when the embodiment is a computer program. In addition, a module may correspond one-to-one to a function, but in implementation, one module may be configured with one program, multiple modules may be configured with one program, or conversely, one module may be configured with multiple programs. In addition, multiple modules may be executed by one computer, or one module may be executed by multiple computers by computers in a distributed or parallel environment. In addition, one module may contain other modules. In the following, the term "connection" is used not only for physical connection but also for logical connection (e.g., data transfer, instruction, reference relationship between data, login, etc.). "Predetermined" means that it is determined before the target processing, and is used to include the meaning that it is determined according to the situation or state at that time or according to the situation or state up to that point, not only before the processing according to this embodiment starts, but also after the processing according to this embodiment starts, so long as it is before the target processing. When there are multiple "predetermined values", each may be a different value, or two or more values ​​("two or more values" includes all values, of course) may be the same. In addition, the description "If A, do B" is used to mean "determine whether A is true, and if it is determined that A is true, do B."However, this does not include cases where it is not necessary to judge whether it is A or not. In addition, when things are listed as "A, B, C", etc., this is an illustrative list unless otherwise specified, and includes cases where only one of them is selected (for example, only A). Furthermore, a system or device may be configured by connecting multiple computers, hardware, devices, etc. via a communication means such as a network ("network" includes one-to-one communication connections), and may also be realized by a single computer, hardware, device, etc. "Device" and "system" are used as synonymous terms. Needless to say, a "system" does not include anything that is merely a social "mechanism" (i.e., a social system) that is an artificial arrangement. Furthermore, for each process by each module, or for each process when multiple processes are performed within a module, the target information is read from the storage device, and after the process is performed, the processing results are written to the storage device. Therefore, the description of reading from the storage device before processing and writing to the storage device after processing may be omitted.

[0029] The information processing device 100 according to the present embodiment has a function of displaying business card images of participants in a conference held via a communication line (hereinafter, also referred to as a business card image display service). As shown in the example of FIG. 1, the information processing device 100 has at least a processor 105 and a memory 110, and is configured with a bus 198 for connecting them to exchange data. In addition, the information processing device 100 may have an output device 185, a reception device 190, and a communication device 195. Data is exchanged between the processor 105, the memory 110, the output device 185, the reception device 190, and the communication device 195 via the bus 198. Here, a "conference via a communication line" refers to a conference in which each participant (mainly the face of each participant) is photographed by a camera on a terminal owned by each person or a terminal used by multiple people, each participant's remarks are converted into audio signals by a microphone, and the photographed image and audio signal are distributed to each participant's terminal, where the received image is displayed and the audio signal is output as audio by a speaker, and includes what are called online conferences, Web conferences, video conferences, video chats, etc. The communication line may be a dedicated line or a general-purpose line, such as an intranet line or an Internet line. Furthermore, the terminal may be a dedicated device or a general-purpose device such as a personal computer or a mobile terminal. In addition, in this embodiment, a "meeting" includes not only a "gathering for the purpose of consultation or discussion," but also a gathering for other purposes, such as "an introduction at an event" or "socializing (so-called online drinking party)."

[0030] The block diagram shown in the example of Fig. 1 also shows an example of the hardware configuration of a computer that realizes this embodiment. The hardware configuration of the computer on which the program of this embodiment is executed is a computer as shown in Fig. 1, specifically a personal computer, a computer that can be a server, etc. As a specific example, a processor 105 is used as a processing unit, and a memory 110 is used as a storage device.

[0031] The number of processors 105 may be one or more. Examples of the processor 105 include a CPU (abbreviation of Central Processing Unit), a microprocessor, etc. When a plurality of processors 105 are used, the processors may be in the form of either a tightly coupled multiprocessor or a loosely coupled multiprocessor. For example, a single processor 105 may be equipped with a plurality of processor cores. Furthermore, a system may be provided in which a plurality of computers are connected via a communication path to behave virtually as if they were a single computer. As a specific example, the loosely coupled multiprocessor may be configured as a cluster system or a computer cluster. The processor 105 executes a program in the program memory 140.

[0032] The memory 110 may include, for example, semiconductor memory inside the processor 105, such as a register or cache memory, a main memory which is a primary storage device composed of RAM (abbreviation of Random Access Memory) or ROM (abbreviation of Read Only Memory), or an internal storage device such as an HDD (abbreviation of Hard Disk Drive) or SSD (abbreviation of Solid State Drive) having a function as a persistent storage device, an external storage device or auxiliary storage device such as a CD, DVD, Blu-ray (registered trademark) Disc, USB memory, or memory card, or may also include a storage device such as a server connected via a communication line. The memory 110 has a data memory 120 that mainly stores data, and a program memory 140 that mainly stores programs. Note that the data memory 120 and the program memory 140 may store, in addition to the illustrated information and module programs, programs such as an OS for starting up the computer, and data such as parameters that change as appropriate during execution of the modules.

[0033] The output device 185 includes, for example, a display device 187, a printing device 189, etc. The display device 187, such as a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, a three-dimensional display, a projector, etc., displays the processing results by the processor 105, the data in the data memory 120, etc. as text, image information, etc. The printing device 189, such as a printer, a multifunction device, etc., prints the processing results by the processor 105, the data in the data memory 120, etc. In addition, the output device 185 may include a speaker, an actuator that vibrates a device, etc. The reception device 190 includes, for example, an instruction reception device 192, a document reading device 194, etc. The instruction reception device 192, which includes a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, a camera (including a gaze detection camera, etc.), etc., receives data based on the user's operations (including movements, voice, gaze, etc.) on these devices. Also, there may be a device, such as a touch screen, that has the functions of both the display device 187 and the instruction receiving device 192. In that case, even if there are no physical keys, the keyboard function may be realized by drawing a keyboard (also called a software keyboard or a screen keyboard) on the touch screen by software to realize the keyboard function. As a user interface, a display device 187 and an instruction receiving device 192 are mainly used. A document reading device 194 such as a scanner or camera reads or photographs a document and accepts the resulting image data. The communication device 195 is a communication line interface such as a network card for connecting to other devices via a communication line.

[0034] In the present embodiment, the computer program is implemented by loading a computer program, which is software, into the program memory 140 of the present hardware configuration, and the software and hardware resources work together to realize the present embodiment. In other words, the present embodiment is specifically realized by software information processing using hardware resources (including at least the processor 105, memory 110, and possibly the output device 185, the receiving device 190, and the communication device 195), and utilizes the laws of nature as a whole. Note that the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 1 is one example configuration, and the present embodiment is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. 1, and any configuration capable of executing the modules described in the present embodiment may be used. For example, a GPU (short for Graphics Processing Unit, including GPGPU (short for General-Purpose computing on Graphics Processing Units)) may be used as processor 105, or the execution of some of the modules may be configured using dedicated hardware (for example, an application-specific integrated circuit (a specific example is ASIC (short for Application Specific Integrated Circuit)) or a reconfigurable integrated circuit (a specific example is FPGA (short for Field-Programmable Gate Array))). Some of the modules may be in an external system and connected via a communication line, or multiple systems shown in FIG. 1 may be connected to each other via communication lines and operate in cooperation with each other. In particular, the system may be incorporated in a personal computer, as well as a portable information and communication device (including a mobile phone, a smartphone, a mobile device, a wearable computer, etc.), an information appliance, a robot, a copier, a fax, a scanner, a printer, a multifunction device (an image processing device having two or more functions of a scanner, a printer, a copier, a fax, etc.), etc.

[0035] The processor 105 is connected to the memory 110, the output device 185, the reception device 190, and the communication device 195 via a bus 198. The processor 105 executes processing according to a computer program that describes the execution sequence of each module, which is a program in the program memory 140. For example, upon reception of a user's operation by the instruction reception device 192, the processor 105 executes processing by a module in the program memory 140 that corresponds to the operation, and stores the processing result in the data memory 120, outputs it to the display device 187, or controls the communication device 195 to transmit it to another device.

[0036] The memory 110 includes a data memory 120 and a program memory 140 , and is connected to the processor 105 , the output device 185 , the reception device 190 , and the communication device 195 via a bus 198 . The data memory 120 includes a user management data storage module 122 and a business card image storage module 124 . The user management data storage module 122 stores information about users. A user here is someone who can be a participant in a conference. For example, it stores a correspondence between a user and a group, which indicates which group the user belongs to. For example, it stores a user group management table 1300, which will be described later in the example of FIG. 13. The business card image storage module 124 stores business card images of the participants of the conference. The business card image here is an image obtained by reading a participant's business card (a business card owned by the participant, or a business card with the participant's name written on it). Specifically, it is an image obtained by electronically reading an actual business card (any material may be used, for example, a paper or plastic business card) using a scanner, camera, or the like.

[0037] The program memory 140 stores a user management module 142 and a business card image display control module 144 . The user management module 142 manages the participants participating in the conference. The business card image display control module 144 specifies a first business card image, which is an image obtained by scanning the business card of a first participant in a conference held over a communication line by multiple participants, based on an image of the first participant, and controls to display the first business card image in a form different from that of a second participant of the conference. The first participant and the second participant are different, and the first business card image is naturally different from the second business card image. In addition, "identifying the first business card image" may involve extracting it from the business card image storage module 124, or it may involve extracting it from the business card image displayed on the terminal of the target user. Here, "different forms" include comparing the first business card image with the second business card image, changing the shape, pattern, or color of the business card image, or adding characters, figures, symbols, etc., or a combination of these. It also includes displaying only the first business card image without displaying the second business card image (the second business card image is in an invisible form (transparent form), and the first business card image is in its original visible form). The change may be not only a static change (changing only once and then maintaining that form), but also a dynamic change (for example, flash, animation, etc.) or blinking (changes in the blinking may include whether or not to blink, the period for which it blinks, the interval between blinks, etc.).

[0038] The first participant may be a participant designated by the user. For example, when a video of a participant of a conference is selected by a user operation, the selected participant becomes the first participant.

[0039] Also, the first participant may be the participant who is displayed largest on the user's terminal at a timing designated by the user. The "timing specified by the user" may, for example, be when a "business card search button" is displayed on the screen of the user's terminal as described below and the button is selected, or when a predetermined key on the keyboard is selected. The "largest displayed participant" refers to the participant who is displayed largest among multiple participants displayed on the user's terminal. For example, if the conference system has a function that allows the user to specify the size of the participant's image, it is the participant who is displayed largest as specified by the user. Also, if the conference system has a function to display the participant who is speaking largest, it is the participant who is speaking. Note that the area to be compared in the case of "largest" may be the area of ​​the area (generally a rectangle) in which the participant is displayed, or the area of ​​the image of the participant itself within that area. In the latter case, technology can be used to recognize and cut out people from within an image.

[0040] The first participant may be the speaking participant. Whether or not a participant is speaking may be determined based on whether or not a voice is transmitted from the terminal of each participant, or the area around the mouth in a captured face image may be analyzed. As an example of the former, it may be determined that a participant is speaking when there is voice information collected by a microphone of the terminal, or when a voice is recognized as a language using voice recognition. As an example of the latter, it may be determined that a participant is speaking when, for example, the mouth is detected to be moving, the mouth is detected to be open, or teeth are detected. Furthermore, the first participant may be the participant who is speaking at a timing designated by the user. In the case of displaying the business card image of a participant who is speaking in a distinctive manner in accordance with the participant, the distinctively displayed business card image is changed every time the speaker changes, but in this process, the user can proactively specify the timing of the distinctive display. As mentioned above, examples of "timing specified by the user" include when the "business card search button" is displayed on the screen of the user's terminal as described below and the button is selected, or when a predetermined key on the keyboard is selected.

[0041] Furthermore, the business card image display control module 144 may receive a pair of a business card image and a face image from each participant's terminal when starting a conference. That is, the business card image and the face image are stored in correspondence with each other. The business card image display control module 144 may then identify the first business card image by comparing an image of the first participant with the face image. Specifically, the process of "identifying the first business card image by comparison" involves identifying the face image that is most similar to the image of the first participant, and then identifying the business card image paired with the identified face image (the business card image received together with the face image). The comparison process may be a simple comparison process (e.g., exclusive OR, etc.), or may involve a comparison process that recognizes people in the images. The face image to be compared here was taken at the start of the conference, and therefore there is almost no change over time in the face in the video during the conference, making it possible to identify the face image with high accuracy. Then, the business card image that corresponds to the most similar face image may be displayed in a distinctive manner.

[0042] Also, the business card image display control module 144 may control so that participants who belong to the user's group are not treated as the first participant. In other words, since participants who belong to the same group often already know each other's names, there is little need to distinguish and display the business card images of those participants. Whether or not a participant belongs to a user's group can be determined by using data that associates and manages users and groups. In other words, the group (A) to which the user belongs can be identified from the data, and it can be determined whether or not the group to which the target participant belongs includes that group (A).

[0043] Also, the business card image display control module 144 may control participants who do not belong to the user's group to be the first participants. In other words, since the names of participants who are not in the same group are often unknown, the business card images of these participants are targeted for distinctive display. Furthermore, the business card image display control module 144 may perform control so that participants who belong to the user's group are treated as second participants. It should be noted that control may be performed so that the business card images of participants who belong to a user's group are not displayed to that user. Also, control may be performed so that only the business card images of participants who do not belong to the user's group are displayed to the user.

[0044] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a system configuration using this embodiment. The information processing device 100, the terminal 210A1, the terminal 210A2, the terminal 210A3, the terminal 210B1, the terminal 210B2, the terminal 210B3, the terminal 210C, the online conference service server 240, the storage / DB service server 250, and the business card management service server 260 are connected to each other via a communication line 290. The communication line 290, the communication line connecting the terminal 210A1, the terminal 210A2, and the terminal 210A3, and the communication line connecting the terminal 210B1, the terminal 210B2, and the terminal 210B3 may be wireless, wired, or a combination of these, and may be, for example, the Internet, an intranet, or the like as a communication infrastructure. In addition, the functions of the information processing device 100, the online conference service server 240, the storage / DB service server 250, and the business card management service server 260 may be realized as a cloud service.

[0045] Users 220 (user 220A1, user 220B1, user 220C, etc.) who can be participants in the conference possess terminals 210 (terminal 210A1, terminal 210B1, terminal 210C, etc.). The terminals 210 have communication functions, and include a display device, a microphone, a camera, and speakers (including earphones and headphones) for conducting a conference. For example, personal computers (including notebook computers), portable information communication devices, etc. are applicable.

[0046] As described above, the information processing device 100 has a function of displaying business card images of participants in an online conference. The online conference service server 240 has a function of performing processes for realizing a conference via a communication line. The processes relating to the online conference themselves can be performed using existing technology. The storage / DB service server 250 is used by the information processing device 100, the online conference service server 240, the business card management service server 260, etc., stores data, and has a function as a database. The business card management service server 260 has a business card management service function and manages information related to the business cards of each user 220. Here, the business cards include the user 220's own business cards and business cards received by the user 220. Information related to the business cards includes information written on the business cards (name, company name, organization, etc., job title, address, telephone number, email address, etc.), the date and time the business card was received, an image of the business card, etc. Information related to the business cards is used by the user 220 who registered the information related to the business card in the business card management service server 260, and may also be shared by group members (users 220) who belong to the same group. The online conference service server 240, the storage / DB service server 250, the business card management service server 260, and the information processing device 100 may provide independent services, may cooperate to provide services, or two or more servers may be combined to provide a plurality of functions as one service. For example, the information processing device 100 may provide a function as a WEB service independent of the online conference service server 240, the information processing device 100 and the business card management service server 260 may cooperate to provide a service, or the function of the information processing device 100 may be incorporated into the online conference service server 240 to enable display of business card images as one function of the conference service.

[0047] In addition, when the information processing device 100 provides an independent service, the participants of the conference do not need to be users of the same business card management service. In other words, the participants of the conference may be users of different business card management services, or may not use the business card management service at all.

[0048] This embodiment (information processing device 100) performs the following process, for example. In particular, this explanation (the description in the paragraph numbers) is intended to facilitate understanding of this embodiment, and is not intended to be used for a limited interpretation. Naturally, this explanation alone should not be used to determine whether the invention for which a patent is sought is one described in the detailed description of the invention (Patent Law, Article 36, Paragraph 6, Item 1). The business card image display service provided by the information processing device 100 issues a URL for accessing a WebUI for displaying business card images, and enables the display of business card images during a conference by opening the WebUI for displaying business card images from the URL during a conference held by the online conference service server 240. As mentioned above, the WebUI can display business card images of participants specified by the user, the participant who is displayed the largest on the user's device, the participant who is speaking, participants who do not belong to the user's group, etc. These participants are often participants the user wants to know more about. In other words, even if you exchange business cards online (corresponding to a face-to-face exchange of business cards, which actually involves exchanging business card images), you may not know the correspondence between the face of the person you exchanged business cards with and the business card image, and may not know who is displayed on the screen during an online meeting. For example, user 220A1, user 220A2, and user 220A3 belong to the same group, and user 220B1, user 220B2, and user 220B3 of other companies belong to different groups. When these people use an online conference, for example, user 220A1 may want to display face images and business card images of user 220B1, user 220B2, and user 220B3 of other companies in a corresponding manner. The information processing device 100 displays (for example, highlights) the business card images of user 220B1 who requested "business card search" by user 220A1, user 220B1 who is displayed largest on terminal 210A1, user 220B1 who is speaking, etc., in a form different from that of user 220A2. The WebUI may also be configured to allow the layout of the displayed business cards to be freely changed. Even in the information processing device 100 independent of the conference, the business cards can be arranged in accordance with the display order of the conference participants.

[0049] 3 is a flowchart showing an example of processing according to this embodiment (information processing device 100), which shows an example of processing for registering a face image and a business card image of a user before starting a conference. Note that the process according to the flowchart shown in the example of Fig. 3 is performed at least once before the conference is held. For example, in the case of the second or subsequent conference, this process may be omitted.

[0050] In step S302, a user login process is performed. This is a login process to the information processing device 100, and is performed via the terminal 210. For example, a combination of a user ID and a password is entered, and biometric information such as a fingerprint is read, etc. Information related to the conference is managed by, for example, the reservation information table 400.

[0051] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the data structure of the reservation information table 400. The reservation information table 400 has a conference ID column 402, a start date and time column 404, a conference duration column 406, a user ID column 408, a user password column 410, and a URL column 412. In this embodiment, the conference ID column 402 stores information for uniquely identifying a conference (specifically, conference ID: an abbreviation of IDentification). The start date and time column 404 stores the start date and time of the target conference. The time in the start date and time column 404 is the date and time when the conference starts. The conference duration column 406 stores the conference duration of the target conference. The time in the conference duration column 406 is the time that represents the period from the start to the end of the conference. In this embodiment, the user ID column 408 stores information for uniquely identifying a user who uses the business card image display service (specifically, a user ID). Note that the user ID here may be any ID that identifies each participant of the conference. For example, it may be a name, an email address, or the like. The user password field 410 stores a password used for authenticating the user. The URL field 412 stores a URL for the user to use the business card image display service. Specifically, it is a URL for displaying business card images. When the user accesses this URL, the business card images of the other participants in the conference are displayed. In other words, the business card images of the other participants are stored in this URL. Note that the business card image of the accessing user himself may also be stored.

[0052] In step S304, a business card image is received. The user has previously read his / her own business card with a scanner or the like, and has generated a business card image. The business card image is then transmitted from terminal 210 to information processing device 100.

[0053] In step S306, an image (face image) of the user's face is received. The user's face is photographed using a camera provided in the terminal 210, and the user's face image is transmitted from the terminal 210 to the information processing device 100. In step S308, the conference ID, user ID, business card image, and face image are stored in association with each other. For example, a business card image / face image management table 500 is generated. Note that the user ID is identified in the login process in step S302, the business card image is received in step S304, and the face image is received in step S306. The conference ID may be input by the user, or a conference in which the user will participate may be identified as a conference held within a predetermined period from that point (for example, a conference that has been held or will be held within 30 minutes before or after the point)

[0054] FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the data structure of the business card image / face image management table 500. As shown in FIG. The business card image / face image management table 500 has a conference ID column 502, a number of participants column 504, a user ID column 506, a business card image column 508, a face image column 510, etc. The conference ID column 502 stores the conference ID. The number of participants column 504 stores the number of people participating in the conference. There are the same number of sets of user ID columns 506, business card image columns 508, and face image columns 510 as the number of participants. The user ID column 506 stores the user ID. The business card image column 508 stores the business card image of the user. The face image column 510 stores the face image of the user.

[0055] Fig. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example according to this embodiment. It shows a display example on the terminal 210 side in steps S304 and S306 of the flowchart shown in the example of Fig. 3. That is, it is a display example when a business card image is selected by the user and a face image is photographed, and the display is controlled by the information processing device 100. The terminal 210 has a camera 610 and a screen 620. For example, the terminal 210 is a notebook computer or a tablet computer. A business card image selection area 630, a face photographed image display area 640, and a send button 650 are displayed on the screen 620 of the terminal 210. The business card image selection area 630 is a field for the user to specify his / her own business card image. For example, the file name of the business card image may be input, or multiple images stored in the terminal 210 may be displayed in a selectable manner so that the user can select the business card image. The face photographed image display area 640 is an area for displaying an image captured by the camera 610. Since the user faces the screen 620 (i.e., the camera 610), the camera 610 captures the user's face, and the user sees his / her own face image in the face photographed image display area 640. When the send button 650 is selected by the user, the business card image selected in the business card image selection area 630 and the face image captured in the face photographed image display area 640 are transmitted to the information processing device 100. At that time, the user ID indicating the user is also transmitted to the information processing device 100, as a matter of course. The send button 650 may be made selectable under the conditions that a business card image is selected and a frontal face image is displayed in the face photograph image display area 640. If these conditions are not met, the send button 650 may be displayed in a grayed-out state and made unselectable.

[0056] 7 is a flowchart showing an example of processing by the present embodiment (information processing device 100 and terminal 210). This shows an example of processing in which the business card image of a participant displayed on the screen of the terminal 210 is specified from among a plurality of registered business card images, and the specified business card image is displayed distinctively on the screen.

[0057] In step S702, a face image of a person appearing on the screen is detected. This process is performed by the terminal 210. Alternatively, it may be performed by the information processing device 100. For example, the terminal 210 may process a screenshot of the screen and transmit the image of the screenshot to the information processing device 100, or the online conference service server 240 may transmit the conference video being transmitted to the target terminal 210 to the information processing device 100. Thereafter, the information processing device 100 may perform the process of step S702.

[0058] In step S704, the terminal 210 transmits the conference ID and the face image to the information processing device 100. The face image detected in step S702 and the conference ID in which the terminal 210 is participating are transmitted to the information processing device 100. Note that if the information processing device 100 performs the process of step S702, the process of step S704 is unnecessary. However, the information processing device 100 may obtain the conference ID from the terminal 210 when receiving the image by the screenshot, and may obtain the conference ID from the online conference service server 240 when receiving the conference video.

[0059] In step S706, it is determined whether or not to perform an automatic search by face image. If an automatic search by face image is performed, the process proceeds to step S710, otherwise the process proceeds to step S708. Whether or not to perform an automatic search may be determined in advance, or may be set by each user. User settings will be described later with reference to an example in FIG. 9. When proceeding to step S708, the user specifies the setting. Then, when proceeding to step S710, the video of the participants is monitored in real time. Also, when proceeding to step S710, if it is detected that a different participant has been displayed, the facial image of that participant may be automatically targeted for search.

[0060] In step S708, it is detected that the user has selected the business card search button. This is an example of "timing specified by the user", and will be described later with reference to an example in FIG.

[0061] In step S710, a face image is searched for and a business card image is identified. Specifically, a face image most similar to the face image to be searched for is searched from the face image column 510 of the business card image / face image management table 500, and a business card image corresponding to the face image is identified from the business card image column 508 of the business card image / face image management table 500.

[0062] In step S712, it is determined whether or not to display only the specified business card image, and if only the specified business card image is to be displayed, the process proceeds to step S716, otherwise the process proceeds to step S714. That is, it is determined whether to display only one business card image specified in step S710, or to display multiple images including those of other participants. Whether or not to display only the specified business card image may be determined in advance, or may be set by each user. The user setting will be described later using the example of FIG. 9.

[0063] In step S714, the display is differentiated according to a set method. The setting here may be determined in advance or may be set by each user. The setting by the user will be described later with reference to an example in FIG. 9.

[0064] In step S716, it is determined whether or not to display the business card image close to the face, and if so, proceed to step S718, otherwise proceed to step S720. That is, it is determined whether or not to display the business card image of the participant close to the participant's video on the screen of the terminal 210. The setting of whether or not to display the business card image close to the face may also be determined in advance, or may be set by each user. The setting by the user will be described later using the example of FIG. 9.

[0065] In step S718, the business card image is enlarged and displayed close to the face. That is, an enlarged image of the business card image of the participant is displayed close to the participant's image on the screen of terminal 210.

[0066] In step S720, the image is enlarged and displayed at a designated location on the screen. The designated location on the screen is assumed to be the top right, bottom right, top left, bottom left, etc. of the screen of the terminal 210. The designated location may also be determined in advance, or may be set by each user. The setting by the user will be described later with reference to the example of FIG. 9.

[0067] In step S722, it is determined whether or not the business card image is to be automatically erased. If it is, the process proceeds to step S724. If not, the process proceeds to step S726. Whether or not to automatically erase the business card image may be determined in advance, or may be set by each user. The setting by the user will be described later with reference to the example of FIG. 9.

[0068] In step S724, it is determined whether a certain period of time has elapsed, and if so, the process proceeds to step S728, otherwise the process waits until the certain period of time has elapsed. The certain period of time (length of time) may be a predetermined value, or may be set by each user. The setting by the user will be described later with reference to the example of FIG. 9.

[0069] In step S726, selection of the close button on the business card image, which is a user operation, is detected. In step S728, the business card image is closed.

[0070] As the process to be performed in step S710 via step S708, the following process may be performed. (1) When a user selects the business card search button 1062 after specifying a face image of a participant on the screen 620 of the terminal 210 that the user is using, the specified face image is the subject of the search. This process is a specific example of "the first participant is the participant specified by the user." (2) When it is detected that the user has selected the business card search button 1062, the face image of the participant that is displayed largest on the screen 620 of the terminal 210 used by the user is searched for. This process is a specific example of "the first participant is the participant that is displayed largest on the user's terminal at the time specified by the user." (3) When it is detected that the user has selected the business card search button 1062, the facial images of the participants who are speaking among the participants in the conference that the user is participating in are searched for. This process is a specific example of "the first participant is the participant who is speaking" and "the first participant is the participant who is speaking at the time specified by the user".

[0071] As the process to be performed in step S710 without going through step S708 (that is, in the case of "Yes" in step S706), the following process may be performed. (1) The facial images of the participants displayed on the screen 620 of the terminal 210 used by the user are used as the search target. (2) The face image of the participant that is displayed largest on the screen 620 of the terminal 210 used by the user is set as the search target. (3) The search targets face images of participants who are speaking among the participants in the conference that the user is participating in. This process is a specific example of "the first participant is the participant who is speaking."

[0072] The judgment processing in steps S706, S712, S716, and S722 may use, for example, a display method management table 800. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the data structure of the display method management table 800. The display method management table 800 is set for each user. The display method management table 800 has a user ID field 802, a search method field 804, a business card image field 806 to be displayed, a display mode field 808, and a distinct display time field 810. The user ID field 802 stores a user ID. The search method field 804 stores a search method. The search method field 804 stores, for example, either (1) information indicating automatic search by face image or (2) information indicating search by selection of a business card search button. The business card image field 806 to be displayed stores a business card image to be displayed. The business card image to be displayed field 806 stores, for example, either (1) information indicating that the business card image is to be enlarged (or reduced) and displayed near the corresponding face image, or (2) information indicating that the business card image is to be enlarged (or reduced) and displayed at a specified location on the screen. The display mode field 808 stores the mode of display. The distinct display time field 810 stores the distinct display time.

[0073] 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example according to this embodiment. The information processing device 100 displays a setting screen 900 for the display method of the identified business card image on the terminal 210. The setting screen 900 for the display method of the identified business card image allows the user to set the setting, and the setting result is stored in the display method management table 800. To display the searched business card image in a manner distinct from other business card images, the setting on the setting screen 900 for the display method of the identified business card image of the client application on the terminal 210 is followed. In the setting screen 900 for the display method of the specified business card image, for example, the following is displayed. ---------------- Setting screen for how to display the identified business card - Automatic search by face image ·Search by instructions using the business card search button - Display a list of exchanged business card images - Display the specified business card image at the top - Highlight and display the specified business card image - Display a specific business card image larger - Display only specific business card images Display at the top left (bottom left) of the screen Display at the top right (bottom right) of the screen Display it close to the person image on the screen The time to display a specific business card image separately from other business card images Display within a set time ·1 minute ·30 seconds -Displays until manually turned off ---------------- It should be noted that the "exchanged business card image" refers to a business card image registered in the information processing device 100. In other words, registering one's own business card image when participating in a conference corresponds to exchanging business cards face-to-face. According to these settings, the judgment process in the flowchart shown in Fig. 7 is performed. The example in Fig. 9 shows that "Automatic search by face image", "Display a list of exchanged business card images", "Highlight and display a specified business card image", "Display within a set time period", and "1 minute" are selected.

[0074] This shows a setting example for "displaying the first business card image in a form different from the second business card images of other second participants." For "displaying a list of exchanged business card images," examples of different forms include "displaying the specified business card image at the top," "highlighting the specified business card image," and "displaying the specified business card image larger." In addition, when "displaying only the specified business card image," this corresponds to displaying only the first business card image without displaying the second business card image, which is an example of a "different form" as described above.

[0075] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a processing example according to this embodiment. A conference participant display area 1050 and a business card image etc. display area 1060 are displayed on a screen 620 of the terminal 210. Video of the conference participants (participants other than the participant using this terminal 210) is displayed in the conference participant display area 1050. This display is provided by the online conference service server 240. In the business card image etc. display area 1060, a business card search button 1062, and business card images 1072, 1074, 1076, and 1078 of the participants of the conference are displayed. This display is made by the information processing device 100. 10, data on face images and business card images for each user is shown in a schematic manner. Specifically, this corresponds to the business card image and face image management table 500 shown in the example of FIG.

[0076] In this state, for example, the following process is carried out. In step S1002, the user selects the business card search button 1062. In step S1004, a facial image is searched. In the example of Fig. 10, the facial image of the participant displayed in the conference participant display area 1050 when the business card search button 1062 is selected is the search target. Furthermore, if there are multiple conference participant display areas 1050, the search target may be determined as follows: (1) The facial image of the participant selected immediately before the business card search button 1062 is selected is the search target. (2) The facial image of the participant that is displayed largest on the screen of the terminal 210 when the business card search button 1062 is selected is the search target. (3) The facial image of the participant who is speaking when the business card search button 1062 is selected is the search target.

[0077] In step S1006, a business card image is identified, that is, a business card image corresponding to the face image searched for in step S1004 is identified. In step S1008, the specified business card image 1076 is highlighted and displayed. If the business card image is clicked, the business card image may be enlarged and displayed. From this display, a user who selects business card search button 1062 can see that the business card of the participant displayed in conference participant display area 1050 is business card image 1076, and can learn the person's name, etc.

[0078] FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example according to this embodiment. The example shown in Fig. 11(a) shows an example in which business card image 1176a is enlarged and displayed near the searched participant. Business card image 1176a is displayed close to the person in conference participant display area 1050. This shows an example in which "display only the specified business card image" and "display close to the person image on the screen" are set on setting screen 900 for the display method of specified business card image shown in the example of Fig. 9.

[0079] The example shown in Fig. 11(b) shows an example where business card image 1176b is displayed in a fixed location on screen 620. Business card image 1176b is displayed in the upper right corner of screen 620. This shows an example where "display only the specified business card image" and "display in the upper right corner of the screen" are set on setting screen 900 for the display method of the specified business card image shown in the example of Fig. 9.

[0080] 12 is a flowchart showing an example of processing according to this embodiment. The processing of step S710 in the flowchart shown in FIG. The display format of the business card image changes depending on whether or not the person belongs to the same group as the user. A group here is a collection of multiple people, such as an organization (such as a department or section) or a project where people work together for a certain purpose. If a participant belongs to the same group as the user, the participant's name, etc. is often known, so there is no need to take the trouble of displaying the business card image, and the limited screen can be used effectively.

[0081] In step S1202, the group (A) to which the user belongs is identified. For example, the group (A) may be identified using the user / group management table 1300. FIG. The user / group management table 1300 has a user ID column 1302 and a group ID column 1304. The user ID column 1302 stores user IDs. The group ID column 1304 stores information for uniquely identifying a group (specifically, a group ID) in this embodiment.

[0082] In step S1204, the group (B) to which the target participant belongs is identified. For example, the group (B) may be identified using the user / group management table 1300.

[0083] In step S1206, it is determined whether group (A) and group (B) are the same, and if they are the same, the process proceeds to step S1208, and if not, the process proceeds to step S1210. In step S1208, the participants in group (B) are not included in the participants to be displayed separately. In other words, since the participants belong to the same group, there is no need to highlight or otherwise display the business card images of the participants.

[0084] In step S1210, participants in group (B) are targeted for distinguished display. The business card images of the targeted participants are displayed in a different format. In other words, since the participants belong to a different group, it is necessary to highlight the business card images of the participants. In step S1212, face images of participants in group (B) are searched to identify business card images.

[0085] This process is repeated for the number of participants in question. Then, in the flowchart shown in Fig. 7, the process from step S712 onwards is carried out. Note that if all of the participants in question belong to the same group as the user, the process ends in the flowchart shown in Fig. 7 (step S799).

[0086] In each of the above embodiments, the term "processor" refers to a processor in a broad sense, including general-purpose processors (e.g., CPU: Central Processing Unit, etc.) and dedicated processors (e.g., GPU: Graphics Processing Unit, ASIC: Application Specific Integrated Circuit, FPGA: Field Programmable Gate Array, programmable logic device, etc.). In addition, the operations of the processor in each of the above embodiments may be performed not only by one processor, but also by multiple processors located at physically separate locations working together. Furthermore, the order of the operations of the processor is not limited to the order described in each of the above embodiments, and may be changed as appropriate. The program described above may be provided by storing it in a recording medium, or the program may be provided via a communication means. In that case, for example, the program described above may be regarded as an invention of "a computer-readable recording medium on which a program is recorded." "Computer-readable recording medium on which a program is recorded" refers to a computer-readable recording medium on which a program is recorded, which is used for installing, executing, distributing, etc. a program. Examples of recording media include digital versatile discs (DVDs) such as "DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM, etc." which are standards established by the DVD Forum, and "DVD+R, DVD+RW, etc." which are standards established for DVD+RW, compact discs (CDs) such as read-only memories (CD-ROMs), CD recordables (CD-Rs), CD rewritables (CD-RWs), Blu-ray (registered trademark) Discs, magneto-optical discs (MOs), flexible disks (FDs), magnetic tapes, hard disks, read-only memories (ROMs), electrically erasable and rewritable read-only memories (EEPROMs, registered trademarks), flash memories, random access memories (RAMs), and SD (short for Secure Digital) memory cards. The whole or a part of the program may be recorded on the recording medium and stored or distributed, etc. Also, the program may be transmitted by communication using a transmission medium such as a wired network used in a local area network (LAN), metropolitan area network (MAN), wide area network (WAN), the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, etc., a wireless communication network, or a combination of these, or may be transmitted on a carrier wave. Furthermore, the program may be a part or the whole of another program, or may be recorded on a recording medium together with a separate program, or may be divided and recorded on a plurality of recording media, or may be recorded in any manner that allows restoration, such as compression or encryption. [Explanation of symbols]

[0087] 100...Information processing device 105…Processor 110…Memory 120…Data memory 122...User management data storage module 124...Business card image storage module 140…Program memory 142...User management module 144...Business card image display control module 185...Output device 187...Display device 189...Printing device 190...Reception device 192...Instruction reception device 194...Document reading device 195...Communication equipment 198…Bus 210...Terminal 220…users 240…Online conference service server 250…Storage / DB service servers 260…Business card management service server 290…Communication lines 610…Camera 620…screen

Claims

1. A processor is provided. The processor, In a conference via a communication line with a plurality of participants, a first business card image is specified based on an image of a first participant of the conference, the first business card image being a scanned image of the business card of the first participant, and the first business card image is controlled to be displayed in a form different from a second business card image of another second participant; The first participant is the participant who is displayed largest on the user's terminal at a time specified by the user. Information processing device.

2. The first participant further includes a user-designated participant. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

3. The first participant further includes a speaking participant. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

4. The first participant further includes a participant who is speaking at a timing designated by the user. The information processing device according to claim 3 .

5. The processor, When starting the conference, a pair of a business card image and a face image is received from each participant; identifying the first business card image by comparing an image of the first participant with the face image; The information processing device according to claim 1 .

6. The processor, Controlling participants belonging to a group of users not to be the first participants; The information processing device according to claim 1 .

7. The processor, Controlling a participant who does not belong to the user's group to be the first participant; The information processing device according to claim 1 .

8. The processor, Controlling participants belonging to a group of users to be the second participants; 8. The information processing device according to claim 6 or 7.

9. A computer including a processor, the processor In a conference via a communication line with a plurality of participants, a first business card image is specified based on an image of a first participant of the conference, the first business card image being a scanned image of the business card of the first participant, and the first business card image is controlled to be displayed in a form different from a second business card image of another second participant; The first participant is the participant who is displayed largest on the user's terminal at a time specified by the user. An information processing program for executing processing.

10. A processor is provided. The processor, In a conference via a communication line with a plurality of participants, a first business card image is specified based on an image of a first participant of the conference, the first business card image being a scanned image of the business card of the first participant, and the first business card image is controlled to be displayed in a form different from a second business card image of another second participant; the first participant is the speaking participant; Information processing device.

11. The first participant further includes a user-designated participant. The information processing device according to claim 10.

12. The first participant further includes a participant who is displayed largest on the user's terminal at a timing designated by the user. The information processing device according to claim 10.

13. The first participant is a participant who is speaking at a timing designated by a user. The information processing device according to claim 10.

14. The processor, When starting the conference, a pair of a business card image and a face image is received from each participant; identifying the first business card image by comparing an image of the first participant with the face image; The information processing device according to claim 10.

15. The processor, Controlling participants belonging to a group of users not to be the first participants; The information processing device according to claim 10.

16. The processor, Controlling a participant who does not belong to the user's group to be the first participant; The information processing device according to claim 10.

17. The processor, Controlling participants belonging to a group of users to be the second participants; 17. The information processing device according to claim 15 or 16.

18. A computer including a processor, the processor In a conference via a communication line with a plurality of participants, a first business card image is specified based on an image of a first participant of the conference, the first business card image being a scanned image of the business card of the first participant, and the first business card image is controlled to be displayed in a form different from a second business card image of another second participant; the first participant is the speaking participant; An information processing program for executing processing.

Images