Voice output device

Abstract

To provide a voice output device where position relationship between a plurality of microphone arrays and a speaker is devised.SOLUTION: A user operation type terminal and an operator terminal are connected via a network in an information processing system. In the system, an interface unit 120 having the function of a voice output device and included in the user operation type terminal comprises: a plurality of microphone arrays 124A, 124B for collecting the voice of a user; and a plane wave speaker 126 for outputting the voice by a plane wave. The microphone arrays 124A, 124B and the plane wave speaker 126 are arranged on a same straight line L.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an audio output device.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, self-standing information terminals have been installed in various places. Some information terminals have a microphone for collecting the user's voice, a display for displaying the video of a remote operator, and a speaker for outputting the voice of a remote operator. By using such an information terminal, the user can interact with a remote operator to obtain desired information.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses two audio input / output devices having speakers and microphones and connected to each other via a communication network. By two users using the audio input / output devices respectively, two-way audio communication can be realized.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] Here, in order to avoid howling due to the leakage of the voice output from the speaker, it is useful to extract only the voice emitted from a specific area by using a plurality of microphone arrays. However, when attaching a set including a plurality of microphone arrays and speakers to a display, depending on the positional relationship between the plurality of microphone arrays and the speakers, the set may have a shape that is not suitable for attachment.

[0006] Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a novel and improved audio output device in which the positional relationship between a plurality of microphone arrays and speakers is devised.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] According to an aspect of the present invention, in order to solve the above problems, there is provided an audio output device including a plurality of microphone arrays for collecting a user's voice and a planar wave speaker for outputting voice as a planar wave, wherein the plurality of microphone arrays and the planar wave speaker are arranged on the same straight line. The plurality of microphone arrays are installed movably on the same straight line. An audio output device is provided. Further, according to an aspect of the present invention, in order to solve the above problems, A plurality of microphone arrays for collecting the user's voice, a planar wave speaker for outputting the voice as a planar wave, An imaging unit for imaging the user, and an operation recognition unit for recognizing an operation by the user based on the image of the user obtained by the imaging unit, wherein the plurality of microphone arrays, the imaging unit, and the planar wave speaker are arranged on the same straight line, and a voice output device is provided.

[0008] The audio output device may further include an imaging unit for imaging the user, and the imaging unit may also be arranged on the same straight line.

[0009] The imaging unit may be located between the plurality of microphone arrays, and the planar wave speaker may be located outside the plurality of microphone arrays.

[0010] The plurality of microphone arrays may be installed movably on the same straight line.

[0011] The plurality of microphone arrays may be installed rotatably.

[0012] The audio output device may further include a cover portion covering the microphone array and the plurality of microphone arrays.

[0013] The audio output device may further include a display unit for displaying an image, and the cover portion may be arranged on the display unit.

[0014] The voice output device may further include a voice extraction unit that extracts voice emitted from a region including the position of the user from the voice collected by the plurality of microphone arrays.

[0015] The voice output device may further include an operation recognition unit that recognizes an operation by the user based on the video of the user obtained by the imaging unit.

Advantages of the Invention

[0016] According to the present invention described above, a voice output device in which the positional relationship between a plurality of microphone arrays and speakers is devised is provided.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0017]

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Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0018] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the present specification and the drawings, components having substantially the same functional configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

[0019] Also, in the present specification and the drawings, a plurality of components having substantially the same functional configuration may be distinguished by attaching different alphabets after the same reference numeral. For example, a plurality of components having substantially the same functional configuration or logical meaning are distinguished as a microphone array 124A, a microphone array 124B as needed. However, when it is not necessary to particularly distinguish each of a plurality of components having substantially the same functional configuration, only the same reference numeral is attached to each of the plurality of components. For example, when it is not necessary to particularly distinguish the microphone array 124A and the microphone array 124B, each microphone array is simply referred to as the microphone array 124.

[0020] <Overview of the Information Processing System> An embodiment of the present invention relates to an information processing system in which an operator remote from a user provides remote customer service to the user. Hereinafter, an overview of the information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[0021] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a user-operated terminal 10 and an operator terminal 30.

[0022] The user-operated terminal 10 and the operator terminal 30 are connected via a network 12. The network 12 is a wired or wireless transmission path for information transmitted from devices connected to the network 12. For example, the network 12 may include a public line network such as the Internet, a telephone line network, a satellite communication network, various LANs (Local Area Networks) including Ethernet (registered trademark), WANs (Wide Area Networks), etc. Further, the network 12 may include a dedicated line network such as an IP-VPN (Internet Protocol-Virtual Private Network).

[0023] (User-operated terminal 10) The user-operated terminal 10 is a terminal that receives operations by a user. The user-operated terminal 10 has a function as an audio output device. More specifically, it has functions such as a function of collecting the user's voice, a function of imaging the user, a function of displaying the operator's video received from the operator terminal 30, and a function of outputting the operator's voice. Therefore, the user can receive customer service via video and audio from the operator by using the user-operated terminal 10.

[0024] Note that examples of the customer service include various guidance services at transportation facilities such as stations or airports, or route guidance on the road, seat reservation services for reserving seats at movies or restaurants, ticket issuing services for issuing tickets at amusement facilities, etc., and various services can be mentioned.

[0025] (Operator terminal 30) The operator terminal 30 is a terminal used by the operator. The operator terminal 30 has functions such as a function of collecting the operator's voice, a function of imaging the operator, a function of displaying the user's video received from the user operation type terminal 10, and a function of outputting the user's voice. The operator terminal 30 can also transmit an arbitrary screen to the user operation type terminal 10 for screen sharing.

[0026] (Background) As described above, the user operation type terminal 10 has a function of collecting voice and a function of outputting voice. In other devices having such functions of collecting voice and outputting voice, howling may occur due to the voice loopback. For example, in the device 90 shown in FIG. 2, the voice of the operator output from the speaker 94 may loop back to the microphone 98, and howling may occur.

[0027] Also, in the device 90 used by unspecified users, when the user's operation method for the device 90 is a touch operation, the touch surface becomes unhygienic. As a result, the risk of contracting an infectious disease increases.

[0028] In order to avoid the above-described howling problem, it is useful to use a plurality of microphone arrays to extract only the voice emitted from a specific area. However, when attaching a set including a plurality of microphone arrays and speakers to the display, depending on the positional relationship between the plurality of microphone arrays and the speakers, the set may have a shape that is not suitable for attachment.

[0029] The inventor of the present case has created an embodiment of the present invention by paying attention to the above circumstances. According to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to improve the above-described points. Hereinafter, the configuration of the user operation type terminal 10 according to such an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

[0030] <Configuration of User Operation Type Terminal 10> FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the external configuration of the user-operated terminal 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the user-operated terminal 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a display unit 110 and an interface unit 120. The display unit 110 displays various screens. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the display unit 110 includes a screen 52 shared with the operator terminal 30, a video 54 of the user using the user-operated terminal 10, and a video 56 of the operator.

[0031] The interface unit 120 is an example of an audio processing device and has various configurations that serve as an interface with the user, and a cover 121 that covers these configurations. The interface unit 120 is disposed on the display unit 110. The configurations covered by the cover 121 will be specifically described with reference to FIG. 4.

[0032] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the interface unit 120. The upper part of FIG. 4 shows a plan view of the user-operated terminal 10, and the lower part of FIG. 4 shows a front view of the user-operated terminal 10. As shown in FIG. 4, the interface unit 120 includes an imaging unit 122, a plurality of microphone arrays 124 (microphone array 124A and microphone array 124B), and a planar wave speaker 126. The imaging unit 122 is located between the plurality of microphone arrays 124, and the planar wave speaker 126 is located outside the plurality of microphone arrays 124.

[0033] The imaging unit 122 captures an object. For example, when the imaging unit 122 captures a user in front of the user-operated terminal 10, it acquires the video of the user. The microphone array 124A has a plurality of microphones. Similarly, the microphone array 124B also has a plurality of microphones. For example, when a user in front of the user-operated terminal 10 emits a sound, the microphone array 124A and the microphone array 124B pick up the user's sound. The planar wave speaker 126 outputs sound by planar waves. For example, the planar wave speaker 126 outputs the operator's voice received from the operator terminal 30.

[0034] As shown in the lower part of FIG. 4, the plurality of microphone arrays 124 and the planar wave speaker 126 described above are arranged on a straight line L parallel to the horizontal direction of the display unit 110 in a front view. The plurality of microphone arrays 124 and the planar wave speaker 126 are all installed facing the user facing the user operation type terminal 10. Further, the imaging unit 122 may also be arranged on the straight line L. Also, as shown in the upper part of FIG. 4, the plurality of microphone arrays 124 and the planar wave speaker 126 may be arranged on the same straight line L in a plan view.

[0035] Note that the microphone array 124 is provided so as to be movable on the straight line L along the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 5. Further, the microphone array 124 is provided so as to be rotatable along the rotational direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 6.

[0036] Above, the external configuration of the user operation type terminal 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention has been mainly described. Subsequently, referring to FIG. 7, the functional configuration of the user operation type terminal 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[0037] FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the functional configuration of the user operation type terminal 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, the user operation type terminal 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a display unit 110, an imaging unit 122, a plurality of microphone arrays 124, a planar wave speaker 126, a communication unit 130, and a control unit 150. Since the functions of the display unit 110, the imaging unit 122, the microphone array 124, and the planar wave speaker 126 are as described above, detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

[0038] (Communication Unit 130) The communication unit 130 is an interface with the operator terminal 30. The communication unit 130 transmits, for example, the user's voice picked up by the microphone array 124 (more precisely, the voice extracted by the voice extraction unit 154 described later from the voice picked up by the microphone array 124), and the user's video acquired by the imaging unit 122 to the operator terminal 30. Further, the communication unit 130 receives the operator's voice, video, etc. from the operator terminal 30.

[0039] (Control unit 150) The control unit 150 controls the overall operation of the user operation type terminal 10. The control unit 150 has functions of, for example, a display control unit 152, a voice extraction unit 154, and an operation recognition unit 156 as shown in FIG. 7.

[0040] The display control unit 152 generates a display screen and causes the display unit 110 to display the generated display screen. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the display control unit 152 generates an initial screen including a message "Welcome", an operator connection button 62, and a pointer display P. The pointer display P is a display indicating the position indicated by the user. When the user performs a predetermined operation with the pointer display P aligned with the operator connection button 62, the control unit 150 controls the connection between the user operation type terminal 10 and the operator terminal 30. Note that the predetermined operation may be an operation in which the user holds a hand.

[0041] When the operator terminal 30 receives an incoming call from the user operation type terminal 10, the operator terminal 30 displays an incoming call screen, and when the operator performs an acceptance operation on the incoming call screen, the states of the user operation type terminal 10 and the operator terminal 30 become a call state. After the states of the user operation type terminal 10 and the operator terminal 30 become a call state, the display control unit 152 generates, for example, a display screen including a screen 52 shared with the operator terminal 30, the video 54 of the user using the user operation type terminal 10, and the video 56 of the operator as shown in FIG. 3, and causes the display unit 110 to display the display screen.

[0042] The voice extraction unit 154 extracts voice emitted from a region including the user's position from the voices collected by the plurality of microphone arrays 124. Therefore, the voice extracted by the voice extraction unit 154 includes the user's voice. Hereinafter, a more detailed description will be given with reference to FIG. 9.

[0043] FIG. 9 is a plan view of the interface unit 120 and the user. The microphone array 124A and the microphone array 124B each have directivity. In FIG. 9, the directivities of the microphone array 124A and the microphone array 124B are indicated by broken lines. The range that the microphone array 124A targets for sound collection based on the directivity and the range that the microphone array 124B targets for sound collection based on the directivity intersect. The region H shown in FIG. 9 is the region where both ranges intersect. The voice extraction unit 154 can extract the voice commonly included in the voices collected by the plurality of microphone arrays 124 as the voice emitted from the region H.

[0044] The operation recognition unit 156 recognizes the operation by the user based on the video of the user acquired by the imaging unit 122. For example, the operation recognition unit 156 detects the user's hand from the user's video or from the video after performing processes such as horizontal flipping processing and resolution-related processing on the user's video, and detects the feature points of the user's hand. Then, the operation recognition unit 156 recognizes the instruction position using the positions of one or two or more feature points. The operation recognition unit 156 may recognize the average value of the positions of the feature points, which are the joints at the bases of the index finger, middle finger, and ring finger, as the instruction position.

[0045] Also, when the user performs a lowering operation by gripping the positions of three fingers (index finger, middle finger, and ring finger), the operation recognition unit 156 recognizes the operation as a predetermined operation for selecting an operation object such as the operator connection button 62.

[0046] <Function and effect> According to an embodiment of the present invention described above, various operational effects can be obtained. For example, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of microphone arrays 124 and a planar wave speaker 126 are installed on the same straight line and are all oriented towards the user facing the user-operated terminal 10. Here, the planar wave speaker 126 outputs sound by means of a planar wave with high directivity. Furthermore, the user-operated terminal 10 has a voice extraction unit 154 that extracts voice emitted from a region H including the position of the user. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the intrusion of the sound output from the planar wave speaker 126 into the voice extracted by the voice extraction unit 154, as well as the intrusion of noise. Therefore, it is easier for an operator using the operator terminal 30 to hear the user's voice.

[0047] Also, according to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible for the user to perform an operation input on the user-operated terminal 10 without contact. Therefore, since full touchlessness is realized in the user-operated terminal 10, it is possible to reduce the risk of the user contracting an infectious disease. Also, a user who cannot reach the display unit 110 (for example, a user sitting in a wheelchair) can also use the user-operated terminal 10.

[0048] Also, according to an embodiment of the present invention, since a plurality of microphone arrays 124 and a planar wave speaker 126 are installed on the same straight line, it is easy to design the cover 121 in a linear shape. Therefore, it is easy to attach the interface unit 120 above the display unit 110. Furthermore, by installing the imaging unit 122 on the same straight line, the cover 121 can be designed in an even more linear shape.

[0049] Also, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of microphone arrays 124 are movable on a straight line and are installed rotatably. Therefore, by changing the range that each microphone array 124 targets for sound collection, it is possible to easily adjust the region H described with reference to FIG. 9.

[0050] <Modification Example> The above describes one embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, some modifications of the above-described embodiment will be described. Each of the modifications described below may be applied to the above-described embodiment alone or in combination. Further, each modification may be applied in place of the configuration of the above-described embodiment or may be additionally applied to the configuration of the above-described embodiment.

[0051] (First Modification Example) In the above, an example in which one planar wave speaker 126 is arranged outside a plurality of microphone arrays 124 has been described. However, the arrangement of the microphone array 124 and the planar wave speaker 126 is not limited to the above example. Two modification examples regarding the arrangement of the microphone array 124 and the planar wave speaker 126 will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11.

[0052] FIGS. 10 and 11 are explanatory diagrams showing modification examples regarding the arrangement of the microphone array 124 and the planar wave speaker 126. As shown in FIG. 10, the planar wave speaker 126 may be arranged between the microphone array 124A and the planar wave speaker 126B. Further, as shown in FIG. 11, planar wave speakers 126A and 126B may be arranged outside the microphone array 124A and the planar wave speaker 126B. In either case, by arranging the microphone array 124 and the planar wave speaker 126 on the same straight line, it is possible to design the cover 121 in a linear shape.

[0053] (Second Modification Example) In the above, an example in which one embodiment of the present invention is applied to the user operation type terminal 10 which is a self-standing information terminal has been described. However, one embodiment of the present invention can also be applied to a notebook PC, a tablet terminal, and a large-sized signage terminal. Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13, application examples of one embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[0054] FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a combination of the notebook PC 16 and the interface unit 120 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the example shown in FIG. 12, the interface unit 120 is provided with legs and is arranged such that the cover 121 is positioned above the notebook PC 16. The interface unit 120 and the notebook PC 16 are connected via, for example, USB. The user's video and audio are output from the interface unit 120 to the notebook PC 16, the operator's voice is output from the notebook PC 16 to the interface unit 120, and the operator's video and the like are displayed on the notebook PC 16. Thus, even if the notebook PC 16 and the interface unit 120 are not completely installed, it is possible to obtain the same effects as those of the above-described embodiment.

[0055] FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a combination of the large-sized signage terminal 18 and the interface unit 120 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the example shown in FIG. 13, the size of the large-sized signage terminal 18 is, for example, about 40 inches and is fixed to the wall surface. The interface unit 120 is fixed to the wall surface above the large-sized signage terminal 18. The interface unit 120 and the large-sized signage terminal 18 are connected to each other by wire or wirelessly and input and output audio and video to and from each other. Thus, by combining the interface unit 120 with existing devices in which remote conversation was not assumed, a two-way remote call environment can be realized.

[0056] <Hardware Configuration> As described above, an embodiment and a modification example of the present invention have been described. The information processing such as the above-described voice extraction and operation recognition is realized by the cooperation of software and the hardware of the user operation type terminal 10 described below.

[0057] FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the user-operated terminal 10. The user-operated terminal 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 201, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 202, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 203, and a host bus 204. The user-operated terminal 10 also includes a bridge 205, an external bus 206, an interface 207, an input device 208, a display device 209, an audio output device 210, a storage device (HDD) 211, a drive 212, and a network interface 215.

[0058] The CPU 201 functions as an arithmetic processing unit and a control unit, and controls the overall operations within the user-operated terminal 10 according to various programs. The CPU 201 may also be a microprocessor. The ROM 202 stores programs and arithmetic parameters used by the CPU 201. The RAM 203 temporarily stores programs used in the execution of the CPU 201 and parameters that change as appropriate during the execution. These are interconnected by a host bus 204 composed of a CPU bus or the like. Through the cooperation of the CPU 201, the ROM 202, the RAM 203, and software, functions such as the above-described display control unit 152, audio extraction unit 154, and operation recognition unit 156 are realized.

[0059] The host bus 204 is connected to an external bus 206 such as a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect / Interface) bus via a bridge 205. Note that it is not necessarily required to separately configure the host bus 204, the bridge 205, and the external bus 206, and these functions may be implemented on a single bus.

[0060] The input device 208 is composed of input means for a user to input information, such as a mouse, keyboard, touch panel, buttons, microphone array, sensors, switches, and levers, and an input control circuit that generates an input signal based on the input by the user and outputs it to the CPU 201. By operating the input device 208, the user of the user-operated terminal 10 can input various data to the user-operated terminal 10 or instruct processing operations.

[0061] The display device 209 includes, for example, display devices such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) device, a projector device, an organic light emitting diode (OLED) device, and a lamp. The audio output device 210 includes audio output devices such as speakers and headphones.

[0062] The storage device 211 is a data storage device configured as an example of the storage unit of the user-operated terminal 10 according to the present embodiment. The storage device 211 may include a storage medium, a recording device for recording data on the storage medium, a reading device for reading data from the storage medium, and a deleting device for deleting data recorded on the storage medium. The storage device 211 is composed of, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD), or a memory having an equivalent function. This storage device 211 drives the storage and stores programs and various data executed by the CPU 201.

[0063] The drive 212 is a reader / writer for a storage medium and is built in or externally attached to the user-operated terminal 10. The drive 212 reads information recorded on a removable storage medium 24 such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or a semiconductor memory that is mounted, and outputs it to the RAM 203 or the storage device 211. The drive 212 can also write information to the removable storage medium 24.

[0064] The network interface 215 is a communication interface composed of, for example, a communication device for connecting to the network 12. Also, the network interface 215 may be a wireless LAN (Local Area Network)-compatible communication device or a wire communication device that performs wired communication.

[0065] Note that the hardware configuration of the user operation type terminal 10 described above is also applicable to the operator terminal 30.

[0066] <Supplementary Note> As described above, the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited to such examples. It is obvious that those having ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention pertains can conceive of various modification examples or correction examples within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims, and it is naturally understood that these also belong to the technical scope of the present invention.

[0067] For example, the position of the interface unit 120 described above may be adjustable. Specifically, a mechanism (for example, a motor and a rail) for raising and lowering the interface unit 120 may be provided according to the user's line of sight height or height from the user's video. With such a configuration, the difference in the comfort of using the user operation type terminal 10 that may occur due to the physical characteristic differences between users can be reduced.

[0068] Also, in the above, an example in which the interface unit 120 includes a plurality of microphone arrays 124 and planar wave speakers 126 has been described, but the plurality of microphone arrays 124 and planar wave speakers 126 may be provided in different covers as different units. In this case, these units can also be applied to devices of various sizes. Also, a dummy unit that does not include a speaker or a microphone may be used.

[0069] Further, the user-operated terminal 10 may dynamically adjust the volume of the operator's voice output from the planar wave speaker 126. For example, the smaller the ambient sound around the user-operated terminal 10, the smaller the volume of the operator's voice output from the planar wave speaker 126 may be set. With such a configuration, the user can hear the operator's voice even when the ambient sound is large, and the spread of the operator's voice to the surroundings can be suppressed when the ambient sound is small.

[0070] Further, the user-operated terminal 10 may have a plurality of planar wave speakers 126. In this case, parameters may be set so that the directivities of the respective planar wave speakers 126 overlap within the range including the user. According to such a configuration, it is possible to make it difficult for people around the user to hear the operator's voice. When the operator's voice contains information related to privacy, this leads to privacy protection.

[0071] Further, the user-operated terminal 10 may adjust the region H described with reference to FIG. 9 according to an instruction from the operator terminal 30. For example, when the operator has difficulty hearing the user's voice because the user is located outside the region H, if the operator performs an operation to move the region H on the operator terminal 30 and the operator terminal 30 transmits information indicating the target region to the user-operated terminal 10, the user-operated terminal 10 moves the region H to the target region by adjusting parameters or moving the microphone array 124 or the like. With such a configuration, the operator can easily hear the user's voice without having to guide the user's movement.

[0072] Also, it is possible to use a plurality of user-operated terminals 10 arranged side by side. In that case, it is desirable that the microphone arrays 124 and the planar wave speakers 126 be arranged on the same straight line through the plurality of user-operated terminals 10. With such a configuration, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of voice crosstalk between different user-operated terminals 10 and realize comfortable operation.

[0073] In addition, a computer program can also be created for the hardware such as the CPU, ROM, and RAM incorporated in the user operation type terminal 10 and the operator terminal 30 to exhibit functions equivalent to the respective configurations of the user operation type terminal 10 and the operator terminal 30 described above. Also, a non-transitory storage medium storing the computer program is provided.

[0074] In addition, in the above, an example in which an embodiment of the present invention is applied mainly to the user operation type terminal 10 fixedly installed has been mainly described, but an embodiment of the present invention may be applied to a portable information terminal.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0075] 10 User operation type terminal 110 Display unit 120 Interface unit 121 Cover 122 Imaging unit 124 Microphone array 126 Planar wave speaker 130 Communication unit 150 Control unit 152 Display control unit 154 Voice extraction unit 156 Operation recognition unit 30 Operator terminal

Claims

1. A plurality of microphone arrays for picking up the user's voice, A planar wave speaker for outputting sound as a planar wave, Comprising: The plurality of microphone arrays and the planar wave speaker are arranged on the same straight line, The plurality of microphone arrays are installed movably on the same straight line, a voice output device.

2. A plurality of microphone arrays for picking up the user's voice, A planar wave speaker for outputting sound as a planar wave, An imaging unit for imaging the user, An operation recognition unit for recognizing an operation by the user based on the video of the user obtained by the imaging unit, Comprising: The plurality of microphone arrays, the imaging unit, and the planar wave speaker are arranged on the same straight line, a voice output device.

3. The voice output device, Further comprises an imaging unit for imaging the user, The imaging unit is also arranged on the same straight line, the voice output device according to claim 1.

4. The imaging unit is located between the plurality of microphone arrays, The planar wave speaker is located outside the plurality of microphone arrays, the voice output device according to claim 2 or 3.

5. The plurality of microphone arrays are installed movably on the same straight line, the voice output device according to claim 2.

6. The plurality of microphone arrays are installed rotatably, the voice output device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. Further comprises a cover portion covering the microphone array and the plurality of microphone arrays, the voice output device according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. Further comprises a display unit for displaying video, The cover portion is arranged on the display unit, the voice output device according to claim 7.

9. The voice output device, Further comprises a voice extraction unit for extracting voice emitted from a region including the position of the user from the voice picked up by the plurality of microphone arrays, the voice output device according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. The voice output device, Further comprises an operation recognition unit for recognizing an operation by the user based on the video of the user obtained by the imaging unit, the voice output device according to claim 3.

Images