Processing system, processing method, and program

Abstract

To provide a processing system for determining an unknown word without requiring an audience who selects the unknown word to perform operation or making the audience focus on the word.SOLUTION: A processing system comprises: extraction means that extracts words in utterance content from a first participant in a conference; first identification means that identifies the number of times that the words are used in a text transmitted in a communication performed prior to the conference by a second participant in the conference; and determination means that determines whether each of the number of times that the words are used is less than a predetermined number of times, and determines that a word for which the number of times of use is determined to be less than the predetermined number of times is an unknown word that the second participant cannot understand.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 23

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] In recent years, remote conferences using personal computers and smartphones have become popular. Patent Document 1 discloses a related technology, which is an electronic conference system that can resolve the lack of understanding of the contents of a conference (presentation) due to unknown words. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-016088 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, when using the technology of the electronic conference system described in Patent Document 1 to resolve lack of understanding of the content of a conference due to unknown words, the audience members themselves must select the unknown words. As a result, the audience members must select the unknown words every time an unknown word is spoken, which may prevent them from concentrating on what is being said in the conference and result in them missing the speech. Therefore, there is a need for technology that does not require the audience members to select unknown words and that allows the audience members to identify unknown words without being aware of it.

[0005] One of the objectives of each aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a processing system, a processing method, and a program that can solve the above-mentioned problems. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] To achieve the above object, according to one aspect of the present disclosure, a processing system includes: The system comprises: an extraction means for extracting each word in the speech content of a first participant in a conference; a first identification means for identifying the number of times each of the words was used in text sent by a second participant in the conference in at least one of email and chat communications conducted before the conference; a determination means for determining whether the number of times each of the words was used is less than a predetermined number of times, and determining a word determined to have a number of times used less than the predetermined number of times as an unknown word whose meaning is unknown to the second participant; a search means for searching for the meaning of the unknown word in at least one of the Web (World Wide Web) and a database; and a display control means for displaying the unknown word and the meaning of the unknown word searched for by the search means on a display means together with materials used in the conference or an image of at least one of the first participant and the second participant. .

[0007] To achieve the above object, according to another aspect of the present disclosure, The processing method is a processing method in which a processing system extracts each word in the content of a speech made by a first participant in a conference, identifies the number of times each word was used in text sent by a second participant in the conference in at least one of email and chat communication conducted before the conference, determines whether the number of times each word was used is less than a predetermined number of times, determines a word whose number of times it was used is less than the predetermined number of times as an unknown word whose meaning is unknown to the second participant, searches for the meaning of the unknown word on at least one of the Web (World Wide Web) and a database, and displays the unknown word and the searched meaning of the unknown word on a display means together with materials to be used in the conference or an image of at least one of the first participant and the second participant. .

[0008] To achieve the above object, according to another aspect of the present disclosure, a program causes a computer to execute the processing method performed by the above processing system. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to each aspect of the present disclosure, there is no need for the audience to perform an operation to select an unknown word, and the audience can determine the unknown word without being aware of it. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a configuration of a processing system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 2] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a Web conference system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a database configuration according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data table TBL1 stored in a storage unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data table TBL2 stored in a storage unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image displayed by a display unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 8] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an unknown word determination system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 9] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a search system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 10] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a related word extraction system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data table TBL3 stored in a storage unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 12] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a part-of-speech analysis system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 13] FIG. 1 is a first diagram illustrating an example of a processing flow of a processing system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 14] FIG. 2 is a second diagram illustrating an example of a processing flow of a processing system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 15] FIG. 3 is a third diagram illustrating an example of a processing flow of a processing system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 16] FIG. 4 is a fourth diagram showing an example of a processing flow of a processing system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 17] FIG. 5 is a fifth diagram illustrating an example of a processing flow of a processing system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 18] FIG. 6 is a sixth diagram showing an example of a processing flow of a processing system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 19] FIG. 7 is a seventh diagram showing an example of a processing flow of a processing system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 20] FIG. 8 is an eighth diagram showing an example of a processing flow of a processing system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 21] FIG. 9 is a ninth diagram showing an example of a processing flow of a processing system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 22] FIG. 10 is a tenth diagram showing an example of a processing flow of a processing system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 23] FIG. 1 illustrates a minimum configuration of a processing system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 24] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a processing flow of a processing system with a minimum configuration according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 25] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the configuration of a computer according to at least one embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Hereinafter, the embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. <Embodiment> Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a processing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 1, the processing system 1 includes a web conference system 10, a database 20, terminal devices 30a, 30b, and 30c, an unknown word determination system 40, a search system 50, a related word extraction system 60, and a part-of-speech analysis system 70. Hereinafter, the terminal devices 30a, 30b, and 30c will be collectively referred to as terminal devices 30.

[0012] 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the Web conference system 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 2, the Web conference system 10 includes a conversion unit 101, a communication unit 102, and a control unit 103.

[0013] The conversion unit 101 converts the voices (hereinafter simply referred to as "voices") spoken by the conference participants into text under the control of the control unit 103. The conversion unit 101 may convert voices into text using well-known technology.

[0014] The communication unit 102 communicates with the terminal device 30 and the unknown word determination system 40 under the control of the control unit 103. For example, the communication unit 102 receives registration information from the terminal device 30. Then, the communication unit 102 transmits the received registration information to the unknown word determination system 40. The registration information includes at least a user name and access permission to email transmission history and chat transmission history. The communication unit 102 also communicates with the terminal device 30 and the unknown word determination system 40. For example, the communication unit 102 transmits and receives information such as audio and materials used in meetings to and from the terminal device 30. The communication unit 102 also transmits text converted from audio by the conversion unit 101 to the unknown word determination system 40. The communication unit 102 also receives explanations of unknown words from the unknown word determination system 40. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, examples of unknown words include words determined to be used infrequently by each participant, and words predetermined based on expertise, difficulty, etc.

[0015] The control unit 103 controls the processing performed by the Web conference system 10. For example, the control unit 103 executes a dedicated application program to control the Web conference system 10 (i.e., the conversion unit 101 and the communication unit 102) in accordance with the dedicated application program, and instructs the terminal device 30 to display materials to be used in the conference, text converted from speech by the conversion unit 101, explanations of unknown words, and the like. The explanations of unknown words refer to explanations of unknown words at the link destination of a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) received from the unknown word determination system 40 (i.e., where the search system 50 has searched for an unknown word, as described below). Furthermore, for example, the control unit 103 executes a dedicated application program to cause a display unit 302 (described later) of the terminal device 30 to display materials to be used in the conference, text converted from speech by the conversion unit 101, explanations of unknown words, and the like in accordance with the dedicated application program.

[0016] 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the database 20 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3, the database 20 includes a storage unit 201, a communication unit 202, a search unit 203 (an example of a first identification unit), and a control unit 204.

[0017] The storage unit 201 stores the chat transmission history and email transmission history for each conference participant. For example, when the communication unit 202 uses permission to access the email transmission history and chat transmission history to access the email transmission history and chat transmission history corresponding to a user name and receives the email transmission history and chat transmission history corresponding to the user name, the storage unit 201 associates the email transmission history and chat transmission history received by the communication unit 202 with each user name and stores them as data table TBL1.

[0018] 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data table TBL1 stored in the storage unit 201 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 4, the data table TBL1 is a data table including data indicating chat transmission history and email transmission history for each participant of a conference (participants are represented by their user names in FIG. 4). For example, the storage unit 201 stores the data table TBL1 shown in FIG. 4. Note that this data table TBL1 is generated by processing performed by the processing system 1, which will be described later.

[0019] The storage unit 201 also stores, for each conference participant, the number of times each word used in the chat transmission history and email transmission history and each associated word related to that word are used. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data table TBL2 stored in the storage unit 201 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 5, the data table TBL2 is a data table including data indicating the number of times each word used in the chat transmission history and email transmission history is used. For example, the storage unit 201 stores the data table TBL2 shown in FIG. 5.

[0020] The communication unit 202 communicates with the unknown word determination system 40 under the control of the control unit 204. For example, if the search unit 203 identifies a user name and permission to access the email sending history and chat sending history in the registration information received by the communication unit 202, the communication unit 202 uses the permission to access the email sending history and chat sending history to access the email sending history and chat sending history corresponding to the user name. The access destination may be included in the registration information or may be separately specified in a dedicated application program. For example, the communication unit 202 receives registration information from the unknown word determination system 40. For example, the communication unit 202 receives words from the unknown word determination system 40. For example, the communication unit 202 receives the number of search hits for each word identified by the search unit 203 (described later) from the storage unit 201.

[0021] Under the control of the control unit 204, the search unit 203 identifies a user name and an access permission to the email sending history and the chat sending history in the registration information received by the communication unit 202. Also, under the control of the control unit 204, the search unit 203 identifies a user name identical to the identified user name in the data table TBL1 stored in the storage unit 201. Then, under the control of the control unit 204, the search unit 203 uses the access permission to the identified email sending history and the chat sending history to access the email sending history and the chat sending history associated with the identified user name in the data table TBL1 stored in the storage unit 201. Also, when the communication unit 202 receives a word and a synonym of the word, the search unit 203, under the control of the control unit 204, searches for the word and the synonym of the word received by the communication unit 202 in the email sending history and the chat sending history stored in the storage unit 201, and counts the number of times the search is found. Then, the search unit 203 records the count number as the number of times the corresponding word is used in the data table TBL2. Furthermore, under the control of the control unit 204, the search unit 203 searches for words received by the communication unit 202 in the chat transmission history and email transmission history stored in the storage unit 201, and identifies the number of search hits for each word (i.e., the number of times each word is used in the chat transmission history and email transmission history).

[0022] The control unit 204 controls the processing performed by the database 20. For example, the control unit 204 executes a dedicated application program, thereby controlling the database 20 (i.e., the storage unit 201, the communication unit 202, and the search unit 203) in accordance with the dedicated application program.

[0023] When using the terminal device 30, the unknown word determination system 40 can access the data associated with that user in the database 20 only if the user can log in to the terminal device 30 via a dedicated application program.

[0024] The terminal device 30 is a device for participating in a web conference. Examples of the terminal device 30 include a personal computer (PC) and a smartphone. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the terminal device 30 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 6, the terminal device 30 includes a communication unit 301, a display unit 302, an audio input unit 303, an audio output unit 304, and a control unit 305 (an example of a display control means).

[0025] The communication unit 301 communicates with the Web conference system 10 under the control of the control unit 305. For example, the communication unit 301 transmits registration information to the Web conference system 10. Also, for example, the communication unit 301 transmits and receives Web conference materials, text converted from speech by the conversion unit 101, and speech to and from the Web conference system 10. Also, for example, the communication unit 301 receives text converted from speech by the conversion unit 101 from the Web conference system 10. Also, for example, the communication unit 301 receives explanations of unknown words from the Web conference system 10.

[0026] Under the control of the control unit 305, the display unit 302 displays materials to be used in the conference, text converted from speech by the conversion unit 101, explanations of unknown words, and the like. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image displayed by the display unit 302 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 7, the display unit 302 displays a first image A, a second image B, a third image C, and a fourth image D. For example, the first image A is an image of materials to be used in the conference, participants in the web conference, and the like. Also, for example, the second image B is an image of text converted from speech by the conversion unit 101. Also, for example, the third image C is an image of text explaining the word "vulnerability" determined to be an unknown word. Also, for example, the fourth image D is an image of text explaining the word "security" determined to be an unknown word.

[0027] The audio input unit 303 receives audio from conference participants using the terminal devices 30 under the control of the control unit 305. For example, the audio input unit 303 is a microphone that switches between an on state and an off state under the control of the control unit 305.

[0028] The audio output unit 304 outputs the audio of the conference participants under the control of the control unit 305. For example, the audio output unit 304 is a speaker that switches between an on state and an off state and changes the volume of the audio according to the control of the control unit 305.

[0029] The control unit 305 controls the processing performed by the terminal device 30. For example, the control unit 305 executes a dedicated application program to control the terminal device 30 (i.e., the communication unit 301, the display unit 302, the audio input unit 303, and the audio output unit 304) in accordance with the dedicated application program.

[0030] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, three terminal devices 30a, 30b, and 30c are exemplified as the terminal device 30, but the number of terminal devices 30 may be changed depending on the number of users.

[0031] 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of an unknown word determination system 40 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 8, the unknown word determination system 40 includes a communication unit 401, a determination unit 402 (an example of a determination means), and a control unit 403.

[0032] Under the control of the control unit 403, the communication unit 401 communicates with the Web conference system 10, the database 20, the search system 50, the related word extraction system 60, and the part-of-speech analysis system 70. For example, the communication unit 401 receives registration information from the Web conference system 10. Then, the communication unit 401 transmits the received registration information to the database 20. The communication unit 401 also receives text from the Web conference system 10. Then, the communication unit 401 transmits the received text to the part-of-speech analysis system 70. The communication unit 401 also receives, from the part-of-speech analysis system 70, words obtained by breaking down the text into parts of speech by the part-of-speech analysis system 70. Then, the communication unit 401 transmits each of the words received from the part-of-speech analysis system 70 to the related word extraction system 60. The communication unit 401 also receives, from the related word extraction system 60, related words extracted by the related word extraction system 60. The communication unit 401 then transmits each of the words received from the related word extraction system 60 to the database 20. The communication unit 401 also receives from the database 20 the number of times each word identified by the search unit 203 has been used in the chat transmission history and the email transmission history. If the determination unit 402 determines that a word is an unknown word, the communication unit 401 transmits the word to the search system 50. The communication unit 401 also receives, from the search system 50, information indicating a link destination related to the word searched for by the search system 50. The communication unit 401 then transmits the information indicating the link destination received from the search system 50 to the Web conference system 10. The communication unit 401 also receives the chat transmission history and the email transmission history together with the user name from the database 20. The communication unit 401 then transmits the received chat transmission history and the email transmission history together with the user name to the part-of-speech analysis system 70.

[0033] Under the control of the control unit 403, the determination unit 402 determines whether or not a word in text indicating the content of a user's voice received by the communication unit 401 from the Web conference system 10 is an unknown word. For example, the determination unit 402 transmits each word received by the communication unit 401 from the part-of-speech analysis system 70 to the database 20. Then, the determination unit 402 determines whether or not the number of times each word has been used that the communication unit 401 has received from the database 20 is less than a predetermined number of times. If the determination unit 402 determines that the number of times a word has been used is equal to or greater than the predetermined number of times, it determines that the word is not an unknown word. Furthermore, if the determination unit 402 determines that the number of times a word has been used is less than the predetermined number of times, it determines that the word is an unknown word.

[0034] The control unit 403 controls the processing performed by the unknown word determination system 40. For example, the control unit 403 executes a dedicated application program, thereby controlling the unknown word determination system 40 (i.e., the communication unit 401 and the determination unit 402) in accordance with the dedicated application program.

[0035] 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a search system 50 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 9, the search system 50 includes a communication unit 501, a search unit 502 (an example of a search means), and a control unit 503.

[0036] The communication unit 501 communicates with the unknown word determination system 40 under the control of the control unit 503. For example, the communication unit 501 receives words from the unknown word determination system 40. Furthermore, for example, the communication unit 501 transmits to the unknown word determination system 40 information indicating link destinations related to words identified by the search unit 502, which will be described later.

[0037] The search unit 502, under the control of the control unit 503, searches for information related to the word received by the communication unit 501 from the unknown word determination system 40. For example, the search unit 502 has a web browser function and searches for the word received from the unknown word determination system 40 on the web. Also, for example, the search unit 502 searches for the word received from the unknown word determination system 40 in a dictionary database. The search unit 502 identifies a predetermined number (for example, five) of top sites from the search results. Then, the search unit 502 identifies information indicating link destinations of the identified top sites. An example of the information indicating link destinations is a URL (Uniform Resource Locator).

[0038] The control unit 503 controls the processing performed by the search system 50. For example, the control unit 503 executes a dedicated application program to control the search system 50 (i.e., the communication unit 501 and the search unit 502) in accordance with the dedicated application program.

[0039] 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a related term extraction system 60 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 10, the related term extraction system 60 includes a communication unit 601, an extraction unit 602 (an example of a second identification unit), a control unit 603, and a storage unit 604.

[0040] The communication unit 601 communicates with the unknown word determination system 40 under the control of the control unit 603. For example, the communication unit 601 receives words from the unknown word determination system 40. The communication unit 601 also transmits synonyms of words identified by the extraction unit 602 (described below) to the unknown word determination system 40.

[0041] The extraction unit 602, under the control of the control unit 603, searches for synonyms of the word received by the communication unit 601 and identifies the synonyms. For example, the extraction unit 602 searches for the word received by the communication unit 601 in a data table TBL3 stored in the storage unit 604, which will be described later. Then, when the searched word is found in the data table TBL3, the extraction unit 602 identifies a synonym associated with the word as the desired synonym.

[0042] The control unit 603 controls the processing performed by the related word extraction system 60. For example, the control unit 603 executes a dedicated application program to control the related word extraction system 60 (i.e., the communication unit 601 and the extraction unit 602) in accordance with the dedicated application program.

[0043] The storage unit 604 stores a data table TBL3 that associates various words with their respective synonyms. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of the data table TBL3 stored in the storage unit 604 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The example shown in FIG. 11 indicates that there are three synonyms for the word "word A," namely, "synonym A1," "synonym A2," and "synonym A3." The example shown in FIG. 11 also indicates that there are two synonyms for the word "word B," and four synonyms for the word "word C."

[0044] 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a part-of-speech analysis system 70 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 12, the part-of-speech analysis system 70 includes a communication unit 701, an analysis unit 702 (an example of an extraction means), and a control unit 703.

[0045] The communication unit 701 receives text from the unknown word determination system 40 under the control of the control unit 703. Also, under the control of the control unit 703, the communication unit 701 transmits words that have been broken down into parts of speech through analysis by the analysis unit 702 (described later) to the unknown word determination system 40.

[0046] The analysis unit 702 communicates with the unknown word determination system 40 under the control of the control unit 703. For example, the analysis unit 702 analyzes text received by the communication unit 701 from the unknown word determination system 40 and breaks the text down into words for each part of speech. Also, for example, the analysis unit 702 analyzes text included in the chat transmission history and email transmission history received by the communication unit 701 from the unknown word determination system 40 and breaks the text down into words for each part of speech. Note that the analysis unit 702 may analyze words and parts of speech in text using well-known technology and break the text down into words for each part of speech.

[0047] The control unit 703 controls the processing performed by the part-of-speech analysis system 70. For example, the control unit 703 executes a dedicated application program to control the part-of-speech analysis system 70 (i.e., the communication unit 701 and the analysis unit 702) in accordance with the dedicated application program.

[0048] The above describes the main processes performed by the processing system 1. However, the processing system 1 also performs other processes, and the specific processes will be described below.

[0049] Next, a process performed by the processing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. Here, a process for generating a data table TBL1 showing the email sending history and chat sending history for each participant and a data table TBL2 showing the number of times each participant uses a word, for all participants who use a function for explaining unknown words provided by the processing system 1, before the function is used, will be described. FIG. 13 is a first diagram showing an example of a processing flow of the processing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 14 is a second diagram showing an example of a processing flow of the processing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 15 is a third diagram showing an example of a processing flow of the processing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 16 is a fourth diagram showing an example of a processing flow of the processing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In the following description, with reference to FIGS. 13 to 16, a process performed by the processing system 1 for participant A, who is one of all the participants, will be described. However, a process similar to the process performed by the processing system 1 for participant A is also performed for all participants other than participant A. In the following description, it will be omitted that the Web conference system 10, the database 20, the terminal device 30, the unknown word determination system 40, the search system 50, the related word extraction system 60, and the part-of-speech analysis system 70 are each controlled by a control unit provided therein. However, even if this description is omitted, in reality, the Web conference system 10, the database 20, the terminal device 30, the unknown word determination system 40, the search system 50, the related word extraction system 60, and the part-of-speech analysis system 70 are each controlled by a control unit provided therein, as described above. In addition, in the following description, the communication processing performed by each of the communication units 102, 202, 301, 401, 501, 601, and 701 may not be clearly described, but even in such cases, communication actually occurs via each of the communication units 102, 202, 301, 401, 501, 601, and 701.

[0050] Participant A uses, for example, the terminal device 30a to launch a dedicated application program and perform the initial registration process. The initial registration process includes inputting registration information into the terminal device 30a, the registration information including at least a user name ("Participant A" in this example) and access permission to the email transmission history and chat transmission history. When participant A performs the initial registration process to register the registration information in the terminal device 30a, the terminal device 30a transmits the registration information to the Web conference system 10 (step S1).

[0051] The Web conference system 10 receives the registration information from the terminal device 30a and transmits the received registration information to the unknown word determination system 40 (step S2).

[0052] The unknown word determination system 40 receives the registration information from the Web conference system 10. The unknown word determination system 40 transmits the received registration information to the database 20 (step S3).

[0053] The search unit 203 receives registration information from the unknown word determination system 40 via the communication unit 202. Under the control of the control unit 204, the search unit 203 identifies the user name and the permission to access the email sending history and chat sending history in the received registration information (step S4). The search unit 203 uses the permission to access the email sending history and chat sending history via the communication unit 202 to access, for example, the email sending history and chat sending history corresponding to the user name stored in the terminal device 30 (step S5). Then, the search unit 203 receives the email sending history and chat sending history corresponding to the user name from the terminal device 30 via the communication unit 202 (step S6). Note that it is assumed here that the terminal device 30 stores the email sending history and chat sending history corresponding to the user name. However, the email sending history and chat sending history corresponding to the user name may be stored in any device as long as the search unit 203 can access the email sending history and chat sending history corresponding to the user name using access permission via the communication unit 202 and receive the email sending history and chat sending history corresponding to the user name.

[0054] The storage unit 201 stores the email sending history and chat sending history received by the search unit 203 via the communication unit 202 in association with the user name (step S7). By performing the processes of steps S1 to S7 described above for participant A, the email sending history and chat sending history for the user name of participant A in the data table TBL1 are generated.

[0055] The search unit 203 transmits the email sending history and chat sending history that the memory unit 201 stored in association with the user name in the processing of step S7, together with the user name, to the unknown word determination system 40 via the communication unit 202 (step S8).

[0056] The unknown word determination system 40 receives the chat sending history and the email sending history together with the user name from the database 20. The unknown word determination system 40 also transmits the received chat sending history and the email sending history together with the user name to the part-of-speech analysis system 70 (step S9).

[0057] The analysis unit 702 receives chat transmission histories and email transmission histories together with user names from the unknown word determination system 40 via the communication unit 701. The analysis unit 702 analyzes text included in the received chat transmission histories and email transmission histories, and breaks the text down into words for each part of speech (step S10). The analysis unit 702 transmits the words broken down into parts of speech by the analysis by the analysis unit 702 to the unknown word determination system 40 via the communication unit 701 (step S11).

[0058] The unknown word determination system 40 receives the words broken down into parts of speech from the part-of-speech analysis system 70. The unknown word determination system 40 transmits the received words broken down into parts of speech to the related word extraction system 60 (step S12).

[0059] The extraction unit 602 receives words broken down by parts of speech from the unknown word determination system 40 via the communication unit 601. Under the control of the control unit 603, the extraction unit 602 searches for synonyms of the received words and identifies the synonyms (step S13). The extraction unit 602 transmits the words and the synonyms of the words identified by the extraction unit 602 to the unknown word determination system 40 via the communication unit 601 (step S14).

[0060] The unknown word determination system 40 receives the word and its synonyms from the related word extraction system 60. The unknown word determination system 40 transmits the received word and its synonyms to the database 20 (step S15).

[0061] The search unit 203 receives a word and its synonyms from the unknown word determination system 40 via the communication unit 202. When the search unit 203 receives a word and its synonyms, it searches the email transmission history and chat transmission history stored in the storage unit 201 for the received word and its synonyms under the control of the control unit 204, and counts the number of hits in the search. The search unit 203 then records the count as the number of times the corresponding word has been used in the data table TBL2 (step S16). The change in the number of times the word has been used in the processing of step S16 results in the generation of the data table TBL2.

[0062] The search unit 203 transmits a notification indicating that the number of times the word has been used in the data table TBL2 stored in the storage unit 201 has been successfully changed to the unknown word determination system 40 via the communication unit 202 (step S17). The unknown word determination system 40 receives the notification from the database 20 (step S18).

[0063] The processing of steps S1 to S18 described above results in the generation of data table TBL1 and data table TBL2 stored in storage unit 201. Note that, by performing the processing of steps S5 to S18 each time a user sends an email or chat message (for example, each time a dedicated application program detects the sending of an email or chat message), data table TBL1 and data table TBL2 stored in storage unit 201 can be updated.

[0064] Next, a process using the function of explaining unknown words by the processing system 1 will be described. FIG. 17 is a fifth diagram illustrating an example of a processing flow of the processing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 18 is a sixth diagram illustrating an example of a processing flow of the processing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 19 is a seventh diagram illustrating an example of a processing flow of the processing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 20 is an eighth diagram illustrating an example of a processing flow of the processing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 21 is a ninth diagram illustrating an example of a processing flow of the processing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 22 is a tenth diagram illustrating an example of a processing flow of the processing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In the following description, a process using the function of explaining unknown words will be described with reference to FIGS. 17 to 22. Here, it is assumed that Participant A and Participant B are participating in a conference. However, since a conference involves discussion to reach a conclusion, the participants are both speakers and listeners. Therefore, if the processing system 1 is described assuming that both participant A and participant B are both speakers and listeners, the description of the processing performed by the processing system 1 will be complicated, and it will be difficult to understand the processing performed by the processing system 1. Therefore, the following describes the processing performed by the processing system 1 to explain an unknown word to participant A when participant A hears a statement made by participant B, that is, when participant B is the speaker (an example of a first participant) and participant A is the listener (an example of a second participant). It is assumed that participant A and participant B have completed the initial registration process. It is also assumed that participant A and participant B are able to participate in the web conference by logging in to terminal device 30a and user B to terminal device 30b via dedicated application programs.

[0065] Now, suppose that participant B speaks in the conference. The voice input unit 303 of the terminal device 30b receives the voice of participant B (step S41). The voice input unit 303 of the terminal device 30b transmits the received voice of participant B to the Web conference system 10 via the communication unit 301 of the terminal device 30b (step S42).

[0066] The conversion unit 101 receives the speech of participant B from the terminal device 30b via the communication unit 102. The conversion unit 101 converts the received speech of participant B into text (step S43). The control unit 103 executes a dedicated application program, thereby causing the display unit 302 of the terminal device 30 (terminal device 30a and terminal device 30b) to display the text converted from the speech of participant B by the conversion unit 101 in accordance with the dedicated application program (step S44).

[0067] The display unit 302 of the terminal device 30a displays text indicating the content of the speech of participant B in accordance with the dedicated application program through the processing of the control unit 103 in step S44 (step S45). Also, the display unit 302 of the terminal device 30b displays text indicating the content of the speech of participant B in accordance with the dedicated application program through the processing of the control unit 103 in step S44 (step S46).

[0068] The Web conference system 10 transmits the text indicating the content of the speech of participant B together with the user name of participant B to the unknown word determination system 40 (step S47). The unknown word determination system 40 receives the text indicating the content of the speech of participant B together with the user name of participant B from the Web conference system 10. The unknown word determination system 40 transmits the received text indicating the content of the speech of participant B together with the user name of participant B to the part-of-speech analysis system 70 (step S48).

[0069] The analysis unit 702 receives text indicating the content of the speech of participant B together with the user name of participant B from the unknown word determination system 40 via the communication unit 701. The analysis unit 702 analyzes the received text indicating the content of the speech of participant B and breaks the text into words for each part of speech (step S49). The analysis unit 702 transmits the words broken down for each part of speech by the analysis by the analysis unit 702 to the unknown word determination system 40 via the communication unit 701 (step S50).

[0070] The unknown word determination system 40 receives words broken down into parts of speech from the part-of-speech analysis system 70. The unknown word determination system 40 transmits the received words broken down into parts of speech to the database 20 (step S51).

[0071] The search unit 203 receives words broken down into parts of speech from the unknown word determination system 40 via the communication unit 202. When the search unit 203 receives the words broken down into parts of speech, it identifies the user of participant B in a data table TBL2 that indicates the number of times a word is used by each user (step S52). The search unit 203 also identifies words that match the words broken down into parts of speech in the data table TBL2 (step S53). The search unit 203 then identifies the number of times a word is used that is associated with both the identified user and the identified word in the data table TBL2 (step S54). For example, when the data table TBL2 is the data table TBL2 shown in FIG. 5, the search unit 203 identifies the user of participant B in the process of step S52 and identifies the word “vulnerability” in the process of step S53, and determines that the number of times the word is used is 3. The search unit 203 transmits the number of times the word broken down into parts of speech that have been identified to the unknown word determination system 40 via the communication unit 202 (step S55).

[0072] The determination unit 402 receives, via the communication unit 401, from the database 20 the number of times that a word broken down into parts of speech identified by the search unit 203 has been used. The determination unit 402 determines whether or not a word in the text indicating the content of the user's (in this case, user B) speech is an unknown word (step S56). For example, the determination unit 402 determines whether or not the number of times that the received word broken down into parts of speech has been used is less than a predetermined number of times. If the determination unit 402 determines that the number of times that the word broken down into parts of speech has been used is less than the predetermined number of times, the determination unit 402 determines that the word in the text indicating the content of the user's (in this case, user B) speech is an unknown word. If the determination unit 402 determines that the number of times that the word broken down into parts of speech has been used is equal to or greater than the predetermined number of times, the determination unit 402 determines that the word in the text indicating the content of the user's (in this case, user B) speech is not an unknown word.

[0073] When the determination unit 402 determines that the number of times that the words broken down into parts of speech are used is less than a predetermined number of times and determines that the words in the text indicating the content of the user's (user B in this case) speech are unknown words (YES in step S56), it transmits the words determined to be unknown words to the search system 50 via the communication unit 401 (step S57). When the determination unit 402 determines that all the words are not unknown words (NO in step S56), it ends the process.

[0074] The search unit 502 receives a word determined to be an unknown word from the unknown word determination system 40 via the communication unit 501. The search unit 502 searches for information related to the word received from the unknown word determination system 40 (step S58). For example, the search unit 502 has a web browser function and searches for the word received from the unknown word determination system 40 on the web. Also, for example, the search unit 502 searches for the word received from the unknown word determination system 40 in a dictionary database. The search unit 502 identifies a predetermined number (for example, five) of top sites from the search results (step S59). Then, the search unit 502 identifies information indicating link destinations of the identified predetermined number of top sites (step S60). The search unit 502 transmits the information indicating link destinations of the identified predetermined number of top sites to the unknown word determination system 40 via the communication unit 501 (step S61).

[0075] The determination unit 402 receives information indicating link destinations of a predetermined number of higher ranking sites from the search system 50 via the communication unit 401. The determination unit 402 determines whether or not information indicating link destinations of a predetermined number of higher ranking sites has been received for all of the words determined to be unknown words (step S62). If the determination unit 402 determines that information indicating link destinations of a predetermined number of higher ranking sites has not been received for all of the words determined to be unknown words (NO in step S62), the process returns to step S57.

[0076] Furthermore, when the determination unit 402 determines that it has received information indicating the link destinations of the predetermined number of upper-level sites for all the words determined to be unknown words (YES in step S62), it transmits the link destinations of the predetermined number of upper-level sites received for all the words determined to be unknown words to the Web conference system 10 via the communication unit 401 (step S63). The control unit 103 receives the link destinations of the predetermined number of upper-level sites received for all the words determined to be unknown words from the unknown word determination system 40 via the communication unit 102. Then, the control unit 103 executes a dedicated application program to cause the display unit 302 of the terminal device 30 (terminal device 30a in this case) to display the link destinations of the predetermined number of upper-level sites that are explanations of the unknown words in accordance with the dedicated application program (step S64). Under the control of the control unit 305, the display unit 302 of the terminal device 30a displays the link destinations of the predetermined number of upper-level sites that are explanations of all the words determined to be unknown words (step S65). In the processing of step S65, the display unit 302 displays links to a predetermined number of higher-ranking sites, so that when an unknown word that is unfamiliar to participant A is used in the speech of participant B, participant A can click on the link to the unknown word to find out an explanation of the unknown word during the meeting, making it easier for participant A to understand the content of the meeting.

[0077] In the above embodiment, a conference such as a web conference is assumed, with user A as the speaker and user B as the audience. All speech during the conference is converted into text, and unknown words in the speaker's utterances are displayed on the screen by the process of step S65.

[0078] The processing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure has been described above. In the processing system 1, the analysis unit 702 (an example of an extraction means) extracts each word in the speech content of conference participant B (an example of a first participant). The search unit 203 (an example of a first identification means) identifies the number of times each of the words was used in text sent by conference participant A (an example of a second participant) in a communication conducted prior to the conference. The determination unit 402 (an example of a determination means) determines whether the number of times each of the words was used is less than a predetermined number of times, and determines a word determined to have been used less than the predetermined number of times as an unknown word, which is a word whose meaning is unknown to the second participant. This eliminates the need for an audience member to select an unknown word, and allows the audience member to identify the unknown word without being aware of it.

[0079] The processing system 1 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure has been described as identifying unknown words in text converted from speech uttered during a meeting, identifying a link destination that explains the unknown word, and displaying the link destination to display the explanation of the unknown word. However, the processing system 1 according to another embodiment of the present disclosure may identify unknown words in text indicated in the minutes of the meeting, instead of converting speech uttered during a meeting into text, identifying a link destination that explains the unknown word, and displaying the link destination to display the explanation of the unknown word.

[0080] FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating a minimum configuration of a processing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 23, the processing system 1 includes an extraction unit 801, a first identification unit 802, and a determination unit 803. The extraction unit 801 extracts each word in a statement made by a first participant in a conference. The extraction unit 801 is implemented, for example, by the analysis unit 702 illustrated in FIG. 12. The first identification unit 802 identifies the number of times each word was used in a text sent by a second participant in the conference in a communication held before the conference. The first identification unit 802 is implemented, for example, by the search unit 203 illustrated in FIG. 3. The determination unit 803 determines whether the number of times each word was used is less than a predetermined number of times, and determines a word determined to have a number of times less than the predetermined number of times as an unknown word whose meaning is unknown to the second participant. The determination unit 803 is implemented, for example, by the determination unit 402 illustrated in FIG. 8.

[0081] 24 is a diagram showing an example of a processing flow of the processing system 1 with a minimum configuration according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Next, processing of the processing system 1 with a minimum configuration according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIG.

[0082] The extraction means 801 extracts each word in the speech content of a first participant in a conference (step S101). The first identification means 802 identifies the number of times each word was used in a text sent by a second participant in the conference in a communication held before the conference (step S102). The determination means 803 determines whether the number of times each word was used is less than a predetermined number of times, and determines a word whose number of times is determined to be less than the predetermined number of times as an unknown word whose meaning is unknown to the second participant (step S103).

[0083] The processing system 1 with the minimum configuration according to the embodiment of the present disclosure has been described above. This processing system 1 eliminates the need for an audience member (second participant) to select an unknown word, and allows the audience member to determine the unknown word without being aware of it.

[0084] The order of the processes in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be changed as long as the processes are performed appropriately.

[0085] Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described, the above-mentioned processing system 1, Web conferencing system 10, database 20, terminal device 30, unknown word determination system 40, search system 50, related word extraction system 60, part-of-speech analysis system 70, and other control devices may have a computer system inside. The above-mentioned processing steps are stored in the form of a program on a computer-readable recording medium, and the above processing is performed by reading and executing this program by a computer. Specific examples of computers are shown below.

[0086] 25 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of a computer according to at least one embodiment. As shown in FIG. 25, the computer 5 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 6, a main memory 7, a storage 8, and an interface 9.

[0087] For example, the above-described processing system 1, Web conferencing system 10, database 20, terminal device 30, unknown word determination system 40, search system 50, related word extraction system 60, part-of-speech analysis system 70, and other control devices are each implemented in a computer 5. The operations of each of the above-described processing units are stored in the form of a program in storage 8. CPU 6 reads the program from storage 8, loads it into main memory 7, and executes the above-described processing in accordance with the program. Furthermore, CPU 6 allocates storage areas in main memory 7 corresponding to each of the above-described storage units in accordance with the program.

[0088] Examples of storage 8 include a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), a magnetic disk, a magneto-optical disk, a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disc read-only memory (DVD-ROM), and a semiconductor memory. Storage 8 may be an internal medium directly connected to the bus of computer 5, or an external medium connected to computer 5 via interface 9 or a communication line. In addition, when this program is distributed to computer 5 via a communication line, computer 5 that receives the program may load the program into main memory 7 and execute the above-mentioned processing. In at least one embodiment, storage 8 is a non-transitory tangible storage medium.

[0089] The program may also implement some of the functions described above. Furthermore, the program may be a file that can implement the functions described above in combination with a program already recorded in the computer system, a so-called differential file (differential program).

[0090] Although several embodiments of the present disclosure have been described, these embodiments are merely examples and do not limit the scope of the disclosure. Various additions, omissions, substitutions, and modifications may be made to these embodiments without departing from the spirit of the disclosure.

[0091] Note that part or all of the above-described embodiments can be described as, but are not limited to, the following supplementary notes.

[0092] (Appendix 1) Extract each word in the speech of the first meeting participant Extraction means; Sent by a second participant in the conference in a communication prior to the conference Identifying the number of times each of the above words is used in the text A first identification means; determining whether the number of times each of the words is used is less than a predetermined number of times; Words that are determined to have been used less than a certain number of times are A word that is incomprehensible to the second participant Determine as unknown word A determination means; A processing system comprising:

[0093] (Appendix 2) Identifying synonyms for each word used in the text second identifying means; Equipped with The first specifying means Identifying the number of times the synonym is used within the text; The determination means The number of times each word is used includes the number of times the synonym is used, determining whether the number of times each of the words is used is less than a predetermined number of times; Words that are determined to have been used less than a certain number of times are determining the word as an unknown word; 10. The processing system of claim 1.

[0094] (Appendix 3) The text may be: The second participant sent in a communication made prior to the conference Email and / or chat, 3. The processing system of claim 1 or 2.

[0095] (Appendix 4) The unknown word is displayed on a display means. Display control means, 4. The processing system of claim 1, comprising:

[0096] (Appendix 5) The display control means The unknown word and an explanation of the unknown word Displaying it on a display means, 5. The processing system of claim 4.

[0097] (Appendix 6) On the World Wide Web and / or databases Search for the meaning of the unknown word Search tools, Equipped with The display control means The meaning of the unknown word searched by the search means together with the unknown word is Displaying it on the display means, 6. The processing system of claim 5.

[0098] (Appendix 7) The display control means The meaning of the unknown word that the search means has searched for on the Web together with the unknown word is When displaying on the display means, Information indicating the link destination of the meaning of the unknown word on the Web Displaying on the display means, When the second participant performs an operation to display the link destination, The meaning of the unknown word at the link destination is Displaying it on the display means, 7. The processing system of claim 6.

[0099] (Appendix 8) Extracting each word in the speech of a first participant of the meeting; Sent by a second participant in the conference in a communication prior to the conference determining the number of times each of said words is used in the text; determining whether the number of times each of the words is used is less than a predetermined number of times; Words that are determined to have been used less than a certain number of times are A word that is incomprehensible to the second participant determining that the word is an unknown word; A processing method performed by a processing system including the steps of:

[0100] (Appendix 9) A program that causes a computer to execute the processing method performed by the processing system described in Appendix 8. [Explanation of symbols]

[0101] 1. Processing System 5. Computer 6 CPU 7. Main memory 8. Storage 9. Interface 10. Web conferencing system 20···Database 30, 30a, 30b, 30c... Terminal device 40. Unknown Word Detection System 50···Search System 60. Related Word Extraction System 70. Part-of-speech analysis system 101···Conversion unit 102, 202, 301, 401, 501, 601, 701... Communications Department 103, 204, 305, 403, 503, 603, 703...Control unit 201, 604...Storage section 203, 502...Search section 302...Display section 303 Audio input section 304 Audio output unit 402...Judgment section 602...Extraction part 702...Analysis Department

Claims

1. Extract each word in the speech of the first participant in the meeting Extraction means; Identifying the number of times each of the words was used in text sent by a second participant of the conference in at least one of email and chat communications conducted prior to the conference. A first identification means; determining whether the number of times each of the words is used is less than a predetermined number of times; A word determined to have been used less than a predetermined number of times is determined to be an unknown word whose meaning is unknown to the second participant. A determination means; In at least one of the Web (World Wide Web) and a database, Search for the meaning of the unknown word A search means; Displaying on a display means the unknown word and the meaning of the unknown word searched for by the search means together with materials to be used in the conference or an image of at least one of the first participant and the second participant. A display control means; A processing system comprising:

2. Identifying synonyms for each word used in the text second specifying means; Equipped with The first specifying means Identifying the number of times the synonym is used within the text; The determination means The number of times each word is used includes the number of times each synonym is used, determining whether the number of times each of the words is used is less than a predetermined number of times; determining a word whose number of uses is less than a predetermined number of times as the unknown word; The processing system of claim 1 .

3. The display control means The meaning of the unknown word searched for on the Web by the search means together with the unknown word is When the display is made on the display means, displaying information indicating a link destination of the meaning of the unknown word on the Web on the display means; When the second participant performs an operation to display the link destination, displaying the meaning of the unknown word at the link destination together with the unknown word on the display means; The processing system of claim 1 .

4. The processing system Extracting each word in the speech of the first participant of the meeting; Identifying the number of times each of the words was used in text sent by a second participant of the conference in at least one of email and chat communications conducted prior to the conference; determining whether the number of times each of the words is used is less than a predetermined number of times; A word determined to have been used less than a predetermined number of times is determined to be an unknown word whose meaning is unknown to the second participant; In at least one of the Web (World Wide Web) and a database, Searching for the meaning of the unknown word; displaying, on a display means, the unknown word and the searched meaning of the unknown word together with materials to be used in the conference or an image of at least one of the first participant and the second participant; Processing method.

5. The processing system Identifying synonyms for each word used in the text; Identifying the number of times the synonym is used within the text; The number of times each word is used includes the number of times each synonym is used, determining whether the number of times each of the words is used is less than a predetermined number of times; determining a word whose number of uses is less than a predetermined number of times as the unknown word; The processing method according to claim 4.

6. A processing system comprising: The meaning of the unknown word searched on the Web together with the unknown word When the display is made on the display means, displaying information indicating a link destination of the meaning of the unknown word on the Web on the display means; When the second participant performs an operation to display the link destination, displaying the meaning of the unknown word at the link destination together with the unknown word on the display means; The processing method according to claim 4.

7. A program that causes a computer to execute the processing method described in any one of claims 4 to 6.

Images