Server Extracting Important Items From Electronic Whiteboard Data

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Solution Overview

Problem

In electronic whiteboard systems, important items such as decisions and action items often go unconfirmed during meetings, making it difficult to address them promptly after the meeting.

Innovation Solution

An information processing system that includes an electronic whiteboard and a server apparatus connected via a network, where the whiteboard transmits stroke information, image data, and audio data to the server, which extracts and stores important item information and displays it for participants in real-time or at the end of the meeting.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If traditional meeting procedures (making minutes, creating summary pages) are used to confirm important items, then completeness of documentation is improved, but time consumption and complexity increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveconfirmation of important itemsVSAvoidtime for documentation procedures
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary extraction and identification of important items during the meeting itself, rather than waiting for post-meeting documentation. The server continuously analyzes meeting content (audio, whiteboard data, presentations) and extracts important items in real-time, so that when the meeting ends, important items are already identified and can be immediately presented for confirmation, eliminating the need for time-consuming post-meeting minute-taking and summary creation

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system creates an automated copy/representation of important items from the raw meeting data (audio transcripts, whiteboard content, presentation slides) and presents this extracted information for confirmation. This copying process automates the documentation function, replacing manual minute-taking with automated information extraction and presentation, thereby reducing time consumption while maintaining reliability of important item confirmation

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

2Productivity

If automated extraction of important items is implemented, then productivity and speed of presentation are improved, but system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvespeed of presenting important itemsVSAvoidsystem architecture complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The server apparatus performs multiple functions within a single system: it manages meeting data storage, processes audio recognition, analyzes whiteboard content, extracts important items, and presents them for confirmation. By consolidating these diverse functions into one multi-functional server, the system achieves high productivity in extracting and presenting important items while avoiding the need for multiple separate complex systems, thus managing overall system complexity

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

3Ease of operation

If important items are not confirmed during the meeting, then meeting flow is maintained, but follow-up actionability deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemeeting flow continuityVSAvoidactionability of important items
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system provides immediate feedback by presenting extracted important items to participants during or right after the meeting for confirmation. This feedback loop ensures that important items are reviewed and confirmed while the meeting context is still fresh in participants' minds, maintaining meeting flow without interruption while simultaneously ensuring reliability of important item identification and enabling immediate follow-up actions

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentEP3596592B1Information processing system, information processing program and information processing method
Publication Date: 2023.02.08 RICOH CO LTD
  • EP3596592B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3596592B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3596592B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

(Object) To provide an information processing system capable of presenting important information immediately. (Means of Achieving the Object) An information processing system according to the present disclosure includes a terminal device and an information processing apparatus configured to receive content data from the terminal device. The information processing system includes: a reference storage unit storing reference information indicating an important item; an important item extracting unit configured to extract important item information indicated by the reference information from the content data, by referring to the reference storage unit; an important item storing unit configured to store the extracted important item information into an important item storage unit; and a display control unit configured to display the important item information stored in the important item storage unit on a display device of the terminal device, in response to receiving a display request of the important item information.