Voice-Activated Input Terminal Switching for Display Apparatus

The operational support apparatus is designed to handle multiple types of input sources universally. It can process speech commands for traditional external input terminals (DVD players, Blu-ray players) and simultaneously support application software running on connected terminal apparatuses like personal computers. The system achieves this by creating a virtual input terminal that can receive and process image information from application software, allowing the same speech recognition framework to control diverse input sources without requiring separate control mechanisms.

The operational support apparatus introduces a virtual input terminal as an intermediary layer between the speech recognition system and application software on connected terminal apparatuses. This virtual terminal acts as a mediator that translates application software output into a format compatible with the display apparatus. The intermediary approach allows the system to maintain its existing simple control structure for traditional terminals while adding application software support through this intermediate virtual interface, avoiding the need to completely redesign the control architecture.

The system replaces the traditional mechanical/physical terminal identification method with an information-based virtual terminal approach. Instead of relying on physical connection identification alone, the system creates virtual input terminals that carry information about their associated application software. When speech commands are processed, the system can identify which virtual terminal (and thus which application software) should be activated based on the speech content and the information stored in the virtual terminal structure, maintaining ease of voice operation while gaining application software awareness.