JP2000056747A - Electronic conference system by means of white board using pen-input large screen display and screen sharing software - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic conference system and an electronic conference method capable of reducing physical resources and personal resources. SOLUTION: This electronic conference system is provided with a large-sized display 1, an electronic pen 2 directly writing on the large-sized display 1, a first personal computer 3 operating exclusive application provided with a server function and a small-sized display 3a connected to the computer 3 and a second personal computer 4 connected to the computer 3 through an LAN 7 and the small-sized display 4a connected to the computer 4. By the dedicated application makes, a common picture including the proceedings contents entered by the electronic pen 2 is displayed on the large-sized, small-sized displays 1, 3a, 4a, and this picture is electronized and stored.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic conference system, and more particularly, to a conference system on a whiteboard using a large screen display capable of inputting with a pen.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the contents of a meeting (image information) written on a whiteboard by a writing means such as magic are optically scanned, and the obtained image information is printed on thermal paper. Means are attached.

[0003]

However, the above-mentioned prior art has the following problems.

[0004] The first problem is that a great deal of paper resources are consumed in a conference using a conventional whiteboard.

[0005] The reason is that in order to accurately store and transmit the contents of the proceedings, the contents of the proceedings (image information) written on the whiteboard are printed on thermal paper and further distributed to the participants of the meeting. This is because it is necessary to make a copy.

[0006] The second problem is that a human resource is greatly consumed in a conference using a conventional whiteboard.

[0007] The first reason is that, after the meeting, it may be necessary to newly convert the printed minutes to an electronic form using a word processor or the like. The second reason is that in order to save the contents of the proceedings accurately,
This is because it is necessary to manage both the thermal paper and the electronic form.

[0008] It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic conferencing system and an electronic conferencing method that save physical and human resources.

[0009]

An electronic conference system according to the present invention comprises a first display unit used as a virtual whiteboard, a direct input unit for directly writing information on the first display unit. And first means for displaying information directly written on the first display unit on the second display unit.

[0010] In the electronic conference method according to the present invention, a common screen is displayed on the first display unit on which the proceedings are directly written and on the second display unit used by conference participants. And
On this common screen, the proceedings directly written on the first display unit and / or the proceedings inputted from terminals used by the conference participants are displayed.

According to the present invention, a large display capable of pen input is positioned as a virtual whiteboard, and the role of the whiteboard is provided by the first means having a server function.

[0012] In the electronic conference system of the present invention, the contents of the agenda are directly written in a free format on the first display unit using direct input means (for example, an electronic pen). Thus, the contents of the agenda can be described by freely selecting the character size, character color, figure, and the like. Then, it is possible to easily convert all the contents of the agenda into an electronic form, and it is possible to easily execute document management, distribution to the participants, and processing of the contents after the end of the conference. Therefore, communication of the intentions of all the participants during the conference is facilitated, and unnecessary work after the conference is reduced.

That is, according to the present invention, it is easy to provide the following functions while saving physical and human resources.

The first is a function of distributing or referencing the contents of a meeting to all participants in an electronic form without printing on paper.

A second function is to collectively manage a document describing the contents of a meeting as an electronic form on an information processing apparatus.

[0016]

Next, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In a preferred embodiment of the electronic conference system according to the present invention, the first means (a dedicated application running on the first personal computer 3 in FIG. 1) includes a first display unit (large-sized display in FIG. 1). The display 1) and the second display unit (small displays 3a, 4a, display terminals in FIG. 1) include information directly written on the first display unit by direct input means (the electronic pen 2 in FIG. 1). Display a common screen (virtual white boat).

In a preferred embodiment of the electronic conference system of the present invention, the contents of agenda are directly written on a first display unit, that is, on a common screen, using direct input means such as an electronic pen, a tablet, and a touch panel. It is. Further, a clerk or a conference participant can connect a first information processing apparatus (first personal computer 3 in FIG. 1) to which the first display unit is connected, such as a keyboard and a mouse (3b in FIG. 1). Using other input means, input information to be displayed on a common screen. Also, the clerk or conference participant sends a network (LAN in FIG. 1) to the first information processing apparatus.
7) Information to be displayed on a common screen using another input means (4b in FIG. 1) connected to the second information processing apparatus (second personal computer 4 in FIG. 1) connected via Enter

In a preferred embodiment of the electronic conference system of the present invention, means for reading image information written on the first display unit by direct input means and converting the image information into character information (optical reading function, OCR function) ). Further, the first means displays the directly written information as character information on the above-described common screen.

In a preferred embodiment, the function of the electronic conference system according to the present invention is a procedure for receiving / transmitting information written on a first display unit used as a virtual whiteboard, A procedure for displaying information written on the first display unit based on the obtained information on the second display unit, and a procedure for storing the information written on the first display unit in the storage unit. It is provided by a recorded recording medium.

[0021]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In order to further clarify the embodiment of the present invention described above, an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an electronic conference system according to one embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, this electronic conference system is configured by a client-server system, and is operated by a large display 1 capable of pen input, an electronic pen 2, a clerk, and a dedicated application (server, screen) for performing an electronic conference. The first to run shared applications and screen sharing tools)
And a second personal computer 3 operated by a conference participant and connected to the first personal computer 3 via a LAN (local area network) 7.
Of the personal computer 4.

The dedicated application includes a large display 1, first and second personal computers 3,
4 and has the following functions. (1) The small displays 3a, 4 connected to the first and second personal computers 3, 4 on the large display 1, respectively.
a) a function of displaying a common screen on a, (2) information written directly on the large display 1 by the electronic pen 2 on the common screen, and a predetermined processing request to the dedicated application, for example, A function of displaying a control bar 5 for instructing a processing request such as storage and printing of a common screen, execution of OCR, and the like; (3) storing the common screen information in a storage unit connected to the first personal computer 3 (4) The function of storing the common screen
A function of causing the printer 6 using plain paper connected to the first personal computer 3 to perform printing.

Further, the above dedicated application is
(5) It has a function of converting character image information manually input by the electronic pen 2 into character information via the OCR function, and storing it as an electronic form in a format readable by a word processor or the like.

The large display 1 is provided with means for optically, mechanically or electrically reading information manually input by the electronic pen 2, and transmitting the information to the dedicated application.

A clerk or a conference participant can use other input means 3 connected to the first and second personal computers 3 and 4.
b, 4b, for example, operating a keyboard or a mouse to display information on the common screen via the dedicated application, or performing predetermined processing on the dedicated application, for example, displaying on the common screen. It is possible to send a request.

A conference method using the above-described electronic conference system will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

<Conference Preparation Stage> Step 101: The first personal computer 3 activates the dedicated application having a server function.

Step 102: The dedicated application displays a common screen on the large display 1 and the small display 3a of the first personal computer 3.

Step 103: In the second personal computer 4, a client function is started.

Step 104: The dedicated application displays the common screen on the small display 4a of the second personal computer 4 via the client function.

<Conference Start> Step 105: The clerk writes the contents of the meeting as image information using the electronic pen 2 on the large display 1, that is, on the common screen. When the clerk writes characters and figures, the characters and figures are written as character information and drawing information using a template function (for example, a function displayed in the control bar 5) provided by the dedicated application. Can be.

Step 106: The information written by using the electronic pen 2 is transmitted to the large-sized display 1 → the first personal computer 3 → the dedicated application, and after the internal processing, the dedicated application →
The common screen is transmitted to the first personal computer 3 and the second personal computer 4 via the LAN 7, and is displayed on the large display 1 and the small displays 3a and 4a.

Further, the clerk and / or each conference participant can use other input means (keyboard 3 or mouse) 3b, 4b connected to the first and second personal computers 3, 4.
And input information such as characters and figures, and display the input information on the common screen via the dedicated application. The control bar 5 is displayed on the common screen displayed on the small displays 3a and 4a, as on the large display 1. The clerk and / or each conference participant can use these control bars 5 to display their own information on the common screen, and can request the dedicated application to perform a predetermined process. .

Step 107: When ending the conference, the clerk sends “end” to the dedicated application.
, The information displayed on the common screen is converted into an electronic form, and the first personal computer 3
Is stored in the storage means connected to. Note that the clerk can also save information displayed on the common screen as needed during the meeting.

<After the Meeting> After the meeting, the electronic form containing the common screen information is distributed to the meeting participants via the LAN 7. In some cases, a reusable medium such as a floppy disk on which the electronic form is recorded may be distributed.

[0037]

The first effect of the present invention is to save paper resources. The reason is that the contents of the proceedings can be easily saved as an electronic form, and it is not necessary to print the contents of the proceedings written on the whiteboard one by one as in the related art. The second effect is saving human resources. The reason is that the contents of the proceedings can be easily saved as an electronic form, and there is no need to prepare the minutes again. A third effect is that document management is facilitated. The reason is that the contents of the proceedings can be easily saved as an electronic form, and it is not necessary to arrange the contents of the proceedings after the meeting and to prepare the minutes again. The fourth effect is that people who are far apart can actively participate in a conference. The first reason is that a common screen is displayed on each of the second display units (display terminals) used by the conference participants. The second reason is that information transmission from the conference participants is easily achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an electronic conference system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the electronic conference system of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 large display 2 electronic pen 3 first personal computer 3a small display 3b other input means (mouse, keyboard) 4 second personal computer 4a small display 4b other input means (mouse, keyboard) 5 control bar 6 printer 7 LAN

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 1/00 H04N 1/00 HF term (Reference) 5B089 GA21 GB03 JA18 KH13 LB10 LB14 5C062 AA13 AB18 AB23 AB38 AB42 AB53 AC30 AE15 AF00 BA01 BD07 5C082 AA21 AA24 AA37 BB01 CB06 MM05 5E501 AA16 AB20 BA20 CA03 CB11

Claims (8)

[Claims] A first display unit used as a virtual whiteboard; a direct input unit for directly writing information on the first display unit; and one or more second display units Receiving information directly written on the first display unit, and displaying the information directly written on the first display unit on the second display unit based on the received information. An electronic conference system, comprising: 2. A common screen including information directly written on said first display unit by said direct input means on said first display unit and said second display unit. 2. The electronic conference system according to claim 1, wherein 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for reading the image information directly written on the first display unit by the direct input means and converting the image information into character information, wherein the first means comprises: The electronic conference system according to claim 2, wherein information is displayed as the character information on the common screen. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of a graphic calling process, a display screen saving process, a display screen printing process, and an image information / character information conversion process is performed on the common screen. 4. An instructing means for requesting the means is displayed.
Electronic conference system as described. And means for storing information of the common screen including at least information directly written on the first display unit by the direct input means in response to a command from the first means. The electronic conference system according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein: 6. The first means is activated, the first display is connected, and information written directly on the first display by the direct input means is transmitted to the first display. And a second information processing device connected to the first information processing device via a network, and the second display unit is connected to the first information processing device. 6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein information can be written on the common screen from the second information processing apparatus via the network and the first unit. Electronic conferencing system. 7. A common screen is displayed on a first display unit used as a virtual whiteboard, on which the proceedings are directly written, and on a second display unit used by each conference participant. Minutes and / or written directly on the display of
Alternatively, an electronic conference method characterized by displaying the proceedings input from the terminals used by the conference participants on the common screen. 8. The first display including information directly written on a first display used as a virtual whiteboard.
For transmitting the display screen information of the display unit, receiving the transmitted display screen information of the first display unit, and displaying the display screen of the first display unit also on the second display unit And a procedure for storing display screen information of the first display unit in a storage unit.