JP2016033715A - Information sharing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress such a situation in which a user has to interrupt a work due to display of information which the user receives, while the user can easily notice reception of information from a terminal.SOLUTION: A user position management part 24 manages user positions detected by a sensor 70 while specifying plural users. An operation region management part 26 manages operation regions which are set to respective users 101, 102 on a position input part 51. A reception information display position calculation part 27 calculates a display position of the reception information on a display part 52, based on the respective user positions of the users 101, 102 managed by the user position management part 24, and the operation regions set to the respective users 101, 102 managed by the operation region management part 26. The reception information display position calculation part 27 calculates the display position on outside of the operation regions.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an information sharing system, and more particularly to an information sharing system that can accept an operation by each of a plurality of users and that can accept information from a terminal via a network.

  A touch panel is widely used as an input / output device of an information processing system. The touch panel has a function as a display unit that displays an image and a function as an input unit that receives an input from a user. The input is usually performed by touching the screen with a finger, palm or stylus.

  In particular, the multi-touch panel can recognize a state where a plurality of positions on the screen are touched simultaneously. Therefore, when one display unit is shared by a plurality of users, it is possible to smoothly accept inputs from a plurality of users by adopting a multi-touch panel as the display unit.

  When one multi-touch panel is shared by a plurality of users, the overlapping of active windows for each user may hinder work. For this reason, according to the technique of Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2013-149016 (patent document 1), control which does not produce the above superimposition is performed. Specifically, an operation area is determined for each user, and the active window of this user is placed in preference to the active windows of other users in the operation area of a specific user. The position of the user on the screen is detected by a sensor such as a camera or a distance measuring sensor. In addition, as a sensor for detecting the position of a user, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-350588 (Patent Document 2) discloses infrared sensors provided at four locations around a table type display device provided with a touch sensor. ing.

JP2013-149016A JP 2001-350588 A

  The inventors of the present application are developing an information sharing system that not only accepts operations by each of a plurality of users but also accepts information from a terminal via a network. As a result, information can be shared not only between a plurality of users sharing a multi-touch panel, but also between a plurality of users sharing a multi-touch panel and a user using a terminal. In this case, information received from the terminal (also referred to as reception information) needs to be displayed on the multi-touch panel. The technique described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2013-149016 (Patent Document 1) relates to control of a display position between active windows of a plurality of users who share a touch panel, and displays received information from a terminal. This is not taken into consideration. Depending on the display position or display method of the received information on the multi-touch panel, the user may not notice that the information has been received from the terminal, or the part that the user wants to view or operate may be interrupted by the received information display. It can be forced.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. The purpose of the present invention is to make it easier for the user to notice the reception of information from the terminal, but to prevent the user from displaying the received information. Is to provide an information sharing system that can make it difficult to generate a situation where work must be interrupted.

  The information sharing system of the present invention can accept operations by each of a plurality of users, and can accept information from a terminal via a network. The information sharing system includes a sensor, a user position management unit, a multi-touch panel, an operation area management unit, a reception unit, and a reception information display position calculation unit. The sensor detects a user position where each of the plurality of users is located. The user position management unit manages the user position detected by the sensor while identifying a plurality of users. The multi-touch panel includes a position input unit that receives operations by a plurality of users and a display unit that is visually recognized by the plurality of users. The operation area management unit manages an operation area which is an area set for each of a plurality of users in the position input unit. The receiving unit receives information from the terminal as received information. The reception information display position calculation unit is based on the user positions of the plurality of users managed by the user position management unit and the operation areas set for each of the plurality of users managed by the operation area management unit. The display position of the reception information on the display unit is calculated. The reception information display position calculation unit calculates the display position outside the operation area.

  According to the present invention, the display position of the reception information is calculated outside the operation area. As a result, the received information is displayed outside the user's operation area. Therefore, it is difficult to cause a situation where a portion that the user wants to visually recognize or operate on the multi-touch panel is blocked by the display of the received information. Therefore, it is difficult for the user to interrupt the work using the information sharing system. Since the operation area is set for each user, the display position of the reception information is far from the operation area of the transmission destination user by referring to the operation area set for the reception information transmission destination user. It can only be a thing. This makes it difficult for the destination user to overlook that the received information has been displayed. As described above, according to the present embodiment, while making it easy for the user to notice the reception of information from the terminal, the situation in which the user has to interrupt the work due to the display of the received information. It can be made difficult to occur.

It is a block diagram which shows roughly the structure of the information sharing system in one embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of the computer system of FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows the example of the user position information stored in the user position information storage part of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the operation area represented by the operation area information stored in the operation area information storage part of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the operation area information stored in the operation area information storage part of FIG. FIG. 2 is a flowchart schematically showing an operation of the information sharing system of FIG. 1. It is a flowchart which shows the user input information processing of FIG. 6 roughly. FIG. 7 is a flowchart schematically showing sensor input information processing of FIG. 6. FIG. 7 is a flowchart schematically showing reception information processing of FIG. 6. It is a figure which shows the other example of the operation area information stored in the operation area information storage part of FIG. It is a figure which shows the further another example of the operation area information stored in the operation area information storage part of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the setting method of the operation area | region using the operation area | region information of FIG. It is a figure which shows the other example of the setting method of the operation area | region using the operation area | region information of FIG. It is a figure which shows the further another example of the operation area information stored in the operation area information storage part of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the step which calculates the display position of the received information in FIG. 9 in detail. It is a figure explaining the step which calculates the gravity center of the operation point in FIG. It is a figure explaining the step which calculates the perpendicular in FIG. It is a figure explaining the step which calculates the display position of the received information in FIG. It is a figure which shows the 1st and 2nd user in the example of the usage method of the information sharing system in one embodiment of this invention, and the screen of the multi-touch panel displayed by starting an application. The figure which shows the 1st and 2nd user in the example of the usage method of the information sharing system in one embodiment of this invention, and the screen of the multi touch panel displayed when the 1st user operated the application. is there. The figure which shows the 1st and 2nd user in the example of the usage method of the information sharing system in one embodiment of this invention, and the screen of the multi touch panel displayed when the 2nd user operated the application. is there. In the example of the usage method of the information sharing system in one embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which shows a mode that the 2nd user moved among the 1st and 2nd users who look at the screen of a multi-touch panel. It is a figure which shows the 1st and 2nd user in the example of the usage method of the information sharing system in one embodiment of this invention, and its each operation area | region on a multi-touch panel. It is a figure which shows the 1st and 2nd user in the example of the usage method of the information sharing system in one embodiment of this invention, and the screen of the multi-touch panel on which the received information from a terminal was displayed.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following drawings, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will not be repeated.

  Referring to FIG. 1, information sharing system 500 according to the present embodiment can accept operations by main users 101 and 102 (a plurality of users), and from terminal 90 operated by terminal user 110. Can be received via the network 80. The information from the terminal 90 is, for example, character string information such as a message or a document, or image information such as a figure or a photograph. With this configuration, information can be shared between the main body users 101 and 102 and the terminal user 110. The information sharing system 500 includes a computer system 1, a multi-touch panel 50, a sensor 70, and a terminal 90.

  The terminal 90 is connected to the computer system 1 via the network 80. The network 80 is, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network) or a WAN (Wide Area Network). The terminal 90 is operated by the terminal user 110. The terminal 90 is preferably portable and is, for example, a tablet PC or a smartphone. Note that the number of terminals 90 is not limited to one and may be two or more.

  The multi touch panel 50 includes a position input unit 51 and a display unit 52. The position input unit 51 is an input unit that supports multi-touch, and accepts operations by the main body users 101 and 102. The display unit 52 displays an image and is visually recognized by the main body users 101 and 102. The display unit 52 is a liquid crystal display unit that modulates light in units of pixels by controlling liquid crystal alignment, for example. The position input unit 51 is provided on the display unit 52 and normally has translucency so as not to disturb the display by the display unit 52. The multi-touch panel 50 has, for example, a table shape so that both the main body users 101 and 102 can easily use it.

  The sensor 70 detects a user position where each of the main body users 101 and 102 is located. The sensor 70 is, for example, an infrared sensor or a camera. For example, an RGB camera can be used as the camera. The sensor 70 may be attached around the table-type multi-touch panel 50. Alternatively, the sensor 70 may be attached to the ceiling so as to look down at the table-type multi-touch panel 50, and is preferably disposed directly above the multi-touch panel 50.

  The computer system 1 includes a sensor information processing section 21, an input event processing section 22, a user position information storage section 23, a user position management section 24, an operation area information storage section 25, an operation area management section 26, a reception The information display position calculation unit 27, the reception unit 28, the transmission destination user determination unit 29, and the display control unit 30 are included.

  The user position management unit 24 manages the user position detected by the sensor 70 while specifying the main body users 101 and 102. For this purpose, the sensor information processing unit 21 determines the user position based on the detection result of the sensor 70 and passes the result to the user position management unit 24. The user position information storage unit 23 stores user position information managed by the user position management unit 24.

  The operation area management unit 26 manages an operation area that is an area set for each of the main body users 101 and 102 in the position input unit 51. The operation area information storage unit 25 stores operation area information managed by the operation area management unit 26. The input event processing unit 22 determines an event based on the input received by the position input unit 51. The information provided by the event includes information on the type of operation such as touch or swipe, and position information indicating which position on the position input unit 51 is touched by the main body users 101 and 102. Further, the operation area management unit 26 determines which of the main body users 101 and 102 is caused by the event based on the user position information managed by the user position management unit 24. The operation area management unit 26 determines the operation area based on the position information specified by the user in this way. A specific method for determining the operation area will be described later.

  The receiving unit 28 receives information from the terminal 90 as received information. The transmission destination user determination unit 29 determines a transmission destination user as a transmission destination of reception information among the main body users 101 and 102. The destination information can be included in the received information. That is, the transmission destination can be specified by the terminal 90 side.

  The reception information display position calculation unit 27 is set for each user position of the main body users 101 and 102 managed by the user position management unit 24 and each of the main body users 101 and 102 managed by the operation area management unit 26. Based on the operation area, the display position of the reception information on the display unit 52 is calculated. The reception information display position calculation unit 27 calculates the display position outside the operation area set for each of the main body users 101 and 102. The reception information display position calculation unit 27 preferably calculates the display position so as to be adjacent to the operation area of the transmission destination user (for example, one of the main body users 101 and 102).

  The display control unit 30 includes a main body display control unit 31, a reception information display control unit 32, and a synthesis unit 33. The main body display control unit 31 controls an image displayed on the display unit 52 in response to information from the input event processing unit 22. The reception information display control unit 32 displays reception information on the display unit 52. The display position of the reception information on the display unit 52 is calculated by the reception information display position calculation unit 27. The combining unit 33 combines the image information generated by each of the main body display control unit 31 and the reception information display control unit 32 in order to display the image information on one display unit 52. The display control unit 30 is typically configured by installing at least one application program in the computer system 1.

  Referring to FIG. 2, the computer system 1 described above can be configured using a general-purpose computer system. That is, the computer system 1 includes a central processing unit 2, a main storage device 3 such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), an external storage device 4 such as a hard disk, and a communication interface 5 as hardware configurations. The user position information storage unit 23 and the operation area information storage unit 25 are stored in the main storage device 3 or the external storage device 4. The sensor information processing unit 21, the input event processing unit 22, the user position management unit 24, the operation area management unit 26, the reception information display position calculation unit 27, and the display control unit 30 are stored in the external storage device 4 and are centrally processed. The data is expanded on the main storage device 3 by the device 2 and executed. The receiving unit 28 includes the communication interface 5.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of the user position information 23a of the main body user 101 stored in the user position information storage unit 23 (FIG. 1). In the figure, the attribute name “user ID” indicates to which user the position information belongs. The value “1” represents “user ID” as a number. However, the value of “user ID” is not limited as long as it can identify the user, and for example, it may be a name by a character string. “User position x” and “user position y” indicate the position coordinates of the user with the center of the multi-touch panel 50 as the origin when the multi-touch panel 50 is viewed from directly above using the orthogonal coordinate system xy. Each time the user moves, these position coordinates are updated. The coordinate system is not limited to this, and other coordinate systems that can identify the position of the user may be used.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of operation areas 420 and 421 (broken lines in the figure) represented by the operation area information of the main body users 101 and 102 stored in the operation area information storage unit 25 (FIG. 1). The operation area represents an area including a point where the user operates the position input unit 51 of the multi-touch panel 50 with a finger or a palm by touching or swiping. In this example, a circle having a radius of 1 cm centered on the touched location is defined as one operation point, and a rectangular area circumscribing the set of operation points is defined as the user's operation area. Each side of the rectangle is parallel to any side of the display unit 52. The operation area 420 of the main body user 101 is a rectangle circumscribing the operation points 401 to 405, and the operation area 421 of the main body user 102 is a rectangle circumscribing the operation points 406 to 412. In the case of an operation in which the touched position continuously changes, such as a swipe, an area including the locus is included in the operation area. The shape of the operation area is not limited to a rectangle, and may be another polygon or a shape including a curve, for example. The range of each operation point is not limited to the above-described circle having a radius of 1 cm. For example, only the coordinates of the touched point may be set as the operation point.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of the operation area information 25a of the main body user 101 stored in the operation area information storage unit 25 (FIG. 1). “User ID” in the figure is the same as that in the user position information 23a (FIG. 3). “Operation area upper left x”, “Operation area upper left y”, “Operation area lower right x”, and operation area lower right y ”indicate the coordinates of the vertex position on the screen of the operation area on the rectangle. When information such as width or height is included, position information about some vertices can be omitted.

  Next, an outline of the operation of the information sharing system 500 will be described with reference to FIG. First, the information sharing system 500 is activated, and an application corresponding to the display control unit 30 is activated. Thereby, information sharing system 500 enters a state waiting for user input (step ST100), a state where sensor input is acquired (step ST200), and a state waiting for reception (step ST300). Here, the user input refers to a user input from the position input unit 51 and is passed to the input event processing unit 22. The sensor input refers to an input from the sensor 70 and is passed to the sensor information processing unit 21. “Reception” refers to reception of information transmitted from the terminal 90 by the reception unit 28, and is passed to the transmission destination user determination unit 29 and the display control unit 30. After these parallel processes, it is determined in step ST400 whether there is an application termination operation (step ST400). When there is no end operation, the parallel processing of the above three steps ST100, ST200 and ST300 is repeated. If there is a termination operation, the operation of the application is terminated. More detailed methods of steps ST100, ST200, and ST300 will be described later with reference to FIGS.

  With reference to FIG. 7, user input information processing (FIG. 6: step ST100) will be described below.

  First, in step ST110, it is determined whether there is a user input from the main body user 101 or 102. If there is no input, the process is terminated. When there is an input, in step ST120, the input event processing unit 22 acquires the coordinates of the input generation position from the input information and passes them to the operation area management unit 26. In step ST <b> 130, the operation area management unit 26 acquires the coordinates of the user position from the user position management unit 24. In step ST140, the operation area management unit 26 specifies an operating user from the coordinates of the input generation position acquired in step ST120 and the coordinates of the user position acquired in step ST130.

  In step ST150, the operation area management unit 26 updates the operation area of the user specified in step ST140 so that the input position acquired in step ST120 is included. That is, the operation area management unit 26 sets an operation area based on the operation positions that the main body users 101 and 102 have operated in the past in the position input unit 51. Thereby, the operation actually performed by the user is reflected in the setting of the operation area. Therefore, it is possible to more reliably avoid the reception information display (FIG. 9: step ST350) described later from hindering the user's work. An example of the operation region update method will be described later.

  In step ST160, the main body display control unit 31 controls an image displayed on the display unit 52 in accordance with the event determined by the input event processing unit 22.

  As described above, user input information processing (FIG. 6: step ST100) is performed.

  Next, examples 1 to 5 will be described below as specific examples of the update of the operation area information (FIG. 7: step ST150).

<Example 1: Operation area including all operation points>
In this example, the operation area management unit 26 updates the operation area of each user to include all operation points after the information sharing system 500 is activated. The operation area information 25a in FIG. 5 described above corresponds to this example, and the information on the operation point is discarded after being reflected in the operation area as necessary. That is, information on past operation points is not managed as operation area information. This is because in this example, there is no need to refer to the information of the operation point itself once considered for updating the operation area. However, it is not excluded that the operation point information is included in the operation area information in a list format. This list is not necessarily included in the operation area information, and may be managed in the operation area management unit 26.

<Example 2: Operation area without operating points after a certain period of time>
In this example, the operation area of each user is updated while omitting operation points after a certain time has elapsed. That is, the operation area management unit 26 sets the operation area based only on the operation position operated within a predetermined time. The operation area information 25b in FIG. 10 corresponds to this example, and includes information on operation points in a list format in addition to the contents of the operation area information 25a (FIG. 5). The information on each operation point includes the time when the operation was performed. When the operation area information 25a is updated, an operation point for which a predetermined time has elapsed is deleted from the operation point list, and an area including the operation point remaining in the operation point list is set as a new operation area. Note that the operation point list is not necessarily included in the operation area information, and may be managed in the operation area management unit 26.

  According to this example, the operation point and the operation trajectory after a certain period of time are omitted, so that it is possible to avoid the shortage of the area where the received information can be displayed due to the operation area becoming too large. The area can correspond to the most recent operation situation.

<Example 3: Operation area ignoring sparse operation points>
In this example, the operation area of each user is updated so that an operation point (sparse operation point) that is a fixed distance away from the other operation points of the user is ignored. The operation area information 25c in FIG. 11 corresponds to this example, and includes information on operation points in a list format in addition to the contents of the operation area information 25a (FIG. 5). As a method for determining a sparse operation point, for example, as shown in FIG. 12, circles 807 to 812 having a radius α (α is an arbitrary value) around each of the operation points 801 to 806 are calculated. Is not overlapped with any other circle, it is determined that the operation point is a sparse operation point. In FIG. 12, the operation point 806 is a sparse operation point. Alternatively, the center-of-gravity coordinates of operation points other than the operation point that is determined to be sparse may be calculated, and the operation point may be determined to be a sparse operation point as long as it is separated from the center-of-gravity coordinates by a certain distance. When the operation area is updated, an area in which the sparse operation points calculated by such a method are ignored is set as a new operation area. In FIG. 12, the operation area 813 becomes a new operation area. As a result, it is possible to avoid a shortage of an area in which received information can be displayed due to an excessively large operation area.

  In the above description, a circle centered on the operation point is used in the determination. However, for example, a shape other than a circle such as a square may be used. Also in this example, the operation point list is not necessarily included in the operation area information, and may be managed in the operation area management unit 26.

  In other words, according to this example, it is possible to determine whether the relationship between one operation position included in the operation position for one user included in the main body users 101 and 102 and the other operation position is sparse or dense. The operation area management unit 26 has a density evaluation standard. Then, the operation area management unit 26 sets the operation area based on the operation positions excluding the sparse operation positions that are evaluated as sparse based on the sparseness evaluation criteria. As a result, it is possible to include an area that has been mainly operated in the operation area while avoiding a shortage of an area in which received information can be displayed due to the operation area becoming too large.

<Example 4: Operation area including sparse operation points of other users>
In this example, when a sparse operation point of another user is close to the operation region, the operation region is updated so that the operation point is included in the operation region. As the operation area information, the information in the third example (FIG. 11: operation area information 25c) can be used. The method for determining a sparse operation point is the same as in Example 3 above.

  In this example, as shown in FIG. 13, the radius β (β is an arbitrary value and may be the same as the above-mentioned α) centered on the operation point 806 determined as a sparse operation point of one user. A circle 8061 is calculated. Next, circles 904 to 906 having a radius β centered on the operation points 901 to 903 of other users are calculated. When the circle 8061 overlaps at least one of the circles, the operation area 907 of another user is expanded as necessary so that a sparse operation point 806 is included.

  That is, according to this example, the operation area management unit 26 has the main user 102 whose one operation position (operation point 806) included in the operation position (operation points 801 to 806) for the main user 101 is another user. The access evaluation criterion for determining whether or not the operation area 907 is approached. When it is determined that the sparse operation position is close to the operation area 907 of another user, the operation area management unit 26 includes the sparse operation position (FIG. 13: operation point 806) so as to include the sparse operation position. The operation area 907 is set. Thereby, it is possible to avoid the operation area from becoming too large. That is, the operation area does not become too large compared to the case of Example 1. Unlike Example 3, sparse operation points can also be included in the operation area. Accordingly, it is possible to display the received information at a position that does not hinder the user's work while avoiding a shortage of an area where the received information can be displayed due to the operation area becoming too large.

<Example 5: Operation area including display range of parts displayed by operation>
In this example, the operation area of each user is updated to include the operation point and the range of parts displayed by the operation. The operation area information 25d in FIG. 14 corresponds to this example, and includes information on the range of parts displayed by the operation in addition to the contents of the operation area information 25c (FIG. 11). The notation “-” in FIG. 11 indicates that there is no part displayed by the operation. Also in this example, the operation point list is not necessarily included in the operation area information, and may be managed in the operation area management unit 26. In the example of FIG. 14, the range of the display component is represented by upper left coordinates and lower right coordinates, but may be represented by other methods, for example, upper left coordinates, width, and height. In addition, when the component displayed by the operation is rotating, information on the rotation angle is added to the information on the display component in FIG.

  That is, according to the present example, the display control unit 30 displays a component on the display unit 52 in accordance with an operation of one user included in the main body users 101 and 102. Further, the operation area management unit 26 sets the operation area of one user so that the range in which the component is displayed on the display unit 52 is included. As a result, the reception information is not displayed so as to block the displayed component in accordance with the user's operation. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the browsing of the component by the user from being hindered by the display of the reception information.

  As mentioned above, although Example 1-Example 5 was demonstrated, these examples may be mutually combined, for example, Example 1 and Example 5 may be combined. In Examples 1 to 5, the operation area may be rotated. In this case, rotation angle information is added to the operation area information 25a to 25d (FIGS. 5, 10, 11, and 14).

  Next, sensor input information processing (FIG. 6: step ST200) will be described with reference to FIG. First, in step ST210, the sensor information processing unit 21 acquires an input from the sensor 70. In step ST220, the sensor information processing unit 21 determines whether each user has moved from the sensor input acquired in the previous step. If it is determined that the user has moved, the process proceeds to step ST230. Otherwise, the process ends. In step ST230, the user position management unit 24 acquires the position information of the moved user from the sensor information processing unit 21. In step ST240, the user position management unit 24 updates the information stored in the user position information storage unit 23 to the user position information acquired in the previous step. After the update, the sensor input information processing ST200 (FIG. 6: step ST200) ends.

  Next, reception information processing (FIG. 6: step ST300) will be described with reference to FIG. First, in step ST310, the reception unit 28 determines whether there is reception information. When there is no reception information, when it is determined that there is a process, the process proceeds to step ST320, and in other cases, the process ends. In step ST320, the reception unit 28 acquires reception information from the terminal 90 via the network 80, and passes it to the transmission destination user determination unit 29 and the reception information display control unit 32. In step ST330, transmission destination user determination unit 29 determines a transmission destination user from the reception information. The determination result, that is, information on who the transmission destination user is is passed to the reception information display position calculation unit 27. In step ST340, reception information display position calculation unit 27 calculates the display position of reception information. Details of the calculation method will be described later. In step ST350, reception information display control unit 32 controls the image displayed on display unit 52 so that the reception information is displayed at the calculated display position. As a result, the reception information is displayed on the display unit 52. Note that the image by the reception information display control unit 32 is combined with the image by the main body display control unit 31 by the combining unit 33 as described above, and finally displayed on the display unit 52. As described above, reception information processing (FIG. 6: step ST300) is performed. After the display, reception information processing ST300 (FIG. 6: step ST300) is terminated.

  With reference to FIG. 15, the details of the calculation of the display position of the reception information (FIG. 9: step ST340) will be described below.

  In step S341, the reception information display position calculation unit 27 first acquires operation area information of the transmission destination user from the operation area management unit 26. In step ST342, the reception information display position calculation unit 27 acquires an operation point list from the operation area information acquired in the previous step. In step ST343, as shown in FIG. 16, the reception information display position calculation unit 27 calculates the barycentric coordinates 10117 of the operation points 10111 to 10116 in the operation point list acquired in the previous step. In step ST344, the reception information display position calculation unit 27 acquires the position of the transmission destination user from the user position management unit 24. In step ST345, as shown in FIG. 17, the reception information display position calculation unit 27 connects the center-of-gravity coordinates 10117 calculated in step ST343 and the position coordinates 1012 (user position) of the transmission destination user acquired in step ST344. The perpendicular line 101172 passing through the barycentric coordinate 10117 of the straight line 101171 that can be calculated is calculated. In step ST346, the reception information display position calculation unit 27 acquires the operation areas of the main body users 101 and 102 from the operation area management unit 26. Since the operation area of the main body user 101 as the transmission destination user has already been acquired as described above, the acquisition here can be omitted. In step ST347, reception information display position calculation unit 27 uses the perpendicular line 101172 calculated in step ST345 to calculate the position close to the operation area of the transmission destination user as the display position of reception information. For example, as shown in FIG. 18, the received information display range 1071 is a point on an extension line of a straight line 101161 parallel to the perpendicular line 101172 passing through the point 10116 last operated by the main body user 101 as the transmission destination user. A point 101162 that does not overlap the operation area 1011 is calculated as the upper left position of the received information (viewed from the main body user 101). The display direction of the reception information is a direction parallel to the straight line 101161.

  In this case, the display position of the reception information is calculated using the point operated last by the transmission destination user. However, in the area where the operation area of each user acquired in step ST346 (FIG. 15) is not set, It is also possible to search for an area where a large group of areas can be secured, and calculate a position in the area close to the operation area of the transmission destination user as the display position of the received information.

  Next, as an example of information sharing using the information sharing system 500 (FIG. 1) of the present embodiment, information sharing during disaster response will be described below. In this example, the main body users 101 and 102 work by sharing the multi-touch panel 50. In addition, the terminal user 110 transmits information to the main body user 101 via the network 80 using the tablet PC as the terminal 90. Assume that the main body user 101 is responsible for determining the handling of information sent from the terminal user 110.

  Referring to FIG. 19, a map in which shelter icons 104 to 106 and sticky note icons 107 are superimposed on display unit 52 of multi-touch panel 50 by activation of an application corresponding to main body display control unit 31 (FIG. 1). Is displayed. The shelter icons 104 to 106 are displayed using a material supply plan application for planning the supply of materials to the shelter. The tag icon 107 is displayed using a tag application. The main body user 101 uses a sticky note application to place a sticky note on a map, and performs a task of inputting the disaster situation of the place on the sticky note. The main body user 102 uses the material supply plan application to input or browse the status of the materials in the evacuation center or information on the missing materials. The terminal user 110 collects information for grasping the disaster situation at a remote place. The activation of the application corresponds to the start of user input information processing ST100 (FIG. 6), and each of sensor input information processing ST200 and reception information processing ST300 is also started. Thereafter, the state where the parallel processing of steps ST100, ST200 and ST300 shown in FIG. 6 is repeated is continued until the end operation is performed.

  Referring to FIG. 20, when main body user 101 taps sticky note icon 107 with a finger, sticky note 103 (component) is displayed. A point 10111 indicated by a mark X indicates an operation point of the main body user 101 for convenience of explanation, and is not actually displayed on the display unit 52.

  Referring to FIG. 21, when main body user 102 taps shelter icon 105, a table 1051 (parts) for inputting the status of goods is displayed. Using this component, the main body user 102 inputs the status of the goods. Note that the operation point 10216 indicated by the mark X indicates the operation point of the main body user 102 for convenience of explanation, and is not actually displayed on the display unit 52.

  Note that which of the main body users 101 and 102 has made an input to the position input unit 51 can be estimated from the direction of the tapped finger and the positions of the main body users 101 and 102. When a sensor with an RGB camera is attached directly above the multi-touch panel 50, the image is analyzed by a normal image processing method to determine from which direction the arm is coming out. It is possible to identify the main body user who is performing the operation.

  With reference to FIG. 22, the response | compatibility to a main body user's movement is demonstrated. Assume that the main body user 102 has moved from a position coordinate 1022 (user position) to a position coordinate 1023 that is 30 cm away in the right direction in the figure. In this case, the user position management unit 24 updates the user position information in the user position information storage unit 23 correspondingly.

  Referring to FIG. 23, when main users 101 and 102 operate the information sharing system, operation areas 1011 and 1021 are created using the operated points. The operation points 10111 to 10116 represent the operation points of the main body user 101, and the operation points 10211 to 10215 represent the operation points of the main body user 102. In this example, the display range of the tag 103 and the table 1051 which are parts displayed by the operation of the main body user 101 or 102 are also included in the operation area of each main body user. Further, since the operation point 10214 is a sparse operation point, the operation region 1021 is not set to include it.

  Referring to FIG. 24, when terminal user 110 transmits the latest disaster information “Accident occurs on X road” to main body user 101 from a remote location, the information is received information 108 as position input unit 51 of multi-touch panel 50. Is displayed. At this time, steps ST320 to ST350 (FIG. 9) are executed in the information sharing system 500. In this example, the received information is displayed in the direction of the main body user 101 outside the operation areas 1011 and 1021 and in the vicinity of the operation area 1011 of the main body user 101 as the transmission destination user. In this example, the operation area is not actually displayed, but may be displayed.

<Effect>
According to the present embodiment, the display position of the reception information is calculated outside the operation area. As a result, the received information is displayed outside the user's operation area. Therefore, it is difficult to cause a situation in which a portion that the user wants to visually recognize or operate on the multi-touch panel 50 is blocked by the display of the received information. Therefore, it is difficult for the user to interrupt the work using the information sharing system 500. Since the operation area is set for each user, the display position of the reception information is far from the operation area of the transmission destination user by referring to the operation area set for the reception information transmission destination user. It can only be a thing. This makes it difficult for the destination user to overlook that the received information has been displayed. As described above, according to the present embodiment, the user is forced to interrupt the work due to the display of the received information while making it easy for the user to notice the reception of information from the terminal 90. Can be made difficult to occur.

  The reception information display position calculation unit 27 may refer to the nearest operation position of the transmission destination user when calculating the display position. As a result, the reception information can be displayed near the operation point operated most recently by the transmission destination user. Therefore, it becomes easier for the user to notice the reception of information from the terminal 90.

  The reception information display position calculation unit 27 may calculate the display position so that the display direction of the reception information faces the transmission destination user. As a result, the reception information can be displayed to the transmission destination user more easily.

  In the present invention, the embodiments can be appropriately modified and omitted within the scope of the invention.

  1 computer system, 2 central processing unit, 3 main storage unit, 4 external storage unit, 5 communication interface, 80 network, 21 sensor information processing unit, 22 input event processing unit, 23 user location information storage unit, 23a user location information, 24 user position management section, 25 operation area information storage section, 25a to 25d operation area information, 26 operation area management section, 27 reception information display position calculation section, 28 reception section, 29 transmission destination user determination section, 30 display control section, 31 Main unit display control unit, 32 Reception information display control unit, 33 Compositing unit, 50 Multi-touch panel, 51 Position input unit, 52 Display unit, 70 Sensor, 90 Terminal, 101, 102 Main unit user (user), 103 Sticky note (component) 104-106 Shelter icon, 107 Sticky note icon, 108 Received 110, terminal user, 401 to 412, 801 to 806, 901 to 903, 10111 to 10116, 10211 to 10216, operation point, 420, 421, 813, 907, 1011 and 1021, operation area, 500 information sharing system, 1012 and 1022 , 1023 position coordinates (user position), 1051 table (parts), 1071 display range, 10117 barycentric coordinates.

Claims (8)

An information sharing system capable of accepting operations by each of a plurality of users and accepting information from a terminal via a network,
A sensor for detecting a user position where each of the plurality of users is located;
A user position management unit that manages the user positions detected by the sensors while identifying the plurality of users;
A multi-touch panel having a position input unit for receiving operations by the plurality of users and a display unit visually recognized by the plurality of users;
An operation region management unit that manages an operation region that is a region set for each of the plurality of users in the position input unit;
A receiving unit for receiving information from the terminal as received information;
Based on the user position of each of the plurality of users managed by the user position management unit and the operation area set for each of the plurality of users managed by the operation area management unit, A reception information display position calculation unit that calculates a display position of the reception information on the display unit, wherein the reception information display position calculation unit calculates the display position outside the operation area.   The information sharing system according to claim 1, wherein the operation area management unit sets the operation area based on an operation position operated by each of the plurality of users in the past in the position input unit.   The information sharing system according to claim 2, wherein the operation area management unit sets the operation area based on only the operation position operated within a predetermined time. The operation area management unit is configured to determine whether a relationship of one operation position included in the operation position for one user included in the plurality of users to another operation position is sparse or dense. Have sparseness evaluation criteria,
The operation area management unit sets the operation area based on the operation position excluding a sparse operation position that is evaluated as sparse based on the sparse / dense evaluation criterion. Information sharing system. The operation area management unit is configured to determine whether one operation position included in the operation position for one user included in the plurality of users is approaching the operation area of another user. Has access criteria,
The operation area management unit, when it is determined that the sparse operation position is approaching the operation area of the other user, the operation area of the other user so as to include the sparse operation position. The information sharing system according to claim 4, wherein: The information sharing system further includes a display control unit that displays a component on the display unit in response to an operation of one user included in the plurality of users.
The information sharing system according to claim 2, wherein the operation area management unit sets the operation area of the one user so that a range in which the component is displayed on the display unit is included. The information sharing system further includes a transmission destination user determination unit that determines a transmission destination user that is a transmission destination of the reception information among the plurality of users.
The information sharing system according to claim 2, wherein the reception information display position calculation unit refers to the latest one of the operation positions of the transmission destination user when calculating the display position. The information sharing system further includes a transmission destination user determination unit that determines a transmission destination user that is a transmission destination of the reception information among the plurality of users.
The information sharing system according to claim 1, wherein the reception information display position calculation unit calculates the display position so that a display direction of the reception information faces the transmission destination user.

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