Utterance state detection apparatus and method for detecting utterance state

Abstract

An utterance state detection apparatus includes a transmission device carried by a user and one or more reception devices. The transmission device includes an identification-information storage unit, a speech detector and a transmission unit. The identification-information storage unit stores identification information of at least one of the transmission device and the user. The speech detector detects speech. The transmission unit transmits transmission information including information of the detected speech and the identification information. The reception devices are installed in regions. Each reception device includes an utterance-state detector. If at least one of the reception devices receives the transmission information, the utterance-state detector of the at least one of the reception devices detects an utterance state of the user based on the identification information and the information of the detected speech, which are included in the transmission information received by the at least one of the reception devices.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Exemplary embodiments of the invention will be described in detail based on the following figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing configuration of an exemplary embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining an example of transmission process performed by a transmission device of the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of data to be transmitted in the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining an example of reception process performed by a reception device of the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an example of a utterance state history according to the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining an example of utterance determination process performed by the reception device of the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining an example of history analysis process performed by the reception device of the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an example of history analysis results according to the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining another example of history analysis process performed by the reception device of the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining an example of time extraction process performed by the reception device of the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example of data structure of a history for each user, according to the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining an example of data structure of a user history for each place, according to the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining an example of conversation determination process performed by the reception device of the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining an example in which an arrival time and a departure time are obtained, according to the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining an example of a pair of arrival time and departure time for each place, according to the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of stay period for original data 1 according to the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of stay period for original data 2 according to the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 18 is a diagram for explaining an example of dialogue period extraction results according to the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 19 is a diagram for explaining an installation example in which a communication network is employed, according to the exemplary embodiment; and

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a modification of the exemplary embodiment.

Claims

1. An utterance state detection apparatus comprising: a transmission device carried by a user, the transmission device comprising: an identification-information storage unit that stores identification information of at least one of the transmission device and the user;a speech detector that detects speech; anda transmission unit that transmits transmission information comprising information of the detected speech and the identification information; andone or more reception devices installed in one or more regions, each reception device comprising an utterance-state detector, if at least one of the reception devices receives the transmission information, the utterance-state detector of the at least one of the reception devices detecting an utterance state of the user based on the identification information and the information of the detected speech, which are included in the transmission information received by the at least one of the reception devices.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transmission device is a plurality of transmission devices, the apparatus further comprising: a determination unit that determines a conversation state among a plurality of users of the transmission devices, on a basis of the utterance states detected by the utterance state detector of the at least one of the reception devices.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transmission unit comprises one selected from a group consisting of an RFID tag, a PHS and an infrared badge.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: the speech detector comprises a microphone that receives the speech, andthe speech detector detects volume of the speech received by the microphone.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: the speech detector comprises a bone conduction microphone that receives the speech transmitted via bones of the user, andthe speech detector detects volume of the speech received by the bone conductive microphone.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the speech detector detects whether or not volume of the detected speech exceeds an utterance level to determine whether or not utterance occurs.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the utterance-state detector determines on a basis of the information of the speech included in the transmission information, whether or not the detected speech exceeds an utterance level to determine whether or not utterance occurs.

8. An identification information detection apparatus comprising: a transmission device carried by a user, the transmission device comprising: an identification-information storage unit that stores identification information of at least one of the transmission device and the user;a speech detector that detects speech; anda transmission unit that transmits transmission information comprising the identification information, on a basis of the detected speech; andone or more reception devices installed in one or more regions, each reception device that receives the transmission information and obtains the identification information included in the received transmission information.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the transmission unit enables a transmission function on a basis of the detected speech.

10. A transmission device comprising: an identification-information storage unit that stores identification information of at least one of the transmission device and a user;a speech detector that detects speech; anda transmission unit that transmits transmission information comprising the identification information, on a basis of the detected speech.

11. A method for detecting an utterance state, the method comprising: detecting speech;transmitting transmission information comprising information of the detected speech and identification information of at least one of a transmission device and a user;receiving the transmitted transmission information; anddetecting a conversation state of the user of the transmission device on a basis of the identification information and the information of the detected speech, which are included in the received transmission information.

12. A transmission device comprising: an identification-information storage unit that stores identification information of at least one of the transmission device and a user;a speech detector that detects speech; anda transmission unit that transmits transmission information comprising the identification information and information of the speech detected by the speech detector, the transmission unit transmitting the transmission information to one or more reception device provided in a facility as a fixed station.