JP2008301529A - Communication system, communication apparatus and program for reporting state of remote place - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication system, a communication apparatus and a program for allowing a user to know a state of a remote place in real time without an invasion of privacy of a person who is present at the place. <P>SOLUTION: A terminal apparatus receives, as an audio signal, domestic sounds in a home X collected by a microphone 11, and subjects the received audio signal to processing, such as a filtering process or the like. For example, the audio signal processed by the terminal apparatus does not include components in the frequency band of 400 Hz to 3.5 kHz including conversation voice. The audio signal processed by the terminal apparatus is output from a telephone 13x to a telephone 13y, and is converted into sounds by a loudspeaker 16. A boss B present in an office Y can know the state of the home X to some extent, but not, for example, a detail of conversation by an employer A present in the home X, from the sounds emitted from the loudspeaker 16. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication system, a communication apparatus, and a program for transmitting a state in a remote place.

  In homes and offices, we usually live while feeling the signs of other family members and staff in the same room or nearby rooms. Such signs play an important role in everyday life, whether or not we are conscious. For example, in a company, a boss can sense to some extent how busy his / her subordinate is by looking at his / her subordinate working in the next room. Moreover, the family living with the elderly can know whether there are any abnormalities in the elderly by, for example, the sign in the adjacent room.

  In recent years, with the advancement and spread of communication technologies such as the Internet, an increasing number of companies permit employees to work from home. An increasing number of families are living apart from each other. In such a situation, for example, in the previous example, it is difficult for the boss to detect how busy the subordinate who is working from home. In the later example, a family living away from the elderly cannot immediately know the abnormality even if the elderly have some abnormality.

  In response to the above situation, a microphone is installed at the home of an employee who is working from home or an elderly home away from his / her family, and a sound indicating the state of those homes is sent to the location of the boss or family A way to do this is conceivable. In that case, the boss and family can know the state of employees and the elderly in real time by sound. However, the above-described sound monitoring is inconvenient because the privacy of the person being monitored is infringed.

In order to overcome the above-described problems, a first communication terminal that detects a human movement or the like by a speed sensor, a touch sensor, an infrared CCD sensor or the like and transmits the detection result, and a sensor from the first communication terminal A communication system is proposed that combines a second communication terminal that performs an operation such as receiving a detection result obtained by the above-described method and generating a preset sound according to the received detection result (see, for example, Patent Document 1). ).
JP 2002-314707 A

  Among the communication systems according to the above-described prior art, those using a speed sensor or an infrared CCD sensor are generally expensive and have a narrow range that can be monitored. When it is desired to monitor a plurality of sensors, it is necessary to arrange a plurality of sensors at various places in the home. In addition, in the communication system according to the related art described above, in the configuration using the touch sensor, some information is transmitted to the person on the monitor side unless the person on the monitor side touches the touch sensor. It was not possible to use it for the purpose of constantly monitoring the situation in remote areas.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and a communication system, a communication device, and a program capable of transmitting a state in a remote place in real time at a low cost and without infringing on privacy. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides sound information generating means that is arranged at a first location and generates sound information indicating the collected sound by collecting the sound at the first location, A first communication device including first transmission means for transmitting sound information generated by the sound information generation means; and a first communication device arranged in a second location different from the first location, and the first communication device via a communication line. A first receiving means for receiving sound information from the communication apparatus and an output means for outputting sound information, and disposed at either end of the communication line or at any node on the communication line And a generating unit that generates ambiguous sound information by performing processing for missing or concealing a part of the information included in the sound information with respect to the sound information.

  According to the above communication system, when the sound of life in the first place is transmitted to the second place, for example, information such as conversation is not transmitted, so that the privacy of the person in the first place is protected, etc. The effect is obtained.

  Furthermore, the present invention provides an ambiguous sound by performing input processing for inputting sound information, and processing for missing or concealing part of the information included in the sound information with respect to the sound information input by the input means. A generating unit configured to generate information; and an output unit configured to output the ambiguous sound information generated by the generating unit, further receiving sound information from another communication device and outputting the sound information to the input unit. There is provided a communication device comprising at least one of a reception unit and a transmission unit that transmits ambiguous sound information output by the output unit to another communication device.

  According to this communication apparatus, for example, a living sound processed so that information such as conversation is not transmitted is generated, and thus an effect such as protecting the privacy of a person who is at the source of the living sound can be obtained.

  In the above communication apparatus, the communication device further includes instruction information input means for inputting instruction information indicating which part of the sound information is missing or concealed, and the generation means includes the instruction input by the instruction information input means. It may be configured to generate ambiguous sound information based on the information.

  According to this communication apparatus, the user can change which information is not transmitted among the information included in the living sound.

  In the above communication device, storage means for storing reference sound information indicating a reference sound, physical characteristics of the sound indicated by the sound information used by the generation means for generating ambiguous sound information, and the storage means are stored. Calculating means for calculating an index indicating the similarity to the physical feature of the sound indicated by the reference sound information, and using the index calculated by the calculating means, the sound indicated by the sound information and the reference sound information are Determination means for determining whether or not the sound to be shown is similar, the generation means based on a result of determination by the determination means, start of generation of ambiguous sound information, end of generation of ambiguous sound information and It is good also as a structure which performs at least 1 of the change of the processing method of sound information.

  According to this communication device, only sound information that does not transmit only limited information, such as a conversation of a specific person or specific words, among sound information included in the living sound, or only those limited information Is generated.

  In the communication apparatus, the generation unit may generate ambiguous sound information by performing a filtering process that removes or reduces a specific frequency component included in the sound indicated by the sound information.

  According to this communication apparatus, a life sound processed so that information such as conversation is not transmitted is generated by removing a component of a frequency band including information such as conversation from the life sound.

  The communication device may include a pitch moving unit that moves a pitch of a sound indicated by the ambiguous sound information generated by the generating unit by a certain amount.

  According to this communication apparatus, for example, in a public telephone line network where the frequency band of sound that can be communicated is limited, it is possible to transmit / receive components in an arbitrary frequency band included in the living sound.

  The above communication device further includes instruction information input means for inputting instruction information indicating the start of generation of ambiguous sound information, and the generation means receives the ambiguous sound information when the instruction information is input by the instruction information input means. It is good also as a structure which starts production | generation.

  According to this communication device, it is possible to switch from normal life sound communication to sound communication that does not transmit specific information when the user desires.

  The above communication device further includes instruction information input means for inputting instruction information indicating the end of generation of ambiguous sound information, and the generation means receives the ambiguous sound information when the instruction information is input by the instruction information input means. It is good also as a structure which complete | finishes production | generation.

  According to this communication device, it is possible to switch from sound communication that does not transmit specific information to normal life sound communication when the user desires.

  The communication apparatus includes an instruction information receiving unit that receives the instruction information from another communication apparatus via a communication line, and the instruction information input unit inputs the instruction information received by the instruction information receiving unit. It is good also as composition to do.

  According to this communication apparatus, even a user who is in a place different from the place where the sound information is processed can change which information is not transmitted among the information included in the life sound.

  The communication apparatus includes a sensor that detects a change in at least one of electricity, light, temperature, sound, and pressure, and outputs instruction information when the change is detected, and the instruction information input unit includes the sensor The output instruction information may be input.

  According to this communication device, switching between normal life sound communication and sound communication that does not transmit specific information is performed by the sensor without manual operation by the user.

  The communication device includes a sensor that detects a change in at least one of electricity, light, temperature, sound, and pressure, and at least one of the receiving unit and the transmitting unit has a sound when a change is detected by the sensor. It may be configured to start or end reception of information, or start or end transmission of ambiguous sound information.

  According to this communication device, the start or end of communication is performed by the sensor without manual operation by the user.

  In the above communication apparatus, the sound information used by the generating means for generating the ambiguous sound information is digital sound data obtained by sampling and quantizing the sound, and the generating means reduces the sampling frequency of the sound information. It is good also as a structure which produces ambiguous sound information.

  According to this communication device, sound information that does not transmit information such as conversation included in the living sound can be easily generated.

  In the above communication apparatus, the sound information used by the generating means for generating the ambiguous sound information is digital sound data obtained by sampling and quantizing the sound, and the generating means lowers the number of quantization bits of the sound information. It is good also as a structure which produces ambiguous sound information by this.

  Also with this communication device, sound information that does not transmit information such as conversation included in the living sound can be easily generated.

  In the above communication device, the communication device further includes a measurement unit that measures at least one of a volume, a pitch, and a sound quality of sound indicated by the sound information, and the generation unit uses the result of the measurement by the measurement unit to obtain the ambiguous sound information. It is good also as composition to generate.

  According to this communication device, sound information is generated using only limited information such as volume, pitch or sound quality among the information included in the living sound, so that the contents of conversations and the like included in the living sound are transmitted. Sound information that does not occur is generated.

  Furthermore, the present invention provides an ambiguous sound by performing input processing for inputting sound information and processing for missing or concealing part of the information included in the sound information for the sound information input in the input processing. A reception process for causing a computer to execute a generation process for generating information and an output process for outputting ambiguous sound information generated by the generation process, and further receiving sound information used in the input process from another communication device And a program for causing the computer to execute at least one of transmission processing for transmitting the ambiguous sound information output in the output processing to another communication device.

  According to the above program, a life sound processed so that information such as conversation is not transmitted is generated by the computer.

  According to the communication device and the program according to the present invention, a user can easily and inexpensively construct a system capable of knowing a situation in a distant place in real time without infringing on the privacy of a person in the place. Can do.

[1. First Embodiment]
[1.1. Configuration of communication system]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a communication system 1 in the first embodiment of the present invention. The communication system 1 includes a microphone 11, a terminal device 12, and a telephone set 13x that are arranged at a home X of an employee A, and a telephone set 13y, an amplifier 15, and a speaker that are arranged at a company Y where the boss B of the employee A works. 16 as main components. In the following description, the components of the communication system 1 are all connected by wire, but some or all of the components of the communication system 1 may be wirelessly connected.

  The telephone 13x at home X and the telephone 13y at company Y are telephones having a general telephone function for performing voice communication via the public telephone line network 14. The telephones 13x and 13y have a voice input unit and a voice output unit as voice input / output means other than the handset. Here, the voice output unit is means for outputting a voice signal from a communication partner received via the public telephone network 14 to an external device, and the voice input unit receives the voice signal from the external device, It is means for sending to a communication partner via the network 14. In the following description, “speech” is not limited to a human voice, and broadly means sound in general.

  In the company Y, the amplifier 15 is a general audio amplifier, and includes an amplification unit 151 and an operation unit 152. Here, the amplifying unit 151 adjusts the level of the audio signal output from the audio output unit of the telephone set 13 y and outputs it to the speaker 16. The operation unit 152 includes a keypad that accepts user operations. The user can instruct to turn on / off the power of the amplification unit 151 and adjust the output level of the amplification unit 151 by an operation using the operation unit 152. The speaker 16 is a general speaker and outputs the audio signal output from the amplification unit 151 as sound.

  At home X, the microphone 11 is a general microphone that converts voice into an analog voice signal (hereinafter referred to as “voice signal”) and outputs the analog voice signal. The terminal device 12 is a central component for realizing the features of the present invention in the communication system 1. The terminal device 12 processes an audio signal input from the microphone 11, removes a part of information included in the input audio signal, and then outputs the processed audio signal to the audio input unit of the telephone set 13x. It is. The terminal device 12 includes a voice processing unit 121 and an operation unit 122.

The voice processing unit 121 includes, for example, one or more filters as described below.
(A) A low-pass filter 1211 having a cutoff frequency of 400 Hz.
(B) A pitch shifter 1212 that generates a second overtone.
(C) A high-pass filter 1213 having a cutoff frequency of 3.5 kHz.
(D) A pitch shifter 1214 that generates a ½ overtone.
(E) Noise reduction filter 1215.
(F) Amplifying unit 1216.
FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of the sound processing unit 121 using all these elements. However, this is merely an example, and does not prevent the configuration lacking some of these elements.

  Note that the filter and the like exemplified above may be one using an analog circuit or one using a digital circuit. When the sound processing unit 121 is configured by a filter or the like using a digital circuit, an A / D (Analog to Digital) converter that converts a sound signal output from the microphone 11 into a digital signal and the sound processing unit 121 are obtained. A digital to analog (D / A) converter that converts a digital signal to be converted into an analog voice signal and outputs the analog voice signal to the voice input unit of the telephone set 13x may be added to the terminal device 12.

  In the audio processing unit 121 shown in FIG. 1, the low-pass filter 1211 and the high-pass filter 1213 are for obtaining a signal obtained by excluding a signal of a human voice frequency band (400 Hz to 3.5 kHz) from an audio signal obtained from the microphone 11. Means. In this way, the sound from which some information is removed or concealed from the sound collected by the microphone 11 is hereinafter referred to as “ambiguous sound”. An audio signal indicating ambiguous speech is referred to as an “ambiguous speech signal”.

  The pitch shifter 1212 converts the frequency of a component of 400 Hz or less that has passed through the low-pass filter 1211 out of the audio signal output from the microphone 11 and outputs the converted signal. Further, the pitch shifter 1214 converts the frequency of the component of 3.5 kHz or higher that has passed through the high-pass filter 1213 out of the audio signal output from the microphone 11 to 1/2 and outputs the converted signal.

  Each output signal of pitch shifters 1212 and 1213 is input to noise reduction filter 1215. The noise reduction filter 1215 removes noise components generated during sound collection by the microphone 11 and noise components that become noticeable by filter processing such as the low-pass filter 1211 and the high-pass filter 1213 from the input signal. The output signals of the pitch shifters 1212 and 1214 are passed through the noise reduction filter 1215, thereby becoming sound signals indicating sounds with less discomfort for the listener.

  The amplifying unit 1216 amplifies the output signal of the noise reduction filter 1215 to an audio signal having an appropriate level according to the dynamic range of the public telephone line network 14 and outputs the audio signal.

  The above-described configuration is merely an example, and some processing is added to the audio signal indicating the sound collected by the microphone 11 to prevent a part of the information included in the collected sound from being transmitted. If so, any other filter or combination thereof can be used as a component of the audio processing unit 121. For example, the audio processing unit 121 includes a delay that is output after holding the input audio signal for about 100 ms, and the difference between the output of the delay and the input audio signal is taken to obscure the audio indicated by the audio signal. You may be comprised so that it may become. In addition, for example, the audio processing unit 121 includes a tone generator that generates an audio signal such as a sine wave, and the audio signal generated by the tone generator is modulated by reading out according to the input audio signal and then output. It may be.

  The operation unit 122 includes a keypad and accepts user operations. The user can instruct to change parameters such as a filter included in the audio processing unit 121, an output level of the amplification unit 1216, and to turn on / off the power of the audio processing unit 121 by operating the operation unit 122. it can.

[1.2. Operation of communication system]
In using the communication system 1, the employee A or the supervisor B uses the telephone set 13x or the telephone set 13y to dial the telephone number of the other party and establishes a voice communication connection between the telephone set 13x and the telephone set 13y. Subsequently, the employee A operates the operation unit 122 of the terminal device 12 to turn on the sound processing unit 121. As a result, a sound, voice or the like (hereinafter referred to as “living sound”) at home X collected by the microphone 11 is processed by the voice processing unit 121 and converted into an ambiguous voice signal, and then output to the telephone set 13x. It becomes like this. The employee A adjusts the volume of the ambiguous voice by operating the operation unit 122 of the terminal device 12 while listening to the ambiguous voice indicated by the ambiguous voice signal output to the telephone 13y from the speaker of the handset of the telephone 13x. The telephone set 13x transmits an ambiguous voice signal input from the terminal device 12 to the telephone set 13y via the public telephone line network.

  Note that the method of confirming the volume of the ambiguous voice by the employee A is not limited to the method of listening to the ambiguous voice emitted from the speaker of the handset of the telephone set 13x. For example, a display unit may be provided in the terminal device 12, and an indicator or the like indicating the level of an ambiguous voice signal output from the terminal device 12 may be displayed on the display unit.

  In the company Y, the ambiguous voice signal transmitted from the telephone set 13x as described above is received by the telephone set 13y and output from the speaker of the handset of the telephone set 13y. At this time, upon confirming that the ambiguous voice is output from the speaker of the handset, the superior B operates the operation unit 152 of the amplifier 15 and turns on the power of the amplification unit 151 of the amplifier 15. As a result, the ambiguous audio signal received by the telephone set 13y from the terminal device 12 is input to the amplifier 15, amplified by the amplifier 15, and then output to the speaker 16. Therefore, the superior B can hear the ambiguous voice from the speaker 16. The boss B monitors the ambiguous sound heard from the speaker 16 and operates the operation unit 152 of the amplifier 15 to adjust the volume of the ambiguous sound emitted from the speaker 16.

  When employee A and boss B complete the above operations, they place the handsets of telephone 13x and telephone 13y, respectively. In this case, since the terminal device 12 and the amplifier 15 in the power ON state are connected to the telephone set 13x and the telephone set 13y, the voice communication connection between the telephone set 13x and the telephone set 13y is not disconnected. Therefore, after that, until the employee A or the boss B operates the operation unit 122 or the operation unit 152 to turn off the power of the terminal device 12 or the amplifier 15, the sound is collected by the microphone 11 disposed in the home X. The ambiguous voice generated by the voice is always emitted from the speaker 16 arranged in the company Y.

  As described above, according to the communication system 1, the boss B can hear in real time the sound generated by the operation of the employee A at a remote location. As a result, the superior B can roughly know whether the employee A is currently working or sleeping. However, as a result of processing the audio signal by the audio processing unit 121 included in the terminal device 12, the voice of the employee A included in the living sound at home X is not pronounced in the company Y or even if it is partially pronounced. It is not clear enough to convey the content of the conversation that the voice shows. Therefore, the privacy of employee A will not be violated, and even if employee A has a conversation with someone, supervisor B will not interfere with his work due to the conversation between employee A and someone. There is no inconvenience such as being done.

  Hereinafter, as described above, communication that transmits a sound that is moderately obscured between a plurality of points distant from each other is referred to as “ambiguous communication”. Of the devices to be prepared by the user to realize ambiguous communication, devices other than the terminal device 12, that is, the microphone 11, the telephone set 13x, the telephone set 13y, the amplifier 15, and the speaker 16 are all already in a normal company or home. Or are readily available. Further, since the terminal device 12 is simply a combination of a filter having a simple structure, it can be manufactured at low cost. As a result, the user of the communication system 1 can perform ambiguous communication at low cost.

  Note that the communication system 1 requires long-time connection of a telephone line related to a voice call in order to perform ambiguous communication. Therefore, the communication system 1 is particularly practical when a public telephone line network in which a telephone line connection charge for voice calls is a flat rate system such as a fixed monthly charge can be used.

[2. Second Embodiment]
Since the second embodiment is similar in many respects to the first embodiment described above, only the differences of the second embodiment from the first embodiment will be described below. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the communication system 2 according to the second embodiment. In the communication system 2, the terminal device 12 is connected between the telephone 13y and the speaker 16 in the company Y, and the amplifier 15 is connected between the microphone 11 and the telephone 13x at home X.

  In the communication system 2, an audio signal indicating the life sound at home X is output from the telephone set 13x to the telephone set 13y. The voice signal received by the telephone 13y is processed by the terminal device 12 in the company Y and converted into an ambiguous voice signal. As a result, the voice emitted from the speaker 16 becomes an ambiguous voice as in the case of the first embodiment.

  According to the second embodiment, the person on the receiving side of the ambiguous communication can listen to the life sound of the home X indicated by the audio signal before being processed by the terminal device 12 at any time from the speaker of the handset of the telephone 13y. it can. Therefore, when a person on the receiving side of the ambiguous communication observes some abnormality on the transmitting side of the ambiguous communication, the situation on the transmitting side of the ambiguous communication can be immediately confirmed by a normal clear voice. In the second embodiment, for example, when a user living alone wants to monitor the state of his / her home away from the company, or when a family living away from the elderly living alone wants to monitor the state of his / her home It is particularly effective for such as.

[3. Third Embodiment]
Since the third embodiment is similar in many respects to the first embodiment described above, only the differences of the third embodiment from the first embodiment will be described below. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of the communication system 3 in the third embodiment. In the communication system 3, the terminal device 12 is connected both between the microphone 11 and the telephone 13 x at home X and between the telephone 13 y and the speaker 16 at company Y. Hereinafter, the terminal devices 12 arranged in the home X and the company Y are referred to as a terminal device 12x and a terminal device 12y, respectively.

The audio processing unit 121 of the terminal device 12x includes a combination in which, for example, the following filters are connected in series.
(A) A low-pass filter 1211 having a cutoff frequency of 400 Hz.
(B) A pitch shifter 1212 that generates a second overtone.
(C) Amplifying unit 1216x.

The voice processing unit 121 of the terminal device 12y includes a combination in which, for example, the following filters are connected in series.
(D) A pitch shifter 1214 that generates a ½ overtone.
(E) Noise reduction filter 1215.
(F) Amplifying unit 1216y.

  Note that the configuration of the above-described filter and the like is an example, and the audio processing unit 121 of the terminal device 12x and the terminal device 12y may include a combination in which various filters and the like are appropriately connected in series and in parallel.

  In the third embodiment, the terminal device 12x at home X takes out a sound signal indicating a life sound included in a frequency band of 400 Hz or less, shifts the extracted sound signal to one octave and a high-pitched sound side, The telephone 13x transmits to the telephone 13y. Therefore, for example, 400 Hz sound generated at home X is transmitted to the telephone set 13y as a sound signal converted to 800 Hz. The sound signal shifted to the high sound side in this way is shifted to the low sound side by one octave in the company Y by the terminal device 12y. As a result, the sound generated from the speaker 16 reproduces a part of the sound included in the frequency band of 400 Hz or less among the living sounds at home X. Since the noise reduction filter 1215 is provided in the terminal device 12y, the sound produced from the speaker 16 is a sound with less noise.

  According to the third embodiment, for example, when the frequency band of the audio signal that can pass through the public telephone line network 14 is limited, the reception side of the ambiguous communication has the same pitch as the transmission side. An audio signal in a frequency band that cannot pass through the public telephone line network 14 can be reproduced, and the noise reduction effect can be improved. Further, in each of the terminal device 12x and the terminal device 12y, by configuring the parameters such as the cut-off frequency and the width of the pitch shift by the operation unit 122, on the transmission side and the reception side of the ambiguous communication, The ambiguous voice signal output to the public telephone line network 14 and the ambiguous voice signal output to the speaker 16 can be adjusted according to the user's preference.

[4. Fourth Embodiment]
Since the fourth embodiment is similar in many respects to the first embodiment described above, only the differences of the fourth embodiment from the first embodiment will be described below. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of the communication system 4 in the fourth embodiment. In the communication system 4, a sensor 17 is connected to the terminal device 12 arranged at home X. The audio processing unit 121 provided in the terminal device 12 includes a switch for outputting the audio signal input from the microphone 11 to the amplification unit 1216, bypassing a filter or the like.

The sensor 17 is a sensor for detecting whether or not there is a resident at home X. For example, the sensor 17 is as follows.
(A) A sensor that includes a photodiode and outputs a signal while the intensity of light in the room at home X is equal to or greater than a predetermined value.
(B) A sensor that includes an ammeter or the like and outputs a signal while the current consumed at home X is equal to or greater than a predetermined value.
(C) A sensor that is installed in the key part of the door and outputs a signal while the key is released.

  The above-described sensor is an example, and various other sensors such as a sensor that outputs a signal while detecting the movement of a person or an object in the room at home X can be used. The sensor 17 may use either an analog circuit or a digital circuit.

  While receiving the signal from the sensor 17, the voice processing unit 121 processes the voice signal input from the microphone 11 into an ambiguous voice signal and outputs it to the telephone set 13x. On the other hand, while the audio processing unit 121 does not receive a signal from the sensor 17, the audio signal input from the microphone 11 is output to the telephone set 13 x only through the amplification unit 1216, bypassing the filter and the like.

  According to the fourth embodiment, in a situation where it is inferred that there is no user on the transmission side of the ambiguous communication, for example, when the indoor lighting of the home X is not turned on, it is normal between the telephone set 13x and the telephone set 13y. Voice communication. As a result, the user can monitor the state of the communication transmission side by using ambiguous communication when someone is on the communication transmission side, and by normal voice when there is no one on the communication transmission side. .

[5. Fifth Embodiment]
Since the fifth embodiment is common in many respects to the first embodiment described above, only the differences of the fifth embodiment from the first embodiment will be described below. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the communication system 5 according to the fifth embodiment. In the communication system 5, the time measuring unit 123 is provided in the terminal device 12 disposed in the home X. A sensor 17 is disposed at home X, and the sensor 17 is connected to the telephone set 13x. In the terminal device 12, the sensor 17 is also connected to the sound processing unit 121 via the time measuring unit 123. Furthermore, the telephone set 13x has an auto dial function.

  The sensor 17 is the same sensor as that in the fourth embodiment. When the signal from the sensor 17 changes from the OFF state to the ON state, the telephone set 13x automatically dials the telephone number of the company Y. As a result, a voice communication connection is established between the telephone set 13x and the telephone set 13y. On the other hand, the voice processing unit 121 of the terminal device 12 turns on the power of the voice processing unit 121 when the signal received from the sensor 17 via the time measuring unit 123 changes from the OFF state to the ON state. As a result, ambiguous communication is started between the home X and the company Y.

  When the signal received from the sensor 17 changes from ON to OFF, the time measuring unit 123 initializes the time value to 0 and restarts time measurement. When the time value reaches a predetermined value, the time measuring unit 123 outputs a communication end signal to the sound processing unit 121. When the voice processing unit 121 receives a communication end signal from the time measuring unit 123, the voice processing unit 121 turns off the power of the voice processing unit 121. As a result, the voice communication connection established between the telephone set 13x and the telephone set 13y is disconnected.

  According to the fifth embodiment, in a situation where it is assumed that the employee A is not at home X or is sleeping, for example, a predetermined time has elapsed since the lighting in the room at home X is turned off, The ambiguous communication is disconnected. As a result, when the communication fee using the public telephone line network 14 increases according to the connection time of the voice communication connection, it is possible to reduce the communication fee related to the time when the ambiguous communication is not required.

[6. Sixth Embodiment]
Since the sixth embodiment is common in many respects to the first embodiment described above, only the differences of the sixth embodiment from the first embodiment will be described below. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of the communication system 6 in the sixth embodiment. In the communication system 6, the microphone 11 and the terminal device 12 that are components on the transmission side of the ambiguous communication and the amplifier 15 and the speaker 16 that are components on the reception side of the ambiguous communication are arranged in both the home X and the company Y. Has been. Hereinafter, “x” or “y” is appended to the names of these components to distinguish the same types of components arranged at home X and company Y.

  In the sixth embodiment, the living sound at home X is converted into an ambiguous voice signal at the terminal device 12x, and the ambiguous voice is pronounced at the company Y from the speaker 16y. Moreover, the life sound in the company Y is converted into an ambiguous voice signal in the terminal device 12y, and the ambiguous voice is pronounced from the speaker 16x in the home X. As a result, two-way ambiguous communication is realized between the home X and the company Y.

[7. Seventh Embodiment]
Since the seventh embodiment is common in many respects to the sixth embodiment described above, only the differences of the seventh embodiment from the sixth embodiment will be described below. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the configuration of the communication system 7 in the seventh embodiment. In the communication system 7, ambiguous communication is performed between the home X and the home Y and between the home X and the home Z and between the company Y and the home Z. For example, home Z is the home of employee C who is working from home like employee A.

  Two telephones 13 are disposed at each of the home X, the company Y, and the home Z. A mixer 18 is disposed in each of the home X, the company Y, and the home Z. Hereinafter, “x”, “y”, or “z” is appended to the names of these components to distinguish the same types of components arranged in the home X, the company Y, and the home Z. Further, for the purpose of distinguishing the two telephones 13 arranged in each of the home X, the company Y, and the home Z, “1” or “2” is further added after “x”, “y”, or “z”. wear.

  Each voice input unit of the telephone 13 is connected to the terminal device 12. Each audio output unit of the telephone 13 is connected to a mixer 18. The mixer 18 includes a plurality of sound input units and one sound output unit, adds a plurality of sound signals input via the sound input unit, and outputs a sound signal obtained by the addition from the sound output unit. is there. An amplifier 15 is connected to the audio output unit of the mixer 18.

  Each of the telephones 13 can establish a voice communication connection with a telephone 13 that is arbitrarily located elsewhere. Hereinafter, as an example, it is assumed that voice communication connections are established between the telephone set 13x1 and the telephone set 13z2, between the telephone set 13x2 and the telephone set 13y1, and between the telephone set 13y2 and the telephone set 13z1, respectively. In this case, for example, at home X, an ambiguous audio signal received from home Z is output from the audio output unit of telephone 13x1, and an ambiguous audio signal received from company Y is output from the audio output unit of telephone 13x2.

  In this way, the ambiguous audio signals output from the two telephone sets 13x are added by the mixer 18x and output to the amplifier 15x. As a result, the speaker 16x produces ambiguous voices that convey the appearance of both the home Z and the company Y. Similarly, in company Y, ambiguous voices that convey the appearance of both home X and home Z are pronounced, and in home Z, ambiguous voices that convey the appearance of both home X and company Y are pronounced.

  In the seventh embodiment, the place where ambiguous communication is performed is not limited to three places, and may be four or more places. In that case, it is possible to arbitrarily select at which combination of places the ambiguous communication is performed. Each of the ambiguous communications may be bidirectional or unidirectional. According to the seventh embodiment, the user can simultaneously monitor the state of a plurality of remote locations with ambiguous voice.

[8. Eighth Embodiment]
[8.1. Configuration of communication system]
In the first to seventh embodiments described above, the audio information transmitted from the transmission side to the reception side in the ambiguous communication mainly takes the form of an analog audio signal. On the other hand, in the eighth embodiment described below, the audio information transmitted from the transmission side of the ambiguous communication to the reception side mainly takes the form of digital audio data.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the configuration of the communication system 8 in the second embodiment of the present invention. In the communication system 8, first, a set of a terminal device 21, a digital subscriber line (DSL) modem 22, and a splitter 23 is arranged in each of the home X and the company Y, which are the homes of the employee A. Connected in order. Hereinafter, when it is necessary to distinguish the same type of components arranged in the home X and the company Y, “x” or “y” is appended to the component name, respectively. In addition to the DSL modem 22, a telephone set 13 is connected to the splitter 23.

  The terminal device 21 includes a microphone, an A / D converter, a D / A converter, an amplifier, a speaker, and the like. After converting an audio signal obtained via the microphone into audio data via the A / D converter, the audio data Is a device that generates voice data indicating ambiguous voice (hereinafter referred to as “fuzzy voice data”). In addition, the terminal device 21 can transmit and receive packet data to and from other communication devices via the data communication network.

  The terminal device 21 can also be realized by causing a general-purpose computer to perform processing according to a specific program. In the following description, the terminal device 21 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), an HD (Hard Disk), a display unit, and an operation unit. It is realized by causing a general-purpose computer having an NW (Network) input / output unit, a microphone, an A / D converter, a D / A converter, an amplifier, and a speaker to execute a program for a terminal device of the communication system 8. .

  Note that the general-purpose computer for realizing the terminal device 21 may be connected to a microphone, an amplifier, and the like via an audio signal input / output interface instead of including a microphone, an amplifier, a speaker, and the like. In addition, the general-purpose computer for realizing the terminal device 21 does not include an A / D converter, a D / A converter, or the like, but a digital microphone incorporating an A / D converter via an audio data input / output interface, You may connect with the digital amplifier etc. which incorporated the D / A converter.

  The DSL modem 22 is a device that receives an analog signal from the splitter 23 and converts the received analog signal into digital data. The splitter 23 is connected to the Internet 27 via the public telephone line network 14. The splitter 23 receives an analog signal from the public telephone network 14 and separates the received analog signal into a low frequency band signal and a high frequency band signal. Here, the analog signal included in the low frequency band indicates voice. An analog signal included in the high frequency band indicates data. The splitter 23 outputs an analog signal indicating voice to the telephone set 13 and an analog signal indicating data to the DSL modem 22. The splitter 23 receives a low-frequency band analog signal indicating voice from the telephone set 13, and also receives a high-frequency band analog signal indicating data from the DSL modem 22, adds them together, and sends them to the public telephone line network 14. Output.

  The Internet 27 is a group of communication networks connected to each other by the Internet protocol. The Internet 27 includes a general gateway server 25x and a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) gateway server 26x capable of communication connection with the splitter 23x, and a general gateway server 25y and VoIP gateway server 26y capable of communication connection with the splitter 23y. ing.

  The general gateway server 25 and the VoIP gateway server 26 are devices that perform communication protocol conversion and data relay when the terminal device 21 transmits / receives data to / from other communication devices via the Internet 27. In this embodiment, the general gateway server 25 is a gateway server that relays control data such as a volume change instruction between the terminal device 21x and the terminal device 21y when it is transmitted and received. . The VoIP gateway server 26 is a gateway server that relays voice data when packet data including voice data is transmitted and received between the terminal device 21x and the terminal device 21y. In the following description, it is assumed that the voice data included in the packet data relayed by the VoIP gateway server 26 is, for example, uncompressed PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) data having a sampling frequency of 8 kHz and a quantization bit number of 8.

  In the following description, the communication system 8 realizes the second embodiment by transmitting and receiving digital data communication as packet data using the DSL technology via the Internet as described above. The communication system 8 may be configured to perform other forms of digital data communication. For example, the communication system 8 may have a configuration in which the terminal device 21x and the terminal device 21y are connected to each other via a dedicated line. Furthermore, in the following description, the components of the communication system 8 are all connected by wire, but some or all of the components of the communication system 8 may be wirelessly connected.

[8.2. Operation of communication system]
When the employee A and the supervisor B use the communication system 8, they operate the terminal device 21x or the terminal device 21y to establish a voice communication connection via the VoIP gateway server 26x and the VoIP gateway server 26y. The operation of establishing a voice communication connection by transmitting and receiving packet data between the terminal device 21x and the terminal device 21y is based on a normal VoIP technology, and thus description thereof is omitted.

  Subsequently, the employee A operates the operation unit of the terminal device 21x to start processing of voice data (hereinafter referred to as “transmission voice data”) that is transmitted from the terminal device 21x as packet data. Instruct the device 21x. The terminal device 21x performs processing such as filtering provided in the voice processing unit 121 illustrated in FIG. 1 on voice data obtained via the microphone and the A / D converter in accordance with an instruction to start the processing by the employee A. By performing the same processing, ambiguous voice data is generated. However, the terminal device 21x realizes an IIR (Infinite Impulse Response) type filter or an FIR (Finite Impulse Response) type filter by causing the DSP to perform predetermined data processing instead of using an analog circuit filter or the like. An amplification unit is realized by increasing or decreasing the value of PCM data.

  As a result of the processing of the terminal device 21x as described above, the ambiguous voice data is transmitted from the terminal device 21x to the terminal device 21y, and the ambiguous voice is pronounced from the speaker of the terminal device 21y. As a result, similarly to the first embodiment, ambiguous communication is realized with home X as the transmission side and company Y as the reception side. According to the eighth embodiment, it is possible to monitor the situation in a remote place without infringing on the privacy of a person in the remote place by using a general-purpose computer or the like normally possessed by a general household or company. Become.

  By the way, in the eighth embodiment, when the boss B operates the terminal device 21y in the company Y, the start and end of the processing of the voice data with respect to the terminal device 21x arranged at the home X, or the processing of the voice data It is possible to instruct the change of various parameters used for. The boss B gives an instruction to end the processing of the audio data, for example, using the operation unit of the terminal device 21y while the ambiguous communication is being performed. The terminal device 21y generates data (hereinafter referred to as “end data”) instructing the end of processing of the voice data in response to an operation by the superior B, and transmits the end data to the terminal device 21x. The end data is transmitted to the terminal device 21x via the general gateway server 25. When the terminal device 21x receives the end data, the terminal device 21x stops the processing of the sound data by the filter processing or the like performed so far, and thereafter transmits the unprocessed sound data to the terminal device 21y. As a result, the ambiguous communication in which the home X is the transmitting side and the company Y is the receiving side is stopped, and normal voice communication between the home X and the company Y is started. Similarly, the supervisor B can instruct the terminal device 21x to start processing audio data and change parameters used for processing the audio data, for example, a cut-off frequency of the low-pass filter.

[8.3. Modified example]
The eighth embodiment described above can be variously modified as exemplified below within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention. First, by adding necessary modifications to the communication system 8 of the eighth embodiment, it is possible to realize a communication system having the same functions as the communication systems of the second to seventh embodiments described above.

  For example, the terminal device 21x does not process the voice data by a filter or the like, but causes the terminal device 21y to process the received voice data (hereinafter referred to as “received voice data”). A communication system having the same function as that of the communication system 2 can be realized. Further, by causing both the terminal device 21x and the terminal device 21y to process audio data, a communication system having the same function as the communication system 3 of the third embodiment can be realized.

  In addition, a sensor similar to the sensor 17 is connected to the terminal device 21x, and whether or not the voice data is processed in the terminal device 21x according to a signal input from the sensor, or the telephone number of the company Y is changed. By performing the dial process, a communication system similar to the communication system 4 or the communication system 5 of the fourth embodiment or the fifth embodiment can be realized. Further, the terminal device 21x is made to process the sound data indicating the life sound at home X, and the terminal device 21y is processed to the sound data indicating the life sound in the company Y, and the ambiguous sound data after the processing is respectively processed. A communication system similar to the communication system 6 of the sixth embodiment can be realized by transmitting the packet data.

  In addition, by establishing a voice communication connection via the VoIP gateway server 26 with other terminal devices in the terminal device 21x and the terminal device 21y, a communication system similar to the communication system 7 of the seventh embodiment is provided. Can be realized.

[9. Ninth Embodiment]
Since the ninth embodiment is common in many respects to the above-described eighth embodiment, only the differences of the ninth embodiment from the eighth embodiment will be described below. In the ninth embodiment, the terminal device 21 that processes audio data generates ambiguous audio data by lowering the sampling frequency of the unprocessed audio data. For example, assuming that the terminal device 21x arranged on the communication transmission side is a terminal device that processes audio data, the terminal device 21x is data corresponding to each sampling included in the audio data (hereinafter referred to as “sample data”). ) Are extracted every several pieces, and the extracted data is transmitted as audio data to the terminal device 21y without being processed by filter processing or the like.

  For example, if the sampling frequency of raw audio data is 8 kHz and the terminal device 21x extracts sample data for every 10 pieces, the audio data that is a sequence of extracted sample data is audio data with a sampling frequency of 800 Hz. Become. Due to the downsampling from 8 kHz to 800 Hz, aliasing noise is generated due to the half of the sampling frequency of 800 Hz, that is, the spectrum in the frequency band higher than 400 Hz, among the spectrum included in the original audio data. An ambiguous voice far from the voice is obtained and pronounced from the speaker of the terminal device 21y. According to the ninth embodiment, the terminal device 21x can generate ambiguous voice data more easily than performing filter processing or the like. Furthermore, according to the ninth embodiment, the amount of audio data transmitted and received in ambiguous communication is reduced.

[10. Tenth Embodiment]
Since the tenth embodiment is common in many respects to the above-described eighth embodiment, only the differences between the tenth embodiment and the eighth embodiment will be described below. In the tenth embodiment, the terminal device 21 that processes audio data generates ambiguous audio data by lowering the number of quantization bits of the unprocessed audio data. For example, if the terminal device 21x arranged on the communication transmission side is a terminal device that processes audio data, the terminal device 21x obtains 4 bits from the MSB (Most Significant Bit) side of each sample data included in the audio data. The extracted data is transmitted as audio data to the terminal device 21y without being processed by a filter or the like.

  As described above, since the audio data having the quantization bit number of 4 has a very narrow dynamic range, the audio waveform can only be roughly reproduced. Therefore, the sound produced from the speaker of the terminal device 21y is an ambiguous sound. According to the tenth embodiment, similarly to the ninth embodiment, the terminal device 21x can generate ambiguous voice data more easily than performing a filtering process or the like. Furthermore, according to the tenth embodiment, the amount of audio data transmitted and received in ambiguous communication is reduced.

[11. Eleventh Embodiment]
Since the eleventh embodiment is common in many respects to the above-described eighth embodiment, only the differences between the eleventh embodiment and the eighth embodiment will be described below. In the eleventh embodiment, the terminal device 21 that processes voice data generates ambiguous voice data by performing processing that removes only human voice from the voice data.

  For example, assuming that the terminal device 21x arranged on the communication transmission side is a terminal device that processes audio data, the HD of the terminal device 21x has each of the spectral components of each phoneme pronounced in advance by a plurality of people. Data indicating an average value (hereinafter referred to as “reference spectrum data”) is stored. The terminal device 21x sequentially selects raw audio data obtained via the microphone and the A / D converter in units of time of, for example, 10 milliseconds, and data indicating the spectrum components of the selected audio data (hereinafter, “target” Spectral data ”).

  Subsequently, the terminal device 21x calculates, for example, a correlation coefficient as an index indicating the degree of similarity between the target spectrum data and the reference spectrum data corresponding to each phoneme, and whether or not the calculated correlation coefficient exceeds a predetermined value. Determine. The predetermined value is a numerical value in the range of 0 to 1, and is smaller than a correlation coefficient calculated using target spectrum data generated from audio data including a human voice, and does not include a human voice. The value is adjusted to be larger than the correlation coefficient calculated using the target spectrum data generated from the data.

  In the above determination, when the correlation coefficient between the target spectrum data and the reference spectrum data corresponding to any phoneme exceeds a predetermined value, the terminal device 21x subtracts the reference spectrum data from the target spectrum data and obtains the result. Audio data is generated by superimposing the spectral components to be generated, and the generated audio data is transmitted to the terminal device 21y. On the other hand, if the correlation coefficient between the target spectrum data and the reference spectrum data does not exceed a predetermined value with respect to the reference spectrum data corresponding to any phoneme, the terminal device 21x keeps the previously selected voice data as it is. To 21y.

  The voice data transmitted from the terminal device 21x to the terminal device 21y by the above processing is a voice obtained by removing a voice component pronounced by a standard human being from a part including a human voice in the raw voice. Is ambiguous voice data. Note that the method of specifying and removing the voice data of the voice part including the human voice by the terminal device 21x is not limited to the method of comparing the spectral component of the phoneme unit with the spectral component of the target voice data, for example, independent component analysis Other techniques may be used, such as a blind source separation technique.

  Further, the reference spectrum data may be generated from a sound pronounced by a specific person instead of being generated from a sound pronounced by a plurality of persons. In this case, the speaker on the communication receiving side produces an ambiguous sound obtained by removing only the voice component pronounced by a specific person from the life sound on the communication transmitting side.

  According to the eleventh embodiment, all human voices emitted on the transmission side of the ambiguous communication or life sounds other than the specific human voice are clearly transmitted to the reception side. It is possible to know the state of the transmitting side.

[12. 12th Embodiment]
Since the twelfth embodiment is common in many respects to the eighth embodiment described above, only the differences of the twelfth embodiment from the eighth embodiment will be described below. In the twelfth embodiment, the terminal device 21 that processes audio data performs a process that does not convert the specific sound into ambiguous sound for the sound data including the specific sound.

  For example, if the terminal device 21x arranged on the communication transmission side is a terminal device that processes audio data, the HD of the terminal device 21x stores, for example, every 10 milliseconds of audio that is not desired to be processed into ambiguous audio in advance. Data indicating the respective spectral components divided into two is stored as reference spectral data. There are various types of voices that you do not want to make ambiguous voices, such as a voice calling "Ooi", an infant cry, a door phone or warning buzzer, or a door opening / closing sound.

  As in the case of the eleventh embodiment, the terminal device 21x sequentially selects raw audio data in units of time of, for example, 10 milliseconds, and selects data indicating spectral components of the selected audio data, that is, target spectrum data. Generate. Subsequently, the terminal device 21x performs determination using the same correlation coefficient as in the eleventh embodiment between the reference spectrum data and the target spectrum data.

  In the above determination, when the correlation coefficient between the target spectrum data and any of the reference spectrum data exceeds a predetermined value, the terminal device 21x transmits the previously selected voice data to the terminal device 21y as it is. On the other hand, if the correlation coefficient between the target spectrum data and the reference spectrum data does not exceed a predetermined value for any reference spectrum data, the terminal device 21x converts the previously selected audio data into ambiguous audio data by filtering or the like. It is processed and transmitted to the terminal device 21y.

  The audio data transmitted from the terminal device 21x to the terminal device 21y by the process as described above is ambiguous audio data indicating unprocessed audio only for a part including a specific audio. Therefore, a person on the receiving side of a communication may receive a specific voice on the transmitting side of the communication while performing ambiguous communication, for example, if a child makes a cry or if there is nobody in the room When an opening / closing sound is heard, the abnormality on the transmission side can be easily known by clearly listening to the sound.

  When the correlation coefficient between the reference spectrum data and the target spectrum data exceeds a predetermined value, the terminal device 21x does not process all the audio data for a certain period of time or until the user gives an instruction. You may make it transmit to the terminal device 21y as it is. In this case, for example, a person on the transmission side of the communication can cancel the ambiguous communication and start normal voice communication without performing other operations by calling “Ooi” or the like. Also, even when there is a door opening / closing sound on the sending side of a communication that nobody should have, the ambiguous communication is canceled for a while, so the person on the receiving side of the communication will be more aware of abnormalities on the sending side, etc. It can be easily confirmed.

  In addition, the method of specifying the audio | voice data of the audio | voice part containing the audio | voice which the terminal device 21x does not want to make ambiguous audio | voice compares the spectrum component of the audio | voice data used as the reference | standard for unit time with the spectrum component of the audio | voice data used as object. However, other voice recognition techniques may be used. Further, the terminal device 21x performs the processing on the audio data of the audio portion including the specific sound in order not to make the specific sound ambiguous, but the processing method may be different. For example, the terminal device 21x separates a voice component that is not desired to be ambiguous voice from the voice data by a blind sound source separation method using an independent component analysis technique, and does not perform processing on the voice component that is not desired to be ambiguous voice. A method of processing other audio components and adding the audio data can be considered.

[13. 13th Embodiment]
Since the thirteenth embodiment is common in many respects to the eighth embodiment described above, only the differences of the thirteenth embodiment from the eighth embodiment will be described below. In the thirteenth embodiment, the terminal device 21 that processes audio data converts the life sound on the transmission side of communication into audio data indicating a comfortable sound.

  For example, if the terminal device 21x arranged on the communication transmission side is a terminal device that processes audio data, the HD of the terminal device 21x feels pleasant for humans, such as wind chimes, water murmurs, and birds chirping in advance. The sound data indicating the sound to be played (hereinafter referred to as “background sound data”) is stored for one minute, for example. Each of the background audio data is subjected to level adjustment or the like by a process such as cross fading so that a click sound is not generated when the first part and the last part are connected and reproduced.

  The terminal device 21x first stores raw audio data for a certain time, for example, 1 second, obtained via the microphone and the A / D converter in the RAM, and data indicating the volume of the stored audio data, for example, audio The average value of the absolute values of the sample data included in the data is calculated. Subsequently, the terminal device 21x sequentially selects sample data included in the background audio data, and adjusts a value corresponding to data indicating the previously calculated volume (hereinafter referred to as “volume data”) for the selected sample data. Add the process. If the volume data is in the range of 0 to 127, the terminal device 21x calculates, for example, (sample data) × (volume data) × 50/127, and sets the result as new sample data.

  The column of sample data calculated in this way is audio data indicating a sound such as a wind chime whose volume is adjusted in a range of 0% to 50% in units of one second according to the volume data. The terminal device 21x transmits the voice data generated as described above to the terminal device 21y. As a result, from the speaker of the terminal device 21y, a sound such as a wind chime having a volume corresponding to the volume of the living sound on the communication transmission side is generated. The sound such as a wind chime so pronounced is an ambiguous voice that transmits only the information related to the volume to the reception side of the communication among the information included in the life sound on the transmission side of the communication. Note that the method of processing the background audio data by the terminal device 21x is not limited to the method of adjusting the volume according to the volume of the living sound on the communication transmission side. For example, the terminal device 21x may adjust the pitch of the background audio data according to the pitch of the living sound.

  Note that the terminal device 21x may acquire and use background audio data from a server via the Internet 27, for example, instead of using background audio data stored in advance in HD. Further, the terminal device 21x may receive in real time information of sound recorded at completely different points such as a wave sound that is always recorded on an uninhabited island, and use the information as background audio data. Good. If the terminal device 21x is configured to acquire background audio data from an external device as described above, ambiguous communication using long-time background audio data or background audio data with no time limit is easily realized.

  According to the thirteenth embodiment, even if the living sound on the communication transmission side includes unpleasant noise, the person on the communication reception side can comfortably use the ambiguous communication.

[14. 14th Embodiment]
Since the fourteenth embodiment is common in many respects to the eighth embodiment described above, only the differences of the fourteenth embodiment from the eighth embodiment will be described below. In the fourteenth embodiment, the terminal device 21 that processes voice data converts the life sound on the transmission side of communication into voice data indicating a comfortable sound, as in the thirteenth embodiment. However, in the fourteenth embodiment, performance data for instructing the pronunciation of a musical sound is used when converting voice data into ambiguous voice data. In the following description, the case where the fourteenth embodiment is performed using performance data (hereinafter referred to as “MIDI data”) in accordance with the MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) standard will be described as an example. The format is not limited to that according to the MIDI standard.

  For example, assuming that the terminal device 21x arranged on the communication transmission side is a terminal device that processes voice data, the HD of the terminal device 21x has voice data (hereinafter referred to as "musical sound") indicating a musical sound such as a harp or a handbell in advance. Data ") is stored for each pitch. Each of the musical tone data is associated with a program number that designates a tone color with a numerical value of 0 to 127 and a note number that designates a pitch with a numerical value of 0 to 127. The HD of the terminal device 21x stores, for example, data indicating the spectrum component of the musical tone data corresponding to “C” in the middle tone portion for each tone color such as a harp or a hand bell as reference spectrum data.

  The terminal device 21x first stores raw audio data for a fixed time, for example, 10 milliseconds, obtained through the microphone and the A / D converter in the RAM, and data indicating the volume of the stored audio data, for example, The average value of the absolute values of the sample data included in the audio data is sequentially calculated. Subsequently, the terminal device 21x performs a differentiation process or the like on a column of data indicating the previously calculated volume (hereinafter referred to as “volume data”), and the timing at which the value of the volume data rapidly increases (hereinafter referred to as “sound generation”). (Referred to as “timing”) and the timing at which the value of the volume data becomes equal to or less than a predetermined value (hereinafter referred to as “silence timing”). The terminal device 21x specifies the corresponding velocity in the MIDI data based on the volume data corresponding to the sound generation timing. The velocity is data that designates the volume with a numerical value of 0 to 127. For example, when the number of quantization bits of the raw audio data is 8, the volume data that is the average of the absolute values of the sample data takes a value of 0 to 127. Is the velocity as it is.

  Subsequently, the terminal device 21x selects a corresponding portion between the sound generation timing and the mute timing from the raw audio data, and calculates the spectrum component of the selected audio data. The terminal device 21x specifies the note number corresponding to the frequency at which the calculated amplitude value of the spectral component is maximum. For example, if the frequency at which the amplitude value of the spectral component is maximum is around 440 kHz, the terminal device 21x sets 69 indicating “A” in the middle sound portion as the note number.

  Subsequently, the terminal device 21x indicates, for each of the reference spectrum data stored in the HD, the similarity between the spectrum component related to the sound data between the previously calculated sounding timing and the mute timing and the reference spectrum data. As an index, for example, a correlation coefficient is calculated. The terminal device 21x specifies the program number of the musical sound data corresponding to the reference spectrum data that maximizes the calculated correlation coefficient.

  The terminal device 21x uses the velocity and note number specified as described above to generate a note-on message that is MIDI data instructing the pronunciation of a musical sound. Further, the terminal device 21x generates a program change message that is MIDI data for designating a timbre, using the program number specified as described above.

  The terminal device 21x receives from the HD the musical tone data associated with the program number included in the program change message generated as described above and associated with the note number included in the note-on message generated as described above. select. Subsequently, the terminal device 21x performs a volume adjustment process according to the velocity included in the note-on message. That is, the terminal device 21x calculates (sample data) × (velocity) × 50/127, for example, for each sample data included in the selected musical sound data, and sets the result as new sample data.

  The terminal device 21x transmits the sequence of sample data obtained by the above processing to the terminal device 21y as audio data. As a result, different tones of musical tones are generated from the speaker of the terminal device 21y with different volumes and pitches at various timings in accordance with changes in living sounds on the communication transmission side. The musical sound thus generated is an ambiguous voice that transmits only information related to volume, pitch, and sound quality to the receiving side of the communication among the information included in the life sound on the transmitting side of the communication.

  Note that the selection method of the musical sound data transmitted from the terminal device 21x to the terminal device 21y, the determination method of the transmission timing of the musical sound data, and the method of adjusting the volume of the musical sound data are not limited to the above methods. For example, the terminal device 21x transmits musical tone data to the terminal device 21y at a timing when the pitch of the living sound suddenly changes, or transmits musical tone data of a different tone depending on the volume to the terminal device 21y. Also good.

  According to the fourteenth embodiment, as in the case of the thirteenth embodiment, even if the living sound on the communication transmission side contains unpleasant noise, the person on the communication reception side can comfortably carry out ambiguous communication. Can be used.

  As another embodiment of the fourteenth embodiment, the terminal device 21y on the communication receiving side stores musical tone data in the HD, and based on performance data generated by the terminal device 21x on the communication transmitting side. Thus, the terminal device 21y may reproduce the musical sound data. In that case, the data transmitted from the terminal device 21x to the terminal device 21y is only performance data, and the amount of data transmitted and received between the terminal device 21x and the terminal device 21y is reduced.

[15. Fifteenth embodiment]
Since the fifteenth embodiment is common in many respects to the eighth embodiment described above, only the differences of the fifteenth embodiment from the eighth embodiment will be described below. In the fifteenth embodiment, the voice data is not processed in the terminal device 21 arranged on the transmission side and the reception side of the communication, and the voice data is processed by the voice processing server arranged in the Internet 27. .

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a communication system 9 in the fifteenth embodiment. In the communication system 9, in addition to the components of the communication system 8 in the eighth embodiment, a voice processing server 31 is provided between the general gateway server 25x and the VoIP gateway server 26x and the general gateway server 25y and the VoIP gateway server 26y. Is provided.

  The voice processing server 31 is a device capable of processing voice data and transmitting and receiving packet data between the general gateway server 25 and the VoIP gateway server 26. The voice processing server 31 can also be realized by causing a general-purpose computer to perform processing according to a specific program. In the following description, the voice processing server 31 causes a general-purpose computer having a CPU, DSP, ROM, RAM, HD, display unit, operation unit, and NW input / output unit to execute a program for the voice processing server of the communication system 9. To be realized.

  The terminal device 21x transmits the audio data obtained through the microphone and the A / D converter to the terminal device 21y without being processed. The voice data transmitted from the terminal device 21 x is received by the VoIP gateway server 26 x and transferred to the voice processing server 31. When the voice processing server 31 receives the voice data transferred from the VoIP gateway server 26x, the voice processing server 31 performs the same processing as the voice data processing performed by the terminal device 21x in the eighth embodiment described above, and generates ambiguous voice data. . The voice processing server 31 transmits the generated ambiguous voice data to the terminal device 21y. The ambiguous voice data transmitted from the voice processing server 31 is transmitted to the terminal device 21y via the VoIP gateway server 26y. As a result, an ambiguous voice is pronounced from the speaker of the terminal device 21y.

  According to the fifteenth embodiment, the user can use ambiguous communication by using a terminal device normally used for voice communication using the VoIP technology without any particular change.

It is the figure which showed the structure of the communication system in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the structure of the communication system in 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the structure of the communication system in 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the structure of the communication system in 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the structure of the communication system in 5th Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the structure of the communication system in 6th Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the structure of the communication system in 7th Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the structure of the communication system in 8th Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the structure of the communication system in 15th Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Microphone, 12.21 ... Terminal device, 13 ... Telephone, 14 ... Public telephone network, 15 ... Amplifier, 16 ... Speaker, 17 ... Sensor, 18 ... Mixer, 22 ... DSL modem, 23 ... Splitter, 25 ... General Gateway server, 26 ... VoIP gateway server, 27 ... Internet, 31 ... Audio processing server, 121 ... Audio processing unit, 122/152 ... Operation unit, 123 ... Timekeeping unit, 151/1216 ... Amplification unit, 1211 ... Low pass filter, 1212 1214: Pitch shifter, 1215: Noise reduction filter, 1213: High pass filter.

Claims (9)

Sound information generating means for generating sound information based on the first sound collected at the first place and first information for transmitting the sound information generated by the sound information generating means. A first communication device comprising a transmission means;
A first receiving means disposed at a second location different from the first location and receiving sound information from the first communication device via a communication line; and a second receiving means based on the received sound information. A second communication device comprising at least output means for generating and outputting sound;
Sound information that is provided in any one of the first communication device, the second communication device, and the information processing device provided in the communication line, and represents sound different from the sound information. And a fuzzy sound generating means for generating fuzzy sound information by performing a process of converting into a fuzzy sound.   The ambiguous sound generation means has an acquisition means for acquiring sound information representing a sound different from the sound information, and according to the volume of the sound information input by the input means for the acquired sound information. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the ambiguous sound information is generated by performing a process of adjusting the pitch according to a volume or a pitch.   The ambiguous sound generating means comprises feature specifying means for analyzing a feature of the sound information and specifying at least one of a volume, a pitch, and a timbre based on the analyzed feature. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the ambiguous sound information is generated by synthesizing sound according to a result specified by the means. The first communication device analyzes the feature of the sound information generated by the sound information generation unit, and specifies at least one of volume, pitch, and timbre based on the analyzed feature Means, and a specified result transmitting means for transmitting the result specified by the feature specifying means,
The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the ambiguous sound generating unit generates the ambiguous sound information by synthesizing a sound according to a result transmitted by the specific result transmitting unit. An input means for inputting sound information;
Generating means for generating ambiguous sound information by performing processing for converting the sound information input by the input means into sound information representing sound different from the sound information;
Output means for outputting the ambiguous sound information generated by the generating means,
Furthermore, at least a receiving unit that receives sound information from another communication device and outputs the sound information to the input unit, and a transmission unit that transmits the ambiguous sound information output by the output unit to the other communication device. A communication device comprising one side.   The generation means includes an acquisition means for acquiring sound information representing a sound different from the sound information input by the input means, and for the acquired sound information, the sound information input by the input means The communication apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the ambiguous sound information is generated by performing a process of adjusting to a sound volume corresponding to a sound volume or a sound pitch corresponding to a pitch.   The generation means analyzes the characteristics of the sound information input by the input means, specifies at least one of volume, pitch, and timbre based on the analyzed characteristics, and produces the specified result. 6. The communication apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the ambiguous sound information is generated by synthesizing sound accordingly.   The generation means receives at least one of a volume, a pitch, and a timbre specified based on characteristics obtained by analyzing the sound information together with the sound information input by the input means as a specification result. 6. The communication apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the ambiguous sound information is generated by synthesizing a sound in accordance with the specified result. Input processing to input sound information;
Generation processing for generating ambiguous sound information by performing processing for converting sound information input in the input processing into sound information representing sound different from the sound information;
Causing the computer to execute output processing for outputting the ambiguous sound information generated by the generation processing,
Further, at least one of reception processing for receiving sound information used in the input processing from another communication device and transmission processing for transmitting ambiguous sound information output in the output processing to another communication device is transmitted to the computer. A program characterized by being executed.

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