JP7476651B2 - Information processing device, information processing system, information processing method, and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing device, an information processing system, an information processing method, and a program.

Support servers have been available in the past that efficiently share information created during collaborative work such as meetings among the parties who should share the information. Conventional support servers that support collaborative work extract candidates for collaborative work spaces that are related to a valid user who has performed a login process (login user) and other users who are in the same location as the login user (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

With the recent spread of cloud computing, users can now use sites (sharing sites) such as SharePoint (registered trademark), which allows multiple users to share files and work in groups more efficiently. In addition, multiple users can easily view files later by sending the URL of the file saved on a sharing site to multiple users via email. Furthermore, sharing sites are often created for specific purposes. Therefore, deliverables for the same purpose can be shared by multiple users by saving them on the same sharing site.

However, in information processing devices that are shared by multiple users, such as electronic whiteboard devices (interactive whiteboards: IWBs), it can be time-consuming to register the information required to identify users who share a shared site. Patent Document 1 does not eliminate the time and effort required to register the information required to identify users who share a shared site.

The object of the embodiment of the present invention is to provide an information processing device that can reduce the effort required to identify users who share a shared site.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, claim 1 of the present application is an information processing device shared and used by a plurality of users, comprising: a participant management means for managing users detected by a detection means for detecting users as participants; and a shared site management means for having the detected users select a shared site and proposing candidate participants to be managed by the participant management means based on the selected shared site, wherein the shared site management means identifies the proposed candidate participants based on information stored in association between the selected shared site and the participants in the information processing device, compares the number of participants managed by the participant management means with the number of participants stored in association with the selected shared site, and if the number of participants managed by the participant management means is less than the number of participants stored in association with the selected shared site, proposes the candidate participants .

According to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the effort required to identify users who share a shared site.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a computer according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an example of an electronic whiteboard device according to the present embodiment. 1 is a functional configuration diagram of an example of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of account information. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a user information list. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of external service setting information. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a participant management information list. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of electronic whiteboard usage information. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of electronic whiteboard usage information. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of shared site information. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a list of shared site names to be transmitted to a shared site information management unit. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a list of users of each shared site returned by a shared site information management unit. FIG. 1 is an external view of an electronic whiteboard device according to an embodiment; 1 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of a meeting using an electronic whiteboard device. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a participant addition acceptance start process. 13 is a flowchart of an example of a sharing site selection process. 13 is a flowchart of an example of a participant suggestion process. FIG. 13 is an image diagram of an example of a UI displayed on the electronic whiteboard device. FIG. 13 is an image diagram of an example of a UI displayed on the electronic whiteboard device. FIG. 13 is an image diagram of an example of a save notification email. 13 is a flowchart of an example of a process for authenticating and setting a host. 13 is a flowchart of an example of a process for adding a participant selected from participant candidates to participant management information. 1 is a functional configuration diagram of an example of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a functional configuration diagram of an example of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 13 is a flowchart of an example of a participant suggestion process. FIG. 13 is an image diagram of an example of a UI displayed on the electronic whiteboard device.

The following describes an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, an example of a meeting using an electronic whiteboard device is described, but the present invention is not limited to meetings and can be applied to various situations such as seminars and lectures.

[First embodiment]
<System Configuration>
Fig. 1 is a configuration diagram of an example of an information processing system according to the present embodiment. In the information processing system 1 of Fig. 1, a user information server device 10, an external service group system 12, an electronic whiteboard device 14, and a usage information accumulation server device 16 are communicatively connected via a network 18 such as the Internet or a LAN.

The user information server device 10, the electronic whiteboard device 14, and the usage information storage server device 16 constitute an electronic whiteboard system. The electronic whiteboard system provides functions related to the electronic whiteboard device 14 by operating in conjunction with an external service group system 12 outside the electronic whiteboard system.

The external service group provided by the external service group system 12 refers to an integrated service such as Office365 (registered trademark) that is composed of, for example, a user service, a shared site service, a storage service, an email service, and a schedule service (calendar service).

The external service group is provided in a form in which services such as user services, shared site services, storage services, mail services, and schedule services can be used with the same user account. The external service group provided by the external service group system 12 is also called groupware, and each service belonging to the same external service group can be used with the same authentication information (a combination of ID and password, an access token, etc.). These external service groups may be different for each user, and there may be one or more. Note that the external service groups do not have to be operated by different entities (companies, etc.), and as long as they have user services and shared site services, they do not have to be external services. The external service group system 12 is realized by one or more computers.

The user information server device 10 stores the user information list and external service setting information described below, and is used by the external service group system 12 or the electronic whiteboard device 14. The user information server device 10 may be shared by multiple electronic whiteboard devices 14, and does not have to be on the same network segment. The user information server device 10 may also be built into the electronic whiteboard device 14. The user information server device 10 is realized by one or more computers.

The electronic whiteboard device 14 is used in conferences attended by multiple users. The electronic whiteboard device 14 displays images drawn, for example, with an electronic pen or by hand. The electronic whiteboard device 14 can also display images from electronic files read from a USB memory, a PC connected via a cable, or the external service group system 12. Furthermore, the electronic whiteboard device 14 can also display images captured by a camera.

The electronic whiteboard device 14 is an example, and may be any device that is shared by multiple users, such as a conference system terminal, display, or projector. The electronic whiteboard device 14 is an example of an information processing device that is shared by multiple users. The usage information accumulation server device 16 stores electronic whiteboard usage information, shared site information, etc., which will be described later, and is used by the electronic whiteboard device 14.

The configuration of the information processing system 1 shown in FIG. 1 is one example. For example, at least some of the functions of the user information server device 10, the external service group system 12, or the usage information accumulation server device 16 may be provided in the electronic whiteboard device 14. The information processing system 1 may be configured to realize at least some of the functions of the user information server device 10, the external service group system 12, the electronic whiteboard device 14, or the usage information accumulation server device 16 in an information processing device other than the user information server device 10, the external service group system 12, the electronic whiteboard device 14, and the usage information accumulation server device 16.

<Hardware Configuration>
"Computer"
The user information server device 10, the external service group system 12, and the usage information accumulation server device 16 shown in Fig. 1 are realized by a computer 500 having a hardware configuration as shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of an example of a computer according to this embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 2, the computer 500 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 501, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 502, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 503, a HD 504, a HDD (Hard Disk Drive) controller 505, a display 506, an external device connection I/F (Interface) 508, a network I/F 509, a data bus 510, a keyboard 511, a pointing device 512, a DVD-RW (Digital Versatile Disk Rewritable) drive 514, and a media I/F 516.

Of these, CPU 501 controls the operation of the entire computer 500 according to a program. ROM 502 stores programs used to drive CPU 501, such as IPL. RAM 503 is used as a work area for CPU 501. HD 504 stores various data such as programs. HDD controller 505 controls the reading and writing of various data from HD 504 according to the control of CPU 501.

The display 506 displays various information such as a cursor, a menu, a window, characters, or an image. The external device connection I/F 508 is an interface for connecting various external devices. In this case, the external devices are, for example, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory or a printer. The network I/F 509 is an interface for data communication using the network 18. The data bus 510 is an address bus, a data bus, or the like for electrically connecting each component such as the CPU 501.

The keyboard 511 is a type of input means equipped with multiple keys for inputting characters, numbers, various instructions, etc. The pointing device 512 is a type of input means for selecting and executing various instructions, selecting a processing target, moving the cursor, etc. The DVD-RW drive 514 controls the reading and writing of various data from the DVD-RW 513, which is an example of a removable recording medium. Note that this is not limited to a DVD-RW, and may be a DVD-R, etc. The media I/F 516 controls the reading and writing (storing) of data from the recording medium 515, such as a flash memory.

Electronic whiteboard device
3 is a hardware configuration diagram of an example of an electronic whiteboard device according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the electronic whiteboard device 14 includes a CPU 601, a ROM 202, a RAM 603, an SSD (Solid State Drive) 604, a network I/F 605, and an external device connection I/F 606.

Of these, the CPU 601 controls the overall operation of the electronic whiteboard device 14 according to a program. The ROM 602 stores the CPU 601 and programs used to drive the CPU 601, such as the IPL. The RAM 603 is used as a work area for the CPU 601. The SSD 604 stores various data, such as programs for the electronic whiteboard device 14.

The network I/F 605 controls communication with the network 18. The external device connection I/F 606 is an interface for connecting various external devices. In this case, the external devices are, for example, a USB memory 630 and external devices (a microphone 640, a speaker 650, and a camera 660).

The electronic whiteboard device 14 also includes a capture device 611, a GPU 612, a display controller 613, a contact sensor 614, a sensor controller 615, an electronic pen controller 616, an IC card reader 617, a short-range communication circuit 619, an antenna 619a of the short-range communication circuit 619, a power switch 622, and selection switches 623.

Of these, the capture device 611 displays video information as still images or moving images on the display of the external PC 670. The GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) 612 is a semiconductor chip that specializes in graphics. The display controller 613 controls and manages the screen display in order to output the output image from the GPU 612 to the display 680, etc.

The contact sensor 614 detects contact of the electronic pen 690, the user's hand H, or the like on the display 680. The sensor controller 615 controls the processing of the contact sensor 614. The contact sensor 614 inputs and detects coordinates using an infrared blocking method. The method of inputting and detecting coordinates is that two light receiving and emitting devices installed at both ends of the upper side of the display 680 emit multiple infrared rays parallel to the display 680, and receive the light that is reflected by a reflecting member installed around the periphery of the display 680 and returns along the same optical path as the optical path of the light emitted by the light receiving element.

The contact sensor 614 outputs the ID of the infrared light emitted by the two light receiving and emitting devices that was blocked by the object to the sensor controller 615, and the sensor controller 615 identifies the coordinate position that is the contact position of the object. The electronic pen controller 616 communicates with the electronic pen 690 to determine whether the tip or the end of the pen has touched the display 680.

The IC card reader 617 wirelessly reads identification information unique to the IC card 700 from the RF tag embedded in the IC card 700. The IC card reader 617 may be built into the electronic whiteboard device 14 or may be externally attached to the electronic whiteboard device 14. The IC card 700 may be built into a smart device such as a smartphone. The electronic whiteboard device 14 may use something other than the IC card reader 617 as long as it can obtain identification information that can identify the user, and may use a biometric authentication device (fingerprint, palm print, iris, face, etc.) or a barcode reader, etc.

The short-range communication circuit 619 is a communication circuit such as NFC or Bluetooth (registered trademark). The power switch 622 is a switch for switching the power of the electronic whiteboard device 14 on and off. The selection switches 623 are, for example, a group of switches for adjusting the brightness and color of the display 680.

Furthermore, the electronic whiteboard device 14 is equipped with a bus line 610. The bus line 610 is an address bus, a data bus, etc., for electrically connecting each component such as the CPU 601 shown in FIG. 3.

The contact sensor 614 is not limited to an infrared blocking type, and may use various detection means such as a capacitive touch panel that identifies the contact position by detecting a change in capacitance, a resistive film touch panel that identifies the contact position by a voltage change between two opposing resistive films, or an electromagnetic induction touch panel that identifies the contact position by detecting electromagnetic induction caused by a contacting object touching the display unit. The electronic pen controller 616 may also determine whether or not the tip and end of the electronic pen 690 have been touched, as well as the part of the electronic pen 690 that the user holds, or other parts of the electronic pen.

<Functional configuration>
The information processing system 1 according to the first embodiment is realized by, for example, the functional configuration shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a functional configuration diagram of an example of the information processing system according to the present embodiment. In the functional configuration of Fig. 4, configurations unnecessary for the description of the present embodiment are appropriately omitted.

The information processing system 1 in FIG. 4 has a configuration including a user information server device 10, an external service group system 12, an electronic whiteboard device 14, and a usage information accumulation server device 16. In FIG. 4, the external service group system "office.example.com" is shown as an example of the external service group system 12.

The external service group system 12 provides users with a group of external services, exemplified by a user service 30, a shared site service 32, and an email service 36. The user service 30 of the external service group system 12 stores account information, for example, as shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of an example of account information. As shown in FIG. 5, the user service 30 of the external service group system 12 stores a user ID, name, and email address as account information.

The shared site service 32 provides a site (shared site) that is shared (used jointly) by multiple users. On the shared site, users can load and save files. In addition, shared sites can be created for each purpose. On a shared site, multiple users working for the same purpose (multiple users working in a group) can load and save files to the same shared site.

The mail service 36 manages the email addresses of each user in the external service group system 12 and provides email functions to the users. The mail service 36 stores emails addressed to the user's email address in the external service group system 12.

The user information server device 10 has an external service setting information section 20 and a user information section 22. The user information section 22 stores, for example, a user information list as shown in FIG. 6. FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of an example of a user information list. As shown in FIG. 6, the user information list stores a user ID, name, email address, external service setting ID, and identification information.

The email address is different from the email address in FIG. 5 and is, for example, an email address used in an intranet. The external service setting ID is information that identifies the external service setting information described below. The identification information is, for example, identification information unique to the IC card 700. According to the user information list in FIG. 6, the user's user ID and external service setting information can be identified from the identification information read from the user's IC card 700.

The external service setting information unit 20 stores external service setting information such as that shown in FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of an example of external service setting information. The external service setting information shown in FIG. 7 is setting information that differs for each user for using the external service group system 12. The external service setting information stores an external service setting ID, a user ID, address information, a user ID for the external service, and an authentication token for the external service.

The address information and the user ID of the external service are examples of connection information to the external service group system 12. The authentication token of the external service is an example of authentication information for the external service group system 12.

The electronic whiteboard device 14 has a configuration including a shared site management unit 42, a participant management unit 44, a writing display unit 46, and an IC card detection unit 48. The IC card detection unit 48 reads identification information from the IC card 700 of the detected user. The participant management unit 44 manages the participants of the meeting using a participant management information list such as that shown in FIG. 8.

Figure 8 is a diagram showing an example of a participant management information list. The participant management information list stores the user ID of a user recognized as a participant of the conference, information indicating whether the participant with that user ID is the organizer, external service setting information, and an email address. For example, the participant management unit 44 identifies user information from the user information list of Figure 6 using the identification information read by the IC card detection unit 48, and stores the user ID of the identified user information in the participant management information list as the user ID of the participant.

The participant management information list in FIG. 8 shows an example in which, among participants with user IDs "user001," "user002," and "user004," the participant with user ID "user001" is the organizer. The participant management unit 44 also notifies the usage information management unit 52 of the usage information accumulation server device 16. Specifically, the participant management unit 44 notifies the time of the conference and the user ID of the organizer when the first participant (organizer) is added when the use of the electronic whiteboard device 14 begins. Thereafter, the participant management unit 44 notifies the user ID of the participant each time a participant is added during the conference. The participant management unit 44 also notifies the time of the conference end when the use of the electronic whiteboard device 14 ends. Each notification includes the device ID of the electronic whiteboard device 14.

The writing display unit 46 accepts writings made by users to the electronic whiteboard device 14 and displays the contents of the writings. The shared site management unit 42 displays a shared site selection screen, which will be described later. On the shared site selection screen, a search for shared sites can be performed and a shared site can be selected from the search results. At that time, the shared site management unit 42 transmits a list of shared site names in the search results to the shared site information management unit 50 and obtains a list of users (list of user IDs) for each shared site name. The shared site management unit 42 also obtains the user information list of FIG. 6 from the user information unit 22. The shared site management unit 42 determines the name that corresponds to the user ID for each shared site name based on the list of user IDs for each shared site name and the user information list of FIG. 6. As a result, the shared site selection screen can display not only the shared site names but also the users of the shared sites.

When a shared site is selected, the shared site management unit 42 notifies the usage information management unit 52 of the usage information accumulation server device 16 of the shared site name of the selected shared site and the device ID of the electronic whiteboard device 14. In addition, when a shared site is selected, the shared site management unit 42 displays a participant proposal screen. The participants (participant candidates) proposed on the participant proposal screen are users of the selected shared site. Note that users of a shared site who have already been selected as participants are not displayed as participant candidates on the participant proposal screen.

The shared site management unit 42 also displays a shared site save screen (described below) that has the function of saving the contents of the writing on the electronic whiteboard device 14 as a file on the shared site and sending the URL of the saved file as an email. The email is sent to the user who is managed as a participant by the participant management unit 44.

The usage information accumulation server device 16 has a configuration including a shared site information management unit 50, a usage information management unit 52, a shared site information storage unit 54, and an electronic whiteboard usage information storage unit 56. The usage information management unit 52 stores and manages the electronic whiteboard usage information shown in, for example, Figures 9 and 10 in the electronic whiteboard usage information storage unit 56. Figures 9 and 10 are configuration diagrams of an example of electronic whiteboard usage information. As shown in Figures 9 and 10, the electronic whiteboard usage information stores the device ID, time, and event. When the usage information management unit 52 receives a notification from the shared site management unit 42 and the participant management unit 44, it adds the information of the notification to the electronic whiteboard usage information in Figures 9 and 10.

Figure 9 shows an example of electronic whiteboard usage information used up to "2018 11/10 12:51" on an electronic whiteboard device 14 with device ID "K100029." In Figures 9 and 10, the event "Start meeting" indicates the event at the start of the meeting. The event "End meeting" indicates the event at the end of the meeting.

The event "Add user user ID" indicates an event in which a user with that user ID starts using the electronic whiteboard device 14. The event "Select site shared site name" indicates an event in which a shared site is selected.

For example, in FIG. 9, Mary with user ID "user001" holds her IC card 700 over the IC card reader 617 at "10:01" and begins using the electronic whiteboard device 14 with device ID "K100029". After that, Itoh with user ID "user004", Suzuki with user ID "user005", and Kudoh with user ID "user006" hold their IC cards 700 over the IC card reader 617 and begin using the electronic whiteboard device 14 with device ID "K100029". Also, at "10:05", a shared site with the shared site name "Abc Project" is selected. Also, at "10:50", they end their use of the electronic whiteboard device 14 with device ID "K100029".

In addition, in FIG. 9, Mary with user ID "user001" holds her IC card 700 over the IC card reader 617 at "12:01" and begins using the electronic whiteboard device 14 with device ID "K100029". After that, Sato with user ID "user002" and Saito with user ID "user003" hold their IC cards 700 over the IC card reader 617 and begin using the electronic whiteboard device 14 with device ID "K100029". Also, at "12:05", a shared site with the shared site name "Abc Tech" is selected. Also, at "12:50", they end their use of the electronic whiteboard device 14 with device ID "K100029".

In FIG. 10, the electronic whiteboard usage information for the electronic whiteboard device 14 with device ID "K100029" used from "13:01 to 14:10 on November 12, 2018" is added to the electronic whiteboard usage information in FIG. 9.

For example, in FIG. 10, Mary with user ID "user001" holds her IC card 700 over the IC card reader 617 at "13:01" and begins using the electronic whiteboard device 14 with device ID "K100029". After that, Sato with user ID "user002" and Itoh with user ID "user004" hold their IC cards 700 over the IC card reader 617 and begin using the electronic whiteboard device 14 with device ID "K100029". Also, at "13:05", a shared site with the shared site name "Abc Project" is selected. After that, Kudoh with user ID "user006" holds his IC card 700 over the IC card reader 617 and begins using the electronic whiteboard device 14 with device ID "K100029". Additionally, at 14:10, the use of the electronic whiteboard device 14 with device ID "K100029" was discontinued.

The shared site information management unit 50 stores and manages the shared site information shown in FIG. 11, for example, in the shared site information storage unit 54. FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram of an example of shared site information. The shared site information is created based on the electronic whiteboard usage information in FIG. 9. As shown in FIG. 11, the shared site information stores the shared site name and user ID. The shared site name is the name of the shared site. The user ID is a participant of the conference that used the shared site.

For example, in the shared site information for "13:00 on 12/11/2018" in FIG. 11, the shared site name "Abc Project" is associated with the user IDs "user001", "user004", "user005", and "user006" using information that "user001", "user004", "user005", and "user006" participated as participants in a meeting in which the shared site name "Abc Project" was selected in the electronic whiteboard usage information in FIG. 9.

For example, in the shared site information in FIG. 11, the shared site name "Abc Tech" is associated with the user IDs "user001", "user002", and "user003" using information that "user001", "user002", and "user003" participated as participants in a meeting in which the shared site name "Abc Tech" was selected in the electronic whiteboard usage information in FIG. 9.

In this embodiment, the shared site information is created based on the electronic whiteboard usage information, but user information for each shared site (a list of user IDs for external services) may be obtained from the shared site service 32, converted into a list of user IDs using the external service setting information in FIG. 7, and the list of user IDs may be used as user IDs for the shared site information. However, the user information for each shared site that can be obtained from the shared site service 32 includes users who have only accessed the shared site, and therefore may be less accurate from the perspective of meeting participants. The electronic whiteboard usage information in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 is more accurate because it stores users who actually participated in the meeting.

In addition, when using user information for each shared site that can be obtained from the shared site service 32, the number of user IDs associated with the shared site name in the shared site information may be large, so it may be possible to narrow down the information by, for example, the number of times the shared site has been used or the last date and time of use.

The shared site information management unit 50 obtains electronic whiteboard usage information from the usage information management unit 52 at any timing (e.g., once an hour), determines which conference participants have selected a shared site, and updates the shared site information in Figure 11.

In addition, the shared site information management unit 50 returns a list of users of each shared site, as shown in FIG. 13, to the shared site management unit 42 based on the list of shared site names, as shown in FIG. 12, sent from the shared site management unit 42 of the electronic whiteboard device 14.

Figure 12 is a diagram showing an example of a list of shared site names sent to the shared site information management unit. Figure 13 is a diagram showing an example of a list of users of each shared site returned by the shared site information management unit. Figure 12 is an example when the electronic whiteboard usage information is as shown in Figure 9. Figure 13 is an example of a list of users of each shared site returned when the shared site information is as shown in Figure 11 and the shared site name list of Figure 12 is sent to the shared site information management unit 50.

Note that the configuration of FIG. 4 is an example, and other configurations may be used. For example, each part of the electronic whiteboard device 14 may be composed of two devices, and each part of the electronic whiteboard device 14 other than the IC card detection unit 48 and the writing display unit 46 may be realized by a server device. Furthermore, each part of the electronic whiteboard device 14 other than the IC card detection unit 48 and the writing display unit 46 may be included in the user information server device 10 or the usage information accumulation server device 16 without changing the device configuration, or the user information unit 22 and the external service setting information unit 20 of the user information server device 10 may be included in different devices. Furthermore, the shared site information management unit 50, the usage information management unit 52, the shared site information storage unit 54, and the electronic whiteboard usage information storage unit 56 of the usage information storage server device 16 may be included in different devices without changing the device configuration.

<Functional Overview of the Electronic Whiteboard Device>
Fig. 14 is an external view of an electronic whiteboard device according to an embodiment. As shown in Fig. 14, the electronic whiteboard device 14 includes a display 680, a camera 660, and an IC card reader 617. In addition, an operation panel 900, which will be described later, is displayed on the display 680. The electronic whiteboard device 14 according to an embodiment has at least the following functions 1 to 5.

<<Function 1: Electronic whiteboard function>>
The electronic whiteboard device 14 allows writing on the electronic whiteboard with an electronic pen 690 or a finger. The electronic whiteboard device 14 can transmit image data of the image of the content written on the electronic whiteboard by email or store it in a storage provided by a storage service of the external service group system 12. The electronic whiteboard device 14 can also display files such as meeting materials and edit files.

<<Function 2: Authentication function>>
The electronic whiteboard device 14 can obtain authentication information and the like using an IC card reader 617, a camera 660, a biometric authentication device, and the like, and can perform user authentication based on the authentication information and the like. The electronic whiteboard device 14 can perform user authentication by itself, or by having an external device perform the user authentication. The IC card reader 617 can obtain authentication information, such as identification information unique to the IC card 700, from the IC card 700, and perform user authentication by determining whether the authentication information matches with the user information list in Fig. 6. User authentication can also be performed by extracting features from a face image captured by the camera 660 and determining whether the features match with features registered in the user information list.

<<Function 3: External service linkage function>>
The electronic whiteboard device 14 can cooperate with the external service group system 12. For example, the electronic whiteboard device 14 can obtain schedule information of a user authenticated by the authentication function from an external service using external service setting information of the user, and can send information such as writing on the board during a meeting and files by email to the email addresses of the scheduled attendees of the meeting. Also, for example, the electronic whiteboard device 14 can access storage provided by a storage service of the external service group system 12 of the user authenticated, obtain files, share files with other devices, and transfer files to other devices.

<<Function 4: Remote sharing function>>
The electronic whiteboard device 14 is capable of sharing the screen displayed on the electronic whiteboard device 14, collaborative editing (executing the electronic whiteboard function remotely), sharing images and videos of remote conference participants captured by the camera 660, and sharing audio from the microphone 640, among multiple information processing devices (other electronic whiteboard devices 14, PCs, etc.) installed at remote locations. Screen sharing means that the same content is displayed (remote sharing) on each of multiple information processing devices installed at remote locations, and the content is used for discussing in a remote conference, etc. Collaborative editing of a screen means writing on the same screen from multiple information processing devices, editing files, etc.

<<Function 5: Other functions>>
The electronic whiteboard device 14 may be equipped with applications similar to those that run on general PCs or smart devices, such as a browser and an email application.

The above functions are realized by the cooperation of the hardware and software of the electronic whiteboard device 14. The software also includes software that operates in cooperation with multiple software programs of the electronic whiteboard device 14 and an external device.

<Processing>
The information processing system 1 according to the first embodiment holds a conference using the electronic whiteboard device 14, for example, in a procedure as shown in Fig. 15. Fig. 15 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of a conference using the electronic whiteboard device.

In step S10, the electronic whiteboard device 14 starts up, displays the operation panel 900 shown in FIG. 14, and waits for login using the IC card 700. The organizer of the meeting holds his/her IC card 700 over the IC card detection unit 48.

When the IC card detection unit 48 detects the IC card 700, the electronic whiteboard device 14 proceeds to step S12, identifies user information from the identification information read from the IC card 700, and authenticates and sets the user as the organizer. In this embodiment, the first user to be authenticated is set as the organizer of the meeting. The authentication and setting in step S12 may be ID/password authentication or face authentication.

Proceeding to step S14, the participant management unit 44 adds the authenticated user to the participant management information list as the organizer. The participant management unit 44 also notifies the usage information management unit 52 of the usage information accumulation server device 16 of the time, the event of the start of the conference, and the event of the start of use by the user, together with the device ID.

Proceeding to step S16, the electronic whiteboard device 14 displays, for example, an operation panel 1000 as shown in FIG. 19 as a user interface (hereinafter referred to as UI). FIG. 19 is an image diagram of an example of a UI displayed on the electronic whiteboard device. The operation panel 1000 in FIG. 19 displays a participant list 1002, an end meeting button 1004, a shared site selection button 1008, and a shared site save button 1012. Note that in the operation panel 1000 in FIG. 19 displayed in step S16, only the organizer "Mary" is displayed in the participant list 1002.

In step S18, the electronic whiteboard device 14 starts accepting additional participants. FIG. 16 is a flowchart of an example of the process of starting to accept additional participants. When the process of accepting additional participants starts in step S50, the electronic whiteboard device 14 waits for login by a user other than the organizer using an IC card 700 or the like.

Users other than the organizer also hold their IC cards 700 over the IC card detection unit 48. When the IC card 700 is detected, the electronic whiteboard device 14 proceeds to step S52, identifies user information from the identification information read from the IC card 700, and authenticates and sets the user as a participant of the conference. The electronic whiteboard device 14 adds the user who has been authenticated and set as a participant of the conference to the participant list 1002. The electronic whiteboard device 14 also proceeds to step S54, and notifies the usage information management unit 52 of the usage information accumulation server device 16 of the event of the start of use by the added participant, together with the device ID. In the operation panel 1000a of FIG. 19, users other than the organizer who have been authenticated and set as participants of the conference have been added to the participant list 1002.

Returning to step S20 in FIG. 15, it is assumed that the shared site selection button 1008 has been pressed on the electronic whiteboard device 14. When the shared site selection button 1008 is pressed, the shared site management unit 42 of the electronic whiteboard device 14 starts selecting a shared site. FIG. 17 is a flowchart of an example of the shared site selection process.

In step S60, the electronic whiteboard device 14 displays a shared site selection screen 1040 as shown in FIG. 19. The shared site selection screen 1040 displays an input field 1042 for search keywords for the shared site, a search button 1044, search results 1046, and a setting button 1048. The search results 1046 display the shared site name, the user, and a check box for selecting the shared site.

After a search keyword for the shared site is entered in the input field 1042, when the search button 1044 is pressed, the process proceeds to step S62, where the electronic whiteboard device 14 executes a search for the shared site using, for example, a site search API of the shared site service 32. The electronic whiteboard device 14 acquires the search results for the shared site from the shared site service 32. Note that in step S62, the electronic whiteboard device 14 specifies (sends to the shared site service 32) the authentication token for the external service included in the external service setting information (FIG. 7) of the organizer who first logged in to the electronic whiteboard device 14 in the meeting, and makes a request to the shared site service 32 to read the shared site, so that only the shared sites for which the organizer has authority are acquired as search results from among the many shared sites.

The electronic whiteboard device 14 proceeds to step S64 and creates a list of shared site names included in the search results for shared sites. The electronic whiteboard device 14 transmits the created list of shared site names to the shared site information management unit 50 of the usage information accumulation server device 16 as shown in FIG. 12, and obtains a list of users of each shared site as shown in FIG. 13.

Proceeding to step S66, the electronic whiteboard device 14 displays the search results 1046 of the shared sites on the shared site selection screen 1040. On the shared site selection screen 1040 of FIG. 19, by pressing the set button 1048, the shared site selected by the check box can be set as the shared site to be used.

When the shared site to be used is set, in step S68, the electronic whiteboard device 14 notifies the usage information management unit 52 of the usage information accumulation server device 16 of the set shared site together with the device ID through a shared site selection event.

The shared site management unit 42 of the electronic whiteboard device 14 for which the shared site to be used has been set returns to step S22 in FIG. 15 and starts processing the participant proposal. FIG. 18 is a flowchart of an example of processing the participant proposal.

In step S80, the electronic whiteboard device 14 obtains the current participants from the participant management information list in FIG. 8. Proceeding to step S82, the electronic whiteboard device 14 obtains a list of users of the set shared site from the user list of each shared site in FIG. 13 obtained in step S64 in FIG. 17. The electronic whiteboard device 14 selects users included in the user list of the set shared site who are not included in the current participants as participant candidates (proposed participants). Then, the electronic whiteboard device 14 displays the participant proposal screen 1050 in FIG. 19.

In the participant proposal screen 1050 of FIG. 19, participant candidates 1052 are displayed selectable by check boxes. By pressing the Add button 1054 in the participant proposal screen 1050 of FIG. 19, the participant candidate 1052 selected by the check box can be added as a participant to the participant management information list of FIG. 8.

Then, proceeding to step S86, the electronic whiteboard device 14 notifies the usage information management unit 52 of the usage information accumulation server device 16 of the event of the start of usage by the added participant together with the device ID. Furthermore, when the Add button 1054 is pressed, the electronic whiteboard device 14 displays the set shared site and the added participant as shown in the operation panel 1000b of FIG. 19. In the operation panel 1000b of FIG. 19, the shared site name "Abc Project" set on the shared site selection screen 1040 and the user name "Kudoh" of the participant added on the participant proposal screen 1050 are added.

Note that, although an example has been described in which the user selects participants to add from participant candidates 1052 on the participant proposal screen 1050, all users included in the user list of the configured shared site may be added as participants to the participant management information list in FIG. 8.

Returning to step S24 in FIG. 15, the electronic whiteboard device 14 during the conference displays the conference screen and accepts operations such as writing on the electronic whiteboard device 14 by the user.

In step S26, the electronic whiteboard device 14 assumes that the shared site save button 1012 on the operation panel 1000b has been pressed. When the shared site save button 1012 is pressed, the shared site management unit 42 of the electronic whiteboard device 14 displays a shared site save screen 1060 as shown in FIG. 20. FIG. 20 is an image diagram of an example of a UI displayed on the electronic whiteboard device. The shared site save screen 1060 displays a field 1062 for selecting a destination folder from the folders of the selected shared site, a field 1064 for inputting the file name of the saved file, a check box 1066 for selecting whether to send a link to the saved file by email, a list of email destinations of participants 1068, a list of email destinations of distributors 1070, and a save button 1072. Note that distributors are users who have not been added to the current participants among the candidate participants 1052.

When displaying the shared site storage screen 1060, the electronic whiteboard device 14 uses the participant management information list of FIG. 8 to display a list of email destinations of participants 1068. The electronic whiteboard device 14 also displays users who were not added to the participant management information list of FIG. 8 among the participant candidates 1052 as a list of email destinations of the distributor 1070. The electronic whiteboard device 14 also obtains information on the folder structure of the selected shared site from the shared site service 32 using the selected shared site name as a key.

The electronic whiteboard device 14 may also use email addresses included in the participant management information list to send emails to participants selected as participants to be added on the participant proposal screen 1050 from among the participant candidates 1052 and added to the participant management information list of FIG. 8. Also, the information on the shared site service 32 may be used during the conference to allow access to the storage service of participants who have been added as participants. In this case, it is also possible to exercise control such as not allowing reading, but only allowing writing.

For example, when a user executes a save, the electronic whiteboard device 14 saves the file of the board contents in the selected destination folder using the shared site name and the path of the destination folder as keys. Also, if the check box 1066 is selected to send a link to the saved file by email, the electronic whiteboard device 14 sends a save notification email, for example as shown in FIG. 21, with the URL of the saved file written in the body of the email, to all destinations in the participant's email destination list 1068 and the distributor's email destination list 1070, or to some of the destinations selected by the check box, etc.

Figure 21 is an image diagram of an example of a save notification email. The text of the save notification email contains a URL that can open the file saved on the shared site. Note that the URL is just an example, and any information that can open the file saved on the shared site can be used, and for example, the name of the shared site and the file path can be included. Furthermore, instead of a URL, the save notification email can also include an attachment of the file of the blackboard contents.

Returning to step S28 in FIG. 15, the electronic whiteboard device 14 assumes that the End Meeting button 1004 on the operation panel 1000b has been pressed. When the End Meeting button 1004 is pressed, the electronic whiteboard device 14 stops accepting additional participants, and in step S30 notifies the usage information management unit 52 of the usage information accumulation server device 16 of the end of the meeting event.

In step S12 of FIG. 15, the organizer is authenticated and set, for example, using the procedure shown in FIG. 22. FIG. 22 is a flowchart of an example of the process of authenticating and setting the organizer. FIG. 22 shows the process after the IC card detection unit 48 of the electronic whiteboard device 14 detects the IC card 700 and reads the identification information from the IC card 700.

Proceeding to step S100, the participant management unit 44 acquires the identification information read by the IC card detection unit 48 from the IC card 700. Proceeding to step S102, the participant management unit 44 refers to the user information list shown in FIG. 6 and identifies the user of the identification information acquired in step S100 from the user information list shown in FIG. 6. The participant management unit 44 also refers to the external service setting information shown in FIG. 7 and identifies the external service setting information of the identified user from the external service setting information in FIG. 7. Proceeding to step S104, the participant management unit 44 manages the identified user as the organizer and adds them to the participant list 1002.

For example, the IC card detection unit 48 detects the IC card 700 of "Mary Smith" shown in the user information list in FIG. 6 and reads the identification information "ICCARD-123" from the IC card 700. In step S100, the participant management unit 44 obtains the identification information "ICCARD-123" from the IC card detection unit 48. Proceeding to step S102, the participant management unit 44 queries the external service setting information unit 20 and the user information unit 22 of the user information server device 10 based on the obtained identification information "ICCARD-123".

The user information unit 22 performs a search using the requested identification information "ICCARD-123", identifies the user information of the user ID "user001", and returns this to the participant management unit 44 of the electronic whiteboard device 14. The external service setting information unit 20 also performs a search using the identified user ID "user001", identifies the external service setting information "connect1a" shown in FIG. 7, and returns this to the participant management unit 44 of the electronic whiteboard device 14.

The participant management unit 44 also queries the external service setting information unit 20 for the email address of the external service setting information "connect1a". The external service setting information unit 20 uses "eyJhbGc11...", which is the authentication token for the external service of the external service setting information "connect1a", to identify the email address "office1@office.example.com" of the user ID "office1" from the user service 30, and returns it to the participant management unit 44 of the electronic whiteboard device 14.

In step S104, the participant management unit 44 manages the user with user ID "user001" as the organizer in the participant management information list of FIG. 8, can add the user to the participant list 1002, and can manage the external service setting information "connect1a" of the user with user ID "user001". As a result, the organizer of the meeting, "Mary Smith", is registered in the participant management unit 44, and the user ID "user001", the external service setting ID "connect1a", and the email address "office1@office.example.com" are associated and saved in the participant management information list shown in FIG. 8.

In step S84 of FIG. 18, a process is performed to add a participant selected from the participant candidates 1052 to the participant management information list of FIG. 8, for example, in the procedure shown in FIG. 23. FIG. 23 is a flowchart of an example of a process to add a participant selected from the participant candidates to the participant management information.

In step S110, the participant management unit 44 of the electronic whiteboard device 14 receives the user ID of the participant selected from the participant candidates 1052. In step S112, the participant management unit 44 queries the external service setting information unit 20 for the external service setting information of that user ID. Proceeding to step S114, the participant management unit 44 adds the participant selected from the participant candidates 1052 to the participant management information list of FIG. 8 based on the external service setting information of the participant selected from the participant candidates 1052.

For example, if "Kudoh" is selected from the participant candidates 1052, the participant management unit 44 queries the external service setting information unit 20 for external service setting information corresponding to the user ID "user006".

The participant management unit 44 uses the external service setting information "connect6a" corresponding to the user ID "user006" returned from the external service setting information unit 20 to obtain the email address "office6@office.example.com" of the user ID "office6" from the user service 30. The participant management unit 44 can then add the user ID "user006", the external service setting information "connect6a", and the email address "office6@office.example.com" to the participant management information list in FIG. 8.

In this embodiment, the electronic whiteboard device 14 stores information (shared site information) that associates the shared site used in the meeting with the participants of the meeting, and the participants of the meeting associated with the selected shared site are used as participant candidates 1052. This makes it possible to suggest participants who have previously attended a meeting using a shared site as participant candidates 1052, reducing the effort required to identify meeting participants, and using the information of identified meeting participants to provide various services related to the meeting, such as emailing the contents of the board and notifications about the meeting.

In addition, in this embodiment, it is easy to put a participant who has not been authenticated using the IC card 700 into a participating state, or to put a participant who does not have an IC card 700 into a participating state.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, by associating meeting participants with shared sites as shared site information based on the usage information of the electronic whiteboard device 14, it is possible to propose candidate participants corresponding to the selected shared site. Therefore, according to the first embodiment, it is possible to reduce the effort required for the electronic whiteboard device 14 to identify meeting participants who use the shared site.

[Other embodiments]
In the first embodiment, an example of the information processing system 1 as shown in Fig. 4 has been described, but the functional configuration may be, for example, as shown in Fig. 24. Fig. 24 is a functional configuration diagram of an example of an information processing system according to this embodiment. In the information processing system 1 in Fig. 24, the function of the shared site management unit 42 in Fig. 4 has been transferred from the electronic whiteboard device 14 to the user information server device 10. Note that the functional configuration diagram in Fig. 24 is the same as the functional configuration diagram in Fig. 4 except for some parts, and therefore the description will be omitted as appropriate.

The electronic whiteboard device 14 in FIG. 24 has a screen control unit 43, a participant management unit 44, a writing display unit 46, and an IC card detection unit 48. The user information server device 10 has an external service setting information unit 20, a user information unit 22, and a shared site management unit 24.

The screen control unit 43 of the electronic whiteboard device 14 can realize a function similar to that of the shared site management unit 42 in FIG. 4 by using the shared site management unit 24 of the user information server device 10. For example, the electronic whiteboard device 14 can access the shared site service 32 via the user information server device 10 without obtaining, for example, an authentication token for an external service from the user information server device 10.

The information processing system 1 may have a functional configuration as shown in FIG. 25, for example. FIG. 25 is a functional configuration diagram of an example of an information processing system according to this embodiment. The information processing system 1 in FIG. 25 has a configuration in which a number of participants grasping unit 49 is added to the shared site management unit 42 in FIG. 4. The number of participants grasping unit 49 grasps the number of participants in the conference room from an image of the conference room taken by the camera 660. The shared site management unit 42 displays a participant proposal screen 1050 when the number of participants added to the participant management information list in FIG. 8 is less than the number of participants in the conference room grasped by the number of participants grasping unit 49, and does not display the participant proposal screen 1050 when the number of participants is the same or more. When the participant proposal screen 1050 is displayed, the difference (the number of participants missing) between the number of participants added to the participant management information list in FIG. 8 and the number of participants in the conference room grasped by the number of participants grasping unit 49 may be displayed.

In the information processing system 1 of FIG. 25, for example, the processing of participant proposals in FIG. 18 in the information processing system 1 of FIG. 4 is changed to processing of participant proposals as shown in FIG. 26. FIG. 26 is a flowchart of an example of processing of participant proposals. FIG. 27 is an image diagram of an example of a UI displayed on an electronic whiteboard device.

In step S120, the electronic whiteboard device 14 obtains the current number of participants from the participant management information list in FIG. 8. Then, in step S122, the electronic whiteboard device 14 obtains the number of participants in the conference room as determined by the number of participants determination unit 49. Then, in step S124, the electronic whiteboard device 14 determines whether the current number of participants is less than the number of participants in the conference room as determined by the number of participants determination unit 49.

If the current number of participants is less than the number of participants in the conference room as determined by the number-of-participants determination unit 49, the electronic whiteboard device 14 proceeds to step S126 and displays the participant proposal screen 1050 of FIG. 27. The participant proposal screen 1050 of FIG. 27 additionally displays the number of participants that is missing, such as "There is one participant missing" on the participant proposal screen 1050 of FIG. 19. This allows the user to easily determine the number of participants that should be added on the participant proposal screen 1050 of FIG. 27. The processing of steps S128 and S130 after step S126 is the same as steps S84 and S86 of FIG. 18.

If the current number of participants is equal to or greater than the number of participants in the conference room as determined by the number-of-participants determination unit 49, the electronic whiteboard device 14 may determine that there are no participants to be added to the participant management information list, skip the processing of steps S126 and S128, and not display the participant proposal screen 1050 in FIG. 27.

By using the number of participants grasping unit 49, the participant suggestion screen 1050 is displayed only when there is a participant in the conference room who is not recognized as a participant of the conference by the participant management unit 44, so it is possible to prevent the participant suggestion screen 1050 from being displayed even when all participants have already been recognized.

In addition, when the electronic whiteboard device 14 needs to recognize a user in a meeting (a spontaneous meeting) whose schedule was not registered in the schedule service, or when the electronic whiteboard device 14 needs to authenticate a user who is not included in the list of expected participants in the schedule information registered in the schedule service, it is basically necessary to accept information such as an ID and password from the user.

In particular, displaying a keyboard on the screen to accept input of an ID and password is undesirable from a security standpoint, since the electronic whiteboard device 14 is a device that can be viewed by multiple users (conference participants), and other users may unintentionally see the password being entered.

It is also possible to accept input of the ID and password stored on the IC card 700 by holding the IC card 700 over the IC card reader 617, but since not all participants necessarily have an IC card 700, it is necessary to store information in advance on the IC card 700.

By identifying users using user information stored on a server corresponding to the shared site service 32, which is an external service of the electronic whiteboard system, this embodiment ensures security and eliminates the need for all meeting participants to carry a separate device such as an IC card 700.

The present invention is not limited to the specifically disclosed embodiment described above, and various modifications and variations are possible without departing from the scope of the claims. It goes without saying that the information processing system 1 described in this embodiment is only one example, and there are various system configuration examples depending on the application and purpose.

Each function of the above-described embodiments can be realized by one or more processing circuits. In this specification, the term "processing circuit" includes a processor programmed to execute each function by software, such as a processor implemented by an electronic circuit, and devices such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), DSP (digital signal processor), FPGA (field programmable gate array), and conventional circuit modules designed to execute each function described above.

The devices described in the examples are merely illustrative of one of several computing environments for implementing the embodiments disclosed herein.

In some embodiments, the user information server device 10 and the usage information storage server device 16 include multiple computing devices, such as a server cluster. The multiple computing devices are configured to communicate with each other via any type of communication link, including a network 18, shared memory, etc., to perform the processing disclosed herein. Similarly, the electronic whiteboard device 14 may include multiple computing devices configured to communicate with each other.

Furthermore, the user information server device 10, the electronic whiteboard device 14, and the usage information storage server device 16 can be configured to share the disclosed processing steps in various combinations. For example, a process performed by a given unit can be performed by the electronic whiteboard device 14. Similarly, the function of a given unit can be performed by the electronic whiteboard device 14. Also, each element of the user information server device 10, the electronic whiteboard device 14, and the usage information storage server device 16 may be integrated into one server device, or may be separated into multiple devices.

The electronic whiteboard device 14 may be, for example, a PJ (Projector), an output device such as digital signage, a HUD (Head Up Display) device, industrial machinery, an imaging device, a sound collection device, medical equipment, a network home appliance, an automobile (Connected Car), a mobile phone, a game console, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a digital camera, a wearable PC, etc.

The participant management unit 44 is an example of a participant management means described in the claims. The shared site management unit 42 is an example of a shared site management means.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Information processing system 10 User information server device 12 External service group system 14 Electronic whiteboard device 16 Usage information accumulation server device 18 Network 20 External service setting information section 22 User information section 30 User service 32 Shared site service 36 Mail service 42 Shared site management section 44 Participant management section 46 Writing display section 48 IC card detection section 50 Shared site information management section 52 Usage information management section 54 Shared site information storage section 56 Electronic whiteboard usage information storage section 617 IC card reader 660 Camera 700 IC card 1000, 1000a, 1000b Operation panel 1040 Shared site selection screen 1050 Participant proposal screen 1060 Shared site storage screen

JP 2010-72784 A

Claims (11)

An information processing device that is shared and used by multiple users,
a participant management means for managing the user detected by the user detection means as a participant;
a sharing site management means for prompting the detected user to select a sharing site and proposing candidates for the participants to be managed by the participant management means based on the selected sharing site;
having
The shared site management means identifies candidates for the participants to be proposed based on information stored in the information processing device in association with the selected shared site and the participants, compares the number of the participants managed by the participant management means with the number of the participants stored in association with the selected shared site, and proposes the candidates for the participants if the number of the participants managed by the participant management means is smaller than the number of the participants stored in association with the selected shared site.
An information processing device comprising : The information processing device described in claim 1, characterized in that the shared site management means uses users of the shared site as candidates for the proposed participants based on information of the users of the shared site obtained from an external service using external service setting information associated with the detected user. The information processing device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the shared site management means displays a participant proposal screen that allows the user to select the participant to be managed by the participant management means from the participant candidates, and accepts an operation to select the participant from the user. 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said shared site management means excludes the participants already managed by said participant management means from the participant candidates displayed on said participant proposal screen. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the shared site management means selects all of the participant candidates as the participants to be managed by the participant management means. The information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the shared site management means displays a shared site save screen that accepts from the user an operation to save a file to the shared site and an operation to notify the user by email of information for accessing the saved file. 7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein said shared site management means designates said participants as destinations of said email. 8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the shared site management means designates, as a destination of the mail, the users who are candidates for the participants and who are not managed as the participants by the participant management means. An information processing system including an information processing device shared by a plurality of users, a user information device that associates the users with external service setting information, and a usage information storage device that stores information on a shared site used on the information processing device,
The information processing device includes:
a participant management means for managing the user detected by the user detection means as a participant;
a sharing site management means for prompting the detected user to select a sharing site and proposing candidates for the participants to be managed by the participant management means based on the information stored in the usage information storage device of the selected sharing site;
having
The shared site management means identifies candidates for the participants to be proposed based on information stored in the information processing device in association with the selected shared site and the participants, compares the number of the participants managed by the participant management means with the number of the participants stored in association with the selected shared site, and proposes the candidates for the participants if the number of the participants managed by the participant management means is smaller than the number of the participants stored in association with the selected shared site.
An information processing system comprising : An information processing method executed in an information processing device shared by a plurality of users, comprising:
a participant management step of managing the user detected by the detection means as a participant;
a sharing site management step of having the detected user select a sharing site and proposing candidates for the participants to be managed in the participant management step based on the selected sharing site;
having
The shared site management step includes identifying candidates for the participants to be proposed based on information stored in the information processing device in association with the selected shared site and the participants, comparing the number of the participants managed in the participant management step with the number of the participants stored in association with the selected shared site, and proposing the candidates for the participants if the number of the participants managed in the participant management step is smaller than the number of the participants stored in association with the selected shared site.
An information processing method comprising : An information processing device that is shared and used by multiple users,
participant management means for managing the user detected by the user detection means as a participant;
a sharing site management means for making the detected user select a sharing site and for proposing candidates for the participants to be managed by the participant management means based on the selected sharing site;
Function as a
The shared site management means identifies candidates for the participants to be proposed based on information stored in the information processing device in association with the selected shared site and the participants, compares the number of the participants managed by the participant management means with the number of the participants stored in association with the selected shared site, and proposes the candidates for the participants if the number of the participants managed by the participant management means is smaller than the number of the participants stored in association with the selected shared site.
A program characterized by .

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