JPH06149534A - Voice screen operation device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] The item 23 of the menu screen 20 displayed on the display device 6 can be selected and designated by voice. [Structure] A display device 6 for displaying a plurality of items 23 to be selected next in a processing process in the information processing device 2 as a menu screen 20, and a remote for outputting audio information input to a microphone 14 via a spatial transmission medium. A terminal 11, a receiver 9 for receiving voice information output from the remote terminal 11, and a voice recognition unit for converting the voice information received by the receiver 9 into one word code registered in advance for each item. Two
2 is selected, and the item 23 corresponding to the word code output from the voice recognition unit 22 is selected, and the result of this item selection is displayed on the menu screen 20 of the display device 6.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a voice screen operation device for selecting an item on a menu screen displayed on a display device by voice.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a large-scale plant such as a factory, a control device composed of a large computer is installed in a control room, and this control device is inputted from each facility of the plant to perform a predetermined control calculation on each process data. Implement and output operation data for each facility. In addition to the control function for each facility described above, the control device also has a monitoring function for monitoring the state of each facility.

As described above, since the control device carries out a large number of tasks, a large number of menu screens to be displayed in a pull-down system on the display screen of the CRT display device are prepared and operated so that the operator can easily operate them. The person selects one item from the multiple items (icons) displayed on the menu screen using a coordinate input device such as a mouse, and then displays the menu screen on which the sub-items related to that item are displayed. There is. That is, the final screen such as an alarm status screen is displayed as desired by the operator.

Since the desired screen can be obtained by sequentially designating the selection items displayed on the menu screen in this way, even an operator unfamiliar with the key operation can easily and accurately operate the operation screen. Can be implemented.

In addition, the operability is dramatically improved as compared with the conventional method of tapping a plurality of keys on the keyboard to expand the screen to the next screen. In addition, human error such as incorrect key input can be reduced.

Thus, all the information is displayed on the display screen of the CRT display device. However, since the display screen of the CRT display device is small, in principle only one operator can monitor it. Prior to the adoption of this CRT display device, various data were constantly displayed on the wall of the central control room, and the plant manager could view the various data displayed on the wall of the plant. I was aware of the condition.

However, by using the CRT display device, these pieces of information are gathered on the display screen of the CRT display device, so that the plant manager feels anxiety because the operation status of the entire plant cannot be immediately grasped. ing.

In order to eliminate such inconvenience, CR
The display contents of the display screen of the T display device are displayed as they are on a large screen using, for example, a video projector. By displaying the menu screen and various kinds of selected data on the large screen in this way, the manager can see the plant status from any position in the management room.

[0009]

However, even if the menu screen is displayed on a large screen,
In order to develop this menu screen and display a desired screen, it is necessary to carry out a mouse operation or a key operation on the operation console on which the CRT display device is mounted. Therefore, as an administrator, it is not possible to freely display a required screen on the screen, apart from the operation console position where the mouse or the like is placed.

In order to eliminate such inconvenience, for example, a remote terminal device using infrared rays or the like, which is used when operating a TV device or a video device in a general household, can be considered. However, in order to select a necessary item from the menu screen displayed on the screen by the remote terminal and develop it on the desired screen, at least as many keys as the selection items are required. Therefore, it is necessary to dispose a large number of keys on the remote terminal, and the entire terminal becomes large, which is inconvenient for the plant manager to bring with him at all times. Furthermore, since many keys are arranged, it is necessary to operate the keys while watching both the screen and the keys.
There is also room for improvement in terms of operability.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and a remote terminal can be made compact by designating a selection item on a menu screen by voice, and only a display screen such as a screen is displayed. You can select while looking at it, and you can greatly improve the operability of expanding the display screen.
Another object is to provide a voice screen operation device that can be easily operated from any position in the control room.

In addition to the microphone, the remote terminal has two
By installing a small number of buttons (up to 3), you can more reliably specify items by voice, and you can easily cancel them. It is an object of the present invention to provide a voice screen operation device capable of further improving the operability described above.

[0013]

In order to solve the above problems, in a voice image operating device of the present invention, a display device for displaying a plurality of items to be selected next in a processing process in an information processing device as a menu screen. , A remote terminal that outputs the audio information input to the microphone through the spatial transmission medium, a receiver that receives the audio information output from this remote terminal, and the audio information received by this receiver. A voice recognition unit for converting each word code registered in advance for each time, an item selection unit for selecting an item corresponding to the word code output from the voice recognition unit, and a menu screen of the display device for the result of the item selection. And a selection item display means for displaying. In another invention, the selected item among the plurality of items displayed on the menu screen of the display device is highlighted.

In still another aspect of the invention, the remote terminal is provided with an input button in addition to the microphone, and the input button operation information and the voice information are output from the remote terminal. Then, in the voice recognition unit, the voice information received by the receiver is limited to the duration length indicated by the button operation information, and the limited voice information is converted into one word code registered in advance for each item. is doing.

In still another aspect of the invention, in addition to an input button and a microphone, a cancel button and an execute button are attached to the remote terminal, an item corresponding to the word code input after receiving the execute button information is selected, and Cancel button In response to receipt of operation information, item selection and selection item display are canceled.

[0016]

With the voice screen operation device configured as described above, the administrator pre-registers each item while viewing the menu screen displayed on a large display device such as a screen while holding the remote terminal. When the said word (word) is uttered, the voice information is detected by the microphone, and the voice information is released into the air through the space transmission medium other than the wire. The voice information is received by the receiver and converted into a word code by the voice recognition unit. Then, an item is selected based on this word code, and the selected item is displayed. In this case, the selected item is highlighted so that the selected item can be visually confirmed.

Further, by providing an input button on the remote terminal, by pressing this input button, the time region for voice recognition of the voice input from the microphone is specified, so the recognition accuracy of voice recognition is improved. Can be improved. Also, by attaching a cancel button and an execute button in addition to the input button to the remote terminal, it is possible to confirm and cancel the item selected by voice.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of the voice screen operating device of the embodiment. A control device 2 including a large computer is installed on a floor 1a of a central control room 1 in a large-scale plant such as a factory. The control device 2 performs a predetermined control calculation on each process data input from each equipment and outputs operation data to each equipment. In addition to the control function for each facility described above, the control device 2 also has a monitoring function for monitoring the state of each facility. A CRT monitor 3 and a keyboard 4 are attached to the front surface of the control device 2. Then, the operator 5 sits toward the display screen 3 and the keyboard 4.

A large screen 6 is provided on one wall of the control room 1.
Is mounted, and an image is projected on the screen 6 by a video projector 7 mounted on the ceiling 1b. The video projector 7 includes the control device 2
A video signal is input from the cable via the cable 8. Also,
A receiver 9 is attached to one corner of the ceiling 1b. The reception signal of the receiver 9 is sent to the control device 2 via the cable 10. Also, in the management room 1, there is a manager 12 who possesses a remote terminal 11.

In the remote terminal 11, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, a microphone 14 for converting sound into an electric signal is provided in a cylindrical case 13 having an outer diameter that can be grasped by one hand.
And input button 15, cancel button 16 and execute button 17
And a total of 3 buttons are attached. An antenna 18 is attached to the cylindrical case 13.

An amplifier, a plurality of modulation circuits and a transmitter are incorporated in the cylindrical case 13. And. Manager 1
When 2 emits a voice toward the microphone 14, the voice is converted into a voice signal by the microphone 14 and is FM-modulated by one modulation circuit, for example. The high frequency FM-modulated wave is amplified by an amplifier and then emitted to the air through the antenna 18 by a transmitter.

When each of the buttons 15, 16 and 17 is pressed, a predetermined number of 2 is set for each of the buttons 15, 16 and 17.
A digitized command signal is generated, a carrier wave signal is FSK-modulated by this command signal by a modulation circuit, and a radio wave is emitted into the air through the transmitter and the antenna 18. The FM-modulated radio wave and the FSK-modulated radio wave of the voice emitted in the air are received by the receiver 9, demodulated into the original voice signal and each command signal, and transmitted to the control device 2.

The control unit 2 is roughly divided into a process control unit 19 for controlling the process state of each facility of the plant.
And the menu screen 2 shown in FIG. 4, for example, on the screen 6 via the CRT monitor 3 and the video projector 7.
A display control unit 21 for displaying 0 and the like, and a voice command recognition unit 22 for converting a voice signal and each command signal input from the receiver 9 into a word code and each command code are housed.

The display control section 21 stores a number of display formats to be displayed on the CRT monitor 3 and the screen 6. Then, for example, immediately after the power of the device is turned on, or when some work is completed, the menu screen 20 shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the CRT monitor 3 and the screen 6.

In the menu screen 20, for example, "maintenance", "alarm list". "Graph display", "Entire system". A total of 25 items, such as 23
Is displayed. Further, when the menu screen 20 shown in FIG. 4 is displayed and the item 23 of “alarm list” is selected by any method, the display control unit 21 displays
A list 24 of alarms (alarm state) of each signal in each plant equipment is displayed as shown in FIG. The actual data of each alarm is the data received from the process control unit 19.

The voice command recognition unit 22 corresponds to the reference voice signals of the above-mentioned item names of the items 23 to be selected displayed on the menu screen 20 shown in FIG. 4 and the reference voice signals. Each word code is stored.

The voice command recognition unit 22 and the display control unit 21 are constructed so as to execute voice recognition, code conversion processing and display control processing according to the flow charts shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b).

When the flow chart is started and an input command signal indicating that the input button 15 has been pressed from the receiver 9 is input in S (program step) 1, a predetermined time such as 5 seconds is set in S2. The audio signal output from the receiver 9 for the specified duration T is fetched and set in the audio buffer. At this point, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3B, the display control unit 21 displays the menu screen 20 shown in FIG. 4 on the screen 6.

The reason why only the voice signal within the specified duration T is captured is that when the voice signal is always captured and voice recognition is performed, a conversation unrelated to ambient noise or commands is picked up by the microphone 14. This is to prevent noise and conversation from being judged as legitimate commands. Therefore, when inputting a voice with the remote terminal device 11, it is necessary to emit a voice immediately after the input button 15 is first pressed.

The voice signal taken in the voice buffer is judged to be in agreement or inconsistency with respect to each of the 25 reference voice signals registered in advance in the storage unit within a certain error range, and the reference voice signal is in agreement. When is detected, the word code assigned to the corresponding reference voice signal is sent to the display control unit 21 (S4).

As shown in the flow chart of FIG. 3B, when the display control section 21 receives a word code, the display control section 21 highlights the item 23 designated by the corresponding word code in order to distinguish it from other items. Specifically, the entire corresponding item 23 is displayed in a blinking manner, the frame of the item 23 is displayed in a different color, or the entire corresponding item 23 is highlighted.

In S5, the cancel button 1 is received from the receiver 9.
When a cancellation command signal indicating that 6 is pressed is input, a cancellation code is sent to the display control unit 21 (S6). And
Return to the beginning of the flow chart. Upon receiving the cancellation code, the display control unit 21 cancels the highlighting of the corresponding item 23 and returns to the beginning of the flowchart.

When the execution command signal indicating that the execution button 17 has been pressed is input from the receiver 9 in S7 without pressing the cancel button 16, the execution code is sent to the display control unit 21 (S8). Then return to the beginning of the flow chart. Upon receipt of the execution code, the display control unit 21 determines that it has been confirmed that the currently highlighted item 23 has been selected, erases the menu screen 20 shown in FIG. The next screen set for the screen is displayed on the CRT monitor 3 and the screen 6. For example, as described above, when the item 23 of “alarm list” is selected,
List 24 of alarms (alarm state) of each signal shown in FIG.
Is displayed.

In the case of the voice screen operation device having such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 1, the administrator 12 displays the menu screen 20 shown in FIG.
When the remote terminal 11 is held with one hand and the input button 15 is pressed to read the character written in the item 23 to be selected, this voice is detected by the microphone 14, recognized by the voice command recognition unit 22, and the word code The display control unit 21 highlights the item 23 designated by voice out of the plurality of items currently displayed.

When the highlighted item 23 matches the item selected by itself, when the execute button 17 is pressed, the screen of the screen 6 is changed to the next screen designated by the item 23. In addition, when the highlighted item 23 is an item that the user does not intend, or when the selection item is changed, if the cancel button 16 is pressed at that time, the highlighted display is canceled and the original menu screen 20 is displayed. Return.

As described above, the administrator 12 can freely designate the item 23 on the display screen of the screen 6 from any position in the management room 1 far away from the keyboard 4 position of the control device 2 to display the contents. Can be displayed on the screen showing the detailed contents of the corresponding item. Therefore, unlike the conventional device, the administrator 12 does not have to go to the position of the keyboard 4 of the control device 2 and perform the screen expansion by the mouse operation or the keyboard operation, so that the operability can be greatly improved.

The remote terminal 11 has a microphone 1
4, the input button 15 for notifying the voice input is provided. Therefore, the voice command recognition unit 22 erroneously outputs the word code by the voice of the conversation not related to the external noise or the command, and the display screen is changed. It is prevented from being accidentally displayed on the next screen.

Further, since the remote terminal 11 is provided with the cancel button 16 and the execute button 17 in addition to the input button 15, it is possible to confirm and cancel the item 23 selected by voice. Therefore, the operability can be further improved.

Although three buttons 15.16.17 are attached to the remote terminal 11, blind operation is possible without seeing these buttons with the three buttons 15.16.17. . Therefore, the administrator 12
While looking at the display screen of the screen 6, the display screen can be expanded to a desired screen by voice.

Further, the remote terminal 11 has only the microphone 14 and three buttons 15.16.17 exposed to the outside, and it can be made compact enough to be held by one hand, and portability is greatly improved. It Therefore, the operability of the remote terminal can be further improved even when compared with the conventional remote terminal in which the selection keys of at least the number of selection items are arranged.

Further, in the apparatus of the embodiment, the administrator 1
The words (words) that 2 should speak are displayed in the frame of the item 23 displayed on the screen 6, so that each item 23
It is only necessary to register one type of audio signal as the reference audio signal corresponding to. Therefore, the required storage capacity can be reduced, the recognition processing speed can be increased, and recognition can be performed almost in real time.

By the way, in the case where words to be uttered (words) are not written, various speaking styles are obtained depending on the individuality of the speaker. For example, the Shinjuku police station may be referred to as “Shinjuku station” or the third elementary school may be referred to as “three small”.
In order to recognize words with the same meaning including changes in expression form due to individual differences among these speakers, it is necessary to store a huge number of speech signals of words, which requires a huge storage capacity. Not only that, but also the recognition processing speed decreases.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. Although the remote terminal 11 of the embodiment is configured to be portable by hand, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the remote terminal 11 includes an earphone type microphone 30 and a handheld box 31 connected to the earphone type microphone 30. May be.

The vibration of the voice uttered by the administrator 12 propagates to the outside gas, and a part of it propagates through a part of the human body such as bone and reaches the auditory organ of the ear. The earphone type microphone 30 detects the sound reaching the auditory organ in a state where it is inserted into the ear like a normal earphone, and a modulator and a transmitter are incorporated in a handheld box 31, and An input button 32, a cancel button 33, and an execute button 34 are attached to the.

The remote terminal constructed as described above also has substantially the same function as the remote terminal shown in FIG. 2, so that it is possible to obtain substantially the same effect as that of the previous embodiment shown in FIG. Is.

Further, the remote terminal of the embodiment transmits the voice information and the button operation information to the receiver 9 by wireless communication. For example, only the voice information is wirelessly transmitted and the button operation information is transmitted by infrared rays or the like. It may be placed on a transmission medium for transmission. Further, both the voice information and the button operation information may be placed on infrared and transmitted.

[0048]

As described above, according to the voice screen operating device of the present invention, the selection item on the menu screen is designated by voice. Therefore, since it is not necessary to provide a button corresponding to each selection item, the remote terminal can be made small and lightweight, and further, the user can select the screen while watching only the display screen such as the screen, and the operation of expanding the display screen The operability can be greatly improved, and it can be easily operated from any position in the control room.

Further, by only providing very few buttons such as an input button, a cancel button, and an execute button on the remote terminal, it is possible to improve the voice recognition accuracy, and to confirm and cancel the item once the voice is designated. Operability can be further improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of a voice screen operation device according to an embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is an external view showing a remote terminal of the apparatus of the embodiment,

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the operation of the apparatus of the embodiment,

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a menu screen displayed on the screen of the apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a development screen of designated items displayed on the screen of the apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an external view showing a remote terminal of a voice screen operating device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Management room, 2 ... Control device, 3 ... CRT monitor, 4 ... Keyboard, 5 ... Operator, 6 ... Screen, 7 ... Video
Projector, 9 ... Receiver, 11 ... Remote terminal, 1
2 ... Administrator, 14 ... Microphone, 15, 32 ... Input button,
16, 33 ... Cancel button, 17, 34 ... Execution button, 1
8 ... Antenna, 20 ... Menu screen, 23 ... Item, 24
… List, 30… Earphone type microphone.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A display device for displaying a plurality of items to be selected next as a menu screen in a processing process in an information processing device, and a remote terminal device for outputting audio information input to a microphone through a spatial transmission medium. A receiver for receiving voice information output from the remote terminal, a voice recognition unit for converting the voice information received by the receiver into one word code registered in advance for each item, and the voice A voice screen operation device comprising: item selection means for selecting an item corresponding to the word code output from the recognition unit; and selection item display means for displaying the result of the item selection on the menu screen of the display device. 2. The voice screen operating device according to claim 1, wherein the selected item display means highlights the selected item among a plurality of items being displayed on the menu screen of the display device. . 3. A display device for displaying a plurality of items to be selected next as a menu screen in a processing process in the information processing device, an input button and a microphone, and input button operation information and voice input to the microphone. A remote terminal that outputs information via a space transmission medium, a receiver that receives button operation information and audio information output from the remote terminal, and the button operation of the audio information received by the receiver. Corresponds to a voice recognition unit that limits the duration time indicated by the information and converts the limited voice information into one word code registered in advance for each item, and the word code output from this voice recognition unit A voice screen operation device comprising item selection means for selecting an item to be selected and selection item display means for displaying the result of the item selection on the menu screen of the display device. 4. The remote terminal has a cancel button and an execute button in addition to the input button and microphone, and outputs cancel button operation information and execute button operation information in addition to input button operation information and voice information. The item selection means selects an item corresponding to the word code input after receiving the execution button information, and cancels the item selection and the selection item display in response to the reception of the cancel button operation information. The voice screen operation device according to 3.