Information processor for changing a display in response to an input audio signal

• US 6,271,841 B1
• Filed: 04/02/1999
• Issued: 08/07/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 06/02/1992
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Tsujimoto, Taizou
• Primary Examiner(s): Bayerl, Raymond J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Cao H.
• Application Number:
  US09/285,275
• Time in Patent Office: 858 Days
• Field of Search: 345/328, 345/333, 345/334, 345/335, 345/346, 345/348, 345/349, 345/473, 345/474, 345/435
• US Class Current: 715/839
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/001 Texturing; Colouring; Generation of texture or colour inpainting G06T5/77

Abstract

In a situation where a moving picture, representing a person playing the piano, is being displayed on a screen responsive to an animation signal, while a human voice reporting an item of news is being output responsive to an audio signal with a caption displayed on the screen as an icon image, a comparator continuously compares information such as “Next, we will have the weather forecast . . . ” contained in the voice with another information like “weather” prescribed by an operator. The moment a correspondence is found between these pieces of information, the caption, which has been displayed as an icon image, is turned into a window. In this manner, information contained in an audio signal is always monitored and when a predetermined condition is met, an icon image is changed into a window automatically and timely. Accordingly, an operator need not perform a troublesome operation of manually changing an icon image into a window.

Claims

1. A computer comprising:

a display unit for displaying different information on different windows assigned on its screen;

an audio information extract unit for extracting time-variable audio information from tine-series amplitude information which is included in an audio real time signal received from the outside;

an icon image generator for changing one of the windows, which corresponds to the information included in the audio real time signal, to a time-variable icon having an image that conveys the time-variable audio information extracted from the audio real time signal, wherein the generated time-variable icon image varies reflective of variations in the time-variable audio information extracted from the audio real time signal;

a display controller for controlling the display unit to display the generated time-variable icon image on the screen;

a CG image generator for generating a still image which indicates an area of a second one of the windows; and

an image synthesizer for synthesizing a second audio real time signal received from the outside, the still image generated by the CG image generator and the time-variable icon image generated by the icon image generator such that the second audio real time signal is displayed within the second window of which area is indicated by the still image while the time-variable icon image is displayed on a predetermined position in the screen of the display unit.

2. A computer comprising:

a display unit for displaying different information on different windows assigned on its screen;

an audio information extract unit for extracting time-variable audio information from tine-series amplitude information which is included in an audio real time signal received from the outside;

an icon image generator for changing one of the windows, which corresponds to the information included in the audio real time signal, to a time-variable icon having an image that conveys the time-variable audio information extracted from the audio real time signal, wherein the generated time-variable icon image varies reflective of variations in the time-variable audio information extracted from the audio real time signal;

a display controller for controlling the display unit to display the generated time-variable icon image on the screen;

a comparator for comparing the time-variable audio information extracted from the audio real time signal with predetermined information and generating a signal indicating correspondence between the extracted time-variable audio information and the predetermined information, wherein the icon image generator and the display controller respond to the signal generated by the comparator;

a CG image generator for generating a still image which indicates an area of a second one of the windows; and

an image synthesizer for synthesizing a second audio real time signal received from the outside, the still image generated by the CG image generator and the time-variable icon image generated by the icon image generator such that the second audio real time signal is displayed within the second window of which area is indicated by the still image while the time-variable icon image is displayed on a predetermined position in the screen of the display unit.

3. A computer comprising;

a display unit for displaying different information on different windows assigned on its screen;

an audio information extract unit for extracting, from an audio signal received from the outside, semantic data resulting from recognizing speech with a second audio signal;

an icon image generator for generating a time-variable icon image in the form of a caption reflective of the extracted semantic data;

a display controller for controlling the display unit to display the generated time-variable icon image on the screen;

a CG image generator for generating a still image which indicates an area of a second one of the window; and

an image synthesizer for synthesizing a second audio signal received from the outside, the still image generated by the CG image generator and the time-variable icon image generated by the icon image generator such that the second audio signal is displayed within the second window of which area is indicated by the still image while the time-variable icon image is displayed on a predetermined position in the screen of the display unit.