Conference system and associated signalling method
The conference system (KS) can comprise at least one mobile terminal with a respective signaling apparatus which contains a sensor which detects motion by the signaling apparatus and outputs a corresponding motion signal. In addition, it can contain a motion signal processing apparatus which associates the motion signal from a gesture in nonverbal interhuman communication with a motion signal pattern and, as a result of an association having been made, produces an output signal with a corresponding piece of information about the type of detected gesture in the nonverbal interhuman communication. Furthermore, the conference system can include a transmission apparatus for supplying the output signal to a transmission channel which is respectively connected to a local area network. The network can include other network elements, such as a telephone for a moderator and a screen for conference control connected to it.
1. A communication system comprising:
a mobile terminal with a signal-transmitting device comprising:
a sensor configured to detect a movement of the signal-transmitting device and output a corresponding motion signal for a nonverbal interpersonal communication gesture,
a motion signal processing device that is configured to associate the motion signal with a motion signal pattern and generate an output signal with corresponding information about a type of nonverbal interpersonal communication gesture detected from the motion signal pattern; and
a transmitting device configured to supply the output signal to at least one transmission channel, said at least one transmission channel associated with the mobile terminal.
2. The communication system of claim 1 , where the output signal comprises information that provides an indication as to an originator of the motion signal.
3. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the motion signal processing device is configured to detect a human nonverbal gesture of drawing attention for interhuman communication as a result of a movement of the signal-transmitting device contained in the mobile terminal.
4. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the motion signal of a gesture associates the gesture with a motion signal pattern that is known to the signal-transmitting device or stored in the signal-transmitting device.
5. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor and the motion signal processing device are configured to suppress unintentional nonverbal interpersonal communication gestures so that said gestures do not cause at least one of the motion signal and the output signal when the motion of the signal-transmitting device is determined to have a motion amplitude or a signal intensity that is below a pre-selected threshold.
6. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the signal-transmitting device is configured to process and store motion signal patterns from an external data source that is not part of the signal-transmitting device.
7. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the transmission channel is formed by a wireless local area network (WLAN) with a WLAN access point or a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) data net.
8. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the signal-transmitting device contains an output device that is configured to output the information of the output signal in a way selected from the group consisting of visually on a screen, acoustically, and as haptic stimuli, the output device configured to output the information of the output signal such that the output information corresponds with the nonverbal interpersonal communication gesture.
9. The communication system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a local area network connected to said at least one transmission channel; and
a screen for conference control connected to the local area network;
wherein the screen that is connected to the local area network is designed as a touch user interface, which is housed in a personal computer, connected to the computer, or in a telephone.
10. The communication system of claim 9 , further comprising:
a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) server;
a conference server; and
a conference application;
wherein the SIP server, the conference server, and the conference control application, are connected to the local area network.
11. A signaling method for a communication system, comprising:
detecting a motion of a signal-transmitting device and outputting a motion signal based on the detected motion of the signal-transmitting device;
associating the motion signal with a nonverbal interpersonal communication gesture;
generating an output signal in response to an association between the motion signal and the gesture, said output signal comprising information that corresponds to the nonverbal interpersonal communication gesture;
transmitting the output signal from a first device connected to the signal-transmitting device to a second device via a transmission channel;
receiving the output signal that is transferred via the transmission channel by the second device; and
displaying, by the second device, a respective marker that is associated with a terminal on a screen for conference control based on the output signal received from the first device.
12. The signaling method of claim 11 , wherein the first device is the terminal, wherein indicia identifying a switching state of “mute” or “unmute” of the terminal is also shown on the screen and is modifiable depending on the marker, and wherein this switching action is actuatable automatically or manually.
13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the marker identifies whether a request to speak has been made based on the output signal.
14. A communication terminal comprising:
a sensor configured to detect a movement of a signal-transmitting device and output a corresponding motion signal for a nonverbal interpersonal communication gesture;
a motion signal processing device configured to associate the motion signal with a motion signal pattern and generate an output signal with corresponding information about a type of nonverbal interpersonal communication gesture detected from the motion signal pattern; and
a transmitting device configured to supply the output signal to at least one transmission channel, said at least one transmission channel associated with the communication terminal.
15. The communication terminal of claim 14 , wherein the sensor and the motion signal processing device are configured to suppress unintentional nonverbal interpersonal communication gestures so that said gestures do not cause at least one of the motion signal and the output signal when the motion of the signal-transmitting device is determined to have a motion amplitude or a signal intensity that is below a pre-selected threshold.
16. The communication terminal of claim 15 , wherein the signal-transmitting device is configured to process and store motion signal patterns from an external data source that is not part of the signal-transmitting device.
17. The communication terminal of claim 14 , wherein the sensor and the motion signal processing device are components of the signal-transmitting device.
18. The communication terminal of claim 14 , wherein the motion signal processing device is configured to detect a human nonverbal gesture of drawing attention for interhuman communication as a result of a movement of the signal-transmitting device contained in the communication terminal.
19. The communication terminal of claim 14 , wherein the motion signal of a gesture associates the gesture with a motion signal pattern that is known to the signal-transmitting device or stored in the signal-transmitting device.
20. The communication terminal of claim 14 , wherein the sensor and the motion signal processing device are configured to suppress unintentional nonverbal interpersonal communication gestures so that said gestures do not cause at least one of a motion signal and an output signal when the motion of the signal-transmitting device is determined to have a motion amplitude or a signal intensity that is below a pre-selected threshold.