Patent Publication Number: US-11398234-B2

Title: Utterance support apparatus, utterance support method, and recording medium

Description:
CLAIM OF PRIORITY 
     The present application claims priority from Japanese patent application JP 2020-38979 filed on Mar. 6, 2020, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference into this application. 
     BACKGROUND 
     This invention relates to an utterance support apparatus, an utterance support method, and an utterance support program, which are configured to support utterance. 
     In JP 2008-262046 A, there is disclosed a meeting visualization system, which is configured to acquire voices of a plurality of participants in a meeting, and display an ever-changing conversation state of the participants in real time, to thereby induce more positive discussion. In the meeting visualization system, voice data collected from a plurality of voice collecting units corresponding to the plurality of participants of the meeting is processed by a voice processing server so as to extract utterance information. The utterance information is sequentially input to an aggregation server. A stream data processing unit of the processing server is configured to apply query processing to the utterance information, to thereby generate activity data, for example, an accumulated value of the number of times of utterance of the participants of the meeting in the meeting. A display processing unit is configured to visualize and display dialogue situations of the participants of the meeting based on the activity data through use of the sizes of circles, the thicknesses of lines, or the like. 
     An utterance activity contributing to an increase in productivity of a meeting is required for active discussion in the meeting. Regarding the productivity, when a state in which all of speakers are uttering much is defined as a state high in productivity, a state in which only a part of the speakers are uttering much, a state in which all of the speakers are uttering a little, and a state in which a part of the speakers are uttering a little can be considered as states not high in productivity. 
     SUMMARY 
     This invention has an object to induce a state high in productivity of a meeting held by speakers from a state not high in productivity. 
     An aspect of the invention disclosed in this application is an utterance support apparatus, comprising: a processor configured to execute a program; and a storage device configured to store the program, wherein the processor is configured to execute: calculation processing of calculating an accumulated value of utterance periods of each of a plurality of speakers, and clearing the accumulated value of a speaker having the accumulated value that has reached a predetermined value; and display processing of displaying a first graphic in a display region, which is included in a group of display regions each assigned to each of the plurality of speakers, and which is assigned to the speaker having the accumulated value that has reached the predetermined value. 
     According to at least one representative embodiment of this invention, it is possible to induce the state high in productivity of the meeting held by speakers from the state not high in productivity. Other objects, configurations, and effects than those described above are clarified by the following description of an embodiment. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a state discrimination graph for discriminating a state of a meeting. 
         FIG. 2  is an explanatory diagram for illustrating an example of a meeting in which the utterance support apparatus is used. 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the utterance support apparatus. 
         FIG. 4  is an explanatory diagram for illustrating a display example of the utterance support information. 
         FIG. 5  is an explanatory diagram for illustrating an example of time-series data on presence or absence of utterance. 
         FIG. 6  is an explanatory table for showing an example of an utterance period table corresponding to the time-series data on the presence or absence of utterance of  FIG. 5 . 
         FIG. 7  is an explanatory diagram for illustrating an example of the generation of the block in the first display region. 
         FIG. 8  is a flowchart for illustrating an example of a procedure of block display processing by the utterance support apparatus. 
         FIG. 9  is an explanatory diagram for illustrating an example of the deletion of the block row. 
         FIG. 10  is a flowchart for illustrating an example of a procedure of block row deletion processing. 
         FIG. 11  is an explanatory diagram for illustrating a display example of the utterance support information for the utterance suppression. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT 
     Productivity of Meeting 
     It is considered that productivity of a meeting and an amount of discussion in the meeting have a positive correlation. In other words, the productivity of the meeting increases as an amount of utterance of all of speakers increases. As causes of obstructing the productivity of the meeting, there are known a person who utters too much one-sidedly and a person who utters a little or does not utter. The person who utters too much one-sidedly does not notice that the person is uttering too much, or continues uttering because the person is afraid of silence. The person who utters a little or does not utter thinks that the discussion has nothing to do with the person, or thinks that the discussion has something to do with the person, but intentionally behaves so as not to be noticeable. A reason for behaving so as not to be noticeable is that the person dislikes arising of a task to be assigned to the person, or the person assumes by oneself that the person is not responsible for participating in the discussion in the first place. 
       FIG. 1  is a state discrimination graph for discriminating a state of a meeting. The horizontal axis of a state discrimination graph  100  represents an overall speaker balance, and the vertical axis thereof represents an overall utterance level. The horizontal axis indicates that the overall speaker balance becomes better as the position moves rightward, and the overall speaker balance becomes worse as the position moves leftward. The overall speaker balance is a degree of balance among the amounts of utterance of the respective speakers. The overall speaker balance becomes better as the amounts of utterance of the respective speakers become more balanced, and the overall speaker balance becomes worse as the amounts of utterance of the respective speakers become less balanced. The vertical axis indicates that the overall utterance level increases as the position moves upward. The overall utterance level is a length of a period of time in which at least one of a plurality of speakers utters, or a ratio of this length of period of time of utterance to an elapsed period of time of a meeting. 
     A first quadrant  101  corresponds to a state in which the overall speaker balance is satisfactory, and the overall utterance level is high, that is, a state in which all of the speakers are uttering much. This state is a state high in productivity. A second quadrant  102  corresponds to a state in which the overall speaker balance is unsatisfactory, but the overall utterance level is high, that is, a part of the speakers are uttering much. A third quadrant  103  corresponds to a state in which the overall speaker balance is unsatisfactory, and the overall utterance level is also low, that is, a part of the speakers are uttering a little. A fourth quadrant  104  corresponds to a state in which the overall speaker balance is satisfactory, but the overall utterance level is low, that is, all of the speakers are uttering a little. 
     The states of the second quadrant  102 , the third quadrant  103 , and the fourth quadrant  104  correspond to states not high in productivity, and an utterance support apparatus of at least one embodiment of this invention executes utterance support for bringing the state not high in productivity to the state high in productivity of the first quadrant  101 . As a result, it is expected that a speaker having a smaller utterance amount utters more, and a speaker having a larger utterance amount suppresses the utterance. 
     Meeting 
       FIG. 2  is an explanatory diagram for illustrating an example of a meeting in which the utterance support apparatus is used. In  FIG. 2 , there is illustrated an example in which five speakers A to E participate in the meeting for discussion. Moreover, in the meeting, an utterance support apparatus  200 , a voice collection apparatus  201 , and a display apparatus  202  are used. The utterance support apparatus  200  is a computer on which an utterance support program is installed. The voice collection apparatus  201  is configured to collect uttered voices from the speakers A to E, convert the collected voices to electrical signals, and transmit the electrical signals to the utterance support apparatus  200 . The voice collection apparatus  201  may be built into the utterance support apparatus  200 . The display apparatus  202  includes a display screen  203 , and is configured to display utterance support information  210  received from the utterance support apparatus  200  on the display screen  203 . Moreover, in place of the display apparatus  202 , a projector may be used, and the projector may project utterance support results onto a wall. Speaker IDs of the respective speakers A to E are 1 to 5. In the following, in at least one embodiment, description is given of a case in which the five speakers hold a meeting. 
     Hardware Configuration 
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the utterance support apparatus  200 . The utterance support apparatus  200  includes a processor  301 , a storage device  302 , an input device  303 , an output device  304 , and a communication interface (communication IF)  305 . The processor  301 , the storage device  302 , the input device  303 , the output device  304 , and the communication IF  305  are connected to one another by a bus  306 . The processor  301  controls the utterance support apparatus. The processor  301  executes various programs. The storage device  302  serves as a work area of the processor  301 . The storage device  302  is a non-transitory or temporary recording medium which stores the various programs and data. The storage device  302  can be, for example, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a hard disk drive (HDD), or a flash memory. The input device  303  inputs data. The input device  303  can be, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, a ten-key pad, or a scanner. The output device  304  outputs data. The output device  304  can be, for example, a display, a printer or a speaker. The communication IF  305  couples to a network to transmit and receive data. 
     Display Example of Utterance Support Information  210   
       FIG. 4  is an explanatory diagram for illustrating a display example of the utterance support information  210 . The utterance support information  210  is displayed on the display screen  203 . The utterance support information  210  includes a first display region  401 , a second display region  402 , and a third display region  403 . The first display region  401  is a region for displaying blocks  412  indicating the utterance amount of each of the speakers A to E. The respective first display regions for the speakers A to E are denoted by first display regions  401   a  to  401   e . The first display regions  401   a  to  401   e  are arranged in a widthwise direction of the display screen  203 . When the speakers A to E are not distinguished from one another, the first display region is generally referred to as “first display region  401   x.”   
     The block  412  is a graphic indicating an utterance amount of utterance of each of the speakers A to E for a predetermined accumulated period of time. In this example, the shape of the block  412  is a rectangle, but may be another shape such as a circle, an ellipsoid, a trapezoid, a triangle, or a polygon having five or more vertices. The block  412  is piled up in each of the first display regions  401   a  to  401   e  each time each of the speakers A to E utters for the predetermined accumulated period of time. In  FIG. 4 , the speaker A has four blocks  412 , the speaker has six blocks  412 , the speaker C has three blocks  412 , the speaker D has zero blocks  412 , and the speaker E has one block  412 . 
     As described above, it is found that the speaker having blocks  412  piled higher has a larger utterance amount. Moreover, it is found that the overall speaker balance becomes better as the number of blocks  412  becomes better balanced among the speakers A to E. 
     Moreover, speaker IDs  411   a  to  411   e  of the respective speakers A to E are displayed in the first display regions  401   a  to  401   e . As a result, it is possible to visually recognize which of the speakers A to E are assigned to which of the first display regions  401   a  to  401   e.    
     The second display region  402  exists above the first display region  401 . The second display region  402  includes discharge ports  421   a  to  421   e  and containers  422   a  to  422   e  as images for the first display regions  401   a  to  401   e , respectively. When the discharge ports  421   a  to  421   e  are not distinguished from one another, the discharge port is generally referred to as “discharge port  421 .” When the containers  422   a  to  422   e  are not distinguished from one another, the container is generally referred to as “container  422 .” 
     The discharge port  421  is configured to discharge droplets to the container  422 . The container  422  is configured to store the droplets. The stored liquid represents the utterance amount. When the stored utterance amount reaches a predetermined amount, the liquid stored in the container  422  falls as the block  412  from an upper portion of the first display region  401  to a lower portion thereof, and the container  422  is thus emptied. 
     The third display region  403  is arranged, for example, at a right end of the utterance support information  210 . The third display region  403  is configured to display a score  430 . The score  430  is a value based on the number of times of deletion of a block row at the lowest positions of the first display regions  401   a  to  401   e . A higher score  430  corresponds to a state in which the speaker balance is better, and the utterance amount is larger, that is, a state in which the productivity of a meeting is the productivity of the state of the first quadrant  101  or a state transitioning from the state of any one of the second quadrant  102  to the fourth quadrant  104  to the state of the first quadrant  101 . 
     Example of Acquisition of Voices 
       FIG. 5  is an explanatory diagram for illustrating an example of time-series data on presence or absence of utterance. Time-series data  500  on the presence or absence of utterance is data rows each formed by plotting the presence or absence of utterance in a unit time (for example, one second) for each of the speaker IDs  411   a  to  411   e.    
       FIG. 6  is an explanatory table for showing an example of an utterance period table corresponding to the time-series data on the presence or absence of utterance of  FIG. 5 . In the utterance period table  600 , times t 1 , t 2 , t 3 , . . . are a time series of unit time. For each of the speaker IDs  411   a  to  411   e, “ 0” represents the absence of the utterance, and “1” represents the presence of the utterance. For example, in the unit time at the time t 3 , it is shown that only the speaker C corresponding to the speaker ID: 3 utters, and the other speakers A, B, D, and E do not utter. 
     The utterance support apparatus  200  can recognize when and which speaker utters. Specifically, for example, the utterance support apparatus  200  is configured to acquire voice data on the respective speakers A to E in advance, and generate characteristic information on each of the speakers A to E based on parameters such as a mel frequency cepstral coefficient, an angle of arrival, and a volume of the voice. When the utterance support apparatus  200  acquires the voice data in the meeting, the utterance support apparatus  200  generates characteristic information, and when the characteristic information is similar to characteristic information generated in advance, identifies a speaker corresponding to the similar characteristic information. 
     Moreover, the utterance support apparatus  200  is configured to use a training data set, which is a combination of the above-mentioned parameter and correct data (speaker), to thereby generate a learning model through use of machine learning. When the utterance support apparatus  200  acquires the voice data in a meeting, the utterance support apparatus  200  inputs the acquired voice data to the leaning model, to thereby identify whose utterance the voice data corresponds to. 
     Moreover, when the voice collection apparatus  201  is a microphone array, the utterance support apparatus  200  may detect a direction of the voice input to the voice collection apparatus  201 , to thereby identify a speaker. In this case, it is assumed that the utterance support apparatus  200  associates, in advance, positions of the speakers and the speaker IDs  411   a  to  411   e  with each other, and the respective speakers know the own speaker IDs  411   a  to  411   e.    
     Moreover, when details of the conversation are recorded, the speaker is not comfortable with the utterance, and the utterance support apparatus  200  is thus configured not to recognize the details of the utterance. Therefore, the recorded voice data is deleted in real time (however, the utterance time table  600  is maintained). As a result, leak of the voice data is suppressed. Consequently, it is possible to prevent information from leaking. Moreover, the utterance support apparatus  200  does not recognize the details of the utterance, and thus does not generate the block  214  based on the details of the conversation. Thus, the utterance support apparatus  200  is applicable to any languages such as foreign languages including English, French, Germany, and Chinese in addition to Japanese, and is thus highly versatile. 
     Example of Generation of Block 
       FIG. 7  is an explanatory diagram for illustrating an example of the generation of the block in the first display region. In  FIG. 7 , description is given of states in a chronological order from a state (A) to a state (D). The state (A) is a state in which a droplet  701  is discharged from the discharge port to the container  422 . When animation of the state (A) is drawn, this state indicates that the utterance support apparatus  200  recognizes an utterance of a corresponding speaker. As long as the speaker continues the utterance, the droplets  701  continue to fall down from the discharge port  421 . 
     The state (B) indicates a state in which the utterance stops, and a certain amount of the liquid is stored. The state (B) indicates that an utterance corresponding to the unit time has been made once. In other words, when the value in the table of  FIG. 6  becomes “1”, the utterance support apparatus  200  discharges an amount of the liquid corresponding to one unit time from the discharge port  421 . As a result of repetitions of the states (A) and (B), the liquid is accumulated in the container  422  in the state (C). 
     The accumulated amount of the liquid corresponds to an accumulated utterance period of the speaker. For example, in the utterance period table  600  of  FIG. 6 , the speaker B corresponding to the speaker ID: 2 is uttering from the time t 5  to the time t 9 , and the accumulated utterance amount of the speaker B from the time t 1  to the time t 9  is “5.” Therefore, in the state (C), the liquid amount corresponding to the five unit times is stored in the container  422 . 
     Moreover, when a certain amount of the liquid is stored, the container  422  becomes full. It is assumed that a predetermined value of the utterance amount indicating the full state is, for example, “5.” The state (C) indicates that the liquid amount corresponding to the five unit times is stored, and the container  422  is thus full. 
     In the state (D), the container  422  is full, and the liquid stored in the container  422  falls down as the block  412  to the first display region. When blocks  412  do not exist in the first display region  401 , the block  412  is arranged at the lowest position. When blocks  412  exist in the first display region  401 , the fallen block  412  is piled on the highest block  412 . In this example, the block  412  indicates the utterance amount of the five unit times (five seconds). 
     Example of Procedure of Block Display Processing 
       FIG. 8  is a flowchart for illustrating an example of a procedure of block display processing by the utterance support apparatus  200 . The utterance support apparatus  200  determines whether or not a meeting is to be finished based on, for example, a predetermined elapsed period of time from a start of the meeting (Step S 800 ). When the meeting is not to be finished (No in Step S 800 ), the utterance support apparatus  200  acquires the voice data from the voice collection apparatus  201  (Step S 801 ), and identifies speakers (Step S 802 ). As a result, the utterance support apparatus  200  updates the utterance time table  600  shown in  FIG. 6  in accordance with the time-series data  500  on the utterances illustrated in  FIG. 5  after the identification of the speakers. Processing from Step S 803  is executed for each of the identified speakers. 
     After that, the utterance support apparatus  200  refers to the utterance period table  600 , to thereby calculate the accumulated value of the utterance periods of the speaker identified in Step S 802  (Step S 803 ). The accumulated value of the utterance periods is a sum of the values of the elapsed periods in the utterance period table  600 . When it is assumed that the current time is the time t 9 , the accumulated value of the utterance periods of the speaker A corresponding to the speaker ID: 1 is “3.” The accumulated value of the utterance periods of the speaker B corresponding to the speaker ID: 2 is “5.” The accumulated value of the utterance periods of the speaker C corresponding to the speaker ID: 3 is “2.” The accumulated value of the utterance periods of the speaker D corresponding to the speaker ID: 4 is “0.” The accumulated value of the utterance periods of the speaker E corresponding to the speaker ID: 5 is “1.” 
     The utterance support apparatus  200  uses the animation of the discharge of the droplets  701  from the discharge port  421 , to thereby display the accumulated value calculated in Step S 803  as the amount of the liquid stored in the container  422  (Step S 804 ). After that, the utterance support apparatus  200  determines whether or not the accumulated value of the utterance periods has reached the predetermined value (5 in this example) (Step S 805 ). When the accumulated value has not reached the predetermined value (No in Step S 805 ), the utterance support apparatus  200  returns to Step S 800 . 
     Meanwhile, the accumulated value has reached the predetermined value (Yes in Step S 805 ), the utterance support apparats  200  converts the liquid full in the container  422  to the block  412 , displays the block  412  in the first display region  401 , and deletes the liquid in the container  422  (Step S 806 ). After that, the utterance support apparatus  200  clears the accumulated value of the utterance period table  600  (Step S 807 ), and returns to Step S 800 . Specifically, for example, when the current time is t 9 , the accumulated value of the utterance periods of the speaker B corresponding to the speaker ID: 2 has reached “5,” that is, the predetermined value (Yes in Step S 805 ), and the utterance support apparatus  200  thus sets all the values up to the time t 9  in a column corresponding to the speaker ID: 2 to “0.” 
     In Step S 800 , when the meeting is to be finished (Yes in Step S 800 ), the block display processing procedure is finished. 
     Deletion of Block Row 
       FIG. 9  is an explanatory diagram for illustrating an example of the deletion of the block row. A state (A) is a display state of the display screen  203  before the deletion of the block row, and it is assumed that the score is “0.” A state (B) is a display state of the display screen  203  after the deletion of the block row, and the score is thus “1.” 
     In the state (A), when the speaker D corresponding to the speaker ID: 4 utters for five seconds from the state of  FIG. 4 , a block  412   d  is generated and displayed in the first display region  401   d . A block group  412   ar  is a group of blocks piled on a block  412   a  at the lowest position in the first display region  401   a . A block group  412   br  is a group of blocks piled on a block  412   b  at the lowest position in the first display region  401   b . A block group  412   cr  is a group of blocks piled on a block  412   c  at the lowest position in the first display region  401   c.    
     In the state (A), there exists a block row  900  formed of the blocks  412   a  to  412   e  at the lowest positions of the respective first display regions  401   a  to  401   e . In the state (B), when the block row  900  is thus displayed in the first display region  401 , the utterance support apparatus  200  deletes the block row  900 . Moreover, the utterance support apparatus  200  shifts the block groups  412   ar ,  412   br , and  412   cr  toward the lowest positions at which the blocks  412   a  to  412   c  were displayed. After that, the utterance support apparatus  200  updates the score to “1.” The score is updated in proportion to the number of times of deletion of the block row  900 . In  FIG. 9 , the block row  900  is deleted once, and one is thus added to the score, to thereby update the score from “0” in the state (A) to “1.” 
       FIG. 10  is a flowchart for illustrating an example of a procedure of block row deletion processing. The utterance support apparatus  200  determines whether or not the block row exists at the lowest position of the first display region  401  (Step S 1001 ). When the block row does not exist (No in Step S 1001 ), the utterance support apparatus  200  repeats Step S 1001 . When the block row exists (Yes in Step S 1001 ), the utterance support apparatus  200  deletes the block row  900  (Step S 1002 ), and shifts the remaining blocks downward in the first display region  401  (Step S 1003 ). After that, the utterance support apparatus  200  updates the score  430  (Step S 1004 ). As a result, the block row deletion processing is finished. 
     Example of Utterance Suppression Display 
       FIG. 11  is an explanatory diagram for illustrating a display example of the utterance support information for the utterance suppression. When the utterance is unevenly made by a specific speaker (for example, the speaker B in this case), the blocks  412  are piled up, and consequently do not fit to the first display region  401   b . Thus, as the blocks  412  are piled up, the utterance support apparatus  200  reduces a thickness of blocks displayed later compared with the thickness of blocks  412  displayed earlier. The thickness of the block  412  is a width in a direction in which the blocks  412  are piled up. A normal block  412  is denoted by “block  412   x ” in order to distinguish from thinner blocks  412   y  and  412   z.    
     Specifically, for example, after a predetermined number n (for example, n=6) of the blocks  412   x  are piled up, the utterance support apparatus  200  displays the blocks  412   y  each thinner than the block  412   x . Moreover, after a predetermined number m (for example, m=3) of the blocks  412   y  are piled up, the utterance support apparatus  200  displays the blocks  412   z  each thinner than the block  412   y.    
     The first display region  401  can effectively be used by reducing the size of the blocks  412  as the number of blocks  412  increases for each of the speakers A to E. Moreover, the utterance support apparatus  200  achieves the increase in utterance amount through such gamification that the blocks  412  serving as rewards are offered, but as the number of blocks  412  increases, the size of the block  412  decreases. Therefore, the speaker feels that a reward corresponding to the utterance amount is not offered. Thus, the utterance support apparatus  200  can urge the speaker to suppress the utterance. 
     As described above, according to at least one embodiment, as the utterance support information  210 , the utterance amount of each of the speakers A to E is visualized as the number of blocks, and it is thus possible to visually recognize the amount of utterance of each of the speakers A to E. Thus, it is possible to urge a speaker passive in utterance to utter positively, and to urge a speaker positive in utterance to suppress the utterance. Moreover, it is possible to recognize the productivity of the meeting through the display of the score  430  proportional to the number of times of deletion of the block row  900 . As described above, it is possible to provide such support as bringing a state of the meeting held by the speakers A to E not high in productivity to a state high in productivity. 
     Moreover, as illustrated in  FIG. 7 , the increase in utterance amount can be achieved through the gamification of displaying the animation of storing the liquid corresponding to the amount of utterance when an utterance is made, to thereby generate the block  412 , and offering the block  412  serving as the reward to the speakers A to E. In other words, the assignment of the block  412  to the uttered speaker can give such a sense of accomplishment that the speaker is contributing to the meeting. Moreover, as a speaker utters more, the speaker receives more blocks  412 , and is thus urged to utter through fun and joy of getting the blocks  412  serving as the reward. 
     Moreover, the block row  900  is deleted when the blocks  412  are aligned at the lowest positions, and the satisfactory speaker balance among the speakers A to E can thus be achieved through the gamification of the deletion of the block row  900 . In other words, all of the speakers A to E can experience such a sense of accomplishment that the speaker balance is increased through the deletion of the block row  900 . Moreover, as the utterance amounts of all of the speakers A to E increase, the number of times of alignment of the blocks  412  at the lowest positions increases. The number of times of deletion of the block row  900  consequently increases, and the score  430  accordingly increases. As described above, the increase in productivity of the meeting, which corresponds to the satisfactory speaker balance among all of the speakers A to E and the increase in utterance amount, can be achieved through such gamification that the score  430  increases as the block row  900  is deleted. 
     Moreover, when the predetermined number of blocks  412  are displayed for any one of the speakers, the utterance support apparatus  200  may change a display color before the predetermined number is reached to a different color. Specifically, for example, the utterance support apparatus  200  may change a background color of the first display region  401  after the predetermined number is reached, or may change the display color of the blocks  412  of any one of the speakers after the predetermined number is reached. As a result, an imbalance among the speakers, that is, a decrease in speaker balance, can be notified to all of the speakers A to E. 
     Moreover, in at least one embodiment described above, description has been given of the example in which the utterance support information  210  is displayed on the display apparatus  202 , but the utterance support apparatus  200  may transmit the utterance support information  210  to a terminal (for example, a personal computer or a smartphone) of each speaker communicable to/from the utterance support apparatus  200 . As a result, each of the speakers A to E can check the number of own blocks, the numbers of blocks of other speakers, and the score  430  on the own terminal. 
     In particular, the utterance amount of a shy speaker is likely to be small, and the speaker more hesitates to utter when other speakers notice the small number of blocks  412  of this shy speaker on the display apparatus  202 . Therefore, the hesitation to utter can be suppressed through the display of the utterance support information  210  on the terminal of each of the speakers A to E. 
     As described above, according to at least one embodiment, it is possible to provide such support as bringing a state of the meeting held by the speakers A to E not high in productivity to a state high in productivity. 
     It should be noted that this disclosure is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and encompasses various modification examples and the equivalent configurations within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the gist of this disclosure. For example, the above-mentioned embodiments are described in detail for a better understanding of this disclosure, and this disclosure is not necessarily limited to what includes all the configurations that have been described. Further, a part of the configurations according to a given embodiment may be replaced by the configurations according to another embodiment. Further, the configurations according to another embodiment may be added to the configurations according to a given embodiment. Further, a part of the configurations according to each embodiment may be added to, deleted from, or replaced by another configuration. 
     Further, a part or entirety of the respective configurations, functions, processing modules, processing means, and the like that have been described may be implemented by hardware, for example, may be designed as an integrated circuit, or may be implemented by software by a processor interpreting and executing programs for implementing the respective functions. 
     The information on the programs, tables, files, and the like for implementing the respective functions can be stored in a storage device such as a memory, a hard disk drive, or a solid state drive (SSD) or a recording medium such as an IC card, an SD card, or a DVD. 
     Further, control lines and information lines that are assumed to be necessary for the sake of description are described, but not all the control lines and information lines that are necessary in terms of implementation are described. It may be considered that almost all the components are connected to one another in actuality.