Patent ID: 7540017

Claim:
An information processing apparatus comprising: instruction reception means which can receive from a specific user a first instruction that indicates the specific user will leave a place of said processing apparatus soon and a second instruction that indicates the specific user has just returned to the place of said processing apparatus; presence change information reception means for receiving from at least one of a plurality of second apparatuses user presence change information indicating the specific user has just returned to respective places of the second apparatuses; presence determination means for determining that the specific user is present near said processing apparatus if the second instruction that indicates the specific user has just returned to the place of said processing apparatus is received or the presence change information indicating the specific user has just returned is received from a second apparatus settled in a place that is the same as the place of said processing apparatus; absence determination means for determining that the specific user is not present near said processing apparatus if the first instruction that indicates the specific user will leave the place of said processing apparatus soon is received or the presence change information indicating the specific user has just returned is received from a second apparatus settled in a place different from the place of said processing apparatus; contradiction determining means for determining, when the second instruction that indicates the specific user has just returned to the place of said processing apparatus and the presence change information from the second apparatus indicating the specific user has just returned to a place of a second apparatus are received simultaneously, that a contradiction exists in a presence state of the specific user if the second apparatus is settled in the place different from the place of said processing apparatus, and that no contradiction exists in the presence state of the specific user if the second apparatus is settled in the place that is the same as the place of said processing apparatus; presence process performing means for performing a presence process in which information only for the specific user is output, when the specific user is determined to be present near said processing apparatus by said presence determination means; absence process performing means for performing an absence process in which information common to any person other than the specific user is output, when the specific user is not determined to be present near said processing apparatus by said presence determination means; and contradiction process performing means for performing a presence contradiction process in which the contradiction is notified, when it is determined that the contradiction exists in the presence state of the specific user.