Abstract: A server device having a content provider, a voice provider and an access number counter, etc. is arranged on the Internet. The content provider provides terminal devices connected to the Internet with the contents (e.g., contents of a chat) which are updated at predetermined intervals. The access number counter counts the number of terminal devices which have currently logged in to the contents provided by the content provider and have not logged out therefrom. The voice provider sets a voice level in accordance with a value counted by the access number counter, every time new contents are provided by the content provider, and provides voice data.

Abstract: A server device and a client device are connected through the Internet and the server device provides predetermined information on demand by the client device. The client device starts obtaining time when it displays predetermined information provided by the server device and stops obtaining time when a response to displayed predetermined information is input. That is, the client device obtains the time period between a display of predetermined information and an input of the response. The client device sends the obtained time period to the server device through the Internet. The server device certifies the received time period. At the time of certifying, the server device checks if the time period data and the program for obtaining the time period are improperly altered or not.

Abstract: An input reception unit of a design support apparatus receives input of a definition attribute name of a product to be designed. A definition attribute obtaining unit, control attribute obtaining unit and stress obtaining unit obtain parameter names usable for calculating a strength value and stress value, based on the definition attribute name. The input reception unit further receives input of parameter values of the parameter names. A strength calculation unit calculates a strength value of the product to be designed in accordance with a predetermined calculation procedure using the parameter value. The stress calculation unit calculates a value of stress applied to the product to be designed in accordance with a predetermined calculation procedure using the parameter value. The comparison report unit compares the strength value and the stress value, and reports report information associated with those values in a case where the comparison result satisfies a predetermined condition.

Abstract: The present invention provides automatic correction of any distortions produced when computer projection displays are misaligned with respect to the projection surface (such as keystoning). Although sophisticated LCD projectors now offer partial solutions to this problem, they require specialized hardware and time-consuming manual adjustment. The two key concepts in the present invention are: (1) using an uncalibrated camera to observe the projected image; and (2) the image to be displayed is pre-warped so that the distortions induced by the misaligned projection system will exactly undo the distortion. The result is that an arbitrarily mounted projector (in an unknown orientation) still displays a perfectly aligned and rectilinear image.

Abstract: An input reception unit of a design support apparatus receives input of a definition attribute name of a product to be designed. A definition attribute obtaining unit, control attribute obtaining unit and stress obtaining unit obtain parameter names usable for calculating a strength value and stress value, based on the definition attribute name. The input reception unit further receives input of parameter values of the parameter names. A strength calculation unit calculates a strength value of the product to be designed in accordance with a predetermined calculation procedure using the parameter value. The stress calculation unit calculates a value of stress applied to the product to be designed in accordance with a predetermined calculation procedure using the parameter value. The comparison report unit compares the strength value and the stress value, and reports report information associated with those values in a case where the comparison result satisfies a predetermined condition.

Abstract: Disclosed is a computer-assisted method for analyzing the surroundings of a display device. At least two different patterns are displayed successively on a display device connected to a computer. A camera is also connected to the computer and is directed towards objects in front of the display device. Each time a pattern is displayed on the display device, at least one image of the surroundings is captured. The captured images are combined to create a difference image. The difference image is analyzed to interpret the objects in the surroundings. For example, calculations may be performed to segment the foreground from the background of the surroundings or to estimate the range (distance) of the objects from the display device. An apparatus for performing this computer-assisted method is also disclosed.

Abstract: An input reception unit of a design support apparatus receives input of a definition attribute name of a product to be designed. A definition attribute obtaining unit, control attribute obtaining unit and stress obtaining unit obtain parameter names usable for calculating a strength value and stress value, based on the definition attribute name. The input reception unit further receives input of parameter values of the parameter names. A strength calculation unit calculates a strength value of the product to be designed in accordance with a predetermined calculation procedure using the parameter value. The stress calculation unit calculates a value of stress applied to the product to be designed in accordance with a predetermined calculation procedure using the parameter value. The comparison report unit compares the strength value and the stress value, and reports report information associated with those values in a case where the comparison result satisfies a predetermined condition.

Abstract: Disclosed is a computer-assisted method for classifying a text document according to emotion and affect. A score is assigned to each affect term in the document. An affect score is computed for the document from the scores for each affect term. The document is then classified in accordance with the affect score. An apparatus for performing the computer-assisted method is also disclosed.

Abstract: A computer implemented method which does not require a stored dictionary for correcting spelling errors in a sequence of words comprises storing a plurality of spelling rules defined as regular expressions for matching a potentially illegal n-gram which may comprise less than all letters in the word and for replacing an illegal n-gram with a legal n-gram to return a corrected word, submitting a word from said sequence of words to the spelling rules and replacing a word in the string of words with a corrected word.

Abstract: The present invention enables a user to automatically calibrate a projector-camera system to recover the mapping from a given point in the source (pre-projection) image and its corresponding point in the camera image, and vice versa. One or more calibration patterns are projected onto a flat surface with possibly unknown location and orientation by a projector with possibly unknown location, orientation and focal length. Images of these patterns are captured by a camera mounted at a possibly unknown location, orientation and with possibly unknown focal length. Parameters for mapping between the source image and the camera image are computed. The present invention can become an essential component of a projector-camera system, such as automatic keystone correction and vision-based control of computer systems.

Abstract: Disclosed is a computer-assisted method for generating a summary of or a browsing aid for a document. At an index creation time, information that is relevant to at least one dummy query and is necessary to compile at least one temporary summary for the summary or browsing aid is extracted from a document and cached for later use. The information may be compiled into the summary and saved as such. At a search time, the summary or browsing aid is generated using the information that was cached at index creation time. An apparatus for performing this computer-assisted method is also disclosed.

Abstract: A character processing apparatus has a font storage area with at least fonts for representative characters stored therein, and a character information table with storage address for the fonts, no-font information or the like stored therein. A retrieving section is provided for receiving arbitrary inputted character code, referring to storage address information or no-font information in the character information table, and outputting the storage address information corresponding to character code for a representative character having the same group number and the same type information as that of the retrieved character code according to type information as well as to group information when there is no-font information. A display control section and a display section are included for receiving a corresponding font from the font storage area and displaying a character for the arbitrary character code on a screen according to the storage address information inputted from the retrieving section.

Abstract: The job execution managing apparatus according to the present invention comprises an information storing section for storing therein job information comprising a character string defining a user's action to execute a work with given contents prepared for an arbitrary number of jobs and also at least storing therein first relational information correlating job information to a document required when executing the job and second relational information correlating a document to an application program, and an action managing section for selecting, when any of job information displayed on the screen is selected, a document relating to the selected job information referring to the first relational information and also selecting an application program relating to the selected document referring to the second relational information and managing a series of jobs executed with the selected application program.

Abstract: A computer method for preparing a summary string from a source document of encoded text. The method comprises comparing a training set of encoded text documents with manually generated summary strings associated therewith to learn probabilities that a given summary word or phrase will appear in summary strings given a source word or phrase appears in encoded text documents and constructing from the source document a summary string containing summary words or phrases having the highest probabilities of appearing in a summary string based on the learned probabilities established in the previous step.

Abstract: The method of recognizing the language of a single word as to spelling and grammar correction (e.g., identifying the appropriate language resources on a document, paragraph, sentence or even individual word basis), the automatic invocation of transliteration software based on the language of the words (e.g., automatic ASCII to Kanji substitution without requiring the user to explicitly switch into a Kanji mode), the automatic invocation of appropriate machine translation tools when the document's language is different from the user's native tongue(s), the use of document language identification to eliminate from database or web search results any documents which are not written in the user's native language and the automatic identification of user-appropriate languages for the user interface.

Abstract: A character processing apparatus has a font storage area with at least fonts for representative characters stored therein, and a character information table with storage address for the fonts, no-font information or the like stored therein. A retrieving section is provided for receiving arbitrary inputted character code, referring to storage address information or no-font information in the character information table, and outputting the storage address information corresponding to character code for a representative character having the same group number and the same type information as that of the retrieved character code according to type information as well as to group information when there is no-font information. A display control section and a display section are included for receiving a corresponding font from the font storage area and displaying a character for the arbitrary character code on a screen according to the storage address information inputted from the retrieving section.

Abstract: When persons who meet each other in the business scene exchange their business cards, and business card IDs specific to themselves and send the obtained other person's business card ID together with information indicating the situation when the IDs are exchanged, from the cellular phones to register the ID in the business card managing server. The business card managing server includes user's own information databases, besides other persons' information databases. A user who intends to browse another person's business card information, sends the user's own business card ID and the other person's business card ID to the business card managing server from the business card managing client. The business card managing server retrieves necessary information from the other persons' information database of the user and the user's own information database of the other person, and sends retrieved information to the business card managing client as the business card information.

Abstract: A neuron device network is provided with a speech input layer, a context layer, a hidden layer, a speech output layer and a hypothesis layer. A phoneme to be learned is spectral-analyzed by an FFT unit and a vector row at a time point t is input to a speech input layer. Also, a vector state of the hidden layer at a time t-1 is input to the context layer, the vector row at a time t+1 is input to the speech output layer as an instructor signal, and a code row for hypothesizing the phoneme, or the code row, is input to the hypothesis layer. The time series relation of the vector rows and the phoneme are hypothetically learned. Alternatively, a spectrum, a cepstrum or a speech vector row based on outputs from the hidden layer of an auto-associative neural network is input to the speech input layer, and the code row is output from the hypothesis layer, taking into account the time series relation.

Abstract: A kana-to-kanji conversion system, in which an input character string is displayed in Romaji in the order in which the characters are inputted in a client on a network, the input character string in Romaji is transmitted successively from the client to a server, a kana character string is obtained by processing the successively transmitted input character string in the server, the kana character string is returned to the originator client from the server, and, of the displayed Romaji in the client, a display of a section corresponding to the returned kana character string is changed to the kana character string.

Abstract: When a spreadsheet is displayed in a display section and spreadsheet calculation is to be executed, by referring to a column or a row with a key entry or pointing device, the column or row can be displayed in the fixed state without overflowing when the spreadsheet on the display screen is scrolled. A limited display range on the spreadsheet can be changed through scrolling when a row or a column not specified as an object for fixed display is to be displayed.