Communication apparatus and method thereof

A first communication apparatus used in a communication system in which communication is made between three or more communication apparatuses, the first communication apparatus comprising:

• a direction detector for detecting a direction a user faces from among a plurality of discrete directions, wherein each discrete direction corresponds to a location associated with another of said communication apparatuses;
• an attention level detector for detecting the user's level of attention toward each direction of said plurality of discrete directions, based on a detection result from the direction detector;
• a receiver for receiving information from the other of said communication apparatuses;
• an output device for outputting the information received from the other of said communications apparatuses;
• and
• an adjusting section for adjusting the output information based on the user's level of attention directed to each direction among said plurality of discrete directions, wherein the direction detector detects a direction the user is facing by detecting a face direction of the user.

A first communication apparatus used in a communication system in which communication is made between three or more communication apparatuses, the first communication apparatus comprising:

• a direction detector for detecting a direction a user faces from among a plurality of discrete directions, wherein each discrete direction corresponds to a location associated with another of said communication apparatuses;
• an attention level detector for detecting the user's level of attention toward each direction of said plurality of discrete directions, based on a detection result from the direction detector;
• a receiver for receiving information from the other of said communication apparatuses;
• an output device for outputting the information received from the other of said communications apparatuses;
• an adjusting section for adjusting the output information based on the user's level of attention directed to each direction among said plurality of discrete directions;
• and
• a presentation section for presenting the adjusted output information to a user, wherein the output information is audio information and the adjusting section adjusts audio information presented by the presentation section, and wherein the adjusting section adjusts audio quality of the audio information presented by the presentation section.

A first communication apparatus used in a communication system in which communication is made between three or more communication apparatuses, the first communication apparatus comprising:

• a direction detector for detecting a direction a user faces from, among a plurality of discrete directions, wherein each discrete direction corresponds to a location associated with another of said communication apparatuses;
• an attention level detector for detecting the user's level of attention toward each direction of said plurality of discrete directions, based on a detection result from the direction detector;
• a receiver for receiving information from the other of said communication apparatuses;
• an output device for outputting the information received from the other of said communications apparatuses;
• an adjusting section for adjusting the output information based on the user's level of attention directed to each direction among said plurality of discrete directions;
• and
• a presentation section for presenting the adjusted output information to a user, wherein the information is image information and the adjusting section adjusts the image information presented by the presentation section, and wherein the adjusting section adjusts image quality information presented by the presentation section.

A communication method used for a communication system in which communication is made between three or more communication apparatuses, the method comprising the steps of:

• detecting a direction in which a user faces among a plurality of discrete directions, wherein each direction corresponds to a location associated with, one of the communication apparatuses;
• detecting a user's attention level with respect to the plurality of directions based on a detection result in the direction detecting step;
• adjusting information received from the communication apparatuses according to the level of attention directed by the user to each respective direction, wherein the attention level detecting step further comprises determining a first direction in which the user has continuously faced for a first predetermined length of time or longer, and determining that the attention level of the user is high with respect to the first direction;
• and
• lowering the determined attention level of the user with respect to the first direction upon detecting the user facing a direction other than the first direction after having determined that the user had faced the first direction continuously for said first predefined length of time or longer.

A communication method used for a communication system in which communication is made between three or more communication apparatuses, the method comprising the steps of:

• detecting a direction in which a user faces among a plurality of discrete directions, wherein each direction corresponds to a location associated with one of the communication apparatuses;
• detecting a user's attention level with respect to the plurality of directions based on a detection result in the direction detecting step;
• and
• adjusting information received from the communication apparatuses according to the level of attention directed by the user to each respective direction, wherein the step of detecting a direction comprises detecting a user's face direction.

A communication method used for a communication system in which communication is made between three or more communication apparatuses, the method comprising the steps of:

• detecting a direction in which a user faces among a plurality of discrete directions, wherein each direction corresponds to a location associated with one of the communication apparatuses;
• detecting a user's attention level with respect to the plurality of directions based on a detection result in the direction detecting step;
• adjusting information received from the communication apparatuses according to the level of attention directed by the user to each respective direction;
• and
• presenting the information adjusted in the adjusting step to a user, wherein the step of adjusting comprises adjusting sound information to be presented in the presentation step, and wherein the quality of the sound information presented in the presentation step is adjusted.

A communication method used for a communication system in which communication is made between three or more communication apparatuses, the method comprising the steps of:

• detecting a direction in which a user faces among a plurality of discrete directions, wherein each direction corresponds to a location associated with one of the communication apparatuses;
• detecting a user's attention level with respect to the plurality of directions based on a detection result in the direction detecting step;
• adjusting information received from the communication apparatuses according to the level of attention directed by the user to each respective direction;
• and
• presenting the information adjusted in the adjusting step to a user, wherein the information is image information, wherein the step of adjusting information comprises adjusting image information presented in the presentation step, and wherein the quality of the image information presented in the presentation step is adjusted.