Two-way interactive system, terminal equipment and image pickup apparatus having mechanism for matching lines of sight between interlocutors through transmission means

摘要

A two-way interactive system that includes an apparatus for matching the line of sight of interlocutors in order to enhance communication through a transmission means when the interlocutors are located in remote areas. Terminal equipment, located at the site of each interlocutor, includes a display unit, a position regulator means and an image pickup apparatus. The display unit includes a monitor that displays an image of a partner interlocutor. The position regulating means regulates the position of the interlocutor with respect to the monitor. The image pickup apparatus includes an image pickup unit which captures an image of the interlocutors and a support means which sets the image pickup unit in a predetermined position between the interlocutor and a monitor of the display unit. More particularly, the image pick up unit is positioned in a line-of-sight matching area defined by the distance from the interlocutor to the monitor and a parallactic angle formed by the lines of sight of the interlocutor to the image of the partner interlocutor and the image pickup unit.