Designing a conversation support system in dining together based on the investigation of actual party

During a mealtimes, we usually enjoy not only eating itself but also having a conversation with other people together. Having a meal with our family or close friends is so enjoyable and an easy task because we already know each other. However we also have a chance to eat with acquaintances or totally new persons. In these cases, it is thought that the conversation would be difficult to continue because of the lack of common conversation topics. In this research we propose the Communication Supporting FDT (Future Dining Table) to solve the communication problem. The proposed system can detect the person who does not participate in the conversation while eating and help the person start the conversation by displaying the news information on the dining table.