JP4640953B2 - Psychological state analyzer - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for analyzing the psychological state of a subject with high accuracy.

  Conventionally, providing a comfortable environment for the target person by grasping the psychological state of the target person and controlling the surrounding environment of the target person, that is, the state of the environment in which the target person lives, according to the psychological state The technique which performs is proposed (for example, refer patent document 1, 2, 3).

  At this time, in order to grasp the psychological state of the target person, physiological information such as the body temperature, sweating state, heart rate, etc. of the target person is acquired, and from any one type of physiological information or a plurality of types of physiological information The psychological state was estimated from the combination of physiological information.

  FIG. 1 shows an example of a conventional psychological state analysis apparatus of this type, and here shows an apparatus combined with the above-described part for controlling the state of the environment around the subject. 2 is a physiological information sensor, 2 is a physiological information acquisition device, 3 is an information analysis device, and 4 is a feedback device. In addition, the part enclosed with the dashed-two dotted line represents the range which is not contained in a psychological state analyzer.

In the above-described configuration, the physiological information acquisition device 2 is configured so that the physiological information of the target person 11, in this case, the body temperature and sweating, is obtained from signals from the physiological information sensors 1-1 and 1-2, for example, the body temperature sensor 1-1 and the sweat sensor 1-2. Get physiological information about the condition. The information analysis device 3 analyzes the physiological information, estimates the psychological state of the target person 11, and outputs it to the feedback device 4 as psychological information. The feedback device 4 controls the state of the environment 12 around the subject 11 according to the psychological information, that is, executes some feedback 13.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-15599 JP-A-5-46587 JP-A-8-71050

  However, in the case of the psychological state analysis device that estimates and grasps the psychological state of the target person 11 only from the acquired physiological information of the target person 11 as described above, depending on the acquired physiological information, the psychological state of the target person 11 may be determined. There was a risk of estimating it incorrectly.

  For example, in the above-described psychological state analysis apparatus, the physiological information acquired by the physiological information acquisition apparatus 2 based on signals from the body temperature sensor 1-1 and the sweat sensor 1-2 is “body temperature: high” and “sweat: present”. In this case, there are three possible states (psychological states) of the target person 11: “(simply) hot”, “excited state”, and “bad physical condition (cold)”.

  In such a case, the information analyzing apparatus 3 estimates from the rate of increase in body temperature, the amount of sweating, and the like. For example, if the increase in body temperature is slightly (for example, 0.5 ° C. or less) compared to normal normal heat, “(simply) It is estimated that the condition is “hot” or “excited state”, and if the body temperature exceeds a certain value (for example, 1 ° C. or more) compared to normal normal heat, it is estimated that the condition is “bad physical condition (cold)”.

  However, even if the state (psychological state) of the subject 11 is “(simply) hot” or “excited state”, if the temperature of the surrounding environment 12 is high, the body temperature exceeds a certain value compared to normal normal heat. It may rise, and it may be incorrectly estimated as “bad physical condition (cold)”, or even if it is “bad physical condition (cold)”, an increase in body temperature usually occurs when the temperature of the surrounding environment 12 is low There were cases in which it was slightly inferior to the normal heat, and it was erroneously estimated as “(simply) hot” or “excited state”.

  In addition, as feedback 13 performed by the feedback device 4 on the environment 12 around the subject 11, “excited state” such as “reducing room temperature and humidity” when psychological information “simply hot” is obtained. If you get psychological information such as “lower the room temperature and play a relaxing scent or music”, or if you get psychological information “bad physical condition (coldness)”, it is possible to increase the room temperature and humidity However, as described above, if the estimation of the psychological state of the subject 11 is incorrect, there is a risk that the subject 11 who is “physically unwell (cold)” is improperly controlled to lower the room temperature. was there.

  In view of such a conventional problem, an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus capable of analyzing the psychological state of a subject with higher accuracy than in the past.

  The psychological state analysis apparatus of the present invention for solving the above-described problem has at least one physiological information sensor 1-1, 1-2,... 1-m as shown in FIG. Physiological information acquisition apparatus 2 that acquires at least one type of physiological information and at least one environmental information sensor 5-1, 5-2,. The environment information acquisition device 6 that acquires the information, the at least one type of physiological information acquired by the physiological information acquisition device 2, and the at least one type of environmental information acquired by the environmental information acquisition device 6 are combined and analyzed, and the subject 11 It is characterized by comprising an information analysis device 7 that estimates the psychological state and outputs it as psychological information.

  In the figure, the same components as those in the conventional example shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals. Also, as in the conventional example, the state of the environment 12 around the subject 11 is controlled, that is, some feedback 13 is executed. By doing this, a state in which the feedback device 4 is combined with a service that provides a comfortable environment for the target person 11 is shown.

  According to the above configuration, since the environment information of the environment 12 around the subject 11 is acquired together with the physiological information of the subject 11, and the psychological state of the subject 11 is estimated by analyzing these, the psychological state with higher accuracy. Can be estimated and output as psychological information.

  For example, as described above, in the case where the physiological information sensor includes the body temperature sensor 1-1 and the sweat sensor 1-2 and the physiological information acquisition apparatus 2 acquires physiological information related to the body temperature and the sweat state of the subject 11, the environmental information It has a temperature sensor 5-1 and a humidity sensor 5-2 as sensors, the environmental information acquisition device 6 acquires environmental information about the temperature and humidity of the environment 12 around the subject 11, and the information analysis device 7 combines these It is possible to estimate the psychological state of the target person 11 with higher accuracy.

  That is, when the environmental information acquired by the environmental information acquisition device 6 is “room temperature: low” when the physiological information acquired by the physiological information acquisition device 2 is “body temperature: high” and “perspiration: yes”, the information analysis device 7, the state (psychological state) of the subject 11 can be estimated as “bad physical condition (cold)” even if the rise in body temperature is slight compared to normal normal heat.

  On the other hand, when the environmental information acquired by the environmental information acquisition device 6 is “temperature: high” when the physiological information acquired by the physiological information acquisition device 2 is “body temperature: high” and “perspiration: yes”, the information analysis device 7, the state (psychological state) of the subject 11 can be estimated as “(simply) hot” or “excited state” even if the rise in body temperature exceeds a certain value compared to normal normal heat.

  Note that various existing sensors can be used as the physiological information sensor and the environment information sensor described above, and there is no particular limitation. In addition, there is no particular limitation on the physiological information acquisition device and the environmental information acquisition device having a sensor, but it is non-contact and small in size so as not to impair the work efficiency and convenience of the target person and to give a sense of incongruity. It is desirable to be able to melt into the environment, for example, a sensor-equipped active tag, a ring-type sensor, or the like.

  In addition, the physiological information acquisition apparatus, the environment information acquisition apparatus, and the information analysis apparatus can be connected by various means such as a wired type, a wireless type, and an infrared type, and there is no particular limitation. Furthermore, as the information analysis apparatus, a server, a personal computer, etc. equipped with software can be used in addition to a dedicated apparatus, and there is no particular limitation.

  According to the present invention, it becomes possible to estimate and analyze the psychological state of the subject with higher accuracy than in the past, and for example, control the state of the environment around the subject according to the psychological state of the subject. This makes it possible to accurately control the environmental state in realizing a service that provides a comfortable environment for the target person.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. These are examples of analyzing the psychological state of the subject with higher accuracy using the present invention and applying the results, and the individual contents of each embodiment do not restrict the present invention at all. Absent.

<Embodiment 1>
FIG. 3 shows a psychological state analyzing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention (but not included in the scope of claims) , which is combined with a part for controlling the state of the environment around the subject . In the figure, the same components as those in the conventional example shown in FIG. 1 and the outline of the present invention shown in FIG. That is, 1-1 is a body temperature sensor, 1-2 is a sweat sensor, 2 is a physiological information acquisition device, 4 is a feedback device, 5-1 is a temperature sensor, 5-2 is a humidity sensor, 6 is an environmental information acquisition device, 7 Is an information analysis device. In addition, it is the same as that of the case of a prior art example that the part enclosed by the dashed-two dotted line is the range which is not contained in the psychological state analyzer (of this invention).

  Here, the information analysis device 7 converts the psychological information indicating the psychological state of the target person 11 estimated from the content of at least one type of physiological information and the content of at least one type of environmental information into the at least one type of physiological information. And the psychological state table 8 described in advance for each combination of at least one type of environmental information content, and at least one type of physiological information acquired by the physiological information acquisition device 2 and the environmental information acquisition device 6 The psychological information of the target person 11 corresponding to the combination with the acquired content of at least one kind of environmental information is read from the psychological state table 8 and output.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of the psychological state table 8, in which psychological information indicating the psychological state of the subject estimated from the content of physiological information related to the body temperature and sweating state of the subject 11 and the content of environmental information related to room temperature and humidity. The example described beforehand for every combination of the content of the physiological information regarding the body temperature and the sweating state of the subject person 11 and the content of the environmental information regarding the room temperature and humidity is shown. In this table, in order to simplify the description, it is assumed that the content of information obtained from each sensor and the physiological information acquisition device 2 and the environment information acquisition device 6 is a rough content such as “high” and “low”. These are classified as follows, but it goes without saying that they may be classified using more detailed contents or specific numerical values in accordance with the contents of the obtained information.

  In the above configuration, the physiological information acquisition device 2 acquires physiological information “body temperature: high” and “sweating: yes” based on signals from the body temperature sensor 1-1 and the sweat sensor 1-2, and acquires environmental information. The device 6 acquires environmental information “room temperature: low” and “humidity: low” based on signals from the temperature sensor 5-1 and the humidity sensor 5-2, and outputs these information to the information analysis device 7. To do.

  In this case, the information analysis apparatus 7 combines the physiological information “body temperature: high” and “perspiration: yes” and the environmental information “room temperature: low” and “humidity: low” from the psychological state table 8 described above. Psychological information of the target person 11 corresponding to the above, here “physical condition (cold feeling) and the room feels cold” is read out and output to the feedback device 4.

  In this case, the feedback 13 may be “increasing room temperature and humidity”, and the feedback device 4 may be a home appliance such as an air conditioner or a humidifier. Further, if a communication system is used as the feedback device 4, it is possible to contact the family or the hospital as the feedback 13.

  In the above configuration, the physiological information acquisition device 2 acquires physiological information “body temperature: high” and “sweating: yes” based on the signals from the body temperature sensor 1-1 and the sweat sensor 1-2. The information acquisition device 6 acquires environmental information “room temperature: appropriate temperature” and “humidity: appropriate” based on signals from the temperature sensor 5-1 and the humidity sensor 5-2, and outputs these information to the information analysis device 7. Suppose that

  In this case, the information analyzing apparatus 7 combines the physiological information “body temperature: high” and “sweat: present” and the environmental information “room temperature: appropriate temperature” and “humidity: appropriate” from the psychological state table 8. The psychological information of the target person 11 corresponding to the above, “excited state” here, is read out and output to the feedback device 4.

  In this case, the feedback 13 may be “lowering the room temperature and playing a relaxing scent or music”, and the feedback device 4 may be an aroma pot or the like outside of home appliances such as an air conditioner and a stereo. . In addition to this, a device (for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-4231) that reminds the subject 1 of a relaxing scenery can also be used as the feedback device 4.

[Comparative Example 1]
In the conventional psychological state analysis apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the physiological information acquired by the physiological information acquisition apparatus 2 based on signals from the body temperature sensor 1-1 and the sweat sensor 1-2 is “body temperature: high” and “sweat: present”. From this result, the psychological state analysis device 3 estimates the psychological state of the subject 11 as an “excited state” and outputs it to the feedback device 4.

  As a result, the feedback device 4 provided the feedback 13 that “flowing a relaxing scent or music (to make the subject 11 calm)” to the environment 12 around the subject 11. However, in reality, the subject 11 was in poor physical condition (feels cold), felt that the room was cold, and the feedback 13 for raising the room temperature was not given, so the medical condition worsened.

<Embodiment 2>
FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of the psychological state analysis apparatus of the present invention (however, it is not included in the scope of claims) . Here, a position sensor is added as an environmental information sensor in the first embodiment. An example is shown.

  That is, in the figure, reference numeral 5-3 denotes a position sensor, which outputs a signal corresponding to the location of the subject 11 to the environment information acquisition device 6. In addition to the analysis using the psychological state table 8, the information analysis device 7 analyzes from environmental information based on a signal from the position sensor 5-3, that is, information related to the location of the target person 11. Other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  In the above configuration, the physiological information acquisition device 2 acquires physiological information “body temperature: high” and “sweat: none” based on signals from the body temperature sensor 1-1 and the sweat sensor 1-2, and also acquires environment information. The device 6 lies on the bed based on the signals from the temperature sensor 5-1, the humidity sensor 5-2, and the position sensor 5-3. It is assumed that the environmental information “is present” is acquired and the information is output to the information analysis device 7.

  In this case, the information analysis apparatus 7 combines the physiological information “body temperature: high” and “sweating: none” described above and the environmental information “room temperature: high” and “humidity: appropriate” from the psychological state table 8. The psychological information of the target person 11 corresponding to the above, “here I feel drowsiness” is read, and from the environmental information that “the target person 11 is lying on the bed”, “the target person 11 feels drowsy” Psychological information that says “I have a willingness to sleep” is output to the feedback device 4.

  In this case, the feedback 13 may be “to lower the room temperature and darken the room” (to make it easier to sleep), and the feedback device 4 may be a home appliance such as an air conditioner, an electric curtain or an electric motor Housing equipment such as blinds, lighting devices, and the like are conceivable.

  In the above description, when the environmental information acquired by the position sensor 5-3 and the environmental information acquisition device 6 is “the subject 11 is sitting at the desk”, the information analysis device 7 Psychological information is estimated as “I feel sleepy but I do not intend to sleep.” In this case, the feedback 13 may be “to raise the room temperature and brighten the room” (to wake up the subject 11), and the feedback device 4 may be a home appliance such as an air conditioner, an electric curtain, A housing equipment such as an electric blind, a lighting device, and the like are conceivable.

[Comparative Example 2]
In the conventional psychological state analysis apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the physiological information acquired by the physiological information acquisition apparatus 2 based on signals from the body temperature sensor 1-1 and the sweat sensor 1-2 is “body temperature: high” and “sweat: none”. From this result, the psychological state analysis device 3 estimates that the psychological state of the subject 11 is “feeling sleepy”, and further estimates that the subject 11 does not intend to sleep, and outputs it to the feedback device 4. did.

  As a result, the feedback device 4 provided the feedback 13 "increasing the room temperature and brightening the room" to the environment 12 around the subject 11. However, in reality, the subject 11 was in a state of trying to sleep in the bed, and was caused to fall asleep.

[Embodiment 3]
In the third embodiment of the psychological state analyzing apparatus of the present invention, another example of the information analyzing apparatus, here, an information analyzing apparatus that analyzes the psychological information of the subject using a calculation formula will be described.

The contents of the physiological information of the subject 11 obtained from the body temperature sensor 1-1, the sweat sensor 1-2, and the physiological information acquisition device 2, that is, the body temperature and the sweat state are set as variables A and B, respectively, and the temperature sensor 5 -1 and the humidity sensor 5-2 and the environment information 12 surrounding the target person 11 obtained from the environment information acquisition device 6, that is, the room temperature and humidity are variables C and D, respectively, corresponds to the psychological state. The value P is obtained using the functions a, b, c, d, and f.
P = f {a (A) · b (B) · c (C) · d (D)}
It can be expressed as.

  If the value of P is within a predetermined threshold range, the psychological state of the target person 11 is estimated to be “comfortable”. If the P value exceeds the predetermined threshold range, the psychological state of the target person 11 is “something”. I feel uncomfortable. "

  At this time, a threshold value may be set for each of the variables A, B, C, and D, and the psychological state of the subject may be analyzed and determined by a combination of variables that deviate from the range. Specifically, using a psychological state table that describes psychological information indicating the psychological state of the subject in association with a combination of the variables including at least one variable exceeding a preset threshold for each variable. Analyze and determine the psychological state of the subject.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of the psychological state table. Also in this table, in order to simplify the explanation, the details of the threshold values of each variable are not described and are roughly classified. However, in practice, threshold values for each subject may be used. The meanings of “above threshold value” and “below threshold value” indicate a case where the value is increased or decreased from an appropriate value.

The block diagram which shows an example of the conventional psychological state analyzer The block diagram which shows the outline | summary of the psychological state analyzer of this invention The block diagram which shows 1st Embodiment of the psychological state analyzer of this invention. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of a mental state table The block diagram which shows 2nd Embodiment of the psychological state analyzer of this invention. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of the psychological state table used with a calculation formula

Explanation of symbols

  1-1 to 1-m: physiological information sensor (1-1: body temperature sensor, 1-2: sweat sensor), 2: physiological information acquisition device, 3, 7: information analysis device, 4: feedback device, 5-1. -5-n: Environmental information sensor (5-1: Temperature sensor, 5-2: Humidity sensor, 3-3: Position sensor), 6: Environmental information acquisition device, 8: Psychological state table, 11: Subject, 12 : Environment around the subject 11, 13: Feedback to the environment 12.

Claims (2)

A physiological information acquisition device having at least one physiological information sensor and acquiring at least one type of physiological information of the subject;
An environmental information acquisition device that has at least one environmental information sensor and acquires at least one type of environmental information around the subject;
A predetermined calculation formula that represents the psychological state of the subject using at least one function that uses at least one type of physiological information as a variable and at least one function that uses at least one type of environmental information as a variable. In addition, the content of at least one type of physiological information acquired by the physiological information acquisition device and the content of at least one type of environmental information acquired by the environmental information acquisition device are substituted as the variables, and the calculation result is predetermined. And an information analysis device that outputs psychological information “comfortable” if it is within the threshold range, and outputs psychological information “uncomfortable” if it exceeds the predetermined threshold range. Psychological state analysis device. When the calculation result exceeds a predetermined threshold range, a psychology that indicates the psychological state of the subject corresponding to a combination of the variables including at least one variable that exceeds a preset threshold for each variable. The psychology of the subject corresponding to the combination of the content of at least one type of physiological information acquired by the physiological information acquisition device and the content of at least one type of environmental information acquired by the environmental information acquisition device from a table describing information psychological state analyzer according to claim 1, characterized in that it includes an information analyzing apparatus for outputting read information.

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