JP7725955B2 - Wrist-worn terminal device, attachment/detachment detection control method and program - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to a wrist-worn terminal device, a method for detecting and controlling attachment/detachment, and a program.

For battery-powered portable electronic devices, there is technology that allows them to enter a power-saving state when not in use, reducing the number of functional operations they perform to reduce power consumption. Determining whether a mobile terminal worn on the arm (wrist-worn terminal device) is in an unused state may include determining whether the wrist-worn terminal device is not being worn on the arm.

Patent Document 1 discloses technologies that use acceleration sensor measurements, capacitance measurements based on current and voltage measurements, and sensors that use mechanical contacts to measure the wearing state.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-0232874

However, when detecting whether the wrist-worn terminal device is attached to or detached from the user's arm, the reference value used as the basis for judgment may change depending on the user's condition, the arm, and the surrounding clothing. Therefore, when the detection operation first begins, there is a problem in that it is not clear whether the detection result corresponds to a state in which the wrist-worn terminal device is attached or detached.

The object of this invention is to provide a wrist-worn terminal device, a method for controlling attachment/detachment detection, and a program that can easily and quickly determine whether the device is attached or detached correctly.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides
a first measurement unit that measures a parameter that changes depending on whether the device is worn on the arm;
a second measurement unit that measures biological information of a user having the arm;
A control unit;
Equipped with
The control unit
determining whether the device is attached to the arm or not based on whether the biological information is acquired by the measurement of the second measurement unit;
initializing the operation of the first measuring unit, and associating the measurement result of the parameter by the first measuring unit in the initialized state with the result of the determination according to whether or not the biological information has been acquired;
It is a wrist-worn terminal device.

The present invention has the advantage of enabling accurate wear/removal determination to be made easily and quickly in a wrist-worn terminal device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the wrist-worn terminal device of the present embodiment. 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating a change in capacitance measured by the attachment/detachment sensor; 10 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of a measurement operation control process. 10 is a flowchart showing another example of the measurement operation control process.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of a wrist-worn terminal device 100 according to this embodiment.

The wrist-worn terminal device 100 is, for example, a smartwatch, wristwatch, or activity monitor, and can be worn on the user's arm (wrist) using a band or belt attached to the main unit or integrated with the main unit. It includes a CPU 11 (Central Processing Unit) (control unit), a memory unit 12, an operation reception unit 13, a display unit 14, a mounting/detachment sensor 15 (first measurement unit), and a biosensor 16 (second measurement unit).

CPU 11 is a hardware processor that performs arithmetic processing and controls the overall operation of wrist-worn terminal device 100. CPU 11 may be a single processor, or multiple processors operating in parallel. Alternatively, multiple independent processors may operate separately for specific purposes. CPU 11 may also be capable of counting the current date and time and displaying the current time and date on the display screen of display unit 14.

The storage unit 12 is a memory that stores data. The storage unit 12 provides working memory space for the CPU 11 and includes RAM (Random Access Memory) that stores temporary data, and non-volatile memory that stores setting data, programs 121, and the like. The non-volatile memory is not particularly limited, but may be, for example, a flash memory. The programs 121 include a control program related to the measurement operation control process described below.

The operation acceptance unit 13 accepts external input operations, such as from a user, generates an input signal, and outputs the input signal to the CPU 11. The operation acceptance unit 13 has, for example, a push button switch. In addition to or instead of this, the operation acceptance unit 13 may have other operation acceptance components, such as a touch panel positioned over the display screen of the display unit 14, a crown, or a rotary switch.

The display unit 14 displays information on a display screen under the control of the CPU 11. The display screen may be, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), but is not limited to this. The display screen may be capable of displaying numbers, letters, signs, figures, images, etc. within a range depending on its resolution. The display unit 14 may also have LED lamps, etc.

The wearing/detachment sensor 15 measures whether or not the wrist-worn terminal device 100 is worn on the arm, and outputs the measurement result to the CPU 11. The wearing/detachment sensor 15 has an electrode 151. The electrode 151 is located near the side (inner side) of the wrist-worn terminal device 100 (including the band/belt) that faces the arm, or on the surface, and detects the capacitance (a parameter that changes depending on whether or not the device is worn on the arm) that increases when the device is attached to or comes into close proximity with the arm.

The principle for detecting capacitance is not particularly limited, but it can be determined, for example, by applying a certain voltage to transfer the charge accumulated on electrode 151 to a capacitor of a certain capacity (larger than the expected capacitance of electrode 151) and measuring the voltage of the capacitor. The charge does not have to be transferred once; the capacitance of electrode 151 can be determined by periodically repeating the application of voltage to electrode 151 and measuring the voltage corresponding to the total amount of charge transferred to the capacitor, or by measuring the time it takes for the capacitor to rise to a reference voltage.

The biosensor 16 measures certain biometric information via the arm on which the wrist-worn terminal device 100 is worn, and outputs the measurement results to the CPU 11. The biosensor 16 is, for example, a pulse sensor, and although the measurement principle is not particularly limited, here, for example, it irradiates light of a certain wavelength and determines the pulse rate according to the fluctuation period of the amount of hemoglobin in the blood vessels, on which the intensity of the reflected light depends. If the wrist-worn terminal device 100 is not worn on the arm and fluctuations in the reflected light intensity within a reasonable range are not detected, the biosensor 16 may output a signal indicating a measurement error. Note that the biosensor 16 simply outputs the reflection intensity to the CPU 11 and does not need to determine the pulse rate itself.

Next, we will explain the operation of detecting whether the wrist-worn terminal device 100 of this embodiment is attached to or detached from the wrist.

This attachment/detachment sensor 15 is also used to determine whether the biosensor 16 is operating. As mentioned above, the biosensor 16 emits light for measurement purposes, so if it emits light when not attached to the arm, the light may shine in unintended locations, causing inconvenience or discomfort to people around. Furthermore, since the light emitted does not contribute to measurement, it results in unnecessary power consumption. Therefore, while it is detected that the device is not attached to the arm, measurement of biometric information (such as pulse rate) by the biosensor 16 is suspended (not performed).

On the other hand, the wearing/detachment sensor 15 determines changes in the wearing/detachment state based on increases or decreases in capacitance as described above. The magnitude of the capacitance associated with the electrode 151 varies depending on the user and the user's condition (sweat, skin condition, etc.), and may also be affected by clothing such as sleeves and gloves. Therefore, it is not possible to predetermine the standard capacitance value used to determine wearing/detachment. In particular, when measurement is started or resumed after a long interval from the previous measurement, such as when the wrist-worn terminal device 100 is started, it becomes impossible to determine whether the measurement results at the start or restart indicate that the device is being worn on the arm.

Figure 2 is a diagram that schematically illustrates the change in capacitance measured by the attachment/detachment sensor 15. Note that this diagram is for illustrative purposes only and does not necessarily represent actual measurement results.

Even if there is no change in the state of wearing the wrist-worn terminal device 100 after the initial measurement point p0, the capacitance may change over time. If there is a change in the wearing state, a large change in capacitance will be measured in response to the change. Here, there is a large increase in capacitance between measurement points p1 and p2. The wrist-worn terminal device 100 experiences a large increase in capacitance when worn on the arm, and a large decrease when removed from the arm, so here it is determined to be worn on the arm. In other words, it can be seen that the measurements from measurement point p0 to measurement point p1 were taken without the device being worn on the arm.

Here, the capacitance at measurement point p0 is greater than the median value of the capacitance at measurement points p1 and p2. Furthermore, there is no significant difference in capacitance between measurement points p0 and p3. As such, it is difficult to determine whether or not the wrist-worn terminal device 100 is being worn based on the capacitance value itself. In other words, it is difficult to determine whether or not the wrist-worn terminal device 100 was being worn at the first measurement point p0 without other information.

In the wrist-worn terminal device 100 of this embodiment, when the attachment/detachment sensor starts operating, such as when the wrist-worn terminal device 100 is started up, the measurement results of the biosensor 16 are referenced, that is, depending on whether or not an appropriate measurement result has been acquired (whether or not biometric information has been acquired), it is determined whether or not the state (capacitance) measured by the attachment/detachment sensor 15 is that of the device being worn on the arm.
Then, the wrist-worn terminal device 100 uses the measured value (capacitance) at the time of discrimination as the standard for discriminating whether the device is attached or detached from the device, and determines that the wearing state has changed if the amount of change in the capacitance obtained in the current measurement (measurement point p2) from the capacitance obtained in the most recent measurement (measurement point p1) is greater than the reference value dCth, i.e., greater than +dCth or less than -dCth.
The most recent measurement to be compared need not be a single point (measurement point p1), but may be a representative value (for example, an average value) of multiple points. As described above, the measured capacitance value can change even if the wearing state does not change, so when the wearing state changes in accordance with the change, the magnitude of the capacitance can also differ depending on the situation, with the change being equal to or greater than the reference value dCth.

In the wrist-worn terminal device 100 of this embodiment, the attachment/detachment sensor 15 and the biometric sensor 16 perform measurements intermittently at individually set time intervals. The measurement interval of the attachment/detachment sensor 15 is typically set to be shorter than the measurement interval of the biometric sensor 16. Therefore, when the measurement results of the biometric sensor 16 are to be referenced during measurement by the attachment/detachment sensor 15, the biometric sensor 16 may be activated and perform the measurement separately from the periodic measurements by the biometric sensor 16.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a control procedure by the CPU 11 of the measurement operation control process in the wrist-worn terminal device 100.
This measurement operation control process, including the attachment/detachment detection control method of this embodiment, is started in response to an operation start command of the attachment/detachment sensor and is executed continuously. The measurement operation control process may be terminated by an interrupt process when the operation reception unit 13 receives a predetermined operation or when the operation of the wrist-worn terminal device 100 is turned off. Note that, although the description here is based on the assumption that the operation periods of the attachment/detachment sensor 15 and the biosensor 16 are linked, this is not necessarily limited to this.

When the measurement operation control process begins, the CPU 11 starts supplying power to the attachment/detachment sensor 15, turning it on (step S101). The CPU 11 then erases the settings for the attachment/detachment sensor 15 and performs initialization operations to completely discharge the electrodes, capacitors, etc. (step S102).

The CPU 11 starts supplying power to the biosensor 16 and turns it on (step S103). The CPU 11 acquires measurement data (when the attachment/detachment sensor 15 is initialized) from the biosensor 16 (step S104). The CPU 11 stops supplying power to the biosensor 16 and turns it off (step S105). The CPU 11 initializes the elapsed time Ta that counts the measurement interval of the attachment/detachment sensor 15 and the elapsed time Ts that counts the measurement interval of the biosensor 16, and starts counting these (step S106).

The CPU 11 determines whether appropriate biometric information has been acquired from the biometric sensor 16 (i.e., whether a measurement error has occurred) (step S107; determination step, determination means). If it is determined that appropriate biometric information has been acquired ("YES" in step S107), the CPU 11 sets the attachment flag, which indicates whether the biometric sensor 16 is attached, to "1" (indicating an attached state) (step S108). Then, the processing of the CPU 11 proceeds to step S110. If it is determined that appropriate biometric information has not been acquired (a measurement error, the signal (including biometric information) input from the biometric sensor 16 contains noise at a level that the CPU 11 cannot analyze, or the signal input from the biometric sensor 16 does not contain biometric information and only a noise signal has been acquired) ("NO" in step S107), the CPU 11 sets the attachment flag to "0" (indicating an unattached state) (step S109). Then, the processing of the CPU 11 proceeds to step S110.
The processing in steps S108 and S109 constitutes a setting step of the attachment/detachment detection control method in accordance with the result of the determination in step S107, and a setting means of the program 121.

The CPU 11 determines whether the elapsed time Ta is equal to or greater than the measurement interval Tath of the attachment/detachment sensor 15 (step S110). If it is determined that the elapsed time Ta is not equal to or greater than the measurement interval Tath ("NO" in step S110), the CPU 11 proceeds to step S117.

If it is determined that the elapsed time Ta is equal to or greater than the measurement interval Tath ("YES" in step S110), the CPU 11 measures attachment/detachment using the attachment/detachment sensor 15 (step S111). That is, the CPU 11 acquires the capacitance measured by the attachment/detachment sensor 15. The CPU 11 resets the elapsed time Ta (step S112).

The CPU 11 determines whether the measured capacitance has changed by a reference value or more from the most recent value (which may be the average of multiple measurements) (step S113). If it is determined that the capacitance has changed by a reference value or more ("YES" in step S113), the CPU 11 determines whether the change in capacitance has increased (step S114). If it is determined that the change in capacitance has increased ("YES" in step S114), the CPU 11 sets the attachment flag to "1" (step S115). Then, the processing of the CPU 11 proceeds to step S117. If it is determined that the change in capacitance has not increased (it has decreased) ("NO" in step S114), the CPU 11 sets the attachment flag to "0" (step S116). Then, the processing of the CPU 11 returns to step S110.
The processing in steps S115 and S116 may include cases where the same value as the original attachment flag is reset, i.e., the capacitance may further increase beyond the reference value in the attached state, or the capacitance may further decrease beyond the reference value in the detached state.

If the determination process in step S113 determines that the capacitance has not changed by more than the reference value ("NO" in step S113), the CPU 11 proceeds to step S117.

When the process proceeds from steps S110, S113, and S115 to step S117, the CPU 11 determines whether the elapsed time Ts is equal to or greater than the measurement interval Tsth of the biosensor and whether the attachment flag is "1" (step S117). If the elapsed time Ts is not equal to or greater than (less than) the measurement interval Tsth, or if the attachment flag is not "1" (is "0") ("NO" in step S117), the process of the CPU 11 returns to step S110.

If it is determined that the elapsed time Ts is equal to or greater than the measurement interval Tsth and the wearing flag is set to "1" ("YES" in step S117), the CPU 11 supplies power to the biosensor 16 to turn it on (step S118). The CPU 11 acquires the measurement result (pulse rate) from the biosensor 16 (step S119). The CPU 11 stops the supply of power to the biosensor 16 to turn it off (step S120). The CPU 11 resets the elapsed time Ts (step S121). The CPU 11 then returns to step S110.

The biometric data acquired in steps S104 and S119 may be stored separately and analyzed for other purposes (e.g., health management for the user, calculation of exercise load, etc.). The set wearing flag may also be used for other purposes, such as simplifying the display state of the display unit 14 when the device is not being worn for a long period of time, thereby reducing power consumption.

In this way, with the wrist-worn terminal device 100 of this embodiment, when the attachment/detachment sensor 15 is activated, the biosensor 16 determines whether the capacitance measured by the attachment/detachment sensor 15 is from a situation in which the wrist-worn terminal device 100 is being worn on the arm, depending on whether the measurement result is normal, and determines whether the device has been attached or detached thereafter. This makes it possible to avoid a situation in which it is unclear whether the device has been attached or detached until a significant change in capacitance is measured.

Furthermore, after the wearing/detachment sensor 15 makes a determination, the biometric sensor 16 performs biometric measurements only while the wearing/detachment sensor 15 determines that the wrist-worn terminal device 100 is being worn on the arm, thereby avoiding unnecessary measurement operations and the emission of unnecessary light associated with those measurement operations.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing another example of the measurement operation control process.
In this example of the measurement operation control process, the measurement by the attachment/detachment sensor 15 is performed only to determine whether or not to perform measurement by the biosensor 16, and once measurement by the biosensor 16 is started, attachment/detachment measurement by the attachment/detachment sensor 15 is stopped (not performed) until the biosensor 16 fails to acquire biometric information.

In this example, steps S131, S132, S112a, and S121a have been added to the measurement operation control process of the embodiment described above. Furthermore, step S106 has been replaced with steps S106a and S106b, and step S117 has been split into steps S107a and S107b. Furthermore, steps S114 and S117 have been replaced with steps S114a and S117a, respectively. The remaining processing is the same, and the same processing is denoted by the same reference numerals. The order of processing has been partially changed from the measurement operation control process of the embodiment described above.

In this measurement operation control process, the CPU 11 turns on the attachment/detachment sensor 15 in step S101, then proceeds to step S103 and turns on the biosensor 16. When measurement by the biosensor 16 is completed in steps S104 and S105, the process proceeds to step S107.

If the determination process of step S107 determines that appropriate biometric information has been acquired (the wrist-worn terminal device 100 is worn on the arm) ("YES" in step S107), the CPU 11 sets the wearing flag to "1" (step S108) and also initializes the elapsed time Ts and starts counting it (step S106a). Then, the process of the CPU 11 proceeds to step S117a.

If the determination process of step S107 determines that appropriate biometric information has not been acquired (the wrist-worn terminal device 100 is not worn on the arm) ("NO" in step S107), the CPU 11 initializes the attachment/detachment sensor 15 (step S102) and sets the attachment flag to "0" (step S109). The CPU 11 then initializes the elapsed time Ta and starts counting it (step S106b). The CPU 11 then proceeds to step S117a.

When the process proceeds to step S117a, the CPU 11 determines whether the attachment flag is "1" (step S117a). If it is determined that the attachment flag is "1" ("YES" in step S117a), the CPU 11 determines whether the elapsed time Ts is equal to or greater than the measurement interval Tsth (step S117b). If it is determined that the elapsed time Ts is not equal to or greater than the measurement interval Tsth ("NO" in step S117b), the process of the CPU 11 returns to step S117a.

If it is determined that the elapsed time Ts is equal to or greater than the measurement interval Tsth ("YES" in step S117b), the CPU 11 proceeds to step S118. The CPU 11 performs steps S118 to S121 in order, and then proceeds to step S131.

When the process proceeds to step S131, the CPU 11 determines whether appropriate biometric information was acquired in the process of step S119 (step S131). If it is determined that appropriate biometric information was acquired ("YES" in step S131), the process of the CPU 11 returns to step S117a.

If it is determined that appropriate biometric information has not been acquired (the measurement result is an error) ("NO" in step S131), the CPU 11 initializes the attachment/detachment sensor 15 (step S132) and sets the attachment flag to "0" (step S116). The CPU 11 then initializes the elapsed time Ta and starts counting it (step S112a). At this time, the CPU 11 may also stop counting the elapsed time Ts. Then, the processing of the CPU 11 returns to step S117a.

If the determination process in step S117a determines that the attachment flag is not "1" (is "0") ("NO" in step S117a), the CPU 11 determines whether the elapsed time Ta is equal to or greater than the measurement interval Tath (step S110). If the determination that the elapsed time Ta is not equal to or greater than (is less than) the measurement interval Tath ("NO" in step S110), the processing of the CPU 11 returns to step S117a. If the determination that the elapsed time Ta is equal to or greater than the measurement interval Tath, the CPU 11 acquires the measurement result of the attachment/detachment sensor 15 (step S111).

The CPU 11 determines whether the capacitance has increased by more than the reference value (step S114a). If it determines that the capacitance has not increased by more than the reference value ("NO" in step S114a), the CPU 11 resets the elapsed time Ta (step S112) and returns to step S117a. If it determines that the capacitance has increased by more than the reference value ("YES" in step S114a), the CPU 11 sets the attachment flag to "1" (step S115), resets the elapsed time Ts, and starts counting it (step S121a). At this time, the CPU 11 may stop counting the elapsed time Ta. Then, the CPU 11 returns to step S117a.

In this way, in the measurement operation control process of this example, if measurement by biosensor 16 determines that wrist-worn terminal device 100 is not being worn on the arm, the attachment/detachment sensor is initialized, and thereafter, attachment/detachment sensor 15 and biosensor 16 selectively perform measurement operations depending on whether or not the device is being worn. In this case, one unnecessary light emission operation occurs during the first measurement operation of biosensor 16 after wrist-worn terminal device 100 is removed from the arm, and thereafter, light emission and measurement operations of biosensor 16 are suspended until attachment/detachment sensor 15 detects that the device is again worn on the arm.

As described above, wrist-worn terminal device 100 of this embodiment includes attachment/detachment sensor 15 that measures parameters that change depending on whether the device is attached to the arm, biosensor 16 that measures biometric information of the user wearing the arm, and CPU 11. CPU 11 determines whether the device is attached to the arm based on whether biometric information is acquired through measurement by biosensor 16, and associates the determination result with the measurement result of attachment/detachment sensor 15.
As a result, the wrist-worn terminal device 100 can easily and quickly associate the measurement results of the attachment/detachment sensor 15, which are difficult to distinguish based on a uniform standard depending on the usage situation, with either the attachment or detachment state, and can obtain an accurate determination result of the attachment/detachment state using the attachment/detachment sensor 15. Therefore, the wrist-worn terminal device 100 can easily and quickly associate the attachment/detachment state of the user with the measurement results of the attachment/detachment sensor 15 using conventional technology without forcibly modifying the attachment/detachment sensor 15. In particular, in multi-function watches, smart watches, activity monitors, and the like that originally include the biosensor 16, it is possible to easily and quickly associate the attachment/detachment state with the measurement results of the attachment/detachment sensor 15 without requiring any additional configuration, and to determine whether the wrist-worn terminal device 100 is attached to the user's arm.

The attachment/detachment sensor 15 also has an electrode 151 that faces the arm when the device is attached to the arm, and measures the capacitance of this electrode 151 as a parameter. The attachment/detachment sensor 15, which measures capacitance, can measure and determine attachment/detachment without any moving parts, making it a small and durable attachment/detachment sensor. However, the measured capacitance varies significantly depending on usage conditions and surrounding conditions, making it difficult to establish uniform criteria for determination. As described above, by first quickly and reliably identifying the attachment/detachment state using the measurement results of the biosensor 16, it becomes possible to easily detect subsequent changes in the attachment/detachment state.

The CPU 11 also initializes the operation of the attachment/detachment sensor 15 and associates the initialized state of the attachment/detachment sensor 15 with the determination result depending on whether or not biometric information has been acquired. In this way, by initializing in synchronization with the timing of acquiring biometric information, it is possible to reduce bias, etc., and make it easier to appropriately control the range of parameters (capacitance) detected by the attachment/detachment sensor 15.

Alternatively, the CPU 11 may initialize the operation of the attachment/detachment sensor 15 when it determines, based on the measurement results of the biometric sensor 16, that the device is not being worn on the arm. By initializing the attachment/detachment sensor 15 when the device is identified as either being worn or detached, in this case particularly when the device is not being worn on the arm, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of bias and maintain a state in which the attachment/detachment sensor 15 can properly measure parameters (capacitance).

The biosensor 16 may also include a pulse sensor. The pulse sensor is easy to measure with a simple configuration on the wrist-worn terminal device 100 and does not significantly increase the space or control effort required. In particular, the pulse sensor detects periodic fluctuations of approximately one second, making it possible to determine whether or not a measurement is being made in a short period of time.

Furthermore, the CPU 11 may prevent measurement by the biometric sensor 16 when it determines that the device is not being worn on the arm based on the measurement results of the attachment/detachment sensor 15. As a result, when the wrist-worn terminal device 100 is not worn on the arm, the biometric sensor 16 stops emitting light, preventing inconvenience or discomfort to people nearby. Furthermore, by not emitting unnecessary light from the biometric sensor 16 during periods when measurement is not required, unnecessary power consumption by the wrist-worn device 100 is reduced.

In addition, in the attachment/detachment detection control method for the wrist-worn terminal device 100 of this embodiment, whether the device is attached to the arm is determined based on whether or not biometric information is acquired through measurement by the biometric sensor 16, and the determination result is matched with the measurement result of the attachment/detachment sensor 15.
According to this attachment/detachment detection control method, the measurement results of attachment/detachment sensor 15, which are difficult to distinguish based on a uniform standard depending on the usage situation, can be easily and quickly associated with either the attachment or detachment state, and accurate determination of the attachment/detachment state can be obtained using attachment/detachment sensor 15. Therefore, attachment/detachment determination results can be easily obtained using attachment/detachment sensor 15 without adding or modifying the conventional configuration including attachment/detachment sensor 15 and biosensor 16. Furthermore, since quick and accurate attachment/detachment determination is possible, wrist-worn terminal device 100 can be quickly transitioned to an operating state corresponding to the attachment/detachment state, thereby preventing unnecessary processing that would consume power and cause inconvenience or discomfort to the user and those around them.

Furthermore, the program 121 of this embodiment causes the computer (CPU 11) of the wrist-worn terminal device 100 to function as a discrimination means that determines whether the device is attached to the arm based on whether biometric information is acquired through measurements by the biometric sensor 16, and as a setting means that associates the results of the discrimination with the measurement results of the attachment/detachment sensor 15. In this way, simply by installing and executing the program 121, it is possible to easily and quickly determine the attachment/detachment state without changing the conventional configuration, particularly in a wrist-worn terminal device 100 that is originally equipped with a biometric sensor 16, and to set the appropriate operating state according to the attachment/detachment state.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible.
For example, in the above embodiment, a pulse sensor has been described as an example of the biosensor 16, but this is not limiting. In addition to or instead of this, the biosensor 16 may include a pulse oximeter, a blood pressure sensor, etc. Furthermore, an acceleration sensor, a temperature (body temperature) sensor, etc. may also be used in combination as auxiliary bioinformation.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the biosensor 16 is not operated when the attachment/detachment sensor 15 determines that the wrist-worn terminal device 100 is not being worn on the arm. However, for the above types of sensors, such as acceleration sensors and temperature sensors, measurement itself may continue regardless of the attachment/detachment sensor 15. In this case, the measurement results may be classified or analyzed differently depending on the attachment/detachment state.

Furthermore, while the above description uses two types of flowcharts for measurement control processing as examples, apart from the characteristic feature of obtaining measurement results from the biosensor 16 to determine the attachment/detachment state corresponding to the results of the attachment/detachment sensor 15 initially (at startup or restart), any processing may be added or deleted, and the contents of the two types of flowcharts may be combined.

In addition, while the above embodiment has been described using an attachment/detachment sensor 15 that utilizes changes in capacitance as an example, this is not limited to this. Other types of attachment/detachment sensors may also be used. In this case, the initialization operation is not limited to discharging a capacitor. It may be hardware initialization of the voltage, charge, etc. of a circuit, or initialization of data processing such as measurement data and reference levels.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the measurement by the biosensor 16 was described as being intermittent, but an activity monitor or the like may perform nearly continuous measurement. Even in this case, the measurement by the biosensor 16 may be paused and resumed depending on the result of the attachment/detachment determination based on the measurement by the attachment/detachment sensor 15.

Furthermore, when the wrist-worn terminal device 100 continues to be in an unworn state based on the measurement results of the attachment/detachment sensor 15, or in association with the measurement results of other acceleration sensors, the wrist-worn terminal device 100 may be able to transition to a power-saving mode that restricts not only the biosensor 16 but also some of the operations of the wrist-worn terminal device 100.

In the above description, the storage unit 12 is described as an example of a computer-readable medium for storing the program 121 related to the measurement control (attachment detection control) of the present invention, which is composed of a nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory. However, this is not limiting. Other computer-readable media may include other nonvolatile memories such as MRAM, HDDs, and portable recording media such as CD-ROMs and DVD disks. Furthermore, a carrier wave may also be used as a medium for providing program data related to the present invention via a communication line.
In addition, the specific configurations, contents and procedures of the processing operations, etc. shown in the above embodiments can be modified as appropriate within the scope that does not deviate from the spirit of the present invention.

Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but includes the scope of the invention described in the claims and its equivalents.
The inventions described in the claims originally attached to this application are as follows. The claim numbers described in the appendix are the same as those of the claims originally attached to this application.

[Note]
<Claim 1>
a first measurement unit that measures a parameter that changes depending on whether the device is worn on the arm;
a second measurement unit that measures biological information of a user having the arm;
A control unit;
Equipped with
The control unit
determining whether the device is attached to the arm or not based on whether the biological information is acquired by the measurement of the second measurement unit;
The wrist-worn terminal device associates the result of the determination with the measurement result of the first measurement unit.
<Claim 2>
2. The wrist-worn terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the first measurement unit has an electrode positioned opposite the arm when the device is worn on the arm, and measures the capacitance of the electrode as the parameter.
<Claim 3>
The wrist-worn terminal device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control unit initializes the operation of the first measurement unit and associates the initialized first measurement unit with the result of the determination according to whether or not the biometric information has been acquired.
<Claim 4>
The wrist-worn terminal device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control unit initializes the operation of the first measurement unit when it is determined based on the measurement results of the second measurement unit that the device is not worn on the arm.
<Claim 5>
5. The wrist-worn terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the second measuring unit includes a pulse sensor.
<Claim 6>
A wrist-worn terminal device as described in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the control unit does not perform measurement using the second measurement unit when it is determined that the device is not being worn on the arm based on the measurement result of the first measurement unit.
<Claim 7>
A method for detecting and controlling attachment/detachment of a wrist-worn terminal device, the method comprising: a first measurement unit that measures a parameter that changes depending on whether the device is attached to the wrist; and a second measurement unit that measures biological information of a user having the wrist, the method comprising:
determining whether the device is attached to the arm or not based on whether the biological information is acquired by the measurement of the second measurement unit;
The attachment/detachment detection control method further comprises associating the result of the determination with the measurement result of the first measurement unit.
<Claim 8>
a computer of a wrist-worn terminal device including a first measurement unit that measures a parameter that changes depending on whether the device is worn on the arm or not, and a second measurement unit that measures biological information of a user who has the arm;
a determination means for determining whether the device is attached to the arm or not based on whether the biological information is acquired by the measurement of the second measurement unit;
a setting means for associating the result of the determination with the measurement result of the first measurement unit;
A program that functions as a

100 Wrist-worn terminal device 11 CPU
12 Memory unit 121 Program 13 Operation acceptance unit 14 Display unit 15 Mounting/detachment sensor 151 Electrode 16 Biosensor Ta, Ts Elapsed time Tath, Tsth Measurement interval dCth Reference value

Claims (11)

a first measurement unit that measures a parameter that changes depending on whether the device is worn on the arm;
a second measurement unit that measures biological information of a user having the arm;
A control unit;
Equipped with
The control unit
determining whether the device is attached to the arm or not based on whether the biological information is acquired by the measurement of the second measurement unit;
initializing the operation of the first measuring unit, and associating the measurement result of the parameter by the first measuring unit in the initialized state with the result of the determination according to whether or not the biological information has been acquired;
Wrist-worn terminal device. a first measurement unit that measures a parameter that changes depending on whether the device is worn on the arm;
a second measurement unit that measures biological information of a user having the arm;
A control unit;
Equipped with
The control unit
determining whether the device is attached to the arm or not based on whether the biological information is acquired by the measurement of the second measurement unit;
Correlating the result of the determination with the measurement result of the parameter by the first measurement unit;
When it is determined based on the measurement result of the second measurement unit that the device is not worn on the arm, the operation of the first measurement unit is initialized.
Wrist-worn terminal device. 3. The wrist-worn terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the first measurement unit has an electrode positioned opposite the arm when the device is worn on the arm, and measures the capacitance of the electrode as the parameter. The wrist-worn terminal device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the control unit initializes the operation of the first measurement unit and associates the initialized first measurement unit with the result of the determination according to whether or not the biometric information has been acquired. The wrist-worn terminal device according to claim 1 or 3, wherein the control unit initializes the operation of the first measurement unit when it is determined based on the measurement results of the second measurement unit that the device is not worn on the arm. The wrist-worn terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 , wherein the second measuring unit includes a pulse sensor. The wrist-worn terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 , wherein the control unit does not perform measurement using the second measurement unit when it is determined that the device is not worn on the arm based on the measurement result of the first measurement unit. A method for detecting and controlling attachment/detachment of a wrist-worn terminal device, the method comprising: a first measurement unit that measures a parameter that changes depending on whether the device is worn on the wrist; and a second measurement unit that measures biological information of a user having the wrist, the method comprising:
determining whether the device is attached to the arm or not based on whether the biological information is acquired by the measurement of the second measurement unit;
initializing the operation of the first measuring unit, and associating the measurement result of the parameter by the first measuring unit in the initialized state with the result of the determination according to whether or not the biological information has been acquired;
Attachment/detachment detection control method. A method for detecting and controlling attachment/detachment of a wrist-worn terminal device, the method comprising: a first measurement unit that measures a parameter that changes depending on whether the device is attached to the wrist; and a second measurement unit that measures biological information of a user having the wrist, the method comprising:
determining whether the device is attached to the arm or not based on whether the biological information is acquired by the measurement of the second measurement unit;
Correlating the result of the determination with the measurement result of the parameter by the first measurement unit;
When it is determined based on the measurement result of the second measurement unit that the device is not worn on the arm, the operation of the first measurement unit is initialized.
Attachment/detachment detection control method. a computer of a wrist-worn terminal device including a first measurement unit that measures a parameter that changes depending on whether the device is worn on the arm or not, and a second measurement unit that measures biological information of a user who has the arm;
a determination means for determining whether the device is attached to the arm or not based on whether the biological information is acquired by the measurement of the second measurement unit;
a setting means for initializing the operation of the first measuring unit and associating the measurement result of the parameter by the first measuring unit in the initialized state with the result of the determination according to whether or not the biological information has been acquired;
A program that functions as a a computer of a wrist-worn terminal device including a first measurement unit that measures a parameter that changes depending on whether the device is worn on the arm or not, and a second measurement unit that measures biological information of a user who has the arm;
a determination means for determining whether the device is attached to the arm or not based on whether the biological information is acquired by the measurement of the second measurement unit;
a setting means for associating the result of the determination with the measurement result of the parameter by the first measurement unit;
an initialization means for initializing the operation of the first measurement unit when it is determined based on the measurement result of the second measurement unit that the device itself is not worn on the arm;
A program that functions as a