JPH0533054B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a stress relief device that relieves stress by applying vibration to a living body.

[Background technology] Psychological and mental stress such as anxiety, dissatisfaction, anger, and irritability is increasing in our increasingly complex social life, and there are methods and measures to quickly eliminate or release this stress to prevent it from accumulating. It has become necessary to take measures. One method for relieving stress is static stress relieving methods such as bathing, sleeping, and rest, which are typified by activation of the parasympathetic nervous system. To do this, it is helpful to relieve stress by providing a complete non-stimulatory state and providing certain pleasant stimuli such as vibration, heat, hearing, and sight to the body.

In this type of conventional stress relief device, various attempts have been made to obtain a good stress relief effect, but the reality is that nothing decisive has yet been proposed.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points, and its purpose is to vary vibration stimulation according to the degree of relaxation and obtain a good stress relieving effect. The purpose is to provide a stress relief device.

[Disclosure of the Invention] Example In this example, the following explanation will be given by taking as an example the case where the present invention is applied to the chair 2 shown in FIGS. 1 a and b, or the bed 5 shown in FIGS. 2 a and b. conduct. In these stress relieving devices, a plurality of vibrating bodies 1 whose vibration patterns can be freely varied by individually varying the vibration frequency and amplitude are arranged at parts that come into contact with important parts of the living body. For example, in the case of the chair 2 shown in Fig. 1, the vibrating body 1 is placed on the backrest 3 that rests on the back and hips, so that by sitting on the chair 2, you can get a vibration that is mentally and physically comfortable. It's summery. In addition, in the case of the bed 5, the vibrating body 1 is built into the mat 4 that extends from the shoulders to the waist and contacts the calves and heels of the legs when the living body lies down. It has become possible to obtain vibrations that are mentally and physically comfortable in this state.

By the way, it is known that the degree of relaxation can be determined from the galvanic skin reflex (GSR). Here, the center of the galvanic skin reflex is located in the premotor cortex of the cerebral cortex, the hypothalamus, etc., and the galvanic skin reflex is a sympathetic phenomenon that occurs along the path leading to the sweat glands via the sympathetic nerves. As a phenomenon of this galvanic skin reflex, the apparent resistance value of the skin (galvanic skin resistance (SRL)) decreases at the same time as the action potential of sweat cells appears.

In the present invention, the degree of relaxation of the living body is measured by measuring the electrical skin resistance, and changes in the electrical skin resistance value are biofeedbacked to the vibration pattern of the stress relief device to provide comfortable vibrations to the living body. It is something.

The specific configuration is shown in FIG. 3. In the stress relieving device of this embodiment, the electrical skin resistance detection means A for detecting electrical skin resistance of a living body is integrated into an SRL detection bridge circuit in which an SRL detection sensor 10 is integrated and detects an SRL signal according to changes in electrical skin resistance. a filter circuit 12 for removing unnecessary signal components from the output of the bridge circuit section 11, and an amplifier circuit 13 for amplifying the output of the filter circuit 12.
and an absolute value circuit 14 that takes the absolute value of the amplified output.
Smoothing circuit 15 that smoothes the output of absolute value circuit 14
and is configured to obtain a DC voltage signal corresponding to the electrical skin resistance.

The control means B variably controls the vibration pattern of the vibrating body 1 according to the electrical skin resistance detected by the electrical skin resistance detection means A (actually, the DC voltage signal that is the output of the smoothing circuit 15). An oscillator 7 whose oscillation frequency changes according to the output of the smoothing circuit 15, and a voltage-controlled oscillator that outputs a signal whose output amplitude and frequency change according to the output of the smoothing circuit 15 and the output of the oscillator 7. It consists of an operational amplifier circuit 8 and a power amplifier 9 that amplifies the output of the operational amplifier circuit 8.

Note that the control means B is provided individually for each vibrating body 1, and controls each vibrating body 1 independently.
It is now possible to provide comfortable vibrational stimulation to living organisms.

FIGS. 4a to 4b are diagrams schematically showing vibration patterns. In the figure, the diameter of the circle mark indicates the magnitude of the vibration amplitude, and the area of the black part indicates the vibration frequency. Note that when the diameter of the circle mark is large, the amplitude is large, and the larger the area of the black part is, the higher the frequency is.

The vibration pattern in Figure 4 a is a pattern in which all the vibrating bodies 1 vibrate with the same amplitude and frequency, and in Figure 4 b, the upper and lower vibrating bodies 1 vibrate with the same amplitude and frequency, and the left and right vibrating bodies 1 is vibrating with different amplitudes and frequencies, and in figure c, the left and right vibrating bodies 1 are vibrating with the same amplitude and frequency, and the upper and lower vibrating bodies 1 are vibrating with different amplitudes and frequencies. d in the figure shows a case where each vibrating body 1 vibrates individually with different amplitudes and frequencies. In this way, the control means B of this embodiment is able to freely vary the vibration pattern of the vibrating body 1, and can freely change this vibration pattern according to the degree of relaxation of the living body.

The output of the electrical skin resistance detection means A, that is, the output of the smoothing circuit 14, is shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, a indicates a tense state, and b indicates a relaxed state. In a relaxed state, the waveform is gentle,
When an external stimulus is applied, a state of mental tension appears as a change in electrical skin resistance, as shown by c in the figure.

By appropriately changing the vibration pattern of the vibrating body 1, that is, the frequency and amplitude of the vibration of the vibrating body 1, using the output of the galvanic skin resistance detection means A corresponding to the galvanic skin resistance, the biological reaction can be changed to biofeed. It can bounce back and give comfortable vibration stimulation to the living body.

By the way, if the same vibration is applied for a long time, the living body will not feel the vibration, but such a situation can also be detected by the skin electrical resistance detection means A as a change in the electrical skin resistance value.
Therefore, the control means B can provide vibration stimulation while preventing the living body from becoming unable to feel the vibration, and can provide a good stress relieving effect.

For example, the vibration pattern may be changed such that before relaxation, the vibration stimulation shown in FIG. 6a is applied, and after relaxation, the vibration stimulation shown in FIG. 6b is applied. However, as mentioned above, since the vibration pattern of the vibrating body 1 can be freely varied by the control means, the vibration pattern according to the galvanic skin resistance, that is, the degree of relaxation, may be a pattern other than that shown in FIG. 6. Needless to say, it's fine. Further, since the electrical skin resistance differs depending on the individual living body, and the degree of vibration stimulation suitable for each living body also differs, it goes without saying that it is preferable to be able to adjust the intensity of vibration stimulation.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the present invention provides a stress relieving device in which a plurality of vibrating bodies whose vibration patterns can be freely varied by individually varying the vibration frequency and amplitude are arranged in areas that come into contact with the main parts of the living body. The apparatus includes an electrical skin resistance detection means for detecting electrical skin resistance of a living body, and a control means for variably controlling the vibration pattern of each vibrating body in accordance with the electrical skin resistance detected by the electrical skin resistance detection means. Because it is equipped with a It can keep you in a relaxed state and effectively relieve stress. Moreover, the degree of relaxation is
Since this also reflects the fact that the living body no longer feels stimulation in response to vibration stimulation, it is possible to satisfactorily relieve stress while preventing the living body from becoming unstimulated in response to vibration stimulation.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1a and 1b are front views showing the external appearance of the stress relief device and explanatory views of its usage, Figures 2a and 2b are
Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the stress relieving device, and Fig. 4 a to d schematically show vibration patterns of different stress relieving devices. Figure 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between relaxation degree and electrical skin resistance, Figure 6 a, b
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a method of controlling a vibration pattern according to the degree of relaxation. A is electrical skin resistance detection means, B is control means, 1
is a vibrating body, 2 is a chair, and 5 is a bed.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A stress relief device that detects the electrical skin resistance of a living body by placing a plurality of vibrating bodies whose vibration patterns can be varied by individually varying the vibration frequency and amplitude in areas that come into contact with the main parts of the living body. A stress relieving device comprising an electrical skin resistance detection means for detecting electrical skin resistance, and a control means for variably controlling the vibration pattern of each vibrating body in accordance with the electrical skin resistance detected by the electrical skin resistance detection means. .