Calorie consumption estimation system

Abstract

To provide a calorie consumption estimation system capable of easily estimating calorie consumption of an object person in a building.SOLUTION: A calorie consumption estimation system includes: a power sensor 110 capable of detecting use situations of a plurality of home appliances which are provided in a house 1 used by an object person; and a server 120 for storing which of a plurality of home appliance groups related to housework performed in the house 1 include the plurality of home appliances and estimating the performance of the housework according to the use situations of the home appliances, which have been detected by the power sensor 110, so as to calculate calorie consumption related to the estimated performance of the housework.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a calorie consumption estimation system technology for estimating the calorie consumption of a subject. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, technology for a system for estimating a state of a subject has been publicly known, as described in Patent Document 1, for example.

[0003] The system described in Patent Document 1 acquires measurement data regarding the subject's movements from a measurement unit attached to the subject, and can evaluate the subject's musculoskeletal function (condition) based on the acquired measurement data and predetermined evaluation indexes.

[0004] However, the above system requires that the measurement unit be attached to the subject at all times, which is troublesome, especially when the subject is in his / her home. In addition, although the above system can evaluate the subject's musculoskeletal function, it cannot evaluate the subject's amount of exercise. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2023-051835 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a calorie consumption estimation system that can easily estimate the calorie consumption of a subject within a building. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The problem to be solved by the present invention has been described above, and the means for solving this problem will now be described.

[0008] That is, in claim 1, the device includes a detection unit capable of detecting the usage status of multiple pieces of equipment installed in a building used by a subject, a memory unit that stores whether the multiple pieces of equipment are included in any of multiple categories related to housework performed in the building, and an estimation unit that estimates the performance of the housework based on the usage status of the equipment detected by the detection unit and calculates the calories burned related to the performance of the estimated housework.

[0009] In claim 2, the prediction unit predicts the performance of the housework corresponding to the category when two or more of the facilities included in the same category are used at a predetermined timing.

[0010] In claim 3, the estimation unit estimates a period during which the housework was performed according to a utilization state of the equipment, and calculates the calorie consumption using the estimated period.

[0011] In claim 4, the estimation unit is configured to estimate that, when a first use of any of the multiple facilities included in the same category is detected and then a second use of any of the facilities is detected after a period during which no use of any of the facilities is detected, and the period is shorter than a predetermined first period, the estimation unit estimates that the housework is being performed over the period from the first use to the second use.

[0012] In claim 5, the estimation unit estimates that the housework has been completed after the second use if a period during which no use of any of the equipment is detected after the second use is longer than a predetermined second period.

[0013] In claim 6, the estimation unit is capable of calculating a second calorie expenditure by multiplying the calculated calorie expenditure by an increase / decrease rate according to the combination of equipment used. Effect of the Invention

[0014] The present invention has the following advantages.

[0015] In the present invention, the calorie consumption of a subject in a building can be easily estimated. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a calorie consumption estimation system according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a group of home appliances. [Diagram 3] 11 is a flowchart showing a calorie consumption estimation process. [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a specific example of calculation of a period during which housework was performed (exercise period). [Diagram 5] FIG. 4 is an image diagram of a calorie consumption calculation process according to the first embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an increase / decrease rate used in the calculation process of calorie consumption according to the second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0017] The configuration of a calorie expenditure estimation system 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

[0018] Calorie consumption estimation system 100 estimates the calories consumed by subject P in a building used by subject P (house 1 in this embodiment). In this embodiment, subject P is assumed to be an elderly person living alone. Calorie consumption estimation system 100 acquires predetermined information from the subject P's daily life, and estimates the calories consumed by subject P based on the acquired information. The estimation results by calorie consumption estimation system 100 are used to evaluate the subject P's amount of exercise, and are used, for example, to prevent dementia, lifestyle-related diseases, and the like, of subject P.

[0019] Here, it is assumed that the subject P becomes more active (exercises) in the house 1 when he / she is doing housework such as cooking or cleaning. Therefore, the calorie consumption estimation system 100 focuses on the housework performed by the subject P and uses information on the housework performed by the subject P as the above-mentioned predetermined information. Furthermore, it is often difficult for elderly people to wear a wearable device capable of acquiring the amount of exercise, for example, on a daily basis. Therefore, the calorie consumption estimation system 100 uses, as the above-mentioned predetermined information, usage information on facilities (e.g., home appliances) installed in the house 1 that the subject P does not need to wear.

[0020] The calorie expenditure estimation system 100 mainly includes an electric power sensor 110, a server 120, and a terminal 130.

[0021] The power sensor 110 detects the power consumption of home appliances (devices that use electricity) used by the subject P. The power sensor 110 is provided in a distribution board 2 of the house 1 of the subject P. The power sensor 110 can detect the power of each branch circuit of the distribution board 2.

[0022] This allows the power sensor 110 to detect the usage status (whether or not the home appliances connected to each branch circuit are being used). That is, the power sensor 110 can indirectly detect the behavior of the subject P (which home appliance is being used and what housework is being performed) by detecting the usage status of each home appliance. For example, when the use of a cooking appliance (IH) is detected, it is indirectly detected that the subject P has cooked using the cooking appliance. In this way, the power sensor 110 can detect the usage status of multiple home appliances provided in the house 1.

[0023] The method of detecting the usage status of home appliances is not limited to the method of detecting the power of each branch circuit by the power sensor 110, and various other methods can be used. For example, it is possible to identify and grasp the home appliances being used by detecting the power (main power) of the main circuit of the distribution board 2 and analyzing the waveform of the power.

[0024] It is also possible to directly detect the operating status of each home appliance (on / off status of each appliance, power of the outlet to which each appliance is connected, etc.) instead of detecting the power of the distribution board 2. If the house 1 is equipped with a system (such as a Home Energy Management System (HEMS)) that grasps (manages) the usage status of each appliance, it is also possible to use the information grasped by that system.

[0025] The equipment whose usage status is detected is not limited to home appliances. For example, gas appliances (appliances that use gas) can be used as the equipment.

[0026] Furthermore, the device that detects the usage status of the equipment is not limited to the power sensor 110. For example, if a gas appliance is used as the equipment, it is possible to measure the amount of gas flowing into the gas appliance and detect the usage status based on the measurement result, or to detect the usage status based on the operating status (on / off switch) of the gas appliance itself. Also, if the equipment is a washing machine (home appliance), it is possible to measure the amount of water supply to the washing machine and detect the usage status based on the measurement result (see FIG. 6).

[0027] The server 120 performs various processes based on the detection results of the power sensor 110. The server 120 is configured, for example, by a virtual server (cloud server) provided on the cloud. The server 120 can grasp the usage status of the home appliances by acquiring information from the power sensor 110. The usage status of the home appliances includes the usage time of the home appliances. Every time the server 120 acquires information from the power sensor 110, it stores the acquired information in a specified storage area.

[0028] The server 120 can obtain an evaluation value for evaluating the amount of exercise of the subject P based on the usage of the home appliances. Specifically, the server 120 estimates the housework to be performed by the subject P according to the usage of the home appliances, and calculates the calories burned in performing the estimated housework. This makes it possible to evaluate the amount of exercise of the subject P based on the estimated calories burned. The server 120 can execute a process for estimating the calories burned of the subject P (hereinafter referred to as a "calorie burned estimation process").

[0029] 5, the server 120 has a METs (exercise intensity) DB (database) 122 in a predetermined storage area. The METs DB 122 stores information used in the calorie consumption estimation process (more specifically, the calorie consumption calculation process in the calorie consumption estimation process). More specifically, the information stored in the METs DB 122 is processed by the CPU 121 of the server 120. The information stored in the METs DB 122 will be described later.

[0030] Server 120 also stores a plurality of home appliances provided in residence 1, categorizing them into a plurality of categories (home appliance groups) according to the type of housework for which each home appliance is used. Here, housework refers to work for living at home. In this embodiment, attention is focused on "cooking" and "laundry" as the housework. That is, in this embodiment, a group of home appliances related to cooking (hereinafter referred to as a "cooking appliance group 210") and a group of home appliances related to laundry (hereinafter referred to as a "laundry appliance group 220") are provided as a plurality of home appliance groups. Each home appliance group includes at least one home appliance.

[0031] In this embodiment, the cooking appliance group 210 includes an induction heater, a microwave oven, and an oven as home appliances used when the subject P cooks. The laundry appliance group 220 includes a washing machine, a dryer, and an iron as home appliances used when the subject P does laundry.

[0032] In this embodiment, two home appliance groups are provided, but this is not limited thereto. That is, one or three or more home appliance groups may be provided. The home appliances included in cooking appliance group 210 and laundry appliance group 220 are not limited to those described above. For example, cooking appliance group 210 may include a range hood and an electric kettle (see FIG. 5). An oven may be included instead of or in addition to a microwave oven. A home appliance group may include one home appliance rather than multiple home appliances. For example, a cleaning appliance group may be provided, and the cleaning appliance group may include only a vacuum cleaner. Each home appliance may not be included in only one home appliance group, but may be included across multiple home appliance groups.

[0033] Terminal 130 is capable of displaying various types of information. Terminal 130 is carried by a person who should know the calories burned by subject P. In this embodiment, subject P is assumed to carry terminal 130. Terminal 130 is configured, for example, as a portable device (for example, a smartphone or tablet terminal). Terminal 130 can notify the owner of information from server 120 by an appropriate method (display on an LCD screen, audio, etc.).

[0034] The calorie consumption estimation process performed by the server 120 will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

[0035] The server 120 executes the calorie consumption estimation process at a predetermined timing (every 5 minutes in this embodiment). First, in step S11, when the server 120 detects that an appliance has been turned on, the process proceeds to step S12. Note that in this embodiment, when an appliance is turned on, it means that the appliance is operating, and it is determined that housework using the appliance is being performed.

[0036] In step S12, server 120 searches for a home appliance group that includes the turned-ON home appliance. That is, server 120 searches for which of cooking appliance group 210 and laundry appliance group 220 the turned-ON home appliance belongs to. Furthermore, if the turned-ON home appliance is the first home appliance to be turned ON in the home appliance group (that is, the home appliance used to start performing housework related to this home appliance group), server 120 stores the time when the home appliance was turned ON. Note that in the following description, the home appliance group that includes the turned-ON home appliance may be referred to as the "relevant home appliance group." After processing step S12, server 120 proceeds to processing step S13.

[0037] In step S13, server 120 determines whether or not there is another home appliance in the group of home appliances that has been turned ON within the last X minutes. That is, when server 120 detects one home appliance that has been turned ON in step S11, server 120 determines whether or not there is another home appliance in the group of home appliances that has been turned ON within the last X minutes.

[0038] If server 120 determines that there is another home appliance in the group of home appliances that has been turned ON within the last X minutes (YES in step S13), it proceeds to step S14. On the other hand, if server 120 determines that there is no other home appliance in the group of home appliances that has been turned ON within the last X minutes (NO in step S13), it proceeds to step S23.

[0039] In step S14, the server 120 turns on the home appliance flag. Here, the home appliance flag is a flag indicating that the subject P is performing housework. In this way, in this embodiment, when two or more home appliances in a certain home appliance group are turned on within X minutes, it is determined that the subject P is performing housework related to the certain home appliance group. In this way, since the performance of housework is determined according to the use of two or more home appliances, the accuracy of the determination can be improved.

[0040] Furthermore, the X minutes (see step S13) is a threshold value for determining whether a series of household chores continues during a period when the home appliance is not in use. For example, when performing housework (laundry), after the washing machine is finished, the dryer may be operated next. In such a case, even if there is a period after the washing machine is finished that the home appliance is not in use, there is a possibility that a task (included in the housework (laundry)) that does not use the home appliance (for example, the task of moving washed laundry from the washing machine to the dryer) is being performed during that period.

[0041] Therefore, when server 120 detects a home appliance that has been turned ON, and there is another home appliance in the group of home appliances that has been turned ON within the last X minutes, server 120 determines that housework is being performed continuously even if there is a period between the use of the one home appliance and the other home appliance, in which no home appliance is used. In this way, when determining whether housework is being performed according to the use of two or more home appliances, it is possible to determine whether housework is being performed according to the content of the work in the housework. In other words, it is possible to accurately determine whether housework is being performed. Note that the specific value of X can be set arbitrarily according to the type of housework and the content of the work in the housework (such as the work procedure). After processing step S14, server 120 proceeds to step S15.

[0042] In step S15, the server 120 waits for Y minutes. Y minutes is a period for waiting for the use of the turned-on home appliance to be terminated. In this embodiment, five minutes is used as Y minutes. That is, in this embodiment, once use of the home appliance is detected, it is determined that the use has continued for at least five minutes. After processing in step S15, the server 120 proceeds to step S16.

[0043] In step S16, server 120 determines whether all the home appliances in the group are turned OFF (stopped). If server 120 determines that all the home appliances in the group are turned OFF (YES in step S16), server 120 proceeds to step S17. In this case, server 120 stores the time when the determination was made. On the other hand, if server 120 determines that all the home appliances in the group are not turned OFF (at least one or more home appliances are ON) (NO in step S16), server 120 proceeds again to step S15.

[0044] In step S17, the server 120 waits for X minutes. The server 120 counts down from the most recent operation time of the home appliance that was turned off from ON. After the process of step S17, the server 120 proceeds to step S18.

[0045] In step S18, after waiting for X minutes, server 120 determines whether or not it has detected a home appliance that turned ON during standby. If server 120 determines that it has detected a home appliance that turned ON during standby (YES in step S18), it proceeds to step S15 again. On the other hand, if server 120 determines that it has not detected a home appliance that turned ON during standby (NO in step S18), it proceeds to step S19.

[0046] In step S19, the server 120 turns off the home appliance flag. Here, the home appliance flag is a flag indicating that the subject P is performing housework, as described above. Thus, in this embodiment, after all home appliances in the relevant home appliance group are turned off (YES in step S16), the server 120 waits for X minutes (the same period as the threshold in step S13) (step S17), and if no home appliance is turned on during the wait (NO in step S18), the server 120 determines that the housework for the relevant home appliance group has been completed (step S19). After processing step S19, the server 120 proceeds to step S20.

[0047] In step S20, server 120 calculates the period from when an appliance in the corresponding home appliance group is first turned ON until all the appliances in the corresponding home appliance group are turned OFF. Specifically, server 120 calculates the period from the time stored in step S12 to the time stored in step S16. In this way, server 120 calculates the period during which housework related to the corresponding home appliance group was performed (exercise period). A specific example of the calculation of the period during which housework was performed will be described later.

[0048] In step S21, the server 120 performs a calorie calculation process (calorie consumption calculation process). The calorie calculation process will be described in detail later. After the process of step S21, the server 120 temporarily ends the calorie consumption estimation process.

[0049] As described above, in step S23, which is performed when it is determined that no home appliance in the group of home appliances has been turned ON within the last X minutes (NO in step S13), server 120 waits for X minutes. Next, in step S18, if server 120 detects an home appliance in the group of home appliances that has been turned ON (YES in step S18), server 120 proceeds to step S15. At this time, if the home appliance that has been turned ON is different from the home appliance detected in step S11, server 120 sets the home appliance flag to ON. On the other hand, if the home appliance that has been turned ON is the same home appliance as the home appliance detected in step S11, server 120 maintains the home appliance flag to OFF.

[0050] Then, in step S18, if server 120 does not detect any home appliance that has been turned ON in the group of home appliances (NO in step S18), server 120 proceeds to the process of step S19 and subsequent steps. In this case, if the home appliance flag is OFF, server 120 does not perform the process of step S19 and subsequent steps that are based on the premise that the home appliance flag is ON, and temporarily ends the calorie consumption estimation process.

[0051] A specific example of calculation of the period during which housework was performed in the calorie consumption estimation process will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG.

[0052] 4 focuses on the cooking appliance group 210 and shows an example of the usage status of the cooking appliance group 210 acquired by the server 120 at 12:00 and 13:00 on a certain day. Note that the calorie consumption estimation process is executed every 5 minutes as described above. In other words, it is assumed that whether or not the appliance is ON is also detected every 5 minutes.

[0053] In this example, a microwave oven that was turned on at 12:10 is detected, and the cooking appliances group 210 is searched for as an appliance group that includes the microwave oven (see step S12).

[0054] In addition, in the cooking appliance group 210 shown in FIG. 4, it is assumed that there are no other appliances that have been turned on within 30 minutes (X minutes) immediately before 12:10. In this case, since the microwave oven is the first appliance to be turned on in the cooking appliance group 210, a 30-minute standby is performed (NO in step S13, step S23, see standby period T1 shown in FIG. 4). Then, since an IH is detected as an appliance that has been turned on at 12:30 or the like (during standby) until 12:40 when the standby ends (YES in step S18), the appliance flag is set to ON. In other words, since two or more appliances are turned on, it is determined that housework (cooking) related to the cooking appliance group 210 is being performed. Since the microwave oven is the first appliance to be turned on (the appliance used to start cooking), the time when the use of the microwave oven started (12:10) is stored (see step S12).

[0055] If it is determined that housework (cooking) is being performed, then a standby period of 5 minutes (Y minutes) is performed (YES in step S18, step S15, see standby period T2 shown in FIG. 4). Then, the 5-minute standby period is repeated until all the appliances in the cooking appliance group 210 are turned off at the end of the standby period (NO in step S16, see step S15).

[0056] 4, the use of the oven is stopped at 13:05, and all the appliances in the cooking appliance group 210 are turned OFF, so a 30-minute wait is performed (YES in step S16, step S17, see the wait period T3 shown in FIG. 4). Then, since no appliances are turned ON within 30 minutes after the use of the oven is stopped, the time when the use of the oven was stopped (13:05) is stored, and the appliance flag is turned OFF (NO in step S18, see step S19).

[0057] Then, the period during which housework (cooking) related to the cooking appliance group 210 was being performed is calculated as the period (55 minutes) from the time when the microwave oven was first used (12:10) to the time when the oven was stopped using (13:05) (see step S20, see exercise period T4 shown in Figure 4).

[0058] Hereinafter, the calorie consumption calculation process in the calorie consumption estimation process according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

[0059] Here, Fig. 5 is an image diagram of the calculation process of the calorie consumption as described above. As shown in Fig. 5, the server 120 uses the known formula (1) as a formula for calculating the calorie consumption (kcal). That is, the server 120 calculates the calorie consumption (kcal) by multiplying METs, body weight (kg), exercise period (h), and the numerical value 1.05.

[0060] Here, METs is an abbreviation of "metabolic equivalents" and is a unit indicating the intensity of physical activity. The intensity of physical activity differs depending on the type of physical activity. The METs value is created by a specified organization. The types of physical activity include types of housework. In other words, the METs value is defined for each type of housework. The METs value for each type of housework is stored in METs DB 122 in a specified memory area of ​​server 120.

[0061] Furthermore, the weight (kg) is the weight of the subject P. The weight (kg) is acquired before the calorie consumption estimation process is executed, and is stored in a predetermined storage area of ​​the server 120. As shown in FIG. 5, a weight scale electrically connected to the server 120 may be provided, and the measurement results of the weight scale may be automatically transmitted to the server 120. This can reduce the effort of inputting the weight of the subject P into the server 120.

[0062] The exercise period (h) is the period during which housework was performed as described above and is obtained by the calorie consumption estimation process (see step S20). The value 1.05 is the energy consumption (kcal) per hour at rest for an adult weighing 1 kg.

[0063] Thus, in the calorie consumption calculation process (step S21), server 120 first obtains the METs value from METs DB 122 based on the housework related to the group of home appliances searched in step S11. Server 120 also obtains the weight of subject P from a predetermined storage area. Server 120 then substitutes the above value into formula (1) above, together with the period (exercise period) during which the housework was performed obtained in step S20. In this way, server 120 can obtain the calorie consumption for performing the housework of subject P.

[0064] The calorie consumption thus obtained can be output to, for example, the terminal 130 of the subject P, and used for preventing dementia, lifestyle-related diseases, etc. of the subject P. Note that the acquired calorie consumption does not strictly represent the amount of exercise of the subject P in the house 1, but by continuously checking the increase or decrease, for example, it is possible to appropriately evaluate the change in the amount of exercise of the subject P, and thus it can be used as suitable information for preventing dementia, lifestyle-related diseases, etc. of the subject P.

[0065] Note that the calorie consumption calculation process in the calorie consumption estimation process according to the first embodiment described above is an example, and is not limited to this. In the following, the calorie consumption calculation process according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 6.

[0066] The calorie consumption calculation process according to the second embodiment differs significantly from the calorie consumption calculation process according to the first embodiment in that the calorie consumption obtained in the calorie consumption calculation process according to the first embodiment is changed depending on the combination of home appliances used for housework.

[0067] Specifically, in the calorie consumption calculation process according to the second embodiment, the calorie consumption acquired in the calorie consumption calculation process according to the first embodiment is multiplied by a predetermined increase / decrease rate as a weighting according to the content of the housework. Here, Fig. 6 focuses on the laundry appliance group 220 and shows the increase / decrease rate used in the calorie consumption calculation process according to the second embodiment. As shown in Fig. 6, in the second embodiment, a combination of home appliances used for housework (laundry) is preset.

[0068] That is, in the second embodiment, the calorie consumption when only the washing machine among the laundry appliance group 220 is used is set as the standard for housework (laundry). When only the washing machine is used in this way, the housework (laundry) work of the subject P is assumed to be the work (standard work) of using the washing machine to wash the laundry, hanging the laundry on a clothesline, and taking the laundry in after it has dried and folding it (without using an iron). When such work is performed, the calorie consumption acquired in the calorie consumption calculation process according to the first embodiment is calculated as the calorie consumption in the second embodiment.

[0069] Here, when not only the washing machine but also the dryer among the home appliances of the laundry appliance group 220 is used, the work of hanging laundry on a clothesline is omitted from the standard work described above. In other words, the labor of the subject P is reduced from the standard work. Therefore, when such a work is performed, the calorie consumption obtained in the first embodiment is multiplied by 0.4 to calculate the calorie consumption in the second embodiment, taking into account the reduction in labor.

[0070] Furthermore, when an iron is used in addition to the washing machine among the laundry appliances group 220, the work of holding the iron to remove wrinkles and crease the laundry is added to the standard work described above. That is, the subject P's effort is increased compared to the standard work. Therefore, when such work is performed, the calorie consumption in the second embodiment is calculated by multiplying the calorie consumption obtained in the first embodiment by 1.2, taking into account the increase in effort.

[0071] Furthermore, when not only the washing machine but also the dryer and iron are used among the home appliances in the laundry appliance group 220, the overall effort is slightly reduced compared to the standard work described above due to the reduction in effort due to the dryer and the increase in effort due to the iron. Therefore, when such work is performed, taking into account the slight reduction in effort, the calorie consumption obtained in the first embodiment is multiplied by 0.6 to calculate the calorie consumption in the second embodiment.

[0072] In this way, in the second embodiment, the calorie consumption obtained in the first embodiment is increased or decreased depending on the combination of home appliances used for housework, so that the calorie consumption can be calculated according to the content of the housework (laundry) task.

[0073] The calorie consumption calculated in this manner, like the calorie consumption obtained in the first embodiment, does not strictly represent the amount of activity of the subject P at home 1; however, it reflects the effort exerted by the subject P in performing housework, and therefore can be used as more suitable information for preventing dementia, lifestyle-related diseases, and the like for the subject P.

[0074] The numerical values ​​of the increase / decrease rate shown in FIG. 6 are not limited to these values, and can be changed arbitrarily according to the labor of the work. For example, it is considered that the labor of hanging laundry on a clothesline increases as the amount of laundry increases. It is also considered that the operating time of a washing machine increases or decreases according to the amount of laundry. In view of these, the numerical values ​​of the increase / decrease rate can be changed according to the length of the laundry operating time. This allows the labor of the subject P's housework work to be better reflected in the calories burned.

[0075] As described above, the calorie consumption estimation system 100 according to this embodiment has the following features: A power sensor 110 (detection unit) capable of detecting the usage status of a plurality of home appliances (equipment) installed in a house 1 (building) used by a subject person; A server 120 (storage unit) that stores whether a plurality of home appliances (equipment) are included in any of a plurality of home appliance groups (categories) related to housework performed in the house 1 (building); a server (120) (estimation unit) that estimates whether the housework has been performed based on the usage status of the home appliance (equipment) detected by the power sensor (detection unit) and calculates calories consumed related to the estimated housework; It is equipped with the following.

[0076] With this configuration, for example, the performance of housework can be predicted based on data (home appliance usage) obtained without the subject P having to wear a wearable device or the like on a daily basis, and the calories burned related to the performance of the predicted housework can be calculated, making it possible to easily estimate the calories burned of the subject P within the house 1 (building).

[0077] In the calorie consumption estimation system 100 according to this embodiment, The server 120 (estimation unit) When two or more of the home appliances (equipment) included in the same home appliance group (category) are used at a specified time, an estimate is made of the performance of the household chore corresponding to that home appliance group (category).

[0078] With this configuration, the accuracy of the determination regarding the execution of housework can be improved.

[0079] In the calorie consumption estimation system 100 according to this embodiment, The server 120 (estimation unit) A period during which the housework was performed is estimated based on the usage status of the home appliance (equipment); The estimated period is used to calculate the calories burned.

[0080] With this configuration, the accuracy of the determination regarding the execution of housework can be improved.

[0081] In the calorie consumption estimation system 100 according to this embodiment, The server 120 (estimation unit) If a first use of any of the multiple home appliances (equipment) included in the same home appliance group (category) is detected and then a second use of any of the home appliances (equipment) is detected after a period in which no use of any of the home appliances (equipment) is detected, and if the period is shorter than X minutes (a specified first period), it is presumed that the housework is being performed over the period from the first use to the second use (see YES in step S16, YES in steps S17 and S18, etc.).

[0082] With this configuration, the performance of housework can be determined according to the content of the housework tasks, and therefore the performance of housework can be determined.

[0083] In the calorie consumption estimation system 100 according to this embodiment, The server 120 (estimation unit) If the period during which no use of any of the home appliances (equipment) is detected after the second use is longer than X minutes (a predetermined second period), it is assumed that the housework has been completed after the second use.

[0084] With this configuration, the period during which housework is being performed can be determined with high accuracy.

[0085] In the calorie consumption estimation system 100 according to this embodiment, The server 120 (estimation unit) A second calorie consumption can be calculated by multiplying the calculated calorie consumption by an increase / decrease rate according to the combination of the home appliances (equipment) used.

[0086] With this configuration, it is possible to acquire the amount of exercise of the subject P that reflects the effort of the subject P in performing housework.

[0087] Although an embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and appropriate modifications are possible within the scope of the technical idea of ​​the invention described in the claims.

[0088] For example, in the calorie consumption estimation system 100 according to the present embodiment, an example has been shown in which the subject P is an elderly person, but the present invention is not limited to elderly people, and various people can be the subject.

[0089] In this embodiment, the power sensor 110 (detection unit) is provided in the house 1, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the power sensor 110 (detection unit) can be provided in various buildings used by the subject P. In other words, calorie consumption can be estimated not only in the house 1, but also in various other buildings, facilities, etc.

[0090] In addition, in this embodiment, an example is shown in which the server 120 (such as a virtual server installed on the cloud) performs various processes, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the entity that performs the various processes can be changed as desired. For example, the processes can also be performed by a home server, a personal computer, a portable terminal, or the like installed in the house 1. Furthermore, the numerical values ​​used in this embodiment are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to these.

[0091] In the present embodiment, when two or more home appliances are turned on, it is determined that the subject P is performing housework. However, this is not limited to this. That is, when one home appliance is turned on, It may be determined that the subject P is performing housework. [Explanation of symbols]

[0092] 100 Calorie Burning Estimation System 110 Power Sensor 120 Servers 130 terminals

Claims

1. A detection unit capable of detecting the usage status of a plurality of facilities installed in a building used by a subject person; A storage unit that stores information on which of a plurality of categories related to housework performed in the building the plurality of facilities are included in; an estimation unit that estimates whether the housework will be performed based on the utilization status of the facility detected by the detection unit, and calculates calories consumed related to the estimated housework; Equipped with Calorie consumption estimation system.

2. The estimation unit is When two or more of the facilities included in the same category are used at a predetermined timing, it is predicted that the housework corresponding to the category will be performed. The calorie consumption estimation system according to claim 1 .

3. The estimation unit is Inferring a period during which the housework was performed based on a utilization status of the equipment; Calculating the calories burned using the estimated period. The calorie consumption estimation system according to claim 1 .

4. The estimation unit is when a first use of any of the plurality of pieces of equipment included in the same category is detected, followed by a period during which no use of any of the pieces of equipment is detected, and the period is shorter than a predetermined first period, it is inferred that the housework is being performed over the period from the first use to the second use. The calorie consumption estimation system according to claim 3 .

5. The estimation unit is if a period during which no use of any of the appliances is detected after the second use is longer than a predetermined second period, it is inferred that the performance of the household chore has been completed after the second use. The calorie consumption estimation system according to claim 4 .

6. The estimation unit is A second calorie consumption rate can be calculated by multiplying the calculated calorie consumption rate by an increase / decrease rate according to the combination of the equipment used. The calorie consumption estimation system according to claim 1 .

Images