Electronic device, notification control method, and program

Abstract

To provide an electronic apparatus, a notification control method, and a program capable of displaying a notification desired by a user.SOLUTION: The electronic device includes a display unit, a communication unit that performs communication with an external communication device, and a controller, and the controller determines a notification to be displayed on the display unit based on a priority of each notification determined based on user information related to at least one of a situation and a behavior history of a user of the electronic device from among a plurality of notifications received by the communication unit from the communication device, and displays the determined notification on the display unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an electronic device, a notification control method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, in electronic devices such as wristwatches that have a display unit, there is known a technique for displaying notifications received from external communication devices such as smartphones on the display unit (for example, Patent Document 1). In such electronic devices, the latest notification received from the communication device is usually displayed on the display unit. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2023-86419 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, the notifications desired by a user vary depending on the user's situation and behavior, and therefore, a method of simply displaying the latest notifications poses a problem in that the notifications desired by the user may not always be provided.

[0005] The present invention aims to display notifications that a user desires. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, the electronic device according to the present invention comprises: A display unit; a communication unit that communicates with an external communication device; An electronic device comprising: The control unit determining a notification to be displayed on the display unit from among a plurality of notifications received by the communication unit from the communication device based on a priority of each notification determined based on user information related to at least one of a status and a behavior history of a user of the electronic device; The determined notification is displayed on the display unit. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to display notifications desired by the user. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a communication system. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the electronic timepiece. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the smartphone. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the display unit of the electronic timepiece displaying a notification. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing category priorities in each priority pattern. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart showing a control procedure for a notification transmission process. [Figure 7] 10 is a flowchart showing a control procedure for individual priority determination processing. [Figure 8] 10 is a flowchart showing a control procedure for a notification display process. [Figure 9] 10 is a flowchart showing a control procedure for category priority determination processing. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a received notification and its category priority and individual priority. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the overall priority determined for the notification of FIG. 10. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a received notification and its category priority and individual priority. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an overall priority determined for the notification of FIG. 12. [Figure 14] 10 is a flowchart showing a control procedure for individual priority determination processing in the second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] A first embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in Figure 1, a communication system 1 of this embodiment comprises an electronic watch 10 (electronic device) and a smartphone 20 (communications device). The electronic watch 10 is a wristwatch (wearable device) that is worn on the user's wrist. The smartphone 20 is carried and used by the same user as the electronic watch 10.

[0010] The electronic watch 10 is capable of communicating with the smartphone 20 via short-range wireless communication and exchanging data. In this embodiment, BLE (Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy) is used as the short-range wireless communication. However, other types of short-range wireless communication may also be used. The electronic watch 10 and smartphone 20 operate in cooperation by communicating and transmitting and receiving data via BLE. For example, the electronic watch 10 receives time information from the smartphone 20 at predetermined times throughout the day (e.g., four times every six hours) and corrects the internal time. In addition, by configuring settings for the electronic watch 10 (such as alarm time and world time settings) on a link app installed on the smartphone 20, the settings can be reflected in the connected electronic watch 10. In addition, notifications generated by various application programs (hereinafter abbreviated as "apps") installed on the smartphone 20 are sent to the electronic watch 10 and displayed on the display 14 of the electronic watch 10. In addition to a normal mode in which the date and time are displayed, the electronic watch 10 can also operate in an activity mode to support the user during an activity. In the activity mode, the electronic watch 10 calculates an index value (for example, running pace or pitch) that indicates the status of the activity being performed by the user, and displays the index value information on the display unit 14. Examples of activities include running, walking, and cycling (traveling by bicycle).

[0011] 2, the electronic watch 10 includes a CPU 11 (Central Processing Unit) (control unit, control means), a RAM 12 (Random Access Memory), a storage unit 13, a display unit 14, an operation unit 15, a timing unit 16, a short-range wireless communication unit 17 (communication unit), a location information acquisition unit 18, and a sensor unit 19. The various units of the electronic watch 10 are connected via a data transmission path such as a bus.

[0012] The CPU 11 is a processor that functions as a control unit that controls the operation of the electronic timepiece 10 by reading and executing the program 131 stored in the memory unit 13 and performing various arithmetic processing. The electronic timepiece 10 may have multiple processors (e.g., multiple CPUs), and the multiple processes performed by the CPU 11 of this embodiment may be executed by these multiple processors. In this case, the control unit is made up of the multiple processors. In this case, the multiple processors may be involved in a common process, or the multiple processors may independently execute different processes in parallel. The RAM 12 provides working memory space for the CPU 11 and stores temporary data.

[0013] The storage unit 13 is a non-transitory recording medium readable by the CPU 11 as a computer, and stores a program 131 and various data. The storage unit 13 has a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory. The program 131 is stored in the storage unit 13 in the form of computer-readable program code. Data stored in the storage unit 13 includes user information 132, notification setting information 133, and notification memory 134. Of these, the user information 132 includes position information 1321 and behavior information 1322. The position information 1321 is information indicating the position of the electronic watch 10 (i.e., the user wearing the electronic watch 10) acquired by the position information acquisition unit 18. The behavior information 1322 is information related to the user's behavior estimated by the CPU 11 based on the output data of the sensor unit 19 (information related to the user's movements) and / or the position information 1321. The position information 1321 and behavior information 1322 are aspects of information related to the user's situation. The notification setting information 133 is setting data that is referenced in the process of determining the priority of notifications, which will be described later. The notification memory 134 temporarily stores the contents of notifications transmitted from the smartphone 20. In this embodiment, the notification memory 134 can store the contents of 10 notifications.

[0014] The display unit 14 digitally displays information such as the time, date, day of the week, and the above-mentioned notifications in accordance with control signals transmitted from the CPU 11. The display unit 14 includes a display panel, such as a liquid crystal panel capable of displaying in a dot matrix format, and a drive circuit for the display panel. In this embodiment, an MIP (memory-in-pixel) liquid crystal panel is used as the display panel. The MIP liquid crystal panel has a memory (such as a static RAM) in each pixel that stores pixel values ​​representing the display gradation. This in-pixel memory allows the display of still images to continue without periodically writing pixel values, thereby reducing power consumption.

[0015] The operation unit 15 has operation means such as operation buttons and a crown, and outputs operation signals corresponding to operations on the operation means to the CPU 11. The operation unit 15 may also have other operation means such as a touch panel provided over the display screen of the display unit 14.

[0016] The timekeeping unit 16 includes an oscillation circuit, a frequency dividing circuit, a timekeeping circuit, etc. The frequency dividing circuit divides the clock signal generated by the oscillation circuit, and the timekeeping circuit counts the divided signal, thereby calculating and storing the current date and time.

[0017] The short-range wireless communication unit 17 is a communication module having an antenna, a modulation / demodulation circuit, a signal processing circuit, etc., and performs short-range wireless communication with the smartphone 20 using BLE.

[0018] The location information acquisition unit 18 receives and decodes radio waves transmitted from positioning satellites of a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) such as a Global Positioning System (GPS) to calculate the current location. The location information acquisition unit 18 calculates the current location under the control of the CPU 11 and outputs the result to the CPU 11.

[0019] The sensor unit 19 includes a motion sensor 191 and a pressure sensor 192, and outputs detection data from each sensor to the CPU 11. The motion sensor 191 includes a three-axis acceleration sensor and a three-axis angular velocity sensor. The motion sensor 191 detects the acceleration and angular velocity that occur in the electronic timepiece 10 in response to the movement of the user's wrist, and outputs the detection data to the CPU 11. The pressure sensor 192 is, for example, a semiconductor pressure sensor that uses the piezo-resistance effect and detects the magnitude of air pressure. The CPU 11 calculates altitude based on the detection results from the pressure sensor 192.

[0020] 3, the smartphone 20 includes a CPU 21, a RAM 22, a storage unit 23, a display unit 24, an operation unit 25, a telephone communication unit 26, a short-range wireless communication unit 27, and a location information acquisition unit 28. The various units of the smartphone 20 are connected to each other via a data transmission path such as a bus.

[0021] The CPU 21 is a processor that controls the operation of the smartphone 20 by reading and executing the program 231 stored in the storage unit 23 and performing various arithmetic processing. The smartphone 20 may have multiple processors (e.g., multiple CPUs), and the multiple processes performed by the CPU 21 of this embodiment may be executed by the multiple processors. In this case, the multiple processors may be involved in a common process, or the multiple processors may independently execute different processes in parallel. The RAM 22 provides a working memory space for the CPU 21 and stores temporary data.

[0022] The storage unit 23 is a non-transitory recording medium readable by the CPU 21 as a computer, and stores a program 231 and various data. The storage unit 23 has a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory. The program 231 is stored in the storage unit 23 in the form of computer-readable program code. The program 231 includes the various apps described above. Data stored in the storage unit 23 includes user information 232 and a machine learning model 233. The user information 232 includes contact frequency information 2321, use frequency information 2322, and schedule information 2323. Of these, the contact frequency information 2321 is information on the frequency with which a user contacts each of a plurality of predetermined targets (e.g., other smartphone users) using an email app, a messaging app, or the like. The contact frequency information 2321 may include information on the contact frequency for each time period. The use frequency information 2322 is information related to the frequency of use of each app by the user. The use frequency information 2322 may include information on the use frequency for each time period. The contact frequency information 2321 and the use frequency information 2322 are aspects of information related to the user's behavioral history. The schedule information 2323 is information related to the user's schedule registered in a schedule app. The schedule information 2323 is an aspect of information related to the user's situation. The machine learning model 233 is trained by machine learning to input data of a generated notification and output the priority of the notification. The machine learning model 233 is not used in the first embodiment but is used in the second embodiment described later, and details of the machine learning model 233 will be described in the second embodiment. Therefore, the machine learning model 233 may be omitted from the smartphone 20 of the first embodiment.

[0023] The display unit 24 includes a display panel such as a liquid crystal panel capable of displaying in a dot matrix format, and a drive circuit for the display panel. The display unit 24 displays various menus, application screens, and the like in accordance with control signals transmitted from the CPU 21.

[0024] The operation unit 25 has operation means such as a touch panel and operation buttons that are provided over the display panel of the display unit 24, and outputs operation signals to the CPU 21 corresponding to operations on the operation means.

[0025] The telephone communication unit 26 is a communication module having an antenna, a modulation / demodulation circuit, a signal processing circuit, etc., and communicates with mobile phone base stations, etc., and transmits and receives voice data for telephone communication and packet data related to Internet connection.

[0026] The short-range wireless communication unit 27 is a communication module that includes an antenna, a modulation / demodulation circuit, a signal processing circuit, etc., and performs short-range wireless communication with the electronic timepiece 10 using BLE.

[0027] The location information acquisition unit 28 receives and decodes radio waves transmitted from positioning satellites of a global positioning satellite system such as GPS to calculate the current location. The location information acquisition unit 28 calculates the current location under the control of the CPU 21 and outputs the result to the CPU 21. Note that one of the location information acquisition unit 18 of the electronic timepiece 10 and the location information acquisition unit 28 of the smartphone 20 may be omitted, and the location information acquired by the other may be shared between the electronic timepiece 10 and the smartphone 20 via short-range wireless communication.

[0028] Next, the operation of the communication system 1 will be described. As described above, when a notification is generated on the smartphone 20, the notification data is transmitted to the electronic watch 10 via short-range wireless communication, and the notification is displayed on the display unit 14 of the electronic watch 10. However, as shown in FIG. 4, because the electronic watch 10 is a small electronic device, the display unit 14 has an extremely small display area compared to the display unit 24 of the smartphone 20. The resolution of the display unit 14 is, for example, approximately 100 to 200 pixels vertically and horizontally. As shown in FIG. 4, on a display unit 14 of this size, notification N is displayed so as to occupy the entire display area of ​​the display unit 14. Here, "occupying" refers to occupying most of the display area of ​​the display unit 14, but is not limited to occupying the entire display area of ​​the display unit 14 and includes occupying more than half of the display area of ​​the display unit 14. From another perspective, "occupying" refers to a display mode in which the display of other functions of the electronic watch 10 (for example, the display of any function other than the simplified time display shown in FIG. 4) is temporarily restricted by notification N. On a display unit 14 of this size, the maximum number of notifications N that can be displayed at one time in a predetermined restricted mode is limited to a predetermined number of three or less. In particular, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the maximum number of notifications N that can be displayed at one time is one. Here, the restricted mode is a display mode that limits the amount of information to the extent that it is possible to convey an overview of the notification N to the user. The restricted mode may include, for example, information on the category of the notification N and may also include part of the content of the notification N. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the notification N displayed in the restricted mode includes "MAIL," which represents the category of the notification N (e-mail), and the sender of the email ("Yamada Hanako"), which is part of the content of the notification N.

[0029] Conventionally, a method of displaying notifications N in electronic watches that can be linked to a smartphone is to display them in order of newness, i.e., to always display the most recent notification N (the most recently received notification N). However, when a large number of notifications N are received from the smartphone 20 in a short period of time, simply displaying the most recent notification N may not be enough to display all of the notifications N, which can lead to problems such as important notifications N desired by the user not being displayed. In recent years, messaging apps and SNSs, which tend to generate a large number of notifications in a short period of time, have become widespread, and information provision apps have also become more sophisticated and diversified, leading to a trend toward an increase in the frequency of notifications.

[0030] Therefore, in this embodiment, the CPU 11 of the electronic watch 10 determines a notification N to be displayed on the display unit 14 from among multiple notifications N received by the short-range wireless communication unit 17 from the smartphone 20, based on the priority of each notification N determined by a predetermined method, and displays the determined notification N on the display unit 14. The priority of each notification N is determined based on user information 132, 232 related to at least one of the user's situation and behavioral history.

[0031] For example, the priority of notification N may be determined based on behavior information 1322 of the user information 132. The behavior information 1322 includes information related to the user's behavior at that time estimated by the CPU 11 based on the output data of the sensor unit 19 and / or the position information 1321. Examples of the types of the user's behavior that can be estimated include, but are not limited to, running, walking, cycling, stopping (staying), etc. These behaviors are estimated based on the amount of change in position per predetermined time (i.e., movement speed), the magnitude and pattern of arm swinging measured by the motion sensor 191, and altitude changes measured by the pressure sensor 192.

[0032] The priority of notifications N according to the user's actions may be determined by determining the priority (hereinafter referred to as "category priority") of each category (hereinafter referred to as "notification category") of notifications N for each type of action, and displaying notifications N belonging to the notification category with the highest category priority among the undisplayed notifications N stored in the notification memory 134 of the electronic timepiece 10. The category priority corresponds to "first priority." Notification categories may include, for example, notification categories C1 to C7 shown in FIG. 5. Notification category C1 is "route guidance," a category of notifications N for providing route guidance during an activity involving movement such as running. Notification category C2 is "notifications from people performing common activities," a category of notifications N from people performing a common activity with the activity the user is currently performing. Notification category C3 is "weather information" based on the user's current location. Notification category C4 is "nearby facility information," a category of notifications N from facilities such as stores located within a predetermined short distance (for example, 500 m or less) from the user's current location. The notification category C5 is "notification from scheduled person" and is a category of notification N from a person related to a schedule scheduled in the schedule information 2323. The notification category C6 is "medium-distance facility information" and is a category of notification N from a facility such as a store located within a predetermined medium-distance range (for example, more than 500 m and less than 2 km) from the user's current location. The notification category C7 is "other" and is a category of notification N that does not belong to the notification categories C1 to C6.

[0033] Each user activity is associated with one of several priority patterns, each with a different combination of category priorities for each notification category. For example, "running" is associated with the priority pattern "Special A." In the priority pattern "Special A," the priorities of notification categories C1 to C3 required by the user while running are set to "1" to "3," respectively. The other notification categories C4 to C7 are set to "-," indicating that notifications N will not be displayed. In this specification, a lower numerical value indicates a higher priority. "Walking" is associated with the priority pattern "Special B." Because walking allows time to check information from nearby facilities and notifications from scheduled contacts, the priority pattern "Special B" is obtained by changing the priorities of notification categories C4 and C5 to "4" and "5," respectively, compared to the "Special A" setting. When the user activity is "running," if the electronic watch 10 is not operating in activity mode, the user may be considered to be running at a leisurely pace, and the priority pattern may be set to "Special B." "Cycling" is associated with the priority pattern "Special C." Because cycling allows users to easily access facilities within a medium distance, the priority pattern "Special C" is the same as the "Special B" setting, except that the priority of notification category C6 is changed to "6." A priority pattern "Special D" is associated with "Stopping." In the priority pattern "Special D," the priorities of notification categories C5 and C7, which users tend to want to check when stopping, are set to "1" and "2," respectively, while other notification categories are set to "-." A priority pattern "Normal" is associated with a user performing an activity other than "Running," "Walking," "Bicycling," or "Stopping." In the priority pattern "Normal," no category priority is set for any notification category, and notifications N are displayed in order of most recent arrival. The CPU 11 may determine whether the electronic watch 10 is being worn on the user's wrist based on the output data of the sensor unit 19. If the CPU 11 determines that the electronic watch 10 is not being worn, it may apply the priority pattern "Notifications Off" shown in FIG. 5.When the priority pattern "notification off" is applied, all notifications N are not displayed on the display unit 14 in order to reduce power consumption. Note that the contents of each priority pattern shown in FIG. 5 are examples and can be changed as appropriate. The contents of the priority pattern may be changeable in response to a user operation.

[0034] Apart from the priority of the notification category, an individual priority (hereinafter referred to as "individual priority") may be set for each notification N. The individual priority corresponds to the "second priority." When there are two or more notifications N that belong to a notification category with the highest category priority, the individual priority may be used to determine which of the two or more notifications N to display on the display unit 14. The individual priority is determined based on any of the information included in the user information 132, 232.

[0035] The individual priority may be determined based on the user's current location identified by the location information 1321. For example, the priority of a notification N (e.g., a notification N from a store associated with the store's location) associated with a certain corresponding location (a certain location) may be determined based on the positional relationship between the user's current location and the corresponding location. Specifically, the individual priority of the notification N may be determined so that the closer the user's current location is to the corresponding location, the higher the individual priority. Furthermore, the individual priority of the notification N may be determined so that the individual priority is higher when the corresponding location is included in the user's movement range estimated based on the user's behavior than when the corresponding location is not included in the movement range. The movement range may be calculated by multiplying the movement speed in the behavior by a predetermined time.

[0036] When notification N relates to a contact from a certain target, the individual priority of the notification N may be determined based on the frequency of contact with the target identified by the contact frequency information 2321. For example, the individual priority of notification N may be determined so that the individual priority of notification N from a target with a higher contact frequency is higher. Also, the individual priority of notification N may be determined so that the individual priority is higher when the target is performing an activity together with the user than when not performing the activity.

[0037] When notification N is a notification N from a certain app, the individual priority of the notification N may be determined based on the frequency of use of the app identified by the usage frequency information 2322. For example, the individual priority of notification N may be determined such that the more frequently used the app is, the higher the individual priority of notification N. Furthermore, the individual priority may be determined based on the frequency of use in a time period including the current time (for example, within one hour before or after the current time).

[0038] If notification N is related to a schedule scheduled in schedule information 2323, the individual priority may be determined so that the notification N related to the schedule scheduled earlier has a higher individual priority.

[0039] The individual priority may be determined based on a combination of two or more of the above-mentioned factors: the user's current location, the frequency of contact with the target, the frequency of use of the app, and the user's schedule. Of course, the individual priority may also be determined based on factors other than these factors.

[0040] Next, the notification sending process (FIGS. 6 and 7) executed by the CPU 21 of the smartphone 20 and the notification display process (FIGS. 8 and 9) executed by the CPU 11 of the electronic watch 10 to realize the above-mentioned operations will be described. In this embodiment, an example will be described in which the individual priority of each notification N is determined on the smartphone 20 side, a category priority according to an action is determined on the electronic watch 10 side, and an overall priority (third priority) of each notification N is determined on the electronic watch 10 side based on these individual priorities and category priorities. Furthermore, the methods for determining the individual priorities, category priorities, and overall priorities shown in FIGS. 6 to 9 are merely examples and can be modified as appropriate.

[0041] The notification transmission process shown in Fig. 6 is started when the smartphone 20 is started. When the notification transmission process is started, the CPU 21 of the smartphone 20 determines whether or not a communication connection is established with the electronic watch 10 via BLE (step S101). If it is determined that a communication connection is established ("YES" in step S101), the CPU 21 executes steps S102 to S105, thereby transmitting generated notifications N one by one to the electronic watch 10. In step S102, the CPU 21 determines whether or not notification N has occurred. If it is determined that notification N has occurred ("YES" in step S102), the CPU 21 executes the individual priority determination process shown in Fig. 7 (step S103).

[0042] When the individual priority determination process starts, the CPU 21 determines whether the generated notification N is a notification N related to a contact from an acquaintance (target) (step S201). If it is determined that the notification N is related to a contact from an acquaintance (step S201: YES), the CPU 21 determines whether the notification N is from an acquaintance with whom the user is currently participating in an activity (step S202). Such a notification N may occur, for example, when two users are doing an activity such as running together but have become somewhat distant from each other, or when the users are participating in the same marathon together. The method for determining whether the user is an acquaintance with whom the user is currently participating in an activity is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a method of comparing the activity being performed indicated in the status information included in the notification from the acquaintance with the activity the user is currently performing. If it is determined that the notification N is not from an acquaintance with whom the user is currently participating in an activity (step S202: NO), the CPU 21 refers to the contact frequency information 2321 and determines whether the frequency of contact with the user is equal to or greater than a predetermined reference value (step S203). If the process branches to "YES" in step S202 or S203, the CPU 21 sets the individual priority of the notification N to "1" (step S204). On the other hand, if the process branches to "NO" in step S203, the CPU 21 sets the individual priority of the notification N to "3" (step S205).

[0043] If it is determined that the notification N is not related to a contact from an acquaintance ("NO" in step S201), the CPU 21 determines whether the notification N is related to weather information (step S206). If it is determined that the notification N is not related to weather information ("NO" in step S206), the CPU 21 determines whether the notification N is related to a notice from a facility such as a store (step S207). If the result of branching to "YES" in step S206 or S207, the CPU 21 determines whether the notification N corresponds to a position within a predetermined short distance range (for example, within 500 m) from the user's current location (step S208). In more detail, if the result of branching to "YES" in step S206 is that the user's current location is within a target area for weather information, or if the distance between the current location and the target area is within the short distance range, the CPU 21 determines that the notification N corresponds to a position within the short distance range from the current location. Also, if the result of the branching to "YES" in step S207 is that the distance between the current location and the facility is within the short distance range, CPU 21 determines that the notification N corresponds to a position within the short distance range from the current location. If it is determined that the notification N corresponds to a position within the short distance range from the current location ("YES" in step S208), CPU 21 sets the individual priority of the notification N to "2" (step S209). If it is determined that the notification N does not correspond to a position within the short distance range from the current location ("NO" in step S208), CPU 21 determines whether the notification N corresponds to a position within a medium distance range from the current location (for example, more than 500 m and less than 2 km) (step S210). If the CPU 21 determines that the notification N corresponds to a position within a medium distance range from the current location ("YES" in step S210), it sets the individual priority of the notification N to "3" (step S211), and if it determines that the notification N does not correspond to a position within a medium distance range from the current location ("NO" in step S210), it sets the individual priority of the notification N to "4" (step S212).

[0044] If it is determined that the notification N is not related to a notice from a facility ("NO" in step S207), the CPU 21 refers to the use frequency information 2322 and determines whether the notification N is from an application whose use frequency is equal to or greater than a predetermined reference value (step S213). If it is determined that the notification N is from an application whose use frequency is equal to or greater than a predetermined reference value ("YES" in step S213), the CPU 21 determines whether the use frequency in the time period to which the current time belongs is equal to or greater than a reference value (step S214). If it is determined that the use frequency in the time period is equal to or greater than the reference value ("YES" in step S214), the CPU 21 sets the individual priority of the notification N to "4," and if it is determined that the use frequency in the time period is less than the reference value ("NO" in step S214), the CPU 21 sets the individual priority of the notification N to "5" (step S215).

[0045] If it is determined that the notification N is not from an application whose frequency of use is equal to or greater than the reference value (NO in step S213), the CPU 21 sets the individual priority of the notification N to "6" (step S216). When any of steps S204, S205, S209, S211, S212, S215, and S216 is completed, the CPU 21 ends the individual priority determination process and returns the process to the notification transmission process of FIG. 6.

[0046] 7, an individual priority (here, "0") indicating that notification N should not be displayed on the electronic timepiece 10 may be assigned depending on the content of notification N. For example, an individual priority of "0" may be assigned to notification N related to spam email. Also, an individual priority of "0" may be assigned to notification N that is desired to be received on the smartphone 20 side but not on the electronic timepiece 10 side (for example, notification N from a specific app).

[0047] 6, when the individual priority determination process (step S103) is completed, the CPU 21 transmits notification N data with the individual priority information added to the electronic watch 10 (step S104). When step S104 is completed, or when it is determined in step S102 that notification N has not occurred ("NO" in step S102), the CPU 21 determines whether an operation to turn off the smartphone 20 has been performed (step S105). If the CPU 21 determines that such an operation has not been performed ("NO" in step S105), the process returns to step S101, and if it determines that such processing has been performed ("YES" in step S105), the CPU 21 terminates the notification transmission process.

[0048] In step S101, if it is determined that there is no communication connection with the electronic watch 10 ("NO" in step S101), the CPU 21 executes steps S106 to S113 to store the generated notification N, and when the communication connection is restored, sends the stored notification N to the electronic watch 10.

[0049] In step S106, the CPU 21 determines whether a notification N has been generated. If it determines that a notification N has been generated ("YES" in step S106), the CPU 21 executes the individual priority determination process shown in FIG. 7 for the notification N (step S107). After the individual priority determination process is completed, the CPU 21 stores the data of the notification N, to which the determined individual priority information has been added, in the storage unit 23 (step S108). The CPU 21 determines whether the number of stored notifications N is greater than the number of notifications N that can be sent (step S109). Here, the number that can be sent is determined according to the storage capacity of the notification memory 134 of the electronic watch 10, and is 10 in this embodiment. If it determines that the number of stored notifications N is greater than the number that can be sent ("YES" in step S109), the CPU 21 deletes the notification N with the lowest individual priority from among the stored notifications N (step S110).

[0050] When step S110 is completed, or when it is determined in step S106 that notification N has not occurred ("NO" in step S106), the CPU 21 determines whether the communication connection with the electronic watch 10 has been restored (step S111). When it is determined that the communication connection with the electronic watch 10 has been restored ("YES" in step S111), the CPU 21 transmits data for notification N (up to 10 notifications) in storage with individual priorities added to the electronic watch 10 (step S112), and proceeds to step S105. When it is determined that the communication connection with the electronic watch 10 has not been restored ("NO" in step S111), the CPU 21 determines whether an operation to turn off the smartphone 20 has been performed (step S113). If the CPU 21 determines that the operation has not been performed ("NO" in step S113), it returns the process to step S106, and if it determines that the operation has been performed ("YES" in step S113), it terminates the notification sending process.

[0051] While FIG. 6 illustrates an example in which all notifications N are sent to the electronic watch 10 regardless of their individual priority as long as the number of notifications that can be sent does not exceed the maximum number, an alternative is to not send notifications N whose individual priority is equal to or lower than a predetermined value (for example, notifications N whose individual priority is "6") to the electronic watch 10. Sending all notifications N to the electronic watch 10 is suitable, for example, for sending notifications N using the Apple Notification Control Center (ANCS) of iOS. A smartphone 20 running Android (registered trademark) as its OS can also be used to extract and send some notifications N to the electronic watch 10. Notifications N that were not sent to the electronic watch 10 may be sent to the electronic watch 10 after a certain period of time has elapsed.

[0052] Next, the control procedure for the notification display process on the electronic timepiece 10 side will be described with reference to Figures 8 and 9. The notification display process in Figure 8 starts when the electronic timepiece 10 is started. When the notification display process starts, the CPU 11 of the electronic timepiece 10 repeatedly determines whether a second carry has been detected, that is, whether it is time to update the second display once per second (step S301). Note that instead of a second carry, a 10-second carry or a 1-minute carry may be used.

[0053] If it is determined that a seconds carry has been detected ("YES" in step S301), the CPU 11 acquires current location information for the electronic timepiece 10 and the user from the location information acquisition unit 18 and records this information in the location information 1321, and also acquires output data from each sensor from the sensor unit 19 (step S302). The CPU 11 also performs a behavioral analysis of the user based on the data acquired in step S302 and records the identified behavior in the behavioral information 1322 (step S303). In step S303, the CPU 11 estimates the user's behavior (running, walking, cycling, stopping, etc.) based on the amount of change (speed) in the current location per predetermined time, the magnitude and pattern of arm swing measured by the motion sensor 191, and altitude changes measured by the pressure sensor 192. Furthermore, if the electronic timepiece 10 has not moved for a certain period of time based on the output data of the sensor unit 19, the CPU 11 determines that the electronic timepiece 10 is not being worn by the user. If it is not necessary to distinguish between uphill and downhill travel along the route, the output data from the pressure sensor 192 may be omitted. The CPU 11 may transmit the location information acquired in step S302 and the information on the user's behavior identified in step S303 to the smartphone 20. The smartphone 20 may refer to these pieces of information in the next and subsequent individual priority determination processes.

[0054] The CPU 11 determines whether the result of the behavior analysis has changed from the result of the previously performed behavior analysis (step S304). If it determines that the result of the behavior analysis has not changed ("NO" in step S304), the CPU 11 determines whether a new notification N has been received from the smartphone 20 (step S305). If it determines that a notification N has not been received ("NO" in step S305), the CPU 11 returns the process to step S301. If it determines that a notification N has been received ("YES" in step S305), the CPU 11 stores the data of the received notification N in the notification memory 134 (step S306). At this time, if the maximum number of notifications N that can be stored (10 in this embodiment) has already been stored in the notification memory 134, the CPU 11 deletes the oldest notification N from the notification memory 134. When step S306 is completed, or when it is determined that the result of the behavior analysis has changed from the previous time ("YES" in step S304), the CPU 11 executes the category priority determination process shown in FIG. 9 (step S307).

[0055] When the category priority determination process starts, the CPU 11 determines whether the result of the behavior analysis (i.e., the user's current behavior recorded in the behavior information 1322) is "running" (step S401). If the result of the behavior analysis is "running" ("YES" in step S401), the CPU 11 determines whether the user is currently performing an activity (step S402). For example, if the electronic timepiece 10 is operating in activity mode, the CPU 11 determines that the user is currently performing an activity. If the CPU 11 determines that the user is currently performing an activity ("YES" in step S402), the CPU 11 determines that the priority pattern related to category priority is "Special A" shown in FIG. 5 (step S403). If the CPU 11 determines that the user is not currently performing an activity ("NO" in step S402), the CPU 11 determines that the priority pattern is "Special B" (step S404).

[0056] If the result of the behavior analysis is determined to be not "running" ("NO" in step S401), the CPU 11 determines whether the result of the behavior analysis is "walking" (step S405). If the result of the behavior analysis is determined to be "walking" ("YES" in step S405), the CPU 11 determines the priority pattern to be "Special B" (step S404).

[0057] If the result of the behavior analysis is determined not to be "walking" ("NO" in step S405), the CPU 11 determines whether the result of the behavior analysis is "bicycle" (step S406). If the result of the behavior analysis is determined to be "bicycle" ("YES" in step S406), the CPU 11 determines the priority pattern to be "special C" (step S407).

[0058] If the result of the behavior analysis is determined not to be "bicycle" ("NO" in step S406), the CPU 11 determines whether the result of the behavior analysis is "stopping" (step S408). If the result of the behavior analysis is determined to be "stopping" ("YES" in step S408), the CPU 11 determines the priority pattern to be "special D" (step S409).

[0059] If the result of the behavior analysis is determined not to be "stationary" ("NO" in step S408), the CPU 11 determines whether the result of the behavior analysis is "not wearing" (step S410). If the result of the behavior analysis is determined to be "not wearing" ("YES" in step S410), the CPU 11 determines the priority pattern to be "notification off" (step S411).

[0060] If it is determined that the behavior analysis result is not "not wearing" ("NO" in step S410), the CPU 11 determines the priority pattern to be "normal" (step S412). When any of steps S403, S404, S407, S409, S411, and S412 has ended, the CPU 11 ends the category priority determination process and returns the process to the notification display process of FIG. 8.

[0061] 8, when the category priority determination process of step S307 is completed, the CPU 11 determines the overall priority of each notification N currently stored in the notification memory 134 based on the individual priority assigned to each notification N and the category priority defined in the priority pattern determined in step S307 (step S308). The CPU 11 also causes the display unit 14 to display the notification N with the highest overall priority (step S309). Note that if the number of notifications N that can be displayed at one time on the display unit 14 is two or three, the CPU 11 selects two or three notifications N in descending order of overall priority and displays them on the display unit 14.

[0062] An example of determining the overall priority in step S308 will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11. It is assumed that notifications N1 to N7 shown in FIG. 10 are stored in the notification memory 134 at a certain point in time. Of these, notification N1 is the oldest and notification N7 is the newest. The notification category of each notification N is as shown in FIG. 10. It is also assumed here that the priority pattern is determined to be "Special B" in the category priority determination process. According to the priority pattern of "Special B," the category priority of the notification category to which each notification N belongs is as shown in FIG. 10. It is also assumed that each notification N is assigned an individual priority shown in the rightmost column of FIG. 10. The overall priority of each notification N in this case is shown in FIG. 11. In FIG. 11, each notification N is sorted in order of overall priority. The overall priority is determined by the arrangement order of notifications N, for example, by sorting notifications N in order of highest category priority and, if the category priorities are the same, further sorting notifications N in order of highest individual priority within the same notification category. Furthermore, when there are two or more notifications N with the same notification category and individual priority, the notification N with the most recent occurrence timing may be ranked higher. In the example shown in Fig. 11, notification N6, which has the highest category priority of "2," has the highest overall priority. Therefore, in step S309, notification N6 is displayed on the display unit 14.

[0063] Furthermore, when the same notifications N1 to N7 as those in Fig. 10 are stored in the notification memory 134 and the priority pattern is determined to be "Special D", the category priority of each notification N will be as shown in Fig. 12. In this case, the overall priority of each notification N will be determined as shown in Fig. 13. In the example shown in Fig. 13, the overall priority of notification N3, which has the highest category priority and individual priority of "1", is the highest.

[0064] The method for determining the overall priority using the category priority and the individual priority is not limited to the above. For example, the notifications may first be sorted in order of individual priority, and if there are notifications N with the same individual priority, the overall priority may be determined by further sorting by category priority. Alternatively, the overall priority may be calculated using a predetermined calculation method using the values ​​of the category priority and the individual priority. For example, the smaller the sum of the numerical values ​​of the category priority and the individual priority, the higher the overall priority may be.

[0065] The notification N displayed in step S309 may be discontinued after a predetermined time has elapsed, or may continue to be displayed until the user performs a predetermined confirmation operation. Furthermore, if the user performs a predetermined operation while notification N is displayed, detailed content of notification N may be displayed on the display unit 14. After step S309 ends, the CPU 11 determines whether an operation to power off the electronic timepiece 10 has been performed (step S310). If the CPU 11 determines that the operation has not been performed ("NO" in step S310), the process returns to step S301; if the CPU 11 determines that the operation has been performed ("YES" in step S310), the process ends.

[0066] If the electronic watch 10 receives a notification N and the notification N is not displayed on the display unit 14 within a certain period of time, the notification N may be excluded from display targets in the notification display process. However, notifications excluded from display targets may also be stored in the notification memory 134 and displayed on the display unit 14 in response to a predetermined user operation. In this case, the notification display process is executed for notifications N stored in the notification memory 134 that have not been excluded. This prevents notifications N that have been generated for a certain period of time or more from being sent as push notifications. Furthermore, the notification N displayed on the display unit 14 in step S309 may be deleted from the notification memory 134, or it may be left in the notification memory 134 but excluded from display targets in the notification display process.

[0067] 8, when notification N is received in step S305, or when it is determined in step S304 that the behavior analysis results have changed from the previous time, the category priority and overall priority are determined in steps S307 and S308, respectively, and notification N is displayed in step S309. This makes it possible to calculate the overall priority of each notification N each time a trigger occurs, such as a change in the user's behavior, the user moving, or the start or end of a schedule registered in schedule information 2323. Therefore, the most appropriate notification N at the time when such a trigger occurs can be displayed.

[0068] Next, a second embodiment will be described. Differences from the first embodiment will be described below, and details common to the first embodiment will not be described. In the second embodiment, the smartphone 20 determines the individual priority of each notification N using a machine learning model 233. The machine learning model 233 is a machine learning model trained by machine learning to input data of a notification N that has occurred and output the individual priority of the notification N. The machine learning model 233 is trained by machine learning using training data including data of notifications N that have occurred in the past, user information at the time the notification N occurred, and information on the importance of the notification N. The user information used as training data may include at least some of the location information 1321, behavior information 1322, contact frequency information 2321, use frequency information 2322, and schedule information 2323. Furthermore, the importance information of the notification N may be generated so that the importance of the notification N increases when the user performs a predetermined action (e.g., an operation to display detailed information about the notification N) on the notification N used as training data. For example, the machine learning model 233 may be trained by machine learning to output an individual priority for any notification N similar to the individual priority determination process shown in FIG. 7. Furthermore, in the initial stage, a trained model (library) that has been trained to a certain extent may be used, and personal user information may be additionally trained on this trained model. A plurality of machine learning models 233 may be prepared for each notification N category (not only the notification categories described in the first embodiment, but also alerts, incoming phone calls, emails, messages, notifications from apps, etc.). The configuration of the machine learning model 233 is not particularly limited, and may, for example, be one that uses a neural network or a support vector machine. The machine learning model 233 may be provided in an external device separate from the smartphone 20 and the electronic watch 10. In this case, the CPU 21 of the smartphone 20 may cause the machine learning model to output an individual priority by transmitting data on notification N to the external device, and receive the output result from the external device.

[0069] 14, in the individual priority determination process according to the second embodiment, the CPU 21 of the smartphone 20 selects the machine learning model 233 to use according to the category of the notification N (step S501). Then, the CPU 21 inputs the data of the notification N to the selected machine learning model 233 (step S502). After that, the CPU 21 acquires the individual priority output by the machine learning model 233 (step S503) and ends the individual priority determination process.

[0070] As described above, the electronic watch 10 according to this embodiment includes a display unit 14, a short-range wireless communication unit 17 that communicates with the external smartphone 20, and a CPU 11. The CPU 11 determines which notification N to display on the display unit 14 from among multiple notifications N received by the short-range wireless communication unit 17 from the smartphone 20 based on the priority (individual priority, category priority, overall priority) of each notification N determined based on user information 132, 232 relating to at least one of the user's status and behavior history of the electronic watch 10, and displays the determined notification N on the display unit 14. This allows an appropriate notification N to be selected and displayed based on at least one of the user's status and behavior history. For example, it is possible to display a notification N that the user needs at that time, estimated based on the user's current behavior, location, situation, and history of these. This allows the notification N desired by the user to be appropriately selected and displayed on the compact display unit 14 of the electronic watch 10. Therefore, the user's desired notification N can be displayed without the need to manually turn notification N on and off for each app. Furthermore, by selecting and displaying notifications N with high priority, the power consumption of the electronic timepiece 10 can be reduced.

[0071] Furthermore, the CPU 11 displays the determined notification N on the display unit 14 so that the notification N occupies the display area of ​​the display unit 14. Even in cases where there are such restrictions, by using the method of the above embodiment, an appropriate notification N desired by the user can be displayed.

[0072] The user information 132 also includes behavior information 1322 relating to the user's behavior, which is identified based on at least one of output data of the sensor unit 19 as information relating to the user's movements and user location information 1321, and the category priority of the notification N is determined based on the behavior information 1322. This allows the notification N required by the user in the above behavior to be displayed with priority.

[0073] Furthermore, the CPU 11 determines the notification N with the highest category priority related to the category of the notification N, which is determined based on the behavior information 1322, as the notification N to be displayed on the display unit 14, and if there are two or more notifications N with the highest category priority, the CPU 11 determines, among the two or more notifications N, the notification N with the highest individual priority determined for each notification N based on the user information 132, 232, as the notification N to be displayed on the display unit 14. This makes it possible to preferentially display notifications N of a category required by the user for the behavior based on the user's behavior, and further to preferentially display notifications N within the same category that are estimated to be more desired by the user.

[0074] Furthermore, the user information 132 may include user location information 1321, and the priority of a notification N associated with a certain corresponding location may be determined to be higher when the corresponding location is included in the user's range of movement estimated based on the user's behavior than when the corresponding location is not included in the range of movement. This allows an appropriate notification N to be selected and displayed according to the user's range of movement estimated from the user's behavior.

[0075] Furthermore, the user information 132 may include user location information 1321, and the priority of a notification N associated with a certain corresponding location may be determined based on the positional relationship between the location information 1321 in the user information 132 and the corresponding location. This allows an appropriate notification N to be selected and displayed according to the user's location.

[0076] Furthermore, the user information 232 includes contact frequency information 2321 relating to the frequency of contact between a certain target and the user, and the individual priority of a notification N relating to contact from the target to the user may be determined based on the contact frequency information 2321. This allows notifications N from targets with which the user frequently makes contact to be displayed with priority.

[0077] Furthermore, the user information 232 includes usage frequency information 2322 relating to the frequency of use by the user of an app related to the notification N, and when the notification N is related to an app, the individual priority of the notification N may be determined based on the usage frequency information 2322. This allows the notification N from an app that the user frequently uses to be displayed with priority.

[0078] Furthermore, the user information 232 may include schedule information 2323 relating to the user's schedule, and the individual priority and / or category priority of the notification N may be determined to be higher for a notification N associated with an earlier schedule scheduled in the schedule information 2323. This allows notifications N required by the user to be displayed with priority according to the user's schedule.

[0079] Furthermore, the notification control method executed by the CPU 11 of the electronic watch 10 according to this embodiment determines which notification N to display on the display unit 14 from among multiple notifications N received by the short-range wireless communication unit 17 from the smartphone 20, based on the priority of each notification N determined on the basis of user information 132, 232 relating to at least one of the status and behavioral history of the user of the electronic watch 10, and displays the determined notification N on the display unit 14. This allows the notification N desired by the user to be appropriately selected and displayed on the compact display unit 14 of the electronic watch 10.

[0080] Furthermore, the program 131 according to this embodiment causes the CPU 11 to function as control means, and the control means determines which notification N to display on the display unit 14 from among multiple notifications N received by the short-range wireless communication unit 17 from the smartphone 20, based on the priority of each notification N determined on the basis of user information 132, 232 relating to at least one of the status and behavioral history of the user of the electronic timepiece 10, and causes the determined notification N to be displayed on the display unit 14. This allows the notification N desired by the user to be appropriately selected and displayed on the compact display unit 14 of the electronic timepiece 10.

[0081] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment and various modifications are possible. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the user's situation (position and behavior) is identified using the location information acquired by the location information acquisition unit 18 provided in the electronic timepiece 10 and the output data of the sensor unit 19, but this is not limited to this. For example, a configuration equivalent to the sensor unit 19 may be provided in the smartphone 20, and the user's situation may be identified using the location information acquisition unit 28 and sensor unit of the smartphone 20. Furthermore, the user's situation may be identified using some or all of the location information acquisition unit 18 and sensor unit 19 of the electronic timepiece 10 and the location information acquisition unit 28 and sensor unit of the smartphone 20.

[0082] In the above embodiment, an example was described in which the individual priorities were determined in the smartphone 20, and the category priorities and overall priorities were determined in the electronic watch 10, but this is not limiting. The individual priorities, category priorities, and overall priorities may each be determined in either the electronic watch 10 or the smartphone 20.

[0083] Also, the category priority may be omitted and the overall priority may be determined based only on the individual priorities. For example, the overall priority may be determined by sorting notifications N in order of individual priority, and if there are notifications N with the same individual priority, the overall priority of the newer notification N may be higher. Also, the individual priority may be omitted and the overall priority may be determined based only on the category priority. For example, the overall priority may be determined by sorting notifications N in order of category priority, and if there are notifications N with the same category priority, the overall priority of the newer notification N may be higher.

[0084] In the above embodiment, the electronic device is exemplified as an electronic watch 10, and the communication device is exemplified as a smartphone 20, but these are not limiting. The electronic device may be a small wearable device such as a sensing device that detects body movement or an activity monitor, or may be a device with a limited display area such as a calculator or electronic dictionary. The communication device may be any device capable of data communication with the electronic device.

[0085] In the above description, an example has been disclosed in which flash memory is used as the computer-readable medium for the program according to the present invention in the storage units 13 and 23, but this is not limiting. Other computer-readable media may include information recording media such as HDDs (Hard Disk Drives), SSDs (Solid State Drives), and CD-ROMs. Furthermore, carrier waves may also be used as a medium for providing data for the program according to the present invention via a communication line.

[0086] Furthermore, it goes without saying that the detailed configurations and operations of the components of the electronic timepiece 10 and smartphone 20 in the above-described embodiments can be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0087] Although the 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. [Explanation of symbols]

[0088] 1...communication system, 10...electronic watch (electronic device), 11...CPU (control unit, control means), 14...display unit, 17...near-field wireless communication unit (communication unit), 20...smartphone (communication device), 132, 232...user information, N...notification

Claims

1. A display unit; a communication unit that communicates with an external communication device; An electronic device comprising: The control unit determining a notification to be displayed on the display unit from among a plurality of notifications received by the communication unit from the communication device based on a priority of each notification determined based on user information related to at least one of a status and a behavior history of a user of the electronic device; displaying the determined notification on the display unit; electronic equipment.

2. the control unit causes the display unit to display the determined notification so that the notification occupies a display area of ​​the display unit. The electronic device according to claim 1 .

3. the user information includes information on the user's movement and information on the user's behavior identified based on at least one of location information of the user; The priority of the notification is determined based on information related to the behavior in the user information. The electronic device according to claim 2 .

4. The control unit determining, as the notification to be displayed on the display unit, a notification having the highest first priority related to a notification category, the notification being determined based on information related to the behavior of the user; When there are two or more notifications with the highest first priority, determine, among the two or more notifications, the notification with the highest second priority determined for each notification based on the user information, as the notification to be displayed on the display unit. The electronic device according to claim 3 .

5. the user information includes location information of the user; a priority of the notification associated with a certain location is determined to be higher when the certain location is included in a movement range of the user estimated based on the behavior than when the certain location is not included in the movement range of the user estimated based on the behavior; The electronic device according to claim 3 .

6. the user information includes location information of the user; the priority of the notification associated with a certain location is determined based on a positional relationship between the location information in the user information and the certain location; The electronic device according to claim 2 .

7. The user information includes information regarding the frequency of contact between a certain target and the user, The priority of the notification related to the contact from the target to the user is determined based on information related to the contact frequency in the user information. The electronic device according to claim 2 .

8. the user information includes information regarding the frequency of use by the user of an application program related to the notification; When the notification is related to the application program, the priority of the notification is determined based on information relating to the frequency of use in the user information. The electronic device according to claim 2 .

9. the user information includes information related to the user's schedule; The priority of the notification is determined so that the notification related to an earlier schedule in the schedule-related information is given a higher priority. The electronic device according to claim 2 .

10. A notification control method executed by a computer of an electronic device having a display unit and a communication unit that communicates with an external communication device, determining a notification to be displayed on the display unit from among a plurality of notifications received by the communication unit from the communication device based on a priority of each notification determined based on user information related to at least one of a status and a behavior history of a user of the electronic device; displaying the determined notification on the display unit; Notification control methods.

11. A program that causes a computer of an electronic device that includes a display unit and a communication unit that communicates with an external communication device to function as a control unit, The control means determining a notification to be displayed on the display unit from among a plurality of notifications received by the communication unit from the communication device based on a priority of each notification determined based on user information related to at least one of a status and a behavior history of a user of the electronic device; displaying the determined notification on the display unit; program.

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