Estimation device, method, and estimation system

Abstract

To reduce a burden on a user for recording information on sleep.SOLUTION: An estimation device comprising: an acquisition unit configured to acquire operation time information indicating a time at which a user performs a predetermined operation on a terminal; and an estimation unit configured to estimate a time of the user's going to bed or a time of the user's getting up based on the operation time information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an estimation device, a method, and an estimation system. [Background technology]

[0002] Lack of sleep not only affects recovery from physical fatigue but also from brain fatigue, leading to impaired judgment or poor physical condition, which can lead to accidents and reduced work efficiency. In recent years, in order to maintain and improve health, it has been recommended that adults not only get moderate exercise but also get at least six hours of sleep per day, and companies are also beginning to implement sleep-related initiatives through industrial physicians and health insurance associations.

[0003] To improve sleep, it is useful to first understand one's own sleep status, but recording the time one slept from time to time every day is difficult due to vague memories. As people gradually begin to find recording troublesome, they stop recording, and it becomes difficult to understand one's own sleep status.

[0004] In this regard, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology that implements an interface on a terminal for inputting information such as "the time when you got into bed," "the time when you fell asleep," "the time when you woke up in the morning," and "the time when you got out of bed." [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2023-069467 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, the technology disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 requires a user to perform multiple steps of operations, such as launching a dedicated application or accessing a dedicated website and inputting the time they went to bed and woke up. If the user is forced to recall what time they went to bed the previous night and input the information accurately, the time and effort required for inputting the information will be wasted. As a result, there is a risk that the user will put off inputting the information, their memory will fade, and they will gradually stop recording the information.

[0007] Therefore, the present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a technology that can reduce the burden on users for recording information related to sleep. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to solve the above problem, according to one aspect of the present invention, an estimation device is provided, comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires operation time information indicating the time when a user performed a predetermined operation on a terminal; and an estimation unit that estimates the user's bedtime or wake-up time based on the operation time information.

[0009] The predetermined operation may be a one-action operation.

[0010] The one action operation may be an operation of a predetermined button or an operation of opening a predetermined application.

[0011] The device may further include a display control unit that generates a display screen based on the predetermined operation being performed, and the display control unit may generate a different display screen depending on the time when the predetermined operation was performed.

[0012] The estimation unit may estimate the bedtime based on the operation time information when the operation time information indicates a time within a first time range, and may estimate the wake-up time based on the operation time information when the operation time information indicates a time within a second time range.

[0013] The acquisition unit may further acquire detection information indicating the detection results of the movement of the terminal, and the operation time information may be associated with first information indicating going to bed or second information indicating getting up, and the estimation unit may estimate the time of going to bed based on the operation time information associated with the first information and the detection information.

[0014] The estimation unit may estimate the user's bedtime based on the detection information detected during the operation interval time between the time indicated by the operation time information associated with the first information and the time indicated by the operation time information associated with the second information.

[0015] The estimation unit may estimate the time at which the user goes to bed as the time at which the detection information obtained during the operation interval time was obtained, the time immediately preceding the detection information first obtained at an interval longer than the reference time.

[0016] The estimation unit may estimate the wake-up time of the user based on the detection information obtained after the time indicated by operation time information associated with the second information.

[0017] The device may further include a processing unit that associates the first information with the operation time information when the operation time information indicates a time within a first time range, and associates the second information with the operation time information when the operation time information indicates a time within a second time range.

[0018] The device may further include a processing unit that, when a first predetermined operation is performed, associates the first information with operation time information at which the first predetermined operation is performed, and, when a second predetermined operation is performed, associates the second information with operation time information at which the second predetermined operation is performed.

[0019] The terminal may be the estimation device.

[0020] The estimation device may include a sensor for detecting the movement of the estimation device, and the sensor may detect the movement of the estimation device in the background of the estimation device.

[0021] The terminal may be a non-wearable terminal.

[0022] The estimation device may further include a communication unit that receives information indicating that the specified operation has been performed on the terminal, and the acquisition unit may acquire the time when the information is received by the communication unit as the operation time information.

[0023] In addition, according to another aspect of the present invention to solve the above problem, a computer-executable method is provided, which includes obtaining operation time information indicating the time when a user performed a specified operation on a terminal, and estimating the user's bedtime or wake-up time based on the operation time information.

[0024] In addition, according to another aspect of the present invention, in order to solve the above problem, an estimation system is provided, which includes an acquisition unit that acquires operation time information indicating the time when a user performed a specified operation on a terminal, and an estimation unit that estimates the user's bedtime or wake-up time based on the operation time information. [Effects of the Invention]

[0025] According to the present invention as described above, it is possible to reduce the burden on the user for recording information related to sleep. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0026] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a user terminal 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a user terminal 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of information stored in a storage unit 140. FIG. [Figure 4] 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an application screen generated by a display control unit 134. FIG. [Figure 5]10 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of visualization data generated by a visualization unit 136. FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the user terminal 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a user terminal 12 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of information stored in a storage unit 140. FIG. [Figure 9] 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of information stored in a storage unit 140. FIG. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the user terminal 12 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a system according to a third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of a home screen according to a third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 13] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a user terminal 13 according to a third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 14] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of an application server 30 according to a third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 15] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the third exemplary embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 16] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration 90. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0027] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this specification and drawings, components having substantially the same functional configurations are designated by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

[0028] In the following, first, the background of the embodiment of the present invention will be summarized, and then the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[0029] <Background> The first technology for recording sleep information is a technology that automatically records sleep using an activity tracker worn by the person, which can record sleep time without relying on human memory.

[0030] A second technology for recording sleep information would be to implement an interface on the device that allows users to input information such as the time they went to bed, the time they fell asleep, the time they woke up in the morning, and the time they got out of bed.

[0031] Furthermore, a third technology related to recording sleep information is a technology that estimates a user's sleep using a device equipped with a microphone, camera, and motion sensor.

[0032] However, with the first technology, the user needs to wear the activity tracker even when sleeping, when it is desirable to be able to relax. However, some users may not want to wear the activity tracker while sleeping because it can feel uncomfortable on the wrist. Furthermore, when a company or health insurance association takes the lead in introducing a system using an activity tracker, the distribution costs of the activity trackers increase in proportion to the scale of the introduction.

[0033] The second technology is superior to the first technology in that it does not require an activity tracker, but it requires the user to launch a dedicated application or access a dedicated website and enter the time they went to bed, woke up, etc., which requires multiple steps. If the user has to search their memory for the time they went to bed the previous night and enter it accurately, they will waste time and effort. As a result, there is a risk that the user will put off entering the information, their memory will fade, and they will gradually stop recording.

[0034] The third technology mentioned above reduces the burden on users in inputting sleep-related information, but when respiratory status is detected using a sensor (e.g., a microphone), the microphone needs to be turned on at all times during the measurement period, which raises concerns about increased battery consumption.

[0035] The present inventors have come up with embodiments of the present invention with the above-mentioned circumstances in mind. According to the embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the burden on the user in recording information related to sleep while suppressing battery consumption. The following describes in detail the embodiments of the present invention (first, second, and third embodiments).

[0036] First Embodiment (overview) Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a user terminal 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The user terminal 10 is an information terminal used by a user. In particular, as shown in Fig. 1, the user terminal 10 may be a non-wearable terminal, such as a smartphone that is held by the user when used.

[0037] The user terminal 10 has a variety of functions, including a communication function, a display function, a sound output function, an operation detection function, a sound input function, various sensing functions, and a calculation function. Of the above functions, the display function and the operation detection function are realized, for example, by the operation display unit 120 shown in FIG. 1. The operation display unit 120 has a display surface and an operation detection surface that are stacked on top of each other. The operation display unit 120 displays a home screen, an application screen, etc., and detects operations by the user on various screens.

[0038] FIG. 1 shows an example in which the operation display unit 120 displays a home screen. The home screen includes an icon display corresponding to each application, and the application is launched when the user selects an icon corresponding to a desired application on the home screen. When an application is already launched and the application screen is closed, selecting an icon corresponding to the application opens the application screen. In other words, selecting the icon may also be an operation to open the application screen. Hereinafter, both the operation to launch an application and the operation to open an application screen may be referred to as an operation to open an application.

[0039] For example, the home screen shown in FIG. 1 displays an icon display A1 corresponding to a sleep management application installed on the user terminal 10. The sleep management application stores information indicating the user's bedtime and wake-up time. In this specification, the time of falling asleep is mainly treated as the bedtime, and the time of awakening is mainly treated as the wake-up time. However, the bedtime may also be the time the user lies down in bed (bedtime), and the wake-up time may also be the time the user gets out of bed (bedtime).

[0040] The user terminal 10 may also have one or more hardware buttons. In the example shown in FIG. 1, hardware button H1 and hardware button H2 are arranged on the side of the housing of the user terminal 10. A specific function is assigned to each hardware button. The function assigned to each hardware button may also be changeable by the user. For example, a hardware button may be assigned a function to launch a specific application, a function to change the volume, or a function to take a picture using a camera.

[0041] The user terminal 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention has an ingenious design for reducing the burden on the user in recording information related to sleep. Specifically, the user terminal 10 is an example of an estimation device, and is capable of estimating and recording the user's bedtime or wake-up time based on the time when the user performs a predetermined operation on the user terminal 10, without the user having to input a specific time.

[0042] Furthermore, the above-mentioned predetermined operation is a one-action operation that is performed when the user terminal 10 is activated and in a state where operation input from the user can be received (for example, when the home screen is displayed). For example, the one-action operation may be an operation to open a sleep management application, which is an example of a predetermined application (an operation to tap on the icon display A1 corresponding to the sleep management application). Furthermore, if a function to open the sleep management application is assigned to the hardware button H1 or the hardware button H2, the above-mentioned one-action operation may be an operation of the hardware button H1 or the hardware button H2, which is an example of a predetermined button.

[0043] According to the user terminal 10 of the first embodiment of the present invention, the bedtime and wake-up time can be recorded with a single simple action, eliminating the need for the user to go back to memory or to select or input the hours and minutes. As a result, the burden on the user is reduced, and it is expected that the user will continue to record the bedtime and wake-up time. The configuration and operation of the user terminal 10 of the first embodiment of the present invention will be sequentially described in detail below.

[0044] (composition) 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a user terminal 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the user terminal 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention has a clock unit 110, an operation display unit 120, a control unit 130, and a storage unit 140.

[0045] The clock unit 110 has a function of acquiring the current time. The clock unit 110 acquires the current time based on counting the period of a signal having a clock frequency. The clock unit 110 may correct the current time based on time information such as NITZ (Network Identity and Time Zone) received from an external device.

[0046] As described with reference to Fig. 1, operation display unit 120 is configured to realize a display function and an operation detection function. For example, operation display unit 120 detects a predetermined single action performed by a user. The following description will be given mainly assuming an example in which the predetermined single action is an operation to open a sleep management application.

[0047] The control unit 130 controls the overall operation of the user terminal 10. In particular, in the first embodiment of the present invention, the control unit 130 has a lying / sitting estimation unit 132, a display control unit 134, and a visualization unit 136, as shown in Fig. 2. The functions of the lying / sitting estimation unit 132, the display control unit 134, and the visualization unit 136 can be realized by the sleep management application described above.

[0048] The lying-down estimation unit 132 functions as an acquisition unit that, when the operation display unit 120 detects an operation to open a sleep management application, acquires information indicating the current time from the clock unit 110 as operation time information indicating the time when the operation was performed.

[0049] The lying down / rising estimation unit 132 also functions as an estimation unit that estimates the user's bedtime or wake-up time based on the operation time information. Specifically, the lying down / rising estimation unit 132 determines whether the operation to open the sleep management application was performed with the intention of "going to bed" or "waking up" based on the operation time information.

[0050] The lying down / rising estimation unit 132 estimates that the time indicated by the operation time information is the time to go to bed when the determination result is "go to bed," and estimates that the time indicated by the operation time information is the time to get up when the determination result is "wake up." Furthermore, the lying down / rising estimation unit 132 also has a function as a processing unit that associates the operation time information with the determination result of "go to bed" or "wake up" and records it in the storage unit 140.

[0051] For example, when the operation time information indicates a time within a first time range, the rising / lying down estimation unit 132 estimates that the time indicated by the operation time information is the user's bedtime, and associates the operation time information with "going to bed" as an example of the first information and records it in the storage unit 140. Furthermore, when the operation time information indicates a time within a second time range, the rising / lying down estimation unit 132 estimates that the time indicated by the operation time information is the user's wake-up time, and associates the operation time information with "wake-up" as an example of the second information and records it in the storage unit 140. For example, the first time range may be from 7 PM to 3 AM the next day, and the second time range may be from 3 AM to 12 PM (noon). Each of these time ranges may be changeable by the user's operation.

[0052] FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of information stored in storage unit 140. As shown in FIG. 3, storage unit 140 stores time information and events in association with each other. The time information corresponds to operation time information. As an event, "wake up" or "go to bed" is recorded. The information in FIG. 3 indicates, for example, that the user went to bed at 22:35 on 7 / 5 / 2024 and woke up at 9:20 on 7 / 6 / 2024.

[0053] Returning to the description of the configuration of the user terminal 10 with reference to Fig. 2, the display control unit 134 generates various display screens and causes the generated display screens to be displayed on the operation display unit 120. For example, when the operation display unit 120 detects an operation to open a sleep management application, the display control unit 134 generates a different application screen depending on the time when the operation was performed. More specifically, the display control unit 134 may generate a different application screen depending on whether the determination result obtained by the lying-down / ascending estimation unit 132 is "going to bed" or "wake-up."

[0054] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an application screen generated by the display control unit 134. The application screen shown in FIG. 4 is an example of an application screen generated when an operation to open a sleep management application is performed between 7 PM and 3 AM the next day. Because the operation was performed between 7 PM and 3 AM the next day, the lying-down / wake-up estimation unit 132 obtains a determination result of "going to bed." Therefore, the display control unit 134 generates an application screen including a message M1 for going to bed, saying "It's about time to go to bed." The application screen also includes a record viewing button B1. When the user selects the record viewing button B1, information about the user's past sleep is displayed.

[0055] Returning to the description of the configuration of the user terminal 10 with reference to Fig. 2, when the user selects the record viewing button B1, the visualization unit 136 reads information about the user's past sleep from the storage unit 140 and generates visualization data that visualizes the information. The visualization data may be a graph showing the sleep history for each unit period.

[0056] FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of visualization data generated by the visualization unit 136. The visualization data shown in FIG. 5 includes a display M2 showing the average sleep time and a graph G showing the sleep history. The average sleep time may be the average value of the sleep time over the past week, past month, or entire past period. The sleep time is the difference between the time associated with "going to bed" and the time associated with "waking up." In graph G, the horizontal axis is set to time and the vertical axis is set to date, with rectangles placed in the areas corresponding to the sleep time for each day.

[0057] Returning to the description of the configuration of the user terminal 10 with reference to Fig. 2, the storage unit 140 stores various information used in the operation of the user terminal 10. For example, the storage unit 140 stores time information and events in association with each other, as described with reference to Fig. 3. The storage unit 140 may also store information indicating a first time range and a second time range used to determine whether to "go to bed" or "wake up."

[0058] The user terminal 10 described above does not need to be a terminal configured with dedicated hardware, but may be configured with various devices and software applications installed on a smartphone. Alternatively, some processing blocks of the user terminal 10 may be implemented separately on multiple devices. In this case, the connections between the blocks may be wired or wireless, and the type of network may be irrelevant. Furthermore, the display control unit 134 does not need to be a function dedicated to the sleep management application, but may be implemented by a web browser installed on the user terminal 10. Note that an actual implementation may include user registration, an identification mechanism, error handling, and the like, but detailed descriptions of these are omitted in this specification.

[0059] (operation) Next, with reference to FIG. 6, the operation of the user terminal 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be summarized.

[0060] 6 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the user terminal 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Here, for ease of understanding of the operation, the explanation will be centered on the behavior of the user and some of the functional blocks.

[0061] 6, first, when the user starts the sleep management application of the user terminal 10 (step S1), the lying down / ascending estimation unit 132 reads information indicating the current time as operation time information from the clock unit 110 (step S2). Then, based on the operation time information, the lying down / ascending estimation unit 132 determines whether the user's operation was performed with the intention of "going to bed" or "getting up" (frame F1).

[0062] If the determination result by the lying down / ascending estimation unit 132 is "going to bed" (lane L1), the display control unit 134 generates an application screen including a message M1 for going to bed, and the operation display unit 120 displays the application screen (step S4). Furthermore, the lying down / ascending estimation unit 132 estimates that the time indicated by the operation time information is the time to go to bed, and records the operation time information in the storage unit 140 in association with "going to bed" (step S5).

[0063] If the determination result by the lying down / ascending estimation unit 132 is "wake up" (lane L2), the display control unit 134 generates an application screen including a message for waking up, and the operation display unit 120 displays the application screen (step S7). Furthermore, the lying down / ascending estimation unit 132 estimates that the time indicated by the operation time information is the wake up time, and associates the operation time information with "wake up" and records it in the storage unit 140 (step S8).

[0064] Each step up to this point is automatically performed when the user simply launches the sleep management application on the user terminal 10, so the user does not need to perform any operations to select whether to wake up or go to bed after launching the sleep management application.

[0065] Thereafter, when the user selects the record viewing button B1 on the application screen (step S10), the display control unit 134 requests the visualization unit 136 to create visualized data (step S11). In response to the request, the visualization unit 136 creates visualized data based on information about past sleep stored in the storage unit 140 (step S12) and supplies the visualized data to the display control unit 134 (step S14). Then, the display control unit 134 causes the operation display unit 120 to display the visualized data (step S15).

[0066] (Action and effect) According to the first embodiment of the present invention described above, various operational effects can be obtained. For example, in the first embodiment of the present invention, the bedtime and wake-up time can be recorded with a single simple action, eliminating the need for the user to recall the time or to select or input the hour and minute. As a result, the burden on the user is reduced, and it is expected that the user will continue to record the bedtime and wake-up time.

[0067] Furthermore, when the operation time information indicates a time within a first time range, the rising / lying down estimation unit 132 estimates that the time indicated by the operation time information is the user's bedtime. Furthermore, when the operation time information indicates a time within a second time range, the rising / lying down estimation unit 132 estimates that the time indicated by the operation time information is the user's wake-up time. Therefore, the user does not need to perform an operation to select wake-up or bedtime after launching the sleep management application.

[0068] Furthermore, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, information about the user's sleep can be recorded without the user having to wear a wearable device such as a smartwatch while sleeping, making it easier for the user to go to sleep in a relaxed state. Furthermore, if the user terminal 10 is realized as a smartphone, having the user use their own smartphone can reduce the introduction cost when a company or health insurance association takes the lead in introducing the technology according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0069] (supplement) Although the above describes an example in which a wake-up message or a bedtime message is displayed on the application screen, the display control unit 134 may display sleep-related advice in addition to or instead of these messages. For example, the display control unit 134 may determine the content of the advice based on the sleep time calculated from the bedtime and wake-up time, the user's profile, etc. Furthermore, the above describes an example in which visualized data is displayed based on selection of the record viewing button B1, but the display control unit 134 may place the visualized data on the application screen when display of the application screen is started.

[0070] <Second embodiment> The first embodiment of the present invention has been described above. Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The second embodiment of the present invention improves the accuracy of estimating the bedtime or wake-up time by using the acceleration detection results to estimate the bedtime or wake-up time.

[0071] (composition) Fig. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a user terminal 12 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 7, the user terminal 12 according to the second embodiment of the present invention has a clock unit 110, an operation display unit 120, a control unit 130-2, a storage unit 140, and an acceleration sensor 150. Below, functions that differ from the first embodiment will be mainly described, and some descriptions of functions that are common to the first embodiment will be omitted.

[0072] The acceleration sensor 150 detects the acceleration of the user terminal 12 and outputs detection information representing the acceleration detection result to the control unit 130-2. While the sleep management application is running, the acceleration sensor 150 detects the acceleration of the user terminal 12 in the background, even if the application screen of the sleep management application is closed. The acceleration sensor 150 may output the detection information to the control unit 130-2 only when acceleration of a certain magnitude or greater is detected. Alternatively, the acceleration sensor 150 may output all detection information to the control unit 130-2, and the control unit 130-2 may use only the detection information of acceleration of a certain magnitude or greater. The acceleration sensor 150 is an example of a sensor for detecting the movement of the user terminal 12, and other sensors such as a gyro sensor may be used instead of the acceleration sensor 150.

[0073] The control unit 130-2 controls the overall operation of the user terminal 12. For example, the control unit 130-2 records detection information obtained from the acceleration sensor 150 in the storage unit 140. The control unit 130-2 also has functions as a sitting / lying estimation unit 132, a display control unit 134, a sitting / lying correction unit 135, and a visualization unit 136.

[0074] As described in the first embodiment, the rising / lying down estimation unit 132 estimates whether the time when the operation to open the sleep management application is performed is the wake-up time or the bedtime. However, in the second embodiment, the wake-up time and the bedtime estimated by the rising / lying down estimation unit 132 are tentative estimates, and the wake-up time and the bedtime can be corrected by the rising / lying down correction unit 135.

[0075] The rising / lying down correction unit 135 is an example of an estimation unit that estimates the time of going to bed based on time information associated with "going to bed" in the storage unit 140 and detection information stored in the storage unit 140. A user is not necessarily able to fall asleep immediately after performing an operation to open a sleep management application, and in reality, there may be a difference between the time when the user performs an operation to open the sleep management application and the user's actual time of going to bed (time of falling asleep). For this reason, the rising / lying down correction unit 135 estimates the time of going to bed by correcting the time information associated with "going to bed" based on detection information of acceleration obtained during the operation interval between the time indicated by the time information associated with "going to bed" and the time indicated by the time information associated with "wake-up."

[0076] For example, if the user places the user terminal 12 away from the bed while the user is sleeping, it is considered that acceleration detection information cannot be obtained while the user is sleeping. Therefore, the getting-up-and-falling correction unit 135 may find a pair of times with the longest interval between acceleration detection times among the above-mentioned operation intervals, and estimate the earlier time of the pair as the bedtime. A specific example will be described with reference to FIG. 8.

[0077] FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of information stored in storage unit 140. In the example shown in FIG. 8, after bedtime information E1, bedtime information E3 is present again. This is the result of the user performing an operation to open the sleep management application at 22:00, continuing to be active thereafter, and then performing an operation to open the sleep management application again at 22:35. Among the operation interval times between 22:35 indicated by the later bedtime information E3 and 6:20 indicated by the wake-up information E10, rise / lie down correction unit 135 finds 22:45 and 6:20 as the pair of times with the longest interval between the times at which acceleration was detected, and can estimate 22:45, the earlier of the pair, as the bedtime.

[0078] Furthermore, when the user places the user terminal 12 on the bed, such as next to a pillow, while the user is sleeping, detection information on acceleration can be obtained due to the user's movements, such as turning over in bed, even while the user is sleeping. Here, the frequency of the user's movements while sleeping is considered to be lower than the frequency of the user's movements while awake. Therefore, the rising / lying correction unit 135 may estimate, as the user's bedtime, the time when the detection information obtained immediately before the first detection information obtained at an interval longer than the reference time was obtained, among the detection information obtained during the operation interval time. A specific example will be described with reference to FIG. 9.

[0079] Fig. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of information stored in the storage unit 140. In the example shown in Fig. 9, detection information E4 to E9 are obtained during the operation interval between 22:35 indicated by bedtime information E3 and 6:20 indicated by wake-up information E10. If the reference time is 30 minutes, the rise / lie down correction unit 135 can estimate, as the bedtime, 22:45, which is the time when detection information E5 was obtained immediately before detection information E6, which was first obtained in an interval longer than 30 minutes.

[0080] Furthermore, regarding waking up, if the user has a habit of opening the sleep management application when waking up, it is appropriate to set the time when the user explicitly performs the operation as the wake-up time. Therefore, regarding waking up, the wake-up / lying-down correction unit 135 may set the time information associated with "wake-up" in the storage unit 140 as the wake-up time without any special correction.

[0081] On the other hand, the user may wake up and fall asleep again immediately after opening the sleep management application. Therefore, the wake-up / lying-down correction unit 135 may estimate the wake-up time of the user by correcting the time information associated with "wake-up" based on the detection information obtained after the time indicated by the time information associated with "wake-up."

[0082] 9, detection information E11 and E12 are obtained after 6:20 indicated by wake-up information E10. Detection information E11 is obtained immediately after 6:20 indicated by wake-up information E10, and is considered to be detection information obtained when the user puts down the user terminal 12. Therefore, the rise / lie down correction unit 135 may estimate 6:45 indicated by the first obtained detection information E12 as the wake-up time of the user, excluding detection information E11 obtained after 6:20 indicated by wake-up information E10 and immediately after 6:20 indicated by wake-up information E10.

[0083] Furthermore, when there is a plurality of pieces of time information associated with "wake-up" on the same day, the wake-up correction unit 135 may estimate the time information indicating the later time as the wake-up time of the user. Even if the user falls asleep again immediately after opening the sleep management application, if the user has the habit of opening the sleep management application every time they wake up, the wake-up time of the user can be appropriately estimated using the above method.

[0084] (operation) The configuration of the user terminal 12 according to the second embodiment of the present invention has been described above. Next, the operation of the user terminal 12 according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be summarized with reference to FIG.

[0085] 10 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the user terminal 12 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Here, for ease of understanding of the operation, the explanation will be centered on the behavior of the user and some of the functional blocks.

[0086] 10, first, when the user launches the sleep management application of the user terminal 12 (step S1), the lying down / ascending estimation unit 132 reads information indicating the current time as operation time information from the clock unit 110 (step S2). While the sleep management application is running, even if the application screen of the sleep management application is closed, the acceleration sensor 150 detects the acceleration of the user terminal 12 in the background, and the detected acceleration information is recorded in the storage unit 140 (step S3). Then, the lying down / ascending estimation unit 132 determines whether the user's operation was performed with the intention of "going to bed" or "getting up" based on the operation time information (frame F2).

[0087] If the result of the determination by the lying down / sitting up estimation unit 132 is "going to bed" (lane L3), the display control unit 134 generates an application screen including a message M1 for going to bed, and the operation display unit 120 displays the application screen (step S4). Furthermore, the lying down / sitting up estimation unit 132 associates operation time information with "going to bed" and records it in the storage unit 140 (step S5). Thereafter, the detected acceleration information is recorded in the storage unit 140 periodically or when there is a change in acceleration (step S6).

[0088] If the determination result by the lying down / sit-up estimation unit 132 is "wake-up" (lane L2), the display control unit 134 generates an application screen including a message for waking up, and the operation display unit 120 displays the application screen (step S7). Furthermore, the lying down / sit-up estimation unit 132 associates operation time information with "wake-up" and records it in the storage unit 140 (step S8). Thereafter, the detected acceleration information is recorded in the storage unit 140 periodically or when there is a change in acceleration (step S9).

[0089] Each step up to this point is automatically performed when the user simply launches the sleep management application on the user terminal 12, so the user does not need to perform the operation of selecting whether to wake up or go to bed after launching the sleep management application.

[0090] Thereafter, when the user selects the record viewing button B1 on the application screen (step S10), the display control unit 134 requests the visualization unit 136 to create visualized data (step S11).

[0091] In response to the request, the wake-up correction unit 135 estimates the user's bedtime and wake-up time based on the information stored in the memory unit 140 and corrections made using the method described above, and the visualization unit 136 creates visualization data based on the estimated bedtime and wake-up time (step S13).

[0092] Then, the visualization unit 136 supplies the visualization data to the display control unit 134 (step S14), and the display control unit 134 causes the operation display unit 120 to display the visualization data (step S15).

[0093] (Action and effect) The second embodiment of the present invention described above provides various operational effects in addition to the effects described in the first embodiment. For example, the rise / lie down correction unit 135 estimates the time to go to bed by correcting the time information associated with "going to bed" based on detection information detected during the operation interval between the time indicated by the time information associated with "going to bed" and the time indicated by the time information associated with "wake up." With this configuration, when there is a difference between the time when the user performs an operation to open the sleep management application and the user's actual time to go to bed (time to fall asleep), it is possible to estimate the time to go to bed with higher accuracy.

[0094] More specifically, the rising / lying down correction unit 135 can estimate, as the user's bedtime, the time when the detection information obtained during the above-mentioned operation interval was obtained, which is the time when the detection information immediately before the detection information first obtained at an interval longer than the reference time was obtained. With this configuration, even when the user places the user terminal 12 next to his / her pillow or the like while sleeping, it is possible to estimate the user's bedtime with high accuracy.

[0095] Furthermore, the wake-up correction unit 135 can estimate the wake-up time of the user by correcting the time information associated with "wake-up" based on detection information obtained after the time indicated by the time information associated with "wake-up." With this configuration, it is possible to estimate the wake-up time with high accuracy even if the user falls asleep again immediately after waking up and opening the sleep management application.

[0096] Furthermore, while the sleep management application is running, the acceleration sensor 150 detects the acceleration of the user terminal 12 in the background, even if the application screen of the sleep management application is closed. With this configuration, battery consumption of the user terminal 12 is reduced, and it is thought that the user is less likely to stop using the sleep management application due to concerns about battery consumption.

[0097] <Third embodiment> Having described the second embodiment of the present invention above, a third embodiment of the present invention will now be described.

[0098] (System Configuration) Fig. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of a system according to the third embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 11, the system according to the third embodiment of the present invention includes a user terminal 13 and an application server 30. The user terminal 13 and the application server 30 are connected via a network 40.

[0099] Network 40 is a wired or wireless transmission path for information transmitted from devices connected to network 40. For example, network 40 may include public network such as the Internet, a telephone network, or a satellite communication network, or various LANs (Local Area Networks) including Ethernet (registered trademark), and WANs (Wide Area Networks). Network 40 may also include dedicated network such as an IP-VPN (Internet Protocol-Virtual Private Network).

[0100] Like the user terminal 10 described in the first embodiment, the user terminal 13 has a variety of functions, such as a communication function, a display function, a sound output function, an operation detection function, a sound input function, various sensing functions, and a calculation function. The user terminal 13 also detects an operation for recording a wake-up time and an operation for recording going to bed. In the first embodiment, the operation for recording going to bed and the operation for recording a wake-up time were the same operation of opening the same sleep management application, but in the third embodiment, the operation for recording going to bed (first predetermined operation) and the operation for recording a wake-up time (second predetermined operation) are different from each other.

[0101] For example, a bedtime record application and a wake-up record application may be installed in the user terminal 13. In this case, the user terminal 13 may display the home screen shown in FIG.

[0102] 12 includes an icon display A2 corresponding to a bedtime record application and an icon display A3 corresponding to a wake-up record application. The user can open the bedtime record application (by tapping on the icon display A2 corresponding to the bedtime record application) or the wake-up record application (by tapping on the icon display A3 corresponding to the wake-up record application). In addition, a function to open the bedtime record application may be assigned to hardware button H1, and a function to open the wake-up record application may be assigned to hardware button H2.

[0103] When an operation to open the bedtime record application is performed, the user terminal 13 transmits information indicating "went to bed", which is an example of the first information, to the application server 30. When an operation to open the wake-up record application is performed, the user terminal 13 transmits information indicating "woke up", which is an example of the second information, to the application server 30.

[0104] The application server 30 is an example of an estimation device that estimates a user's bedtime and wake-up time based on information received from the user terminal 13. The application server 30 estimates the bedtime and wake-up time based on a single simple action by the user on the user terminal 13. As with the first embodiment, this eliminates the need for the user to recall information or to select or input hours and minutes. Furthermore, since the user explicitly selects "bedtime" or "wake-up," the user terminal 13 or the application server 30 does not need to determine whether the user has "went to bed" or "woke up." The configurations and operations of the user terminal 13 and application server 30 according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below.

[0105] (Configuration of user terminal 13) Fig. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a user terminal 13 according to the third embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 13, the user terminal 13 according to the third embodiment of the present invention has a communication unit 114, an operation display unit 120, a control unit 130-3, an acceleration sensor 150, and an identifier storage unit 160. The acceleration sensor 150 is as described in the second embodiment.

[0106] The communication unit 114 communicates various information with the application server 30 via the network 40. For example, the communication unit 114 transmits information indicating "going to bed," information indicating "wake-up," and acceleration detection information to the application server 30. The communication unit 114 also receives visualization data related to the user's sleep from the application server 30.

[0107] The operation display unit 120 is configured to realize a display function and an operation detection function. For example, the operation display unit 120 detects a predetermined single action performed by a user. In this embodiment, the single action is, for example, an operation to open a bedtime record application and an operation to open a wake-up record application.

[0108] The identifier storage unit 160 is configured to store an identifier. The identifier may be the identifier of the user terminal 13 or the identifier of the user who uses the user terminal 13. The bedtime record application 170 and the wake-up record application 180, which will be described later, may be realized by a browser. In this case, the identifier storage unit 160 may be the local storage of the browser and may store the identifier used in a cookie. When the bedtime record application 170 and the wake-up record application 180 are realized by a browser, shortcut displays for a bedtime record page and a wake-up record page may be arranged on the home screen. The URLs of the shortcuts may be different, or the URLs of the shortcuts may be the same but with different parameters attached to the URLs.

[0109] The control unit 130-3 controls the overall operation of the user terminal 13. For example, the control unit 130-3 generates the home screen shown in Fig. 12 and displays the home screen on the operation display unit 120. The control unit 130-3 also realizes the functions of a bedtime record application 170 and a wake-up record application 180.

[0110] The bedtime record application 170 has the functions of a communication control unit 172 and a display control unit 174 .

[0111] When the operation display unit 120 detects an operation to open the bedtime record application 170, the communication control unit 172 causes the communication unit 114 to transmit information indicating "in bed" to the application server 30. Furthermore, when the operation display unit 120 detects an operation to view records of information related to sleep, the communication control unit 172 causes the communication unit 114 to transmit a request for visualized data of the information related to sleep to the application server 30. Furthermore, when detection information of acceleration is obtained by the acceleration sensor 150, the communication control unit 172 causes the communication unit 114 to transmit the detection information to the application server 30. When causing the communication unit 114 to transmit various information to the application server 30 in this manner, the bedtime record application 170 also causes the communication unit 114 to transmit the identifier of the user terminal 13 stored in the identifier storage unit 160 to the application server 30.

[0112] The display control unit 174 generates an application screen of the bedtime record application 170 and displays the application screen on the communication unit 114. As shown in FIG. 4, the application screen may include a message M1 for going to bed, such as "It's about time to go to bed," and a record viewing button B1. In this case, the operation for viewing the record of information related to sleep described above may be an operation of selecting the record viewing button B1. Furthermore, when visualized data of information related to sleep is received by the communication unit 114 from the application server 30, the display control unit 174 displays the visualized data on the operation display unit 120, as described with reference to FIG. 5.

[0113] The wake-up recording application 180 has the functions of a communication control unit 182 and a display control unit 184 .

[0114] When the operation display unit 120 detects an operation to open the wake-up record application 180, the communication control unit 182 causes the communication unit 114 to send information indicating "wake-up" to the application server 30. Furthermore, when the operation display unit 120 detects an operation to view records of information related to sleep, the communication control unit 172 causes the communication unit 114 to send a request for visualized data of the information related to sleep to the application server 30. Furthermore, when detection information of acceleration is obtained by the acceleration sensor 150, the communication control unit 172 causes the communication unit 114 to send the detection information to the application server 30. When causing the communication unit 114 to send various information to the application server 30 in this way, the wake-up record application 180 also causes the communication unit 114 to send the identifier of the user terminal 13 stored in the identifier storage unit 160 to the application server 30.

[0115] It should be noted that the transmission of acceleration detection information does not have to be performed from both bedtime record application 170 and wake-up record application 180, but may be performed from only one of bedtime record application 170 or wake-up record application 180. Similarly, the transmission of a request for visualization data of information related to sleep may be executable from both bedtime record application 170 and wake-up record application 180, or may be executable from only one of bedtime record application 170 or wake-up record application 180.

[0116] The display control unit 184 generates an application screen of the wake-up record application 180 and causes the communication unit 114 to display the application screen. The application screen may include, for example, a wake-up message such as "Good morning" and a record viewing button. When the communication unit 114 receives visualized data of information related to sleep from the application server 30, the display control unit 184 causes the operation display unit 120 to display the visualized data, as described with reference to FIG. 5 .

[0117] (Configuration of application server 30) The configuration of the user terminal 13 according to the third embodiment of the present invention has been described above. Next, the configuration of the application server 30 according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

[0118] 14 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of an application server 30 according to the third embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 14, the application server 30 according to the third embodiment of the present invention includes a clock unit 310, a communication unit 314, a control unit 330, and a storage unit 340.

[0119] The clock unit 310 has a function of acquiring the current time. The clock unit 310 acquires the current time based on counting the period of a signal having a clock frequency. The clock unit 310 may acquire the current time from an external time management server.

[0120] The communication unit 314 communicates various information with the user terminal 13 via the network 40. For example, the communication unit 314 receives information indicating "going to bed," information indicating "getting up," acceleration detection information, and a request for visualization data from the user terminal 13. Since multiple user terminals 13 can be connected to the application server 30, the information indicating "going to bed" and the like is received together with the identifier of the user terminal 13, and based on the identifier, it is possible to identify which user terminal 13 each piece of information relates to. The communication unit 314 also transmits visualization data generated by the control unit 330 to the user terminal 13.

[0121] The control unit 330 controls the overall operation of the application server 30. In particular, in the third embodiment of the present invention, the control unit 330 has a communication control unit 332, an information recording unit 333, a posture correction unit 335, and a visualization unit 336, as shown in FIG.

[0122] The communication control unit 332 controls communication with the user terminal 13 by the communication unit 314. For example, the communication control unit 332 causes the communication unit 314 to transmit visualization data of information related to sleep generated by the visualization unit 336 to the user terminal 13.

[0123] The information recording unit 333 is an example of a processing unit, and records information received from the user terminal 13 by the communication unit 314 in the storage unit 340. For example, when information indicating "wake up" is received by the communication unit 314 together with an identifier, the information recording unit 333 acquires time information indicating the current time from the clock unit 310 as operation time information, and records the time information, "wake up," and the identifier in association with each other in the storage unit 340.

[0124] Similarly, when the information indicating "going to bed" is received together with the identifier by the communication unit 314, the information recording unit 333 acquires time information indicating the current time from the clock unit 310 as operation time information, and records the time information, "going to bed" and the identifier in association with each other in the storage unit 340. Note that the user terminal 13 may transmit time information together with the information indicating "getting up" or "going to bed", and in this case, the information recording unit 333 does not need to acquire time information from the clock unit 310.

[0125] Furthermore, when the communication unit 314 receives acceleration detection information together with an identifier from the user terminal 13, the information recording unit 333 associates the detection information with the identifier and records them in the storage unit 340. If the detection information does not include time information, the information recording unit 333 obtains time information indicating the current time from the clock unit 310, and associates the time information with the detection information and the identifier and records them in the storage unit 340.

[0126] The rising / lying down correction unit 335 is an example of an estimation unit that estimates the time of going to bed based on time information associated with "going to bed" in the storage unit 340 and detection information stored in the storage unit 140. The rising / lying down correction unit 335 may also estimate the time of getting up of the user by correcting the time information associated with "getting up" based on detection information obtained after the time indicated by the time information associated with "getting up". The rising / lying down correction unit 335 has substantially the same functions as the rising / lying down correction unit 135 described in the second embodiment, and therefore a detailed description of the rising / lying down correction unit 335 will be omitted here.

[0127] When the communication unit 314 receives a request for visualization data together with an identifier from the user terminal 13, the visualization unit 336 reads information associated with the identifier from the storage unit 340 and generates visualization data that is a visualized display of the information. The visualization data generated by the visualization unit 336 is transmitted from the communication unit 314 to the user terminal 13 under the control of the communication control unit 332. The visualization unit 336 has substantially the same functions as the visualization unit 136 described in the first embodiment, and therefore a detailed description of the visualization unit 336 will be omitted here.

[0128] (operation) The configuration of the third embodiment of the present invention has been described above. Next, the operation of the third embodiment of the present invention will be summarized with reference to FIG.

[0129] 15 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the third embodiment of the present invention. Here, for ease of understanding of the operation, the explanation will be centered on the behavior of users and some functional blocks.

[0130] 15, first, when the user activates the bedtime record application 170 of the user terminal 13, the communication control unit 172 causes the operation display unit 120 to display the application screen of the bedtime record application 170 (step S21). Then, the communication control unit 172 acquires an identifier from the identifier storage unit 160 (step S22), and causes the communication unit 114 to transmit information indicating "bedtime" and the identifier to the application server 30 (step S23).

[0131] When the information indicating "going to bed" is received together with the identifier by the communication unit 314, the information recording unit 333 of the application server 30 obtains time information indicating the current time from the clock unit 310 as operation time information (step S24), and records the time information, "going to bed" and the identifier in association with each other in the memory unit 340 (step S25).

[0132] Once started, the bedtime record application 170 causes the communication unit 114 to transmit the acceleration detection information and identifier to the application server 30 periodically through background processing or when there is a change in acceleration, even if the application screen of the bedtime record application 170 is closed or the user terminal 13 is in a sleep state (step S26).

[0133] When the information recording unit 333 receives acceleration detection information from the user terminal 13 via the communication unit 314, it obtains time information indicating the current time from the clock unit 310 (step S27), and associates the time information with the detection information and the identifier and records them in the memory unit 340 (step S28).

[0134] Subsequently, when the user activates the wake-up record application 180 of the user terminal 13 (step S29), the process is performed in which "go to bed" in the process of steps S22 to S25 described above is replaced with "wake up" (steps S30 to S33). The acceleration detection information is also processed in the same manner as steps S26 to S28 (steps S34 to S36). The detection and transmission of acceleration does not have to be performed by both the bed-going record application 170 and the wake-up record application 180, and may be performed only by the bed-going record application 170 as in the example shown in FIG. 15.

[0135] Thereafter, when the user selects the record viewing button on the application screen of the wake-up record application 180, for example (step S37), the communication control unit 182 sends a request for visualized data to the application server 30 (step S38). Then, the rise-and-fall correction unit 335 acquires information stored in the storage unit 340 (step S39), and estimates the user's bedtime and wake-up time based on the information by the correction method described above (step S40).

[0136] Next, the visualization unit 336 creates visualization data based on the estimated bedtime and wake-up time (step S41), the communication unit 314 transmits the visualization data to the user terminal 13 (step S42), and the display control unit 184 of the user terminal 13 displays the visualization data on the operation display unit 120 (step S43).

[0137] (Action and effect) The third embodiment of the present invention described above provides a variety of advantageous effects. For example, according to the third embodiment of the present invention, the application server 30 estimates the bedtime and wake-up time based on a single simple action by the user on the user terminal 13. This eliminates the need for the user to go back to memory or to select or input the hours and minutes, as in the first and second embodiments. Furthermore, because the user explicitly selects "go to bed" or "wake up," the user terminal 13 or the application server 30 does not need to determine whether to go to bed or wake up, and in this case, erroneous determination of "go to bed" or "wake up" does not occur.

[0138] <Hardware configuration> The above describes the embodiments of the present invention. Information processing such as the estimation of bedtime and wake-up time and the creation of visualization data is realized by a combination of software and hardware. Below, we will explain examples of hardware configurations that can be applied to user terminal 10, user terminal 12, user terminal 13, application server 30, etc.

[0139] 16 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration 90. The hardware configuration 90 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 901, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 902, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 903, and a host bus 904. The hardware configuration 90 also includes a bridge 905, an external bus 906, an interface 907, an input device 908, a display device 909, an audio output device 910, a storage device (HDD) 911, a drive 912, and a network interface 915.

[0140] The CPU 901 functions as an arithmetic processing unit and a control unit, and controls overall operation in accordance with various programs. The CPU 901 may also be a microprocessor. The ROM 902 stores programs used by the CPU 901, calculation parameters, etc. The RAM 903 temporarily stores programs used in the execution of the CPU 901, parameters that change as appropriate during the execution, etc. These are interconnected by a host bus 904 that is comprised of a CPU bus, etc. The functions of the above-mentioned control unit 130, control unit 130-2, control unit 130-3, control unit 330, etc. can be realized by the cooperation of the CPU 901, ROM 902, RAM 903, and software.

[0141] The host bus 904 is connected to an external bus 906, such as a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect / Interface) bus, via a bridge 905. It is not necessary to configure the host bus 904, bridge 905, and external bus 906 separately, and these functions may be implemented on a single bus.

[0142] The input device 908 is composed of input means such as a mouse, keyboard, touch panel, buttons, microphone, sensors, switches, and levers that allow the user to input information, and an input control circuit that generates an input signal based on the user's input and outputs it to the CPU 901. By operating the input device 908, the user can input various data and instruct processing operations.

[0143] The display device 909 includes, for example, a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) device, a projector device, an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) device, a lamp, etc. The audio output device 910 includes an audio output device such as a speaker and a headphone.

[0144] The storage device 911 is a data storage device configured as an example of a storage unit according to this embodiment. The storage device 911 may include a storage medium, a recording device that records data on the storage medium, a reading device that reads data from the storage medium, and a deleting device that deletes data recorded on the storage medium. The storage device 911 is configured, for example, by an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or an SSD (Solid State Drive), or a memory having equivalent functions. This storage device 911 drives storage and stores programs executed by the CPU 901 and various data.

[0145] The drive 912 is a reader / writer for a storage medium, and is built into or externally attached to the hardware configuration 90. The drive 912 reads information recorded on a removable storage medium 84, such as an attached magnetic disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, or semiconductor memory, and outputs the information to the RAM 903 or the storage device 911. The drive 912 can also write information to the removable storage medium 84.

[0146] The network interface 915 is, for example, a communication interface configured with a communication device for connecting to the network 40. The network interface 915 may be a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) compatible communication device or a wired communication device that performs wired communication.

[0147] <Supplementary information> Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings, the present invention is not limited to these examples. It is clear that a person skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains can conceive of various modifications and alterations within the scope of the technical ideas set forth in the claims, and it is understood that these also naturally fall within the technical scope of the present invention.

[0148] For example, in the above example, a wake-up message or a bedtime message is displayed on the application screen. The wake-up message or the bedtime message displayed on the application screen does not need to have fixed content, but may have content that corresponds to the time period when the application is opened.

[0149] In addition, in the third embodiment, an example was described in which two applications (bedtime record application 170 and wake-up record application 180) are prepared, but instead of bedtime record application 170 and wake-up record application 180, a single application having a function of determining whether to go to bed or wake up may be used, as in the first and second embodiments.

[0150] Furthermore, although the acceleration sensor 150 has been described above as an example of a sensor, other sensors such as an illuminance sensor or a microphone may be used instead of or in addition to the acceleration sensor 150.

[0151] In addition, although the above description has been given assuming that the user terminal 10 is mainly a smartphone, the user terminal 10 may be used in combination with a wearable terminal that acquires the user's physical information (body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, etc.). In this case, the user terminal 10 or the application server 30 may estimate the bedtime and wake-up time based on the user's physical information as well.

[0152] Furthermore, the steps in the processing of user terminal 10, user terminal 12, user terminal 13, and application server 30 in this specification do not necessarily have to be processed in chronological order according to the order depicted in the sequence diagrams. For example, the steps in the processing of user terminal 10, user terminal 12, user terminal 13, and application server 30 may be processed in an order different from the order depicted in the sequence diagrams, or may be processed in parallel.

[0153] It is also possible to create a computer program that causes hardware such as a CPU, ROM, and RAM built into user terminal 10, user terminal 12, user terminal 13, and application server 30 to perform functions equivalent to those of the above-described configurations of user terminal 10, user terminal 12, user terminal 13, and application server 30. A non-transitory storage medium on which the computer program is stored is also provided.

[0154] Furthermore, the functions of the user terminal 10 described above may be implemented in a single housing, or may be distributed across multiple housings. When the functions are implemented in a single housing, the device having that housing may correspond to the user terminal 10. When the functions are distributed across multiple housings, one or a combination of two or more of the multiple devices having the housings may correspond to the user terminal 10. When the functions are distributed across multiple housings, an interface for inputting and outputting information between the devices having the housings is also implemented. Similarly, the functions of the user terminal 12, the user terminal 13, and the application server 30 may be implemented in a single housing, or may be distributed across multiple housings. [Explanation of symbols]

[0155] 10 User terminal 110 Clock Section 114 Communications Department 12 User terminal 120 Operation display section 13 User terminal 130 Control Unit 132 Lying estimation part 134 Display control unit 135 Lying down correction unit 136 Visualization section 140 Storage section 150 Accelerometer 160 Identifier storage section 170 Bed Record Application 172 Communication control section 174 Display control unit 180 Wake-up Recording Application 182 Communication control section 184 Display control unit 30 Application Server 310 Clock Section 314 Communications Department 330 Control Unit 332 Communication Control Unit 333 Information Recording Department 335 Lying down correction unit 336 Visualization section 340 Storage section 40 Network

Claims

1. an acquisition unit that acquires operation time information indicating the time when a user performs a predetermined operation on a terminal; an estimation unit that estimates the bedtime or wake-up time of the user based on the operation time information; An estimation device comprising:

2. The estimation device according to claim 1 , wherein the predetermined operation is a one-action operation.

3. The estimation device according to claim 2 , wherein the operation of the one action is an operation of a predetermined button or an operation of opening a predetermined application.

4. a display control unit that generates a display screen based on the predetermined operation; The estimation device according to claim 3 , wherein the display control unit generates a different display screen depending on the time when the predetermined operation is performed.

5. 4. The estimation device according to claim 3, wherein the estimation unit estimates the bedtime based on the operation time information when the operation time information indicates a time within a first time range, and estimates the wake-up time based on the operation time information when the operation time information indicates a time within a second time range.

6. The acquisition unit further acquires detection information indicating a detection result of the motion of the terminal; The operation time information is associated with first information indicating going to bed or second information indicating getting up, The estimation device according to claim 4 , wherein the estimation unit estimates the bedtime based on the operation time information and the detection information associated with the first information.

7. The estimation device according to claim 6, wherein the estimation unit estimates the bedtime of the user based on the detection information detected during an operation interval time between a time indicated by operation time information associated with the first information and a time indicated by operation time information associated with the second information.

8. The estimation device according to claim 7, wherein the estimation unit estimates, as the bedtime of the user, the time at which detection information obtained immediately before detection information first obtained at an interval longer than a reference time was obtained among the detection information obtained during the operation interval time.

9. The estimation device according to claim 7 , wherein the estimation unit estimates the wake-up time of the user based on the detection information obtained after the time indicated by the operation time information associated with the second information.

10. 10. The estimation device according to claim 9, further comprising a processing unit that associates the first information with the operation time information when the operation time information indicates a time within a first time range, and associates the second information with the operation time information when the operation time information indicates a time within a second time range.

11. 10. The estimation device according to claim 9, further comprising a processing unit that, when a first predetermined operation is performed, associates the first information with operation time information at which the first predetermined operation is performed, and, when a second predetermined operation is performed, associates the second information with operation time information at which the second predetermined operation is performed.

12. The estimation device according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the terminal is the estimation device.

13. the estimation device includes a sensor that detects movement of the estimation device; The estimation device according to claim 12 , wherein the sensor detects movement of the estimation device in the background of the estimation device.

14. The estimation device according to claim 13 , wherein the terminal is a non-wearable terminal.

15. the estimation device further includes a communication unit that receives information indicating that the predetermined operation has been performed on the terminal; The estimation device according to claim 1 , wherein the acquisition unit acquires, as the operation time information, a time when the information is received by the communication unit.

16. acquiring operation time information indicating the time when a user performed a predetermined operation on the terminal; estimating the bedtime or wake-up time of the user based on the operation time information; A computer-implemented method comprising:

17. an acquisition unit that acquires operation time information indicating the time when a user performs a predetermined operation on a terminal; an estimation unit that estimates the bedtime or wake-up time of the user based on the operation time information; An estimation system comprising:

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