Wearable devices, sleep evaluation systems, sleep evaluation methods, and programs

Abstract

This invention provides a wearable device, a sleep evaluation system, a sleep evaluation method, and a program that can measure data related to a user's sleep and evaluate the quality of their sleep, regardless of where the user sleeps. [Solution] The wearable device 2 comprises a sensor unit and a processor. The sensor unit includes a heart rate sensor 210 that is worn by the user and measures the user's heart rate. The processor notifies the user of the quality of sleep evaluated based on the user's heart rate data measured by the sensor unit. The processor executes a process to notify the user of the quality of sleep in a way that encourages the user to wake up if it is determined that the user should wake up, or a process to notify the user of the quality of sleep in a way that encourages the user to fall asleep if it is determined that the user should fall asleep.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a wearable device, a sleep evaluation system, a sleep evaluation method, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 describes a display device for a person's physiological state, which includes a detection unit that detects the sleep state and respiratory waveform of a person to be measured, an LED light source whose emission wavelength can be changed, and a control unit that adjusts the emission wavelength of the LED light source according to the sweat state grasped from the fluctuations of the sleep state and respiratory waveform detected by the detection unit.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] The display device described in Cited Document 1 detects a person's sleep state and respiratory waveform using a stationary wave radar, and changes the emission wavelength of the LED light source according to the detected results. The stationary wave radar is installed in the room where a person sleeps, and there is a problem that it cannot evaluate the sleep situation when the user changes the place to sleep, such as going on a trip and changing the sleep situation.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a wearable device, a sleep evaluation system, a sleep evaluation method, and a program that can measure data related to a user's sleep regardless of the place where the user sleeps and notify the quality of sleep.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] To achieve the above objective, one embodiment of the wearable device according to the present invention is: A sensor unit that includes a heart rate sensor worn by the user to measure the user's heart rate, The system includes a processor that notifies the user of the quality of sleep evaluated based on the user's heart rate data measured by the sensor unit, The processor performs a process to notify the user of the quality of their sleep in a manner that encourages the user to wake up when it is determined that the user should wake up, or a process to notify the user of the quality of their sleep in a manner that encourages the user to fall asleep when it is determined that the user should fall asleep. It is characterized by the following: [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a wearable device, a sleep evaluation system, a sleep evaluation method, and a program that can measure data related to the user's sleep and notify the user of the quality of their sleep, regardless of where the user sleeps. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] A block diagram showing the configuration of the sleep evaluation system according to Embodiment 1. [Figure 2] A diagram showing the wearable device of Embodiment 1 attached to the user's finger. [Figure 3] A diagram showing examples of the sleep quality of the user and the light emission pattern of the light-emitting part in Embodiment 1. [Figure 4] A perspective view showing a wearable device according to Embodiment 1. [Figure 5] A flowchart of the sleep evaluation process performed by the wearable device of Embodiment 1. [Figure 6] A flowchart of the data generation process performed by the terminal of Embodiment 1. [Figure 7] A diagram showing examples of the user's sleep quality, wakefulness or re-fall asleep, and the light emission pattern of the light-emitting part in Embodiment 2. [Figure 8]A flowchart of the sleep evaluation process performed by the wearable device of Embodiment 2. [Figure 9] A flowchart of the data generation process performed by the terminal of Embodiment 2. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] (Embodiment 1) The sleep evaluation system 1 according to Embodiment 1 will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. The sleep evaluation system 1 according to Embodiment 1 is a system that evaluates the quality of the user's sleep (sleep state) and presents it to the user.

[0010] Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the sleep evaluation system 1 according to Embodiment 1. As shown in Figure 1, the sleep evaluation system 1 comprises a wearable device 2 and a terminal 3.

[0011] Wearable device 2 is a ring-shaped device worn on the user's finger that measures data about the user and provides notifications to the user. Wearable device 2 comprises a heart rate sensor 210, an accelerometer 220, a light-emitting unit 230, an interface unit 240, a communication unit 250, a storage unit 260, and a processing unit 270.

[0012] Figure 2 shows a wearable device 2 attached to the user's finger A. As shown in Figure 2, the wearable device 2 comprises a housing 280 that houses a heart rate sensor 210, an accelerometer 220, a light-emitting unit 230, an interface unit 240, a communication unit 250, a storage unit 260, and a processing unit 270.

[0013] Returning to FIG. 1, the heartbeat sensor 210 includes a sensor that measures the heartbeat (pulse, pulsation) of a user wearing the wearable device 2. The heartbeat sensor 210 includes a light source that irradiates light onto the user's finger, and a photosensor that measures the light reflected by blood vessels or transmitted through blood vessels from the light source. The heartbeat sensor 210 measures the user's heartbeat and transmits the measured data to the processing unit 270.

[0014] The acceleration sensor 220 includes a sensor that measures the acceleration applied to the wearable device 2. The acceleration sensor 220 may include, but is not limited to, a piezoresistive acceleration sensor, a frequency change type acceleration sensor, and a capacitive acceleration sensor. The acceleration sensor 220 measures the acceleration applied to the wearable device 2 and transmits the measured data to the processing unit 270. The heartbeat sensor 210 and the acceleration sensor 220 function as a sensor unit.

[0015] The light emitting unit 230 includes light emitting diodes capable of emitting light in three colors: red, green, and blue. The light emitting unit 230 lights, turns off, or blinks each of the three colors of red, green, and blue according to the control by the processing unit 270.

[0016] The interface unit 240 is a user interface including buttons and switches. The interface unit 240 receives an instruction from the user including turning on / off the power of the wearable device 2 and starting or ending the sleep evaluation process, and transmits a signal indicating the received instruction to the processing unit 270.

[0017] The communication unit 250 includes a communication device that communicates with the terminal 3 via the terminal communication unit 320 described later. The communication unit 250 includes, for example, a wireless communication interface and may communicate using Bluetooth (registered trademark), but is not limited thereto.

[0018] The memory unit 260 includes a storage device that stores the program executed by the processing unit 270 and the data measured by the heart rate sensor 210 and the acceleration sensor 220. The memory unit 260 may include, but is not limited to, RAM (Random Access Memory), flash memory, EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), or EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM).

[0019] The processing unit 270 is connected via a bus to the heart rate sensor 210, the accelerometer 220, the light-emitting unit 230, the communication unit 250, and the storage unit 260, and includes a processor that executes and processes programs stored in the storage unit 260. The processing unit 270 may, but is not limited to, a CPU (Central Processing Unit).

[0020] When the interface unit 240 receives an input indicating the start of the sleep evaluation process, the processing unit 270 controls the heart rate sensor 210 and the acceleration sensor 220 to measure the user's heart rate and the acceleration applied to the wearable device 2, respectively. The processing unit 270 acquires data including the value measured by the heart rate sensor 210 and stores it in the storage unit 260, and also transmits the data to the terminal 3 via the communication unit 250.

[0021] The processing unit 270 receives data indicating the user's sleep or wakefulness state and data indicating the user's sleep quality, which are generated by the terminal 3 based on data acquired from the wearable device 2, via the communication unit 250 from the terminal 3.

[0022] When the processing unit 270 receives a signal from the terminal 3 indicating that the user has woken up, it illuminates the light-emitting unit 230 to notify the user of the quality of their sleep. The processing unit 270 changes the illumination of the light-emitting unit 230 based on the quality of sleep indicated by the data received from the terminal 3.

[0023] Figure 3 shows examples of the user's sleep quality and the illumination patterns of the light-emitting unit 230. As shown in Figure 3, in pattern 1, the processing unit 270 causes the light-emitting unit 230 to emit red, blue, and green light depending on whether the user's sleep quality is poor, normal, or good, respectively. In pattern 2, the processing unit 270 causes the light-emitting unit 230 to blink rapidly, blink slowly, and stay lit depending on whether the user's sleep quality is poor, normal, or good, respectively. Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the wearable device 2. As shown in Figure 4, the housing 280 is a ring-shaped housing that houses a heart rate sensor 210, an accelerometer 220, a light-emitting unit 230, an interface unit 240, a communication unit 250, a memory unit 260, and a processing unit 270. The housing 280 exposes the light source and light sensor of the heart rate sensor 210 from the surface of the inner surface that comes into contact with the user's finger, or covers them with a material that does not obstruct light. The housing 280 exposes the light-emitting unit 230 from the outer surface or side surface that does not come into contact with the user's finger, or covers it with a material that does not obstruct the light emitted by the light-emitting unit 230. The housing 280 exposes the buttons or switches of the interface unit 240 from the surface. The housing 280 may be made of metal or resin, but is not limited to these.

[0024] Returning to Figure 1, terminal 3 is a terminal device that processes data acquired from wearable device 2. Terminal 3 comprises a terminal interface unit 310, a terminal communication unit 320, a terminal storage unit 330, and a terminal processing unit 340. Terminal 3 may include, but is not limited to, a mobile phone or a smartphone.

[0025] The terminal interface unit 310 is a user interface that includes buttons, switches, display devices, and a touch panel. The terminal interface unit 310 receives instructions from the user, including turning the power of terminal 3 on and off, and transmits a signal indicating the received instruction to the terminal processing unit 340.

[0026] The terminal communication unit 320 includes a communication device that communicates with the wearable device 2 via the communication unit 250. The terminal communication unit 320 includes, for example, a wireless communication interface and communicates using Bluetooth®, but is not limited to this.

[0027] The terminal storage unit 330 includes a storage device that stores programs executed by the terminal processing unit 340, data acquired from the wearable device 2, and the like. The terminal storage unit 330 may include, but is not limited to, RAM, flash memory, EPROM, or EEPROM.

[0028] The terminal processing unit 340 is connected via a bus to the terminal interface unit 310, the terminal communication unit 320, and the terminal storage unit 330, and includes a processor that executes and processes programs stored in the terminal storage unit 330. The terminal processing unit 340 may, but is not limited to, a CPU.

[0029] The terminal processing unit 340 acquires data, including values ​​measured by the wearable device 2, via the terminal communication unit 320. The terminal processing unit 340 stores the data acquired from the wearable device 2 in the terminal storage unit 330.

[0030] The terminal processing unit 340 determines whether the user wearing the wearable device 2 is asleep or awake based on data acquired from the wearable device 2, and generates data indicating the user's sleep or wakefulness. The terminal processing unit 340 may determine the user's sleep or wakefulness from heart rate data, or from acceleration data, i.e., from the user's movements.

[0031] The terminal processing unit 340 determines the sleep quality of the user wearing the wearable device 2 based on data acquired from the wearable device 2 and generates data indicating the sleep quality. The terminal processing unit 340 may also determine the sleep quality from heart rate data. For example, it is said that heart rate decreases during NREM (Non-Rapid Eye Movement) sleep and increases during REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep or wakefulness. It is also said that the increase or decrease in the ratio of low-frequency and high-frequency components in heart rate variability is related to NREM sleep and REM sleep. Therefore, the terminal processing unit 340 can estimate the duration of NREM sleep and REM sleep from heart rate data. The terminal processing unit 340 may also determine that the sleep quality is good if the ratio of NREM sleep to REM sleep is above a threshold.

[0032] The terminal processing unit 340 may determine the quality of sleep from acceleration data. The terminal processing unit 340 may determine that the user's body movement has occurred when the acceleration exceeds a threshold, and determine the quality of sleep based on the number of body movements, intervals, and duration. For example, the terminal processing unit 340 may calculate a function value that increases as the number of body movements increases, the intervals shorten, and the duration lengthens, and determine that the quality of sleep is good if the value is below a threshold. The terminal processing unit 340 may also determine the quality of sleep from a combination of heart rate data and acceleration data, and can determine the quality of sleep by any method.

[0033] The terminal processing unit 340 transmits data indicating the sleep or wakefulness state and sleep quality of the user wearing the determined wearable device 2 to the wearable device 2 via the terminal communication unit 320.

[0034] Figure 5 is a flowchart of the sleep evaluation process performed by the wearable device 2 of Embodiment 1. The sleep evaluation process will be explained with reference to the flowchart in Figure 5. When sleep evaluation begins, the heart rate sensor 210 measures the user's heart rate and transmits the measured data to the processing unit 270 (step S101). When the heart rate sensor 210 measures the heart rate, the accelerometer 220 measures the acceleration applied to the wearable device 2 and transmits the measured data to the processing unit 270 (step S102). When the acceleration sensor 220 measures acceleration, the processing unit 270 transmits the transmitted heart rate and acceleration data to the terminal 3 via the communication unit 250 (step S103). When heart rate and acceleration data are transmitted to terminal 3, the processing unit 270 obtains data from terminal 3 via the communication unit 250 indicating the user's sleep or wakefulness state and the quality of the user's sleep (step S104). When data is acquired from terminal 3, the processing unit 270 determines whether the user has woken from sleep based on the data acquired from terminal 3 (step S105). If it is determined that the user has not woken from sleep (step S105: NO), the process returns to step S101. If the system determines that the user has woken up from sleep (Step S105: YES), the processing unit 270 determines, based on the data acquired from the terminal 3, whether the user's sleep quality is good, standard, or poor (Step S106). Once the processing unit 270 determines whether the user's sleep quality is good, standard, or poor, it causes the light-emitting unit 230 to emit light in a format indicating the determined sleep quality (step S107), and terminates the sleep evaluation process.

[0035] Figure 6 is a flowchart of the data generation process performed by terminal 3 in Embodiment 1. The data generation process will be described with reference to the flowchart in Figure 6. The data generation process shown in the flowchart in Figure 6 can be performed between steps S103 and S104 of the sleep evaluation process shown in the flowchart in Figure 5.

[0036] When the data generation process starts, the terminal processing unit 340 acquires heart rate and acceleration data from the wearable device 2 to the terminal communication unit 320 (step S201). Upon acquiring heart rate and acceleration data, the terminal processing unit 340 generates data indicating the sleep or wakefulness state of the user wearing the wearable device 2, based on the data acquired from the wearable device 2 (step S202). When data indicating the user's sleep or wakefulness is generated, the terminal processing unit 340 generates data indicating the sleep quality of the user wearing the wearable device 2, based on the data acquired from the wearable device 2 (step S203). Once data indicating the user's sleep quality is generated, the terminal processing unit 340 transmits the user's sleep or wakefulness state and the data indicating the quality of sleep to the wearable device 2 via the terminal communication unit 320 (step S204), and terminates the data generation process.

[0037] With the above configuration, the sleep evaluation system 1 according to Embodiment 1 can measure data related to the user's sleep and notify the user of the quality of their sleep, regardless of where the user sleeps.

[0038] The sleep evaluation system 1 according to Embodiment 1 measures the user's heart rate and hand movements using a ring-shaped wearable device 2, thereby enabling measurement and evaluation of sleep quality without burdening the user's body or disturbing their sleep.

[0039] If a user tries to find out about their evaluated sleep quality, for example, using a smartphone, they need to keep the smartphone near them before falling asleep. Also, immediately after waking up, the user may not be able to find or operate the smartphone properly. The sleep evaluation system 1 according to Embodiment 1 notifies the user of their sleep quality via a wearable device 2 worn by the user, eliminating the need for the user to search for and operate a device to notify them of their sleep quality immediately after waking up. The user can then find out about their sleep quality simply by looking at their finger.

[0040] (Embodiment 2) The sleep evaluation system 1 according to Embodiment 2 will be described with reference to the drawings. The sleep evaluation system 1 according to Embodiment 2 changes the format of the sleep quality notification depending on the actions the user should take when awake.

[0041] In Embodiment 2, the terminal processing unit 340 of terminal 3 determines whether the user wearing the wearable device 2 is asleep or awake based on data acquired from the wearable device 2. If the terminal processing unit 340 determines that the user is awake, it decides whether to encourage the user to stay awake or to encourage the user to fall back asleep.

[0042] The terminal processing unit 340 determines the quality of sleep of the user wearing the wearable device 2 based on the data acquired from the wearable device 2. If it determines that the quality of sleep is good or standard, it decides that the user should remain awake and sends data to the wearable device 2 via the terminal communication unit 320 indicating that the user should be encouraged to wake up.

[0043] If the terminal processing unit 340 determines that the quality of sleep is normal or poor, it determines that the user should fall back asleep and sends data to the wearable device 2 via the terminal communication unit 320 indicating that the user should be encouraged to fall back asleep.

[0044] When the processing unit 270 receives a signal from terminal 3 indicating that the user has woken up and a signal indicating that the user should be encouraged to wake up or fall back asleep, it illuminates the light-emitting unit 230 to notify the user of the quality of their sleep. Based on the wakefulness or fall back asleep indicated by the data received from terminal 3, the processing unit 270 changes the illumination of the light-emitting unit 230 to a mode that encourages wakefulness or fall back asleep, respectively. Specifically, if the user should be encouraged to wake up, the processing unit 270 illuminates the light-emitting unit 230 with a strong light, rapid flashing, or a color that encourages wakefulness. If the user should be encouraged to fall back asleep, the processing unit 270 illuminates the light-emitting unit 230 with a weak light, slow flashing, or a color that does not interfere with falling asleep (encourages falling back asleep). When the processing unit 270 receives a signal from terminal 3 indicating that the user has woken up, it may determine whether the user should wake up or fall back asleep, and notify the user of the quality of their sleep in a format corresponding to the determination result.

[0045] Figure 7 shows examples of the user's sleep quality, wakefulness or re-falling asleep, and the illumination patterns of the light-emitting unit 230. As shown in Figure 7, in pattern 1, the processing unit 270 causes the light-emitting unit 230 to emit a weak red light to encourage the user to fall back asleep when the user's sleep quality is poor, and causes the light-emitting unit 230 to emit a strong blue light and a strong green light, respectively, to encourage the user to wake up when the user's sleep quality is normal or good. In pattern 2, the processing unit 270 causes the light-emitting unit 230 to blink slowly in red when the user's sleep quality is poor, and causes the light-emitting unit 230 to blink rapidly in blue light and a rapid white light, respectively, to encourage the user to wake up when the user's sleep quality is normal or good.

[0046] Figure 8 is a flowchart of the sleep evaluation process performed by the wearable device 2 of Embodiment 2. The sleep evaluation process will be explained with reference to the flowchart in Figure 8. Steps S301 to S303 in the flowchart of Figure 8 are the same as steps S101 to S103 in the flowchart of Figure 5.

[0047] In step S303, when heart rate and acceleration data are transmitted to terminal 3, the processing unit 270 obtains data from terminal 3 via the communication unit 250 indicating the user's sleep or wakefulness state, the quality of the user's sleep, and whether wakefulness or re-sleep should be encouraged (step S304). When data is acquired from terminal 3, the processing unit 270 determines whether the user has woken from sleep based on the data acquired from terminal 3 (step S305). If it is determined that the user has not woken from sleep (step S305: NO), the process returns to step S301. If the system determines that the user has woken up from sleep (step S305: YES), the processing unit 270 determines, based on the data acquired from terminal 3, whether the user's sleep quality is good, standard, or poor (step S306). Once the processing unit 270 determines whether the user's sleep quality is good, average, or poor, it decides whether to encourage the user to wake up based on the data acquired from terminal 3 (step S307). If the processing unit 270 determines that the user should be awakened (step S307: YES), it causes the light-emitting unit 230 to emit light in a way that indicates the quality of sleep and encourages the user to awaken (step S308), and terminates the sleep evaluation process. If the processing unit 270 determines that the user should not be awakened, that is, that the user should be encouraged to fall back asleep (step S307: NO), it causes the light-emitting unit 230 to emit light in a manner that indicates the quality of sleep and encourages the user to fall back asleep (step S308), and terminates the sleep evaluation process.

[0048] Figure 9 is a flowchart of the data generation process performed by terminal 3 in Embodiment 2. The data generation process will be described with reference to the flowchart in Figure 9. Steps S401 to S403 in the flowchart of Figure 9 are the same as steps S201 to S203 in the flowchart of Figure 6. The data generation process shown in the flowchart of Figure 9 can be performed between steps S303 and S304 of the sleep evaluation process shown in the flowchart of Figure 8.

[0049] After generating data indicating the user's sleep quality in step S403, the terminal processing unit 340 determines whether the user is awake or not (step S404). If it is determined that the user is not awake (step S404: NO), the process proceeds to step S406, which will be described later. If the terminal processing unit 340 determines that the user is awake (step S404: YES), it generates data indicating whether to encourage the user to wake up or fall back asleep, based on the data indicating the quality of sleep of the user wearing the generated wearable device 2 (step S405). When data indicating whether to encourage the user to wake up or fall back asleep is generated, the terminal processing unit 340 transmits the user's sleep or wakefulness state, sleep quality, and data indicating whether to encourage wakefulness or fall back asleep to the wearable device 2 via the terminal communication unit 320 (step S406), and terminates the data generation process. If the process proceeds from step S404 to step S406, the data to be transmitted does not need to include data indicating whether to encourage wakefulness or fall back asleep.

[0050] By having the above configuration and performing sleep evaluation processing and data generation processing, the sleep evaluation system 1 according to Embodiment 2 achieves the same effects as the sleep evaluation system 1 according to Embodiment 1.

[0051] The sleep evaluation system 1 according to Embodiment 2 can help users get enough sleep by determining whether the user should stay awake or go back to sleep based on the quality of the user's sleep that has been evaluated.

[0052] The sleep evaluation system 1 according to Embodiment 2 can encourage the user to wake up or fall asleep and improve user comfort by changing the format of notifications depending on whether the user should stay awake or fall asleep.

[0053] (modified version) Although embodiments of the present invention have been described above, these embodiments are merely examples, and the scope of application of the present invention is not limited thereto. In other words, the embodiments of the present invention can be applied in various ways, and all embodiments fall within the scope of the present invention.

[0054] The sleep evaluation system 1 is described as comprising a wearable device 2 and a terminal 3, but is not limited to this. The wearable device 2 may also perform the functions of the terminal 3 and process the acquired data.

[0055] Wearable device 2 is defined as a ring-shaped device worn on the user's finger, but is not limited to this. It may be any device capable of acquiring data that can evaluate the user's sleep quality and notifying the user of their sleep quality.

[0056] The processing unit 270 is configured to emit light from the light-emitting unit 230 in red, blue, and green depending on whether the user's sleep quality is poor, normal, or good, but it is not limited to this. The light intensity of the light-emitting unit 230 may be changed, and a combination of color, light intensity, and illumination or flashing may be used.

[0057] The processing unit 270 is described as notifying the user of sleep quality by emitting light from the light-emitting unit 230, but it is not limited to this. Notification may also be made by emitting light from the light source of the heart rate sensor 210. The wearable device 2 may also be equipped with a speaker that emits sound or a vibrating unit that vibrates, and notification may be made by means other than light emission, including changes in the pattern or intensity of sound, or changes in the pattern or intensity of vibration.

[0058] The processing unit 270 is configured to notify the user of the quality of their sleep when it receives a signal from terminal 3 indicating that the user has woken up, but it is not limited to this. It may also notify the user when the awake user operates the interface unit 240, or when the time (alarm time) set on the wearable device 2 or terminal 3 arrives.

[0059] In Embodiment 2, the terminal processing unit 340 determined that the user should remain awake if it determined that the quality of sleep was good or standard, but it is not limited to this. Any arbitrary criteria may be adopted, such as determining that the user should fall back asleep if it determined that the quality of sleep was standard. Alternatively, the system may determine that the user should wake up when a time set in the wearable device 2 or terminal 3 has passed or when that time has been reached, or it may be determined based on the length of the user's sleep.

[0060] Furthermore, while it is possible to provide a wearable device or terminal pre-equipped with the configuration necessary to realize the functions according to the present invention, it is also possible to make existing wearable devices or terminals function as wearable devices or terminals according to the present invention by applying a program. That is, by applying a program to realize the functions of the terminals exemplified in the embodiments and modifications so that it can be executed by the CPU or the like that controls the existing wearable device or terminal, it can be made to function as a wearable device or terminal according to the present invention.

[0061] Furthermore, the method of applying such a program is arbitrary. The program can be stored and applied on a computer-readable storage medium such as a flexible disk, CD (Compact Disc)-ROM, DVD (Digital Versatile Disc)-ROM, or memory card. In addition, the program can be superimposed on a carrier wave and applied via a communication medium such as the Internet. For example, the program can be posted and distributed on a bulletin board system (BBS) on a communication network. The program can then be launched and executed under the control of the OS (Operating System), just like any other application program, to perform the above-mentioned processing.

[0062] Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these specific embodiments, and the present invention includes the invention described in the claims and its equivalents. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0063] 1...Sleep evaluation system, 2...Wearable device, 3...Terminal, 210...Heart rate sensor, 220...Accelerometer, 230...Light-emitting unit, 240...Interface unit, 250...Communication unit, 260...Memory unit, 270...Processing unit, 280...Housing, 310...Terminal interface unit, 320...Terminal communication unit, 330...Terminal memory unit, 340...Terminal processing unit, A...Finger.

Claims

1. A sensor unit that includes a heart rate sensor worn by the user to measure the user's heart rate, The system includes a processor that notifies the user of the quality of sleep evaluated based on the user's heart rate data measured by the sensor unit, The processor performs a process to notify the user of the quality of their sleep in a manner that encourages the user to wake up when it is determined that the user should wake up, or a process to notify the user of the quality of their sleep in a manner that encourages the user to fall asleep when it is determined that the user should fall asleep. Wearable devices.

2. The processor, upon acquiring data indicating that the user has woken from sleep, determines whether the user should stay awake or go back to sleep, and notifies the user of the quality of their sleep in a format corresponding to the determination result. The wearable device according to claim 1.

3. Data indicating that the user has woken from sleep is generated based on the user's heart rate data measured by the sensor unit. A wearable device according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The system further includes a light-emitting unit that emits light according to the control of the processor, The processor notifies the user of the quality of sleep by changing the color or light intensity of the light-emitting part to light up or blink depending on the quality of sleep. A wearable device according to claim 1 or 2.

5. The system further comprises a vibrating section that vibrates according to the control of the processor, The processor notifies the user of the quality of sleep by changing the vibration pattern or intensity of the vibration part according to the quality of sleep. A wearable device according to claim 1 or 2.

6. The system further includes a speaker that emits sound according to the control of the aforementioned processor, The processor notifies the user of the quality of their sleep by changing the pattern or intensity of the sound emitted by the speaker and vibrating accordingly. A wearable device according to claim 1 or 2.

7. The device further comprises a ring-shaped housing that houses the sensor unit and the processor inside and can be fitted onto the user's finger. A wearable device according to claim 1 or 2.

8. A wearable device according to claim 1 or 2, The system includes a terminal that acquires the user's heart rate data measured by the sensor unit from the wearable device, evaluates the user's sleep quality based on the acquired data, and transmits the evaluated user's sleep quality to the wearable device. Sleep evaluation system.

9. The processor, The heart rate sensor attached to the user measures the user's heart rate. The system performs a process to notify the user of the quality of their sleep, evaluated based on the user's heart rate data measured by the heart rate sensor, in a manner that encourages the user to wake up when it is determined that the user should wake up, or a process to notify the user of the quality of their sleep, evaluated based on the user's heart rate data measured by the heart rate sensor, in a manner that encourages the user to fall asleep when it is determined that the user should fall asleep. Sleep evaluation methods.

10. On the computer, The heart rate sensor attached to the user measures the user's heart rate. A process to notify the user of the quality of their sleep, evaluated based on the user's heart rate data measured by the heart rate sensor, in a manner that encourages the user to wake up when it is determined that the user should wake up, or a process to notify the user of the quality of their sleep, evaluated based on the user's heart rate data measured by the heart rate sensor, in a manner that encourages the user to fall asleep when it is determined that the user should fall asleep. program.

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