Converters, biometric information measurement devices, and communication terminals

Abstract

This technology provides a simple way to acquire a user's brainwaves. [Solution] A converter 120 is connected by wire between a biometric information measuring device that acquires biometric information and a communication terminal that processes biometric information, comprising: a first cable 122 or a first terminal connectable to the biometric information measuring device; a second terminal 123 connectable to the communication terminal; a power supply unit electrically connected to the first cable 122 or the first terminal and the second terminal 123 and powered by an external device including the communication terminal; and a circuit board including a processing unit that processes biometric information, wherein the processing unit performs the following: receiving biometric information from the first cable 122 or the first terminal; converting the biometric information into performance information; and transmitting the performance information from the second terminal 123.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a converter, a biological information measurement device, and a communication terminal.

Background Art

[0002] As shown in Patent Document 1, there is known an electroencephalogram measurement device that measures an electroencephalogram and outputs the detected electroencephalogram to an electroencephalogram display device.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a technique for easily acquiring the electroencephalogram of a user.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] A converter according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a converter that is wired-connected between a biological information measurement device that acquires biological information and a communication terminal that processes biological information, and includes a first cable or a first terminal connectable to the biological information measurement device, a second terminal connectable to the communication terminal, a power supply unit that is electrically connected to the first cable or the first terminal and the second terminal and is powered from an external device including the communication terminal, and a processing unit that processes biological information, provided on a substrate, and the processing unit receives biological information from the first cable or the first terminal, converts the biological information into performance information, and transmits the performance information from the second terminal.

Effects of the Invention

[0006] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a technique for easily acquiring the electroencephalogram of a user. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0007] [Figure 1] This figure shows an example of an overview of the information processing system according to this embodiment. [Figure 2] This is a characteristic diagram of the earphone according to this embodiment. [Figure 3] This figure shows an example of the processing configuration of the earphone set according to this embodiment. [Figure 4] This figure shows an example of a converter according to this embodiment. [Figure 5] This figure shows an example of a communication terminal according to this embodiment. [Figure 6] This figure shows an example of cross-referencing according to this embodiment. [Figure 7] This figure shows an overview of the processing of biometric information and performance information according to this embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0008] Embodiments of this disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, the embodiments described below are merely illustrative and are not intended to exclude various modifications or applications of techniques not explicitly stated below. In other words, this disclosure can be implemented in various ways without departing from its spirit. In addition, in the drawings below, identical or similar parts are denoted by the same or similar reference numerals. The drawings are schematic and do not necessarily correspond to actual dimensions or proportions. There may also be parts in the drawings where the dimensional relationships or proportions differ from those of other drawings.

[0009] [Embodiment] The system outline in the embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. <System Overview> First, an overview example of the information processing system 1 according to the embodiment will be explained using Figure 1. In the information processing system 1, the user whose brain waves are to be measured wears an earphone set 10, which has bioelectrodes attached to the external auditory canal, as a bioinformation measurement device.

[0010] The earphone set 10 shown in Figure 1 can use any earphone as long as it is capable of sensing bio-information, including electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, from the external auditory canal. For example, earphone sets that acquire a reference signal from the earlobe, earphones that acquire a reference signal and ground signal from other locations (other locations in the external auditory canal), or completely wireless earphones can be used. Furthermore, the EEG measurement device is not limited to earphone type; for example, it may be a headphone type with bio-electrodes attached to the earmuff portion, or it may be a device that attaches bio-electrodes directly to the head, or an existing device that is worn on the head to acquire EEG information.

[0011] In the example shown in Figure 1, the earphone set 10 acquires biometric information from the ear canal and transmits the biometric information to a communication terminal 300 or information processing device 500 via the network N. The network N includes wired or wireless networks, and short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth® may be used. In this embodiment, the information processing system 1 includes a converter 120 that connects the earphone set 10 and the communication terminal 300 via a wired connection.

[0012] Furthermore, the earphone set 10 may perform predetermined processing on the biometric information and transmit it to the communication terminal 300 and / or the information processing device 500. The information processing device 500 is, for example, a server. The communication terminal 300 is composed of an information processing device and is, for example, a mobile terminal (such as a smartphone), a computer, a tablet terminal, etc. The communication terminal 300 and / or the information processing device 500 may perform predetermined processing on the acquired biometric information. The predetermined processing performed by the earphone set 10, the communication terminal 300, or the information processing device 500 includes at least one of the following processes: A / D conversion, amplification, sampling, filtering, difference calculation, etc.

[0013] <Earphone set configuration> The earphone set 10 has a first ear tip 10R and a second ear tip 10L. Hereafter, R and L will be omitted when there is no need to distinguish between left and right.

[0014] Referring to FIG. 2, an example of the external shape of the earpiece and the arrangement pattern of each sensor will be described.

[0015] The first earpiece 10R includes a housing 21, an ear tip 22, and a wing 23. The housing 21 is a member having a cavity inside, and for example, a speaker and a first A / D conversion unit 275 are accommodated in this cavity portion. In addition, a terminal (not shown) for connecting to the converter 120 is provided outside the housing 21. The ear tip 22 has a portion that contacts the inner wall of the wearer's ear canal, and it may have any configuration as long as this contact portion properly contacts the ear canal. Also, it is preferable that the surface area of this contact portion is large. The wing 23 mainly functions to catch on the wearer's outer ear when the first earpiece 10R is worn, and supports the first earpiece 10R so that it does not fall from the wearer's concha.

[0016] Both the ear tip 22 and the wing 23 include a portion made of a conductive member. The conductive member is, for example, conductive rubber, and the conductive rubber may contain silver or silver chloride. The conductive member may also be a silicon material containing a metal-based filler. For example, by appropriately blending silver, copper, gold, aluminum, zinc, nickel, etc. as the metal-based filler into the silicon material, a highly conductive material can be created. Also, it is not necessary for all of the fillers contained to be silver or silver chloride, and it is sufficient if a part of the fillers is silver or silver chloride. Thereby, since the content rate of silver or silver chloride can be reduced, the hardness of the rubber can be lowered, and a conductive rubber with an appropriate hardness can be created.

[0017] By configuring as described above, the ear tip 22 and the wing 23 have conductivity. In the example shown in this embodiment, the ear tip 22 is used as the first main sensor 272, and the wing 23 is used as the second main sensor 273.

[0018] The second earpiece 10L has the same basic structure as the first earpiece 10R, except that the form suitable for insertion into the left and right ears is different. The housing of the second earpiece 10L may have conductivity similar to the ear tip 22 and the wing 23. In the second earpiece 10L according to this embodiment, the ear tip is used as the third main sensor 282, the wing is used as the reference sensor 283, and the housing is used as the ground sensor 284 (see Fig. 3). The positions of the five-pole sensors of the left and right earpieces shown in Fig. 3 are merely examples, and each may independently acquire biometric information, reference information, or ground potential information.

[0019] In other embodiments, the conductive material of the housing, the conductive material of the ear tip, and the conductive material of the wing may be the same or different from each other. Also, the conductivity of the ear tip may be made higher than the conductivity of the housing and the wing.

[0020] <Processing configuration of the earphone set> Subsequently, referring to Fig. 3, the processing configuration of the earphone set 10 will be described.

[0021] The first earpiece 10R has a first main sensor 272, a second main sensor 273, and a first A / D conversion unit 275.

[0022] The first main sensor 272 acquires the first biometric information of the user as an electrical signal (analog signal). The first main sensor 272 outputs the sensed first biometric information to the first A / D conversion unit 275. The first biometric information includes, for example, the brain wave information of the user.

[0023] The second main sensor 273 acquires the second biometric information of the user as an electrical signal (analog signal). The second main sensor 273 outputs the sensed second biometric information to the first A / D conversion unit 275. The second biometric information includes, for example, the brain wave information of the user.

[0024] The first A / D conversion unit 275 performs A / D conversion processing on the acquired first and second biological information. The first A / D conversion unit 275 also transmits each of the digital biological information after A / D conversion to the converter 120 via a wired connection.

[0025] The second earpiece 10L includes a third main sensor 282, a reference sensor 283, a ground sensor 284, and a second A / D conversion unit 285.

[0026] The third main sensor 282 acquires the user's third biological information as an electrical signal (analog signal). The third main sensor 282 outputs the sensed third biological information to the second A / D converter 285. The third biological information includes, for example, the user's brainwave information.

[0027] The reference sensor 283 is positioned to acquire the user's fourth biological information as an electrical signal (analog signal). The reference sensor 283 outputs the sensed fourth biological information to the second A / D converter 285. The fourth biological information includes, for example, the user's electroencephalogram (EEG) information (reference information).

[0028] The ground sensor 284 is a sensor that acquires ground potential information as an electrical signal (analog signal). The ground sensor 284 outputs the sensed ground potential information to the second A / D converter 285.

[0029] The second A / D conversion unit 285 performs A / D conversion processing on the acquired third biometric information, fourth biometric information, and ground potential information. The first A / D conversion unit 275 transmits the digital biometric information or ground potential information after A / D conversion to the converter 120 via a wired connection.

[0030] <Converter Configuration> Referring to Figure 4, the converter 120 will be described. The converter 120 has a main body 121. The main body 121 is provided with at least a cable 122 and a terminal 123. In the example shown in Figure 4, the main body 121 is box-shaped. The cable 122 extends outward from the main body 121. The cable 122 connects to, for example, an earphone set 10. The terminal 123 is formed on the outer part of the main body 121. In the example shown in Figure 4, the terminal 123 connects to a communication terminal 300 via a cable 150. The cable 150 is a separate component from the converter 120 and the communication terminal 300. The terminal 123 is, for example, USB®. The terminal 123 may be USB Type-C®. The terminal 123 may also include a terminal capable of signal communication and a terminal that receives power from the communication terminal 300.

[0031] The converter 120 may further have a cable 125 for connecting to the earphone set 10. The cable 125 extends outward from the main body 121, similar to the cable 122. On the main body 121, the cables 122 and 125 may be provided on a first surface 120a, and the terminal 123 may be provided on a second surface 120b facing the opposite direction from the first surface 120a.

[0032] The converter 120 has a circuit board (not shown) inside the main body 121. The circuit board is electrically connected to cable 122 and terminal 123. The circuit board is also electrically connected to cable 125. The circuit board includes a power supply unit. The power supply unit is powered by an external device, including a communication terminal 300. The circuit board can operate when a predetermined amount of power is supplied to the power supply unit. The operation of the circuit board may be controlled by a power button 127 formed on the surface of the main body 121.

[0033] The circuit board further includes a processing unit for processing biometric information. The processing unit receives biometric information from the earphone set 10 via cables 122 / 125. The processing unit converts the received biometric information into performance information. The performance information is, for example, MIDI® (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) data. The processing unit transmits the performance information to the communication terminal 300 via terminal 123. The specific processing method of the processing unit will be described later.

[0034] The circuit board may further include an audio processing unit. When the audio processing unit receives an audio signal from terminal 123, it outputs an audio signal from cable 125. As a result, sound is output from, for example, the speaker of the first earpiece 10R. The audio processing unit may further amplify or attenuate the received audio signal. This process is performed, for example, based on a volume button 129 formed on the surface of the main body 121. This allows the user to easily adjust the volume of the sound output from earpiece 10R, L.

[0035] In other embodiments, the converter 120 may have terminals for connecting to an electroencephalogram (EEG) measurement device (an example of a bio-information measurement device) including an earphone set 10, instead of the cables 122 and / or 125. In this case, the converter 120 may be connected to the earphone set 10 via these terminals and a separate cable. The converter 120 may also be connected to the earphone set 10 using only the cable 122. The shape of the main body 121 may be arbitrary, for example, columnar, plate-shaped, or spherical. Furthermore, there is no particular limit to the number of terminals on the converter 120 that can communicate with the EEG measurement device.

[0036] <Communication terminal configuration> Figure 5 is a block diagram showing an example of a communication terminal 300 according to this embodiment. The communication terminal 300 includes one or more processors (e.g., CPUs) 310, one or more network communication interfaces 320, memory 330, user interface 350, and one or more communication buses 370 for interconnecting these components.

[0037] The user interface 350 comprises a display 351 and an input device (such as a keyboard and / or mouse or other pointing device) 352. The user interface 350 may also be a touch panel.

[0038] The memory 330 is, for example, a high-speed random access memory such as DRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM, or other random access solid-state memory, and may also be a non-volatile memory such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, optical disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-state memory devices.

[0039] Another example of memory 330 is one or more storage devices located remotely from the processor 310. In one embodiment, memory 330 stores the following programs, modules, and data structures, or subsets thereof. Memory 330 may also be a computer-readable non-temporary storage medium.

[0040] One or more processors 310 read and execute a program from the memory 330 as needed. For example, one or more processors 310 may constitute an application control unit (hereinafter also referred to as the "application control unit") 312 by executing a program stored in the memory 330. This application control unit 312 is an application that processes each biological signal and, for example, includes the application control unit 312, an acquisition unit 313, a processing unit 315, and an output unit 316.

[0041] The acquisition unit 313 acquires the performance information transmitted from the converter 120.

[0042] The processing unit 315 performs predetermined processing on the performance information. For example, the processing unit 315 performs processing to convert the performance information into biometric information. The method for converting performance information into biometric information will be described later.

[0043] The processing unit 315 may, as a predetermined process, measure the noise level of each biological information. Generally, the noise level depends on the contact impedance of each sensor. The measurement of the noise level may be performed in parallel with the measurement of biological information in the earphone set 10. The processing unit 315 reads out reference information (hereinafter referred to as "reference information") that serves as an example (reference) of the biological information and measures the noise level from the difference between the reference information and the biological information. The reference information is prepared by pre-measuring clean electroencephalogram (EEG) information with little noise, and storing this EEG information as a reference signal in the memory 330. The processing unit 315 may read out the reference signal from the memory 330. The noise level may be calculated as a standard deviation. The noise level may also be estimated as an impedance value based on the standard deviation. This makes it easier for the user to understand the reliability of each acquired biological information by referring to the impedance value. The processing unit 315 may remove noise from the biological information based on the measured noise level. The biological information after noise removal may be subjected to predetermined processing as appropriate.

[0044] For example, the processing unit 315 may use the four values ​​other than the zero-crossing values, the sum of the power values, RMS (Root-Mean-Square), gradient, and kurtosis from the publicly known technology (SD Fickling, CC Liu, RCN D'Arcy, S. Ghosh Hajra and X. Song, "Good data? The EEG Quality Index for Automated Assessment of Signal Quality," 2019 IEEE 10th Annual Information Technology, Electronics and Mobile Communication Conference (IEMCON), Vancouver, BC, Canada, 2019, pp. 0219-0229, doi: 10.1109 / IEMCON.2019.8936246.), the sum of the power values, RMS (Root-Mean-Square), gradient, and kurtosis, compare them with an ideal electroencephalogram (reference signal), and calculate the noise level value using the calculation formula described in the above paper.

[0045] Figure 6 shows an example of cross-reference processing. The processing unit 315 may perform cross-reference processing using the first biological information, second biological information, and third biological information described above as main biological information, and the fourth biological information as common reference information for them. The cross-reference processing may include processes ch1, ch2, and ch3 that generate first cross-reference information, second cross-reference information, and third cross-reference information, which are difference information (potential difference) between the fourth biological information and the first biological information, second biological information, and third biological information, respectively.

[0046] Furthermore, the cross-reference processing may include a process to generate difference information between the first cross-reference information (ch1) and the third cross-reference information (ch3). Similarly, it may include a process to generate difference information between the second cross-reference information (ch2) and the third cross-reference information (ch3). This provides information indicating an increase in signal components and / or an increase in potential. It is known that in normal reference processing, at least six sensors (for example, three each for the left and right sides (main, reference, and ground)) are required to obtain similar information. The cross-reference processing described above can reduce the number of biosensors required compared to normal reference processing (from six poles to five poles). This further reduces costs and enables simpler electroencephalogram (EEG) measurement.

[0047] Returning to Figure 5, the output unit 316 outputs the results processed by the processing unit 315. For example, if the noise level is measured by the processing unit 315, the output unit 316 outputs the measurement result as image data to the display 351 or as audio data to the first earpiece 10R, etc.

[0048] <Method for processing biometric and performance information> Referring to Figure 7, the processing methods for biometric information and performance information in the converter 120 and communication terminal 300 will be described in detail. Let the biometric information be, for example, first biometric information. Figure 7 shows an overview of the series of processing related to biometric information and performance information.

[0049] As shown in Figure 7, after the earphone set 10 performs A / D conversion processing on the biometric information, the processing unit of the converter 120 receives the biometric information from the cable 122. Communication between the earphone set 10 and the processing unit of the converter 120 is, for example, SPI communication.

[0050] The processing unit of the converter 120 converts the received biometric information into performance information. The performance information is, for example, MIDI® data. The processing unit converts the biometric information into performance information in accordance with the format of the MIDI communication system exclusive message (hereinafter referred to as "SysEX").

[0051] In each performance information transmitted via SysEX, for example, the biometric information included in each performance information shall be 7 bits. The processing unit transmits each performance information via terminal 123. For example, the processing unit may transmit each performance information via terminal 123 in a wrapped state with F0 (exclusive status) and F7 (end of exclusive) in accordance with the SysEX format.

[0052] The acquisition unit 313 of the communication terminal 300 acquires each performance information. For example, the processing unit 315 of the communication terminal 300 removes the wrap-around from F0 and F7 from each piece of information acquired by the acquisition unit 313. The processing unit 315 then converts each piece of performance information obtained in this way into biometric information. The processing unit 315 may then perform the aforementioned predetermined processing (noise level measurement, cross-reference processing, etc.) on the biometric information obtained in this way.

[0053] The embodiments described above are provided to facilitate understanding of this disclosure and are not intended to limit it. The elements of the embodiments, as well as their arrangement, materials, conditions, shapes, and sizes, are not limited to those exemplified and can be modified as appropriate. Furthermore, configurations shown in different embodiments can be partially substituted or combined.

[0054] For example, in other embodiments, the number and arrangement of each sensor are not limited to those described above. For instance, the first earpiece 10R may be provided with a main sensor, a reference sensor, and a ground sensor, while the second earpiece 10L may be provided with two different main sensors. The second earpiece 10L may also include a sixth sensor.

[0055] The processing of the communication terminal 300 may also be performed by the information processing device 500. Furthermore, the processing of the communication terminal 300 may also be performed when the earphone set 10 and the communication terminal 300 are wirelessly connected. For example, the communication terminal 300 wirelessly connected to the earphone set 10 may perform the noise level measurement or cross-reference processing described above.

[0056] The predetermined processing of the processing unit 315 is not limited to the processing described above. For example, the predetermined processing may include inputting each piece of biometric information or one piece of biometric information generated by the processing described above into a trained emotion estimation model to estimate emotion. The trained emotion estimation model may use known techniques. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0057] 1…Information processing system, 10…Earphone set, 10L…Second ear tip, 10R…First ear tip, 21…Housing, 22…Ear tip, 23…Wing, 120…Converter, 120a…First surface, 120b…Second surface, 121…Main unit, 122…Cable, 123…Terminal, 125…Cable, 127…Power button, 129…Volume button, 150…Cable, 272…First main sensor, 273…Second main sensor, 275…First A / D conversion unit, 282... Third main sensor, 283... Reference sensor, 284... Ground sensor, 285... Second A / D conversion unit, 300... Communication terminal, 310... Processor, 312... Control unit, application control unit, 313... Acquisition unit, 315... Processing unit, 316... Output unit, 320... Network communication interface, 330... Memory, 350... User interface, 351... Display, 370... Communication bus, 500... Information processing unit, N... Network

Claims

1. A converter connected by wire between a biometric information measurement device that acquires biometric information and a communication terminal that processes the biometric information, A first cable or first terminal that can be connected to the aforementioned biological information measuring device, A second terminal that can be connected to the aforementioned communication terminal, The device comprises a power supply unit that is electrically connected to the first cable or the first terminal and the second terminal and receives power from an external device including the communication terminal, and a circuit board that includes a processing unit for processing the biological information, The aforementioned processing unit, Receiving the biological information from the first cable or the first terminal, Converting the aforementioned biometric information into performance information, A converter that transmits the performance information from the second terminal.

2. The converter according to claim 1, wherein the performance information is MIDI® data.

3. The device further comprises a third cable or third terminal for connecting the biological information measuring device and the substrate, The aforementioned substrate further includes an audio processing unit, The converter according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sound processing unit outputs the sound signal from the third cable or the third terminal when it receives the sound signal from the second terminal.

4. It has a box-like shape, The first cable or the first terminal and the third cable or the third terminal are provided on the same plane. The converter according to claim 3, wherein the second terminal is provided on a surface facing the opposite direction from the same surface.

5. A biological information measuring device according to claim 1, Includes earphones for acquiring the aforementioned biometric information, A first earpiece that is capable of communicating with the aforementioned communication terminal and is worn on one of the user's ears, It comprises a second earpiece that is capable of communicating with the aforementioned communication terminal and is worn on the user's other ear, The first earpiece is, A first sensor for acquiring first biological information, The system includes a second sensor that acquires second biological information at a different location from the first sensor, The aforementioned second earpiece is A third sensor for acquiring third biological information, A biological information measuring device comprising a fourth sensor for acquiring common reference information for the first to third biological information.

6. The first earpiece or the second earpiece is A biological information measuring device according to claim 5, further comprising a fifth sensor for acquiring ground potential information.

7. A communication terminal capable of communicating with the biological information measuring device described in claim 5 or 6, To acquire the first biological information, the second biological information, the third biological information, and the common reference information, The process involves generating first cross-reference information, second cross-reference information, and third cross-reference information, which are difference information between the aforementioned common reference information and the first biological information, second biological information, and third biological information, respectively. A communication terminal that performs the following actions.

8. A communication terminal according to claim 7, A communication terminal that generates difference information between the first cross-reference information and the third cross-reference information, and difference information between the second cross-reference information and the third cross-reference information.

9. A communication terminal according to claim 1, Receiving the aforementioned performance information, Converting the aforementioned performance information into the aforementioned biometric information, The noise level in the aforementioned biological information is measured and the following is performed: The noise level measurement described above is performed by Reading the reference information of the aforementioned biological information, To generate difference information between the aforementioned biological information and the aforementioned reference information, A communication terminal that includes estimating the noise level from the differential information or information obtained by converting the differential information.

10. The communication terminal according to claim 9, wherein the difference information is the standard deviation calculated from the difference between the biological information and the reference information.

11. The communication terminal according to claim 10, wherein the information obtained by converting the differential information is the contact impedance in the bio-information measuring device estimated based on the standard deviation.

12. A communication terminal according to any one of claims 9 to 11, which performs noise level measurement in parallel with the acquisition of biological information in the biological information measurement device.

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