Home monitoring system, home monitoring method, and home monitoring program

Abstract

To provide a home monitoring system that can monitor a person to be monitored, taking into account variations in a pattern of behavior of the person to be monitored over a predetermined period of time.SOLUTION: A home monitoring system includes: a behavior estimation unit that acquires electricity usage data relating to electricity usage in a home of a person to be monitored, and estimates a pattern of predetermined behavior in the home of the person to be monitored based on the electricity usage data; a behavior data acquisition unit that acquires the pattern of the predetermined behavior estimated by the behavior estimation unit as behavior data; a first significant difference determination unit which sets, as a group of first standard behavior data, a group of the behavior data for a predetermined monitoring period of the person to be monitored among behavior data previously acquired by the behavior data acquisition unit, and determines whether or not the group of the behavior data acquired by the behavior data acquisition unit for a predetermined monitoring period is statistically significantly different from the group of first standard behavior data; a determination result notification unit that notifies the determination result of the first significant difference determination unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 10

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a home monitoring system, a home monitoring method, and a home monitoring program, and in particular to a home monitoring system, a home monitoring method, and a home monitoring program that can acquire behavioral data based on the behavioral patterns of a person being monitored within the home, and determine whether or not there has been a change in the physical condition of the person being monitored from changes in the behavioral data. [Background technology]

[0002] According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's 2019 Comprehensive Survey on National Life, there were 25,584,000 households (49.4% of all households) with someone aged 65 or older. Of these, there were 7,369,000 "single-person households" (28.8% of households with an elderly person aged 65 or older) with only one person living alone.

[0003] In this situation, "elderly monitoring services" that aim to monitor the health of elderly people living alone and help them maintain healthy lifestyles are becoming more common. Patent Document 1 discloses a system for monitoring the life of a person being monitored, which prevents the person being monitored from developing illnesses based on data on the amount of power used in the person's living space. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2017-220047 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 focuses on the most frequent value of power usage over a three-month period and identifies the lifestyle of the person being watched over based on this frequent value. For example, the technology determines that the person being watched over will wake up around 5:00 a.m. by determining the time when power usage increases from a low level of nighttime power as the wake-up time (see Figure 4). Therefore, any fluctuations in wake-up time that occur over the three-month period are ignored, and the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 is unable to identify the actual lifestyle of the person being watched over.

[0006] Therefore, the present disclosure aims to provide a home monitoring system, a home monitoring method, and a home monitoring program that can monitor a person being monitored while taking into account changes in the behavioral patterns of the person being monitored over a specified period of time. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] That is, the home monitoring system according to the first aspect includes a behavior estimation unit that acquires electricity usage data related to the amount of electricity used within the home of the person being monitored and estimates a predetermined behavioral pattern of the person being monitored within the home based on the electricity usage data; a behavior data acquisition unit that acquires the predetermined behavioral pattern estimated by the behavior estimation unit as behavioral data; a first significant difference judgment unit that determines whether or not the group of behavioral data for the predetermined monitoring period acquired by the behavior data acquisition unit has a statistically significant difference from the first reference behavioral data group, from the behavioral data previously acquired by the behavior data acquisition unit.

[0008] In a second aspect, in the home monitoring system according to the first aspect, the home monitoring system further includes a second significant difference determination unit that determines whether the behavioral data acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit is included in a range determined by the standard deviation of the behavioral data for a first predetermined period different from the predetermined monitoring period, calculated based on the behavioral data acquired in advance by the behavioral data acquisition unit, and the moving average of the behavioral data for a second predetermined period different from the predetermined monitoring period. If the behavioral data acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit is included in the range, the second significant difference determination unit determines that the behavioral data is not significantly different from the moving average, and if the behavioral data acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit is not included in the range, the second significant difference determination unit determines that the behavioral data is significantly different from the moving average. The determination result notification unit may also notify the determination result of the second significant difference determination unit.

[0009] In a third aspect, in the home monitoring system according to the second aspect, the second significant difference determination unit may determine whether or not the behavioral data acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit is within the range from (AB) to (A+B), where A is the moving average and B is the standard deviation.

[0010] In a fourth aspect, in the home monitoring system relating to any one of the first to third aspects, the person being monitored carries a detector that detects the person being monitored's own vital signs, and the system further includes a vital sign data acquisition unit that acquires data related to the person being monitored's vital signs detected by the detector as vital sign data, and a vital sign judgment unit that judges whether the person being monitored's vital signs are normal based on the acquired vital sign data, and the judgment result notification unit may also notify the judgment result of the vital sign judgment unit.

[0011] As for a fifth aspect, in the home monitoring system according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the first significant difference judgment unit may make the judgment using a Mann-Whitney U test.

[0012] According to a sixth aspect, in the home monitoring system according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the predetermined behavior may include at least one of waking up, going to bed, sleeping, and excretion.

[0013] According to a seventh aspect, in the home monitoring system according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, the vital signs may include at least one of pulse rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and body temperature.

[0014] A home monitoring method according to an eighth aspect includes a computer executing a behavior estimation step of acquiring electricity usage data relating to electricity usage within the home of the person being monitored and estimating a predetermined behavioral pattern of the person being monitored within the home based on the electricity usage data; a behavior data acquisition step of acquiring the predetermined behavioral pattern estimated in the behavior estimation step as behavioral data; a first significant difference determination step of determining whether or not the group of behavioral data for the predetermined monitoring period acquired in the behavior data acquisition step has a statistically significant difference from the first reference behavioral data group, from the behavioral data acquired in advance in the behavior data acquisition step.

[0015] The home monitoring program of the ninth aspect causes a computer to realize the following: a behavior estimation function that acquires electricity usage data regarding the amount of electricity used by the person being monitored at home and estimates a predetermined behavioral pattern of the person being monitored at home based on the electricity usage data; a behavior data acquisition function that acquires the predetermined behavioral pattern estimated by the behavior estimation function as behavioral data; a first significance determination function that determines whether the group of behavioral data for a predetermined monitoring period of the person being monitored acquired by the behavior data acquisition function has a statistically significant difference from the first reference behavioral data group, from the behavioral data acquired in advance by the behavior data acquisition function. [Effects of the Invention]

[0016] The home monitoring system of the present disclosure includes a behavior estimation unit that acquires electricity usage data regarding electricity usage within the home of the person being monitored and estimates a predetermined behavioral pattern of the person being monitored within the home based on the electricity usage data; a behavior data acquisition unit that acquires the predetermined behavioral pattern estimated by the behavior estimation unit as behavioral data; a first significance determination unit that determines whether or not the group of behavioral data for the predetermined monitoring period acquired by the behavior data acquisition unit has a statistically significant difference from the first reference behavioral data group, which is a group of behavioral data previously acquired by the behavior data acquisition unit, and a determination result notification unit that notifies the determination result of the first significance determination unit.Therefore, the behavioral data for the predetermined monitoring period of the person being monitored is treated as a group consisting of multiple behavioral data bundled together, and behavioral fluctuations that occur during the predetermined monitoring period are reflected in the group of behavioral data, making it possible to monitor the person being monitored while taking into account fluctuations in the behavioral patterns of the person being monitored over the predetermined period. Similarly, the home monitoring method and home monitoring program can also monitor the person being monitored. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operational state of the home monitoring system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is an image diagram illustrating the home appliance separation technology used in a home monitoring system. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the appearance of a power sensor. [Figure 4] This is a diagram showing the appearance of the infrared temperature and humidity sensor. [Figure 5] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the installation position of an infrared, temperature, and humidity sensor. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the estimation result of the daily living activities of the person being watched over. [Figure 7] This is the display screen of a home information terminal that displays one month's worth of lifestyle behavior. [Figure 8]FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a message displayed on a display screen of a home information terminal. [Figure 9] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the physical configuration of a home monitoring system. [Figure 10] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the home monitoring system. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a setting screen of the home monitoring system. [Figure 12] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a home monitoring program according to the present embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0018] Hereinafter, the home monitoring system 10, the home monitoring method, and the home monitoring program according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0019] (Outline of the home monitoring system) The operation state of the home monitoring system 10 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a diagram for explaining the operation state of the home monitoring system 10 according to this embodiment.

[0020] The home monitoring system 10 is connected to the residence 11 of the person being monitored via a network 12 including the Internet, and to a home information terminal 13 for providing messages such as suggestions to the person being monitored. The home monitoring system 10 is used by a service provider, a local government, a family, or the like who monitors the person being monitored.

[0021] The monitored persons of the home monitoring system 10 are people who live alone and are not limited to a particular age or gender. The home monitoring system 10 monitors one or more monitored persons. In this embodiment, the monitored persons of the home monitoring system 10 are four, and FIG. 1 shows four residences 11 (11a, 11b, 11c, 11d) for the monitored persons, but this is not limited thereto, and there is no particular limit to the number of monitored persons, i.e., the number of residences 11, as long as it is within the range that the home monitoring system 10 can effectively monitor.

[0022] At least one home information terminal 13 is installed per residence 11, and displays messages such as suggestions from the home monitoring system 10 to the person being monitored. Home information terminal 13a is installed in residence 11a, home information terminal 13b is installed in residence 11b, home information terminal 13c is installed in residence 11c, and home information terminal 13d is installed in residence 11d.

[0023] The home information terminal 13 is a so-called information processing device, such as a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC), a notebook computer, a tablet PC, a smartphone, a mobile phone, etc. The home information terminal 13 performs two-way communication with the home monitoring system 10 via the network 12 connected by wireless communication or wired communication.

[0024] (About home appliance separation technology and daily activity estimation) Next, the home appliance separation technology used by the behavior estimation unit 30 of the home monitoring system 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 2 to Fig. 5. Fig. 2 is an image diagram for explaining the home appliance separation technology used in the home monitoring system 10, Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the appearance of the power sensor 23, Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the appearance of the infrared, temperature, and humidity sensor 24, and Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the installation position of the infrared, temperature, and humidity sensor 24.

[0025] Each residence 11 receives power supplied from an electric power company via a distribution board (switchboard) 20. The received power is divided by the distribution board 20 and supplied to various electrical appliances such as home appliances within the home.

[0026] A power sensor 23 is installed in the distribution board 20 of the residence 11, and this power sensor 23 detects the waveform of the current flowing through the main trunk of the distribution board 20 and transmits it as power waveform data 22 of the residence 11 to the home monitoring system 10 via the network 12.

[0027] The current flowing through the main trunk of the switchboard 20 is the sum of the currents supplied to the electrical appliances in the home. The power waveform data 22 detected and output by the power sensor 23 is a superposition of the current waveforms of the currents supplied to each electrical appliance. The home appliance separation technology separates the current waveforms of each electrical appliance superimposed on the power waveform data 22, and grasps the operating status of each electrical appliance based on the separated current waveforms.

[0028] 2, W(1) is the current waveform supplied to air conditioner 21a, W(2) is the current waveform supplied to refrigerator 21b, W(3) is the current waveform supplied to rice cooker 21c, W(4) is the current waveform supplied to microwave oven 21d, and W(5) is the current waveform supplied to the personal computer. Power waveform data 22 is formed by superimposing W(1), W(2), W(3), W(4), and W(5).

[0029] The electrical appliances in the residence 11 are used by the person being monitored, and the behavior of the person being monitored can be estimated by understanding the operating status of these electrical appliances. The home monitoring system 10 according to this embodiment estimates the daily activities of the person being monitored by analyzing power waveform data 22 transmitted from a power sensor 23 installed in a distribution board 20.

[0030] A more detailed description of how to estimate the daily activities of a person being watched over will be given with reference to Figures 4 and 5. Figure 4 is a diagram showing the appearance of the infrared, temperature and humidity sensor 24, and Figure 5 is a diagram showing an example of the installation position of the infrared, temperature and humidity sensor.

[0031] The infrared, temperature and humidity sensor 24 uses infrared rays to detect the approach of the person being monitored, and also detects the temperature and humidity in the vicinity. Figure 5 shows an example of the installation location of the infrared, temperature and humidity sensor 24. The specific installation locations are as shown in Table 1.

[0032] [Table 1] The installation location (1) is a toilet, and the infrared, temperature and humidity sensor 24 counts the number of times the monitored person defecates. If the presence of the monitored person is detected for a long period of time, the infrared, temperature and humidity sensor 24 will detect any abnormalities in the monitored person.

[0033] The installation location (2) is near the center of the living room, and the infrared temperature and humidity sensor 24 detects the temperature and humidity in the living room, detects the presence or absence of the person being watched, and detects abnormalities in the temperature and humidity in the room.

[0034] The installation location (3) is a passageway in the living room, that is, a route of daily life, and the infrared, temperature and humidity sensor 24 detects whether or not the person being watched is present.

[0035] The installation location (4) is the changing room, and the infrared temperature and humidity sensor 24 detects the number of times and duration of bathing of the person being monitored, and if the presence of the person being monitored is detected for a long period of time, it will detect an abnormality in the person being monitored.

[0036] The home monitoring system 10 estimates the daily activities of the person being monitored and visualizes the daily activities of the person being monitored by displaying the graph shown in Figure 6 on the home information terminal 13. Figure 6 is a diagram showing an example of the estimated results of the daily activities of the person being monitored, and shows the behavioral data of the person being monitored for a certain day (Figure 6 is for May 1, 2021).

[0037] The home monitoring system 10 accumulates behavioral data on the estimated daily activities of the person being monitored, and can display one month's worth of daily activities of the person being monitored on the home information terminal 13 in the format shown in Fig. 7. Fig. 7 shows the display screen of the home information terminal 13 displaying one month's worth of daily activities.

[0038] The marks shown in Figure 7 will be explained below. Door mark 41 is a mark that is placed on days when it is estimated that the door was opened and closed late at night (11pm to 4am). "Bath" mark 42 is a mark that is placed on days when it is estimated that a bath was taken for 15 minutes or more in water that was 40°C or higher. Toilet mark 43 is a mark that is placed on days when it is estimated that a toilet trip (excretion) occurred two or more times late at night (11pm to 4am). Bed mark 44 is a mark that is placed on days when it is estimated that the person slept for less than four hours.

[0039] By viewing the display screen shown in Fig. 7, the person being monitored can reflect on their lifestyle in May, and the home monitoring system 10 can encourage the person being monitored to improve their lifestyle. Furthermore, by displaying the message shown in Fig. 8 on the home information terminal 13, the home monitoring system 10 can provide the person being monitored with advice on improving their lifestyle and information based on medical knowledge, and suggest disease prevention and health promotion. Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a message displayed on the display screen of the home information terminal 13.

[0040] (Physical configuration of home monitoring system) The physical configuration of the home monitoring system 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 9. Fig. 9 is a block diagram showing an example of the physical configuration of the home monitoring system 10.

[0041] The home monitoring system 10 includes a read only memory (ROM) 10a, a random access memory (RAM) 10b, a storage unit 10c, a central processing unit (CPU) 10d, an input / output interface 10e, a communication interface 10f, etc. The home monitoring system 10 also includes an input device 10g and an output device 10h as its external devices.

[0042] The memory unit 10c can be used as a storage device, and stores a home monitoring program, which will be described later, various applications, and various data used by the applications, which are necessary for the home monitoring system 10 to operate.

[0043] The input / output interface 10e transmits and receives data to and from the input device 10g and the output device 10h. The input device 10g includes a keyboard 19, a mouse 14, a scanner 15, etc., and the output device 10h includes a monitor 16, a speaker 17, a printer 18, etc., which are so-called peripheral devices of the information processing device.

[0044] (Functional configuration of home monitoring system) The functional configuration of the home monitoring system 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 10. Fig. 10 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the home monitoring system.

[0045] The home monitoring system 10 stores a home monitoring program required for operation in the ROM 10a or the storage unit 10c, and loads the home monitoring program into a main memory configured by the RAM 10b, etc. The CPU 10d accesses the main memory into which the home monitoring program has been loaded and executes the home monitoring program.

[0046] By executing the home monitoring program, the home monitoring system 10 has functional units such as a behavior estimation unit 30, a behavior data acquisition unit 31, a first significant difference judgment unit 32, a second significant difference judgment unit 33, a vital sign data acquisition unit 34, a vital sign judgment unit 35, and a judgment result notification unit 36 in the CPU 10d.

[0047] The behavior estimation unit 30 acquires electricity usage data relating to the amount of electricity used in the home (residence 11) of the person being watched over, and estimates a predetermined behavior pattern of the person being watched over in the home (residence 11) based on the electricity usage data.

[0048] The electricity usage data refers to power waveform data 22, which is output data from power sensors 23. The behavior estimation unit 30 acquires the power waveform data 22 from the power sensors 23 installed in the switchboards 20 of the residences 11 (11a, 11b, 11c, 11d) of the people being watched over via the network 12. The method by which the behavior estimation unit 30 estimates the daily activities of the people being watched over at their residences 11 based on the acquired power waveform data 22 is as described above.

[0049] The behavioral data acquisition unit 31 acquires the predetermined behavioral pattern estimated by the behavior estimation unit 30 as behavioral data. The behavioral data acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit 31 is stored in the storage unit 10c. The predetermined behavior includes at least one of waking up, going to bed, sleeping, and excretion.

[0050] In this embodiment, the predetermined behaviors are sleeping (from going to bed the previous day until waking up), bathing, using the toilet (excretion), watching television, operating a personal computer, and using an air conditioner (see FIG. 6).

[0051] The pattern of a predetermined behavior refers to the time when the predetermined behavior was performed. The behavior data refers to data in which the time when each predetermined behavior was performed is recorded for each day.

[0052] The behavioral data of this embodiment is as shown in Figure 6. That is, the behavioral data of the person being watched over on May 1, 2021 is as follows: wake-up at 7:00, bedtime at 22:00, bathing from 20:00 to 20:30, toilet (excretion) at 7:15, 12:15, 19:00, and 21:30, television viewing from 9:00 to 10:00 and 18:00 to 21:00, computer use from 10:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 17:00, and air conditioner use from 10:00 to 17:00.

[0053] The first significant difference determination unit 32 determines whether or not the group of behavioral data for the specified monitoring period of the person being watched acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit 31 has a statistically significant difference from the first reference behavioral data group, which is a group of behavioral data for the specified monitoring period of the person being watched from among the behavioral data acquired in advance by the behavioral data acquisition unit 31. The first significant difference judgment unit 32 makes the judgment using the Mann-Whitney U test.

[0054] The first significant difference determination unit 32 determines a group of behavioral data of the person being watched over for a predetermined monitoring period from among the behavioral data acquired in advance and stored in the storage unit 10c as a first reference behavioral data group. The predetermined monitoring period refers to the period of the group of behavioral data determined by the first significant difference determination unit 32, and refers to the long-term observation period shown in Fig. 11. Fig. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a setting screen for the home watching system 10, which is the display screen of the monitor 16.

[0055] The predetermined monitoring period can be selectively set on the setting screen of the home monitoring system 10 shown in Fig. 11. For example, one week, 30 days, or 60 days can be selected, and in this embodiment, one week is selected. The cursor 40 of the mouse 14 is used for selection.

[0056] The first significant difference determination unit 32 determines whether there is a significant difference between one week's worth of behavioral data (first reference behavioral data group) acquired in advance and the most recent one week's worth of behavioral data (predetermined monitoring period) acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit 31.

[0057] The first reference behavioral data group can be intentionally determined by the person being watched over. For example, behavioral data for one week during a period when the person being watched over was in good physical condition can be selected as the first reference behavioral data group. In this case, if the first significant difference determination unit 32 determines that the behavioral data for the most recent week acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit 31 has a significant difference from the first reference behavioral data group, it can be determined that the behavioral data for the most recent week indicates that the person's physical condition has deteriorated.

[0058] Conversely, if the behavioral data for the most recent week acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit 31 is determined by the first significant difference determination unit 32 to have no significant difference from the first reference behavioral data group, it can be determined that the behavioral data for the most recent week indicates good physical condition.

[0059] On the other hand, the behavioral data for one week during which the person being watched over was in poor health can also be selected as the first reference behavioral data group. In this case, if the behavioral data for the most recent week acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit 31 is determined by the first significant difference determination unit 32 to have a significant difference from the first reference behavioral data group, it can be determined that the behavioral data for the most recent week indicates that the person's health has improved.

[0060] Conversely, if the behavioral data for the most recent week acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit 31 is determined by the first significant difference determination unit 32 to have no significant difference from the first reference behavioral data group, it can be determined that the behavioral data for the most recent week indicates poor physical condition.

[0061] The first significant difference judgment unit 32 uses the Mann-Whitney U test for its judgment. The Mann-Whitney U test can be used regardless of the data distribution form, making it suitable for judging behavioral data that does not show normality. Furthermore, even if the two groups being compared contain outliers on one side, the Mann-Whitney U test converts the values of the two groups to be compared into ranks for comparison, so the comparison can be made without being affected by the outliers.

[0062] The second significant difference determination unit 33 determines whether the behavioral data acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit 31 is included in a range determined by the standard deviation of the behavioral data for a first predetermined period different from the specified monitoring period and the moving average of the behavioral data for a second predetermined period different from the specified monitoring period, which are calculated based on the behavioral data previously acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit 31.

[0063] In this case, if the behavioral data acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit 31 is included in the range, the second significant difference judgment unit 33 judges that the behavioral data is not significantly different from the moving average, and if the behavioral data acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit 31 is not included in the range, the second significant difference judgment unit 33 judges that the behavioral data is significantly different from the moving average.

[0064] The second significant difference determination unit 33 determines whether the behavioral data acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit 31 is within the range from (AB) to (A+B), where A is the moving average and B is the standard deviation.

[0065] In this case, when the behavioral data acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit 31 is within the range from (AB) to (A+B), the second significant difference determination unit 33 determines that the behavioral data does not have a significant difference with respect to the moving average. When the behavioral data acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit 31 is not within the range from (AB) to (A+B), the second significant difference determination unit 33 determines that the behavioral data has a significant difference with respect to the moving average.

[0066] The first predetermined period is the period of behavioral data used to calculate the standard deviation, and therefore the standard deviation is calculated based on the behavioral data from the first predetermined period.

[0067] The first predetermined period can be selectively set from the setting screen of the home monitoring system 10 shown in Fig. 11, and can be selected from, for example, 90 days, 120 days, or 180 days, and in this embodiment, 90 days is selected. The cursor 40 of the mouse 14 is used for selection.

[0068] The second predetermined period is a period of behavioral data for calculating the moving average. Therefore, the moving average is calculated based on the behavioral data for the most recent second predetermined period among the behavioral data acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit 31.

[0069] The second predetermined period can be selectively set from the setting screen of the home monitoring system 10 shown in Fig. 11, and can be selected from, for example, 3 days, 5 days, or 1 week, and in this embodiment, 5 days is selected. The cursor 40 of the mouse 14 is used for selection.

[0070] The person being watched over carries a detector that detects the person being watched over's own vital signs, and the vital sign data acquisition unit 34 acquires data relating to the vital signs of the person being watched over detected by the detector as vital sign data. Vital signs include pulse rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and temperature.

[0071] A vital sign detector is a smartwatch equipped with communication functions that can measure, for example, body temperature, pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate, etc. When the person being monitored wears the smartwatch, the smartwatch can detect their own vital signs.

[0072] The vital sign data acquisition unit 34 acquires vital sign data via the network 12 from a detector that detects vital signs.

[0073] The vital sign determination unit 35 determines whether the vital signs of the person being watched over are normal or not based on the acquired vital sign data. That is, the vital sign determination unit 35 determines whether the body temperature, pulse rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, etc. of the person being watched over are abnormal values based on the vital sign data.

[0074] The home monitoring system 10 can acquire vital sign data in addition to the estimated daily activities of the person being monitored, so that the person being monitored can be monitored after having a more accurate understanding of their health condition.

[0075] The determination result notification section 36 notifies the home information terminal 13 of the determination results of the first significant difference determination section 32, the second significant difference determination section 33, and the vital sign determination section 35 via the network 12.

[0076] Next, the home monitoring method according to this embodiment will be described together with the home monitoring program with reference to Fig. 12. Fig. 12 is a flowchart showing the home monitoring program according to this embodiment.

[0077] As shown in Figure 12, the home monitoring program includes a behavior estimation step S30, a behavior data acquisition step S31, a first significant difference determination step S32, a second significant difference determination step S33, a vital sign acquisition step S34, a vital sign determination step S35, and a determination result notification step S36.

[0078] The home monitoring system 10 loads the home monitoring program stored in the ROM 10a or the storage unit 10c into the main memory, and executes the home monitoring program by the CPU 10d.

[0079] The home monitoring program enables the CPU 10d of the home monitoring system 10 to realize functions such as a behavior estimation function, a behavior data acquisition function, a first significant difference determination function, a second significant difference determination function, a vital sign acquisition function, a vital sign determination function, and a determination result notification function.

[0080] Although the example has been given in which these functions are processed in the order shown in the flowchart of FIG. 12, this is not limiting, and the home monitoring program may be executed by appropriately changing the order of these functions.

[0081] Note that the above-mentioned functions overlap with the explanations of the behavior estimation unit 30, behavior data acquisition unit 31, first significant difference judgment unit 32, second significant difference judgment unit 33, vital sign data acquisition unit 34, vital sign judgment unit 35, and judgment result notification unit 36 of the aforementioned home monitoring system 10, so detailed explanations thereof will be omitted.

[0082] The behavior estimation function acquires electricity usage data regarding the amount of electricity used within the home (residence 11) of the person being monitored, and estimates a predetermined behavior pattern of the person being monitored within the home (residence 11) based on the electricity usage data (S30: behavior estimation step).

[0083] The behavioral data acquisition function acquires a predetermined behavior pattern estimated by the behavior estimation unit 30 as behavioral data (S31: behavioral data acquisition step).

[0084] The first significant difference determination function defines a group of behavioral data of the person being monitored for a predetermined period of time as a first reference behavioral data group from among the behavioral data previously acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit 31, and determines whether the group of behavioral data for the predetermined period of time acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit has a statistically significant difference from the first reference behavioral data group (S32: first significant difference determination step).

[0085] The second significant difference determination function determines whether the behavioral data acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit 31 is included in a range determined by the standard deviation of the behavioral data for a first predetermined period different from the specified monitoring period, calculated based on the behavioral data previously acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit 31, and the moving average of the behavioral data for a second predetermined period different from the specified monitoring period (S33: second significant difference determination step).

[0086] The vital sign acquisition function involves the person being watched carrying a detector that detects the person's own vital signs, and acquiring data on the person's vital signs detected by the detector as vital sign data (S34: vital sign acquisition step).

[0087] The vital sign determination function determines whether or not the vital signs of the person being watched over are normal based on the acquired vital sign data (S35: vital sign determination step).

[0088] The determination result notification function notifies the home information terminal 13 of the determination results of the first significant difference determination section 32, the second significant difference determination section 33, and the vital sign determination section 35 via the network 12 (S36: determination result notification step).

[0089] According to the home monitoring system 10 of this embodiment, the first significant difference judgment unit 32 treats the behavioral data acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit 31 as a group of behavioral data, and therefore can determine whether or not a change has occurred within the group of behavioral data, and can determine whether or not a change has occurred in the daily behavior of the person being monitored.

[0090] Furthermore, according to the home monitoring system 10 of this embodiment, whether or not there has been a change in the daily activities of the person being monitored is determined based on behavioral data relating to different lengths of time, so that, for example, it becomes possible to detect changes in symptoms that are difficult to detect in a short period of time based on long-term behavioral data.

[0091] Furthermore, according to the home monitoring system 10 of this embodiment, the activity estimation unit 30 can identify the living activities of the person being watched over, so that it is possible to identify the living activities that have changed the most from among a plurality of living activities.

[0092] Furthermore, according to the home monitoring system 10 of this embodiment, the second significant difference judgment unit 33 takes into account the standard deviation to determine whether there is a significant difference between the behavioral data acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit 31 and the moving average, so that comparison with the moving average can be made while taking into account the variability of the behavioral data.

[0093] The present disclosure is not limited to the home monitoring system 10, home monitoring method, and home monitoring program according to the above-described embodiments, and can be implemented in various other modified or applied examples as long as they do not deviate from the gist of the present disclosure as set forth in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0094] 10 Home monitoring system 10a Read Only Memory (ROM) 10b Random Access Memory (RAM) 10c storage section 10d Central Processing Unit (CPU) 10e Input / Output Interface 10f Communication Interface 10g input device 10h output device 11. Housing 11a Housing 11b Residence 11c Residence 11d. Housing 12 Network 13 Home information terminals 13a Home information terminal 13b Home Information Terminal 13c Home Information Terminal 13d Home Information Terminal 14 Mouse 15. Scanner 16 monitors 17 Speaker 18 Printers 19 keyboards 20 Distribution board (distribution board) 21 Home appliances 21a Home appliances a 21b Home appliances b 21c home appliances c 21d Home appliances d 21e Home appliances e 22 Power waveform data 23 Power Sensor 24 Infrared temperature and humidity sensor 25 Toilet 26 power outlet 30 Behavior estimation section 31 Behavioral data acquisition unit 32 First significant difference determination section 33 Second significant difference determination section 34 Vital Sign Acquisition Department 35 Vital Signs Assessment Unit 36 Judgment result notification section 40 Cursor 41 Door Mark 42 Yu mark 43 Toilet sign 44 Bed Mark

Claims

1. a behavior estimation unit that acquires electricity usage data related to the amount of electricity used in the home of the person being watched over, and estimates a predetermined behavior pattern of the person being watched over in the home based on the electricity usage data; a behavior data acquisition unit that acquires the predetermined behavior pattern estimated by the behavior estimation unit as behavior data; a first significant difference determination unit that determines whether or not the group of behavioral data acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit during the predetermined period of time while the person being watched over is a first reference behavioral data group, and whether or not the group of behavioral data acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit during the predetermined period of time while the person being watched over has a statistically significant difference from the first reference behavioral data group; a determination result notifying unit that notifies the determination result of the first significant difference determining unit; a second significant difference determination unit that determines whether the behavioral data acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit is included in a range determined by a standard deviation of the behavioral data for a first predetermined period different from the predetermined monitoring period and a moving average of the behavioral data for a second predetermined period different from the predetermined monitoring period, the standard deviation being calculated based on the behavioral data acquired in advance by the behavioral data acquisition unit; Equipped with The second significant difference determination unit When the behavioral data acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit is included in the range, the behavioral data is determined to have no significant difference with respect to the moving average; If the behavioral data acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit is not included in the range, the behavioral data is determined to have a significant difference with respect to the moving average; The home monitoring system is characterized in that the judgment result notification unit also notifies the judgment result of the second significant difference judgment unit.

2. The home monitoring system of claim 1, characterized in that the second significant difference judgment unit determines whether the behavioral data acquired by the behavioral data acquisition unit is within the range of (A-B) to (A+B) when the moving average is A and the standard deviation is B.

3. The person being watched over carries a detector for detecting the person's own vital signs, a vital sign data acquisition unit that acquires data related to the vital signs of the person being watched over detected by the detector as vital sign data; a vital sign determination unit that determines whether the vital sign of the person being watched over is normal or not based on the acquired vital sign data; Furthermore, The home monitoring system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the determination result notification unit also notifies the user of the determination result of the vital sign determination unit.

4. 4. The home monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the first significant difference determination unit makes the determination using a Mann-Whitney U test.

5. 5. The home monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined behavior includes at least one of waking up, going to bed, sleeping, and excretion.

6. The home monitoring system according to claim 3, wherein the vital signs include at least one of pulse rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and body temperature.

7. The computer a behavior estimation step of acquiring electricity usage data relating to electricity usage in the home of the person being watched over, and estimating a predetermined behavior pattern of the person being watched over in the home based on the electricity usage data; a behavior data acquisition step of acquiring the predetermined behavior pattern estimated in the behavior estimation step as behavior data; a first significant difference determination step of determining whether or not the group of behavioral data for the predetermined period of time that was acquired in the behavioral data acquisition step has a statistically significant difference from the first reference behavioral data group, the group of behavioral data for the predetermined period of time that was acquired in the behavioral data acquisition step being a first reference behavioral data group; a determination result notification step of notifying the determination result in the first significant difference determination step; a second significant difference determination step of determining whether or not the behavioral data acquired in the behavioral data acquisition step is included in a range determined by a standard deviation of the behavioral data for a first predetermined period different from the predetermined monitoring period and a moving average of the behavioral data for a second predetermined period different from the predetermined monitoring period, the standard deviation being calculated based on the behavioral data acquired in advance in the behavioral data acquisition step; Run The second significant difference determination step includes: If the behavioral data acquired by the behavioral data acquisition step is included in the range, it is determined that the behavioral data does not have a significant difference with respect to the moving average; If the behavioral data acquired by the behavioral data acquisition step is not included in the range, it is determined that the behavioral data has a significant difference with respect to the moving average; The home monitoring method is characterized in that the judgment result notification step also notifies the judgment result of the second significant difference judgment step.

8. On the computer, a behavior estimation function that acquires electricity usage data related to the amount of electricity used in the home of the person being watched over, and estimates a predetermined behavior pattern of the person being watched over in the home based on the electricity usage data; a behavior data acquisition function that acquires the predetermined behavior pattern estimated by the behavior estimation function as behavior data; a first significant difference determination function that defines a group of behavioral data of the watching target during a predetermined watching period among the behavioral data acquired in advance by the behavioral data acquisition function as a first reference behavioral data group, and determines whether or not the group of behavioral data of the watching target during the predetermined watching period acquired by the behavioral data acquisition function has a statistically significant difference from the first reference behavioral data group; a determination result notification function that notifies the result of the determination by the first significant difference determination function; a second significant difference determination function that determines whether or not the behavioral data acquired by the behavioral data acquisition function is included in a range determined by a standard deviation of the behavioral data for a first predetermined period different from the predetermined monitoring period, the standard deviation being calculated based on the behavioral data acquired in advance by the behavioral data acquisition function, and a moving average of the behavioral data for a second predetermined period different from the predetermined monitoring period; Realize this, The second significant difference determination function is When the behavioral data acquired by the behavioral data acquisition function is included in the range, the behavioral data is determined to have no significant difference with respect to the moving average; If the behavioral data acquired by the behavioral data acquisition function is not included in the range, the behavioral data is determined to have a significant difference with respect to the moving average; A home monitoring program characterized in that the judgment result notification function also notifies the judgment result of the second significant difference judgment function.

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