Information processing device

Abstract

To improve the degree of certainty of acquiring information regarding a physical activity of a user.SOLUTION: An information processing device comprises a communication unit and a control unit. The communication unit communicates with a terminal device used by a user. The control unit stores information on an event indicative of an action of the user and a life log indicative of the activity history of the body of the user in the event in association with each other in a storage unit, and when the life log corresponding to a first event cannot be acquired, complements the life log of the first event using the life log associated with a second event similar to the first event.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, a technique for acquiring information indicating a user's physical activity has been known. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for detecting changes in the behavior history of a resident in a day using a power sensor or the like provided in a house.

Prior Art Document

Patent Document

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] There is room for improvement in the accuracy of acquiring information indicating a user's physical activity.

[0005] In view of such circumstances, the present disclosure aims to improve the accuracy of acquiring information indicating a user's physical activity.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] An information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a storage unit, a communication unit that communicates with a terminal device used by a user, and stores in the storage unit by associating information on an event indicating the user's behavior and a life log indicating the activity history of the user's body during the event. When the life log corresponding to the first event cannot be acquired, a control unit that complements the life log of the first event using the life log associated with the second event similar to the first event.

Effects of the Invention

[0007] The information processing device and other devices disclosed herein will enable improved accuracy in acquiring information indicating the user's physical activity. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] This is a diagram showing the configuration of an information processing system. [Figure 2] This is a flowchart showing the operation of an information processing device. [Figure 3] This is a diagram used to explain event history information. [Figure 4] This is a flowchart showing the operation of an information processing device. [Figure 5] This is a diagram used to explain event history information. [Figure 6] This diagram illustrates the categories of event history information. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] (First Embodiment) Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating an example configuration of the information processing system 1 according to this embodiment. The information processing system 1 comprises an information processing device 10 and a terminal device 20. The information processing device 10 and the terminal device 20 are connected to a network 30, including, for example, the Internet and a mobile communication network.

[0010] The information processing device 10 is installed in a facility such as a data center. The information processing device 10 is, for example, a server belonging to a cloud computing system or other computing system.

[0011] The terminal device 20 is a mobile device held by the user, such as a mobile phone, smartphone, or tablet. The terminal device 20 has a function to measure and record the user's life log, such as a pedometer function.

[0012] Network 30 includes the Internet, at least one WAN (Wide Area Network), at least one MAN (Metropolitan Area Network), or a combination thereof. Network 30 may also include at least one wireless network, at least one optical network, or a combination thereof. The wireless network is, for example, an ad hoc network, a cellular network, a wireless LAN (Local Area Network), a satellite communication network, or a terrestrial microwave network.

[0013] Information processing system 1 assists in acquiring the user's life log. The life log is information that shows the user's physical activity history, including steps taken, walking distance, calories burned, sleep time, meal times, etc. The life log is measured by the user's terminal device 20. Information processing device 10 receives information indicating the life log measured from the terminal device 20.

[0014] The information processing device 10 comprises a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, and a communication unit 13. The control unit 11 stores information about events indicating the user's actions and the life logs during those events in the storage unit 12, associating them with each other. When the information processing device 10 cannot obtain a life log corresponding to a first event, it supplements the life log of the first event using a life log associated with a second event similar to the first event. According to this embodiment, even if a life log could not be measured because the user forgot to carry the terminal device 20, the information processing device 10 can select a similar event from past events and supplement the life log with the life log associated with the selected event. The life log corresponding to a similar event has a high probability of being similar to the measured life log. Therefore, it is possible to improve the accuracy of obtaining information indicating the user's physical activity.

[0015] <Example configuration of information processing device 10> The information processing device 10 comprises a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, and a communication unit 13.

[0016] The control unit 11 includes at least one processor, at least one dedicated circuit, or a combination thereof. The processor is a general-purpose processor such as a CPU (central processing unit) or a GPU (graphics processing unit), or a dedicated processor specialized for specific processing. The dedicated circuit is, for example, an FPGA (field-programmable gate array) or an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit). While controlling each part of the information processing device 10, the control unit 11 executes processing related to the operation of the information processing device 10.

[0017] The storage unit 12 includes at least one semiconductor memory, at least one magnetic memory, at least one optical memory, or a combination of at least two of these. The semiconductor memory is, for example, a RAM (random access memory) or a ROM (read only memory). The RAM is, for example, a SRAM (static random access memory) or a DRAM (dynamic random access memory). The ROM is, for example, an EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read only memory). The storage unit 12 functions as, for example, a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, or a cache memory. In the storage unit 12, any information used for the operation of the information processing device 10, control and processing programs, etc., and information obtained by the operation of the information processing device 10 are stored.

[0018] The communication unit 13 includes at least one communication interface. The communication interface includes, for example, a LAN interface. The communication interface is LTE (Long Term Evolution), 4G (4th Generation), or 5G (5th It may include an interface compatible with mobile communication standards such as Generation). The communication unit 13 receives data used in the operation of the information processing device 10 and also transmits data obtained by the operation of the information processing device 10.

[0019] <Configuration example of terminal device 20>

[0020] The terminal device 20 includes a control unit 21, a storage unit 22, a communication unit 23, an input / output unit 24, and a sensor unit 25.

[0021] The control unit 21 includes at least one processor such as a CPU or MPU (Micro Processing Unit), at least one dedicated circuit, or a combination thereof. The processor is a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor specialized for specific processing. The dedicated circuit is, for example, an FPGA or an ASIC. The control unit 11 executes processes related to the operation of the information processing device 10 while controlling each part of the information processing device 10.

[0022] The storage unit 22 includes at least one semiconductor memory, at least one magnetic memory, at least one optical memory, or a combination of at least two of these. The semiconductor memory is, for example, a RAM or a ROM. The RAM is, for example, a SRAM or a DRAM. The ROM is, for example, an EEPROM. The storage unit 32 functions as, for example, a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, or a cache memory. The storage unit 22 stores any information used in the operation of the terminal device 20, control / processing programs, etc., and information obtained by the operation of the terminal device 20.

[0023] The communication unit 23 includes at least one communication interface. The communication interface includes, for example, an interface compatible with mobile communication standards such as a LAN interface, LTE (Long Term Evolution), 4G (4th generation), or 5G (5th generation). The communication unit 23 receives data used in the operation of the terminal device 20 and also transmits data obtained by the operation of the terminal device 20.

[0024] The input / output unit 24 includes at least one input / output interface. The input / output interface includes a touchscreen integrated with the display. The input / output unit 24 accepts operations to input information used for the operation of the terminal device 20 and outputs information obtained through the operation of the terminal device 20. Instead of being provided in the terminal device 20, the input / output unit 24 may be connected to the terminal device 20 as an external input device. Any connection method can be used, such as USB, HDMI®, or Bluetooth®. The input / output unit 24 may not be integrated but consist of separate input and output units. In this case, the input unit includes at least one input interface, such as a physical key, a capacitive key, a pointing device, or a microphone. The output unit includes at least one output interface, such as a display or a speaker.

[0025] The sensor unit 25 includes sensors that detect the state of the terminal device 20. These sensors include an accelerometer, a gyroscope, etc. The sensor unit 25 sends the detected data to the control unit 21.

[0026] The control unit 21 processes the data detected by the sensor unit 25, for example, using an arbitrary algorithm to identify the user's walking motion and stores the number of steps in the storage unit 22.

[0027] <Example of program structure> The functions of the information processing device 10 or terminal device 20 are realized by executing the program according to this embodiment in the control unit 11 or control unit 21 or a corresponding processor. The program is a program that causes the computer to function as the information processing device 10 or terminal device 20. The program can be stored in a non-temporary computer-readable medium such as ROM. The computer-readable medium may include a magnetic recording device, an optical disc, or a magneto-optical recording medium. The program may be distributed via a portable medium or distributed via a network from a server or the like. Alternatively, the program may be stored in a server or the like and executed by a so-called ASP (application service provider) type service, in which the functions are realized by execution instructions from the information processing device 10 and acquisition of results.

[0028] <Example of operation of the information processing device 10> Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation procedure of the information processing device 10. The procedure in Figure 2 is related to the information processing performed by the control unit 11 of the information processing device 10.

[0029] In step S1, the control unit 11 creates event history information associating user events with life logs and stores it in the storage unit 12. Event history information is created, for example, every day. The control unit 11 obtains information about the day's events entered by the user into the terminal device 20 from the terminal device 20. Events are, for example, information indicating a schedule. Alternatively, the control unit 11 may obtain information indicating a schedule from another server device where the user has registered the schedule. The control unit 11 also obtains information from the terminal device 20 that shows life logs, i.e., the number of steps taken, measured during the time period of each schedule. Events may be entered by the user each time, or they may be entered once and repeated. As illustrated in Figure 3, the event history information T1 associates four events from different time periods of the day—"arriving at work," "visiting the company," "leaving work," and "ABC Yoga School"—with their respective life logs, i.e., the number of steps taken. In this example, the life log for the event "ABC Yoga School" is missing.

[0030] In step S2, the control unit 11 determines whether there are any events in the event history information for which life logs are missing. If there are no missing events, the control unit 11 returns to step S1; if there are missing events, the control unit 11 proceeds to step S3. In this example, the life log for the event "ABC Yoga School" is missing, so the control unit 11 proceeds to step S3.

[0031] In step S3, the control unit 11 identifies the event with missing lifelog data as the first event. In this example, the control unit 11 identifies the event "ABC Yoga School" with missing lifelog data as the first event from the event history information in Table 1.

[0032] In step S4, the control unit 11 acquires the user's past event history information. As illustrated in Figure 3, the past event history information T2 is one in which there is no first event, meaning the life log is associated with all events of the day. In this example, the control unit 11 acquires the past event history information T2 by reading it from the memory unit 12, but it may also acquire it by receiving the past event history information T2 from the user's terminal device 20. The past event history information T2 associates the number of steps for four events during a predetermined time period of the day: "going to work," "visiting the company," "leaving work," "gym X," "shopping at store Y," and "running along the river Z."

[0033] In step S5, the control unit 11 associates information indicating the category of each event with each event and stores it in the memory unit 12. It then selects a past event that shares a category with the category of the first event as the second event. This information may be pre-set by the user for each event, or it may be assigned according to any natural language processing technique. The categories may be pre-set and stored in the memory unit 12. For example, events with information such as "gym," "running," and "yoga school" may be associated with the "exercise" category and classified, while events with information such as "meeting" and "client visit" may be associated with the "work" category and classified. In this example, the control unit 11 applies a natural language processing algorithm to the "ABC Yoga School" event and, based on the assigned information "yoga school," classifies the event into the "exercise" category.

[0034] In this example, the control unit 11 identifies the event shown in the past event history information as the second event, which is in the same category as the first event and whose time slot is closest to that of the first event. Let's assume that among the events in the past event history information T2, the events classified in the same "exercise" category as the first event "ABC Yoga School" are "X Gym" and "Z Riverside Running". Of these, the control unit 11 identifies "Gym" as the second event because its time slot is closer to that of "Yoga School," from 18:30 to 20:00. However, the control unit 11 may also acquire location information indicating the location of the first event and past events, and select a past event as the second event if it meets any of the following conditions, such as the similarity of the location information. In this case, the control unit 11 may acquire the location information from the map server based on the facility name included in the event.

[0035] In step S6, the control unit 11 supplements the life log of the first event with past life logs associated with past events identified in step S4. In this example, the life log of "ABC Yoga School" is supplemented with the value of 2000 steps, which is a life log associated with the event "X Gym". Figure 3 shows the supplemented event history information T3. The control unit 11 stores the supplemented event history information in the storage unit 12. The control unit 11 may also transmit the supplemented event history information to the terminal device 20. After that, the processing of the control unit 11 ends.

[0036] According to this embodiment, even if all life logs for a certain time period are missing, past events in the same category as the events in that time period can be automatically selected and the life logs of those past events can be used to supplement the missing data. Compared to using life logs from events in completely different categories, it is possible to select events that are more likely to have similar life logs, thereby improving the accuracy of obtaining information indicating the user's physical activity.

[0037] (Second Embodiment) In the second embodiment, the control unit 11 supplements the event history information with the cumulative total of the day's life logs, such as the total number of steps taken in a day, if all events on the target day indicated by the event history information are first events, that is, if all life logs for a day are missing.

[0038] The configuration of the information processing system 1 and the configuration of each device in this modified example are the same as in the first embodiment described above, so their explanation will be omitted.

[0039] Figure 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation procedure of the information processing device 10 according to the second embodiment. The procedure in Figure 4 is the procedure related to information processing executed by the control unit 11 of the information processing device 10. Steps S21, S23, and S27-S31 in Figure 4 are the same as steps S1, S4, and S2-S6 in Figure 2, respectively, so their explanation is omitted.

[0040] In step S22, the control unit 11 determines whether lifelogs are missing for all events in the event history information. If it determines that lifelogs are missing for all events, the control unit 11 proceeds to step S23. If it determines that lifelogs are missing for only some events, the control unit 11 proceeds to step S27. In the example of event history information T4 in Figure 5, in step S23, the control unit 11 determines that lifelogs are missing for all events and identifies "Clock in," "Visit company," and "Clock out" as a first event group having multiple first events. The control unit 11 then proceeds to step S24.

[0041] In step S24, the control unit 11 associates information indicating the category of each event in the first event group with the category of that event and stores it in the storage unit 12. It then selects past event groups that have categories in common with the categories of each event in the first event group as a second event group having multiple second events. For example, similar to the first embodiment described above, the control unit 11 classifies the categories of the first events in the event history information and the events in the past event history information using category-indicating information. The control unit 11 further aggregates the duration or frequency of occurrence of the classified categories and selects the past event group with the most similar distribution of the aggregated duration or frequency of occurrence as the second event group. More specifically, the past event group with the most similar distribution may be the past event group in which the difference in the duration or frequency of occurrence values ​​of each classified category is smallest with respect to the first event group.

[0042] Figure 5 shows past event history information T5 to T8 for the four days from April 1st to April 4th. In this example, the categories are "Commuting," "Work," "Exercise," and "Holiday," and the events "Arriving at work" and "Departing from work" are classified under the category "Commuting." The events "Regular meeting," "XX meeting," "YY visit," "ZZ shared meeting," and "WW company-wide meeting" are classified under the category "Work." The event "Gym" is classified under the category "Exercise," and the event "Holiday" is classified under the category "Holiday." Figure 6 shows information T9, which shows the results of the control unit 11 calculating the time required for each event in the past event history information by category. For example, on April 1st, 180 minutes were spent on categories "Commuting" and "Work," while 0 minutes were spent on categories "Exercise" and "Holiday." Figure 6 also shows information T10, which shows the results of the control unit 11 calculating the time required for each event in the event history information T4, specifically for the events "Arriving at work," "Company visit," and "Departing from work," by category. In this case, the control unit 11 selects the group of past event history information T5 related to April 1st, which has the most similar distribution of required time to the information T10, as the second group of events.

[0043] Not limited to the required time, the control unit 11 may also select a second group of events by aggregating the number of occurrences of categories in past event history information. Figure 6 shows information T11, which represents the results of the control unit 11 calculating the number of occurrences for each category in past event history information T5 to T8. The control unit 11 can select the past group of events that is most similar in distribution of event history information and category occurrences as the second group of events.

[0044] The control unit 11 may identify past event groups for days with the same weather conditions as the first event group as a second event group. The conditions for common weather conditions may be pre-set and stored in the memory unit 12. For example, the control unit 11 may determine that the weather conditions are common when the weather is rain and snow, or cloudy and sunny, and that the weather conditions are not common when the weather is sunny or cloudy and rain or snow. Not limited to this, the control unit 11 may determine that the weather conditions are common when the values ​​of precipitation, temperature, humidity, wind speed, etc., between the day of the first event group and the day of the past event group are less than a predetermined difference, and that the weather conditions are not common when the difference is greater than or equal to a predetermined difference. Information indicating the weather may be included in the event history information acquired in step S21 and the past event history information acquired in step S23, or the control unit 11 may acquire it from a server located at a weather information center or the like. This makes it possible to select life logs that are highly likely to approximate the measured life log, for example, when a user's daily activities change depending on the weather, such as taking the bus to work on rainy days and walking to work on sunny days.

[0045] The control unit 11 may identify past event groups for days that share the same day and day of the week as the first event group as the second event group. The conditions for common days of the week may be pre-set and stored in the memory unit 12. For example, the control unit 11 may determine that the days of the week are the same if the weather is Saturday and Sunday, or if both are weekdays, and that the days of the week are not the same if one is a weekday and the other is Saturday or Sunday. Information indicating the day of the week may be included in the event history information acquired in step S21 and the past event history information acquired in step S23. For example, if the day of the first event group is Sunday, the control unit 11 selects past event groups for similarly Sunday days from the past event history information as the second event group. This makes it possible to select a life log that is highly likely to approximate the measured life log when, for example, a user's daily activities change depending on the day of the week, such as resting at home on Saturdays or holidays and going to work on weekdays.

[0046] In step S25, the control unit 11 obtains the cumulative lifelogs corresponding to the second group of events selected in step S24. Specifically, the control unit 11 reads the lifelog values ​​associated with each of the selected second group of events and sums them up. In this example, in step S25, the control unit 11 selects the second group of events from the past event history information T5. In this case, the control unit 11 obtains 3000 steps as the cumulative lifelog, which is the sum of the step counts for each event: "1000 steps", "500 steps", "500 steps", and "1000 steps".

[0047] Any method may be used for selecting the second group of events in step S24 and for obtaining the cumulative lifelog in step S25. For example, the control unit 11 may generate a regression model in which the number of occurrences or duration of categories included in past event history information are used as explanatory variables and the total value of the lifelog for one day is used as the dependent variable, and the value calculated by applying the categories of events from the event history information obtained in step S21 to this regression model may be obtained as the cumulative value. For example, the control unit 11 may obtain the total value of the lifelog for one day of the cluster to which the event history information belongs as the cumulative value of the second group of events, based on the results of clustering using any clustering method.

[0048] In step S26, the control unit 11 uses the cumulative totals acquired in step S25 to supplement the lifelogs corresponding to the first group of events. In this example, the control unit 11 supplements the cumulative lifelogs corresponding to the first group of events in the event history information T4 acquired in step S21 with the cumulative lifelogs of the second group of events, "3000 steps," acquired in step S25. The control unit 11 stores the supplemented event history information in the storage unit 12. The control unit 11 may also transmit the supplemented event history information to the terminal device 20 via the communication unit 13. After that, the processing of the control unit 11 ends.

[0049] According to this embodiment, even if all life logs for a given day are missing, it is possible to select a past day's life log that is highly likely to approximate the measured life log. Therefore, it is possible to improve the accuracy of obtaining information indicating the user's physical activity.

[0050] In step S1 in Figure 2 and step S21 in Figure 4, the event and life log may be obtained based on information indicating the user's payment history. For example, the control unit 11 communicates with the card company's server that manages the user's card payments. If the information indicating the user's payment history obtained from the server indicates a payment at a restaurant, the control unit 11 considers the meal at the restaurant during a predetermined time period including the time of payment as an event, and associates the meal time, which is a life log, with the event to generate event history information. The predetermined time period is set in advance by the user, for example, one hour, and stored in the storage unit 12.

[0051] The present invention has been described based on the drawings and embodiments, but it should be noted that those skilled in the art may make various modifications and alterations based on this disclosure. Therefore, it should be noted that these modifications and alterations are within the scope of the present invention. For example, the functions, etc., included in each component or step can be rearranged in a logically consistent manner, and multiple components or steps can be combined into one or divided. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0052] 1. Information Processing System 10 Information Processing Devices 11 Control Unit 12 Storage section 13 Communications Department 20 Terminal devices 21 Control Unit 22 Memory section 23 Communications Department 24 Input / output section 25 Sensor section 30 Networks

Claims

1. Memory unit and, A communication unit that communicates with the terminal device used by the user, The system includes a control unit that stores event information indicating the user's actions and a life log indicating the user's physical activity history during the event in association with each other in the storage unit, and when the life log corresponding to the first event cannot be obtained, it supplements the life log of the first event using a life log associated with a second event similar to the first event, An information processing device having

2. The control unit associates information indicating the category of each event with the event and stores it in the storage unit, and selects a past event that has a category common to the category of the first event as the second event. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1.

3. When the control unit supplements the lifelog corresponding to a first event group having a plurality of first events, it uses the cumulative lifelog corresponding to a second event group having a plurality of second events. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The control unit associates information indicating the category of each event in the first event group with the storage unit and stores it there. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, which selects a group of past events as the second group of events, in which each event in the first group of events is associated with a category common to the aforementioned category.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the control unit selects a group of past events that share the same date and weather as the first group of events as the second group of events.

Images