Information processing system and control method

Abstract

This information processing system comprises: a communication unit disposed in a first position in a living space of a person being assisted; a first device disposed in the first position; and a second device used for assistance to the person being assisted which is executed in the vicinity of the first device. The first device acquires, on the basis of communication with the communication unit, linked information in which position information indicating a location in which the first device is disposed is linked to assisted person information related to a person being assisted who uses the first device. The second device, when connected to the first device, performs processing according to the person being assisted identified by the assisted person information, on the basis of the linked information.

Description

Information processing system and control method

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing system, a control method, etc. This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2023-140425, filed in Japan on August 30, 2023, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] Conventionally, there are known methods for communicating with multiple devices in nursing situations. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a method for wirelessly communicating between a wall-mounted unit and a bed. Patent Literature 2 discloses a method for pairing a bed with a peripheral device.

[0003] US Patent Application Publication No. 2022 / 0384033 US Patent Application Publication No. 2021 / 0321908

[0004] The present invention provides an information processing system and a control method suitable for fields such as caregiving.

[0005] One aspect of the present disclosure includes a communication unit that is placed at a first position in the living space of an assisted person and has a communication unit, a first device that is placed at the first position, and a second device that is used to assist the assisted person in the vicinity of the first device, wherein the first device acquires, based on communication with the communication unit, location information that indicates the location where the first device is placed and correspondence information that associates assisted person information regarding the assisted person using the first device, and when the second device is connected to the first device, the second device is related to an information processing system that performs processing corresponding to the assisted person identified by the assisted person information based on the correspondence information.

[0006] Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to a control method for an information processing system including a communication unit that is placed at a first position in the living space of an assisted person and that has a communication unit, a first device that is placed at the first position, and a second device that is used to assist the assisted person and that runs in the vicinity of the first device, wherein, based on communication between the communication unit and the first device, the first device stores location information that indicates where the first device is placed and correspondence information that associates assisted person information regarding the assisted person who uses the first device, and when the first device and the second device are connected, the second device 200 executes processing corresponding to the assisted person identified by the assisted person information based on the correspondence information.

[0007] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of an information processing system. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a server system. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a communication unit. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a first device. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a second device. FIG. 5 is an example of training data for a positioning application. FIG. 6 is a specific example of a usage mode for a positioning application. FIG. 7 is an example of a seat sensor disposed on a wheelchair. FIG. 8 is an example of a choking choke detection device. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of association information. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating a connection process between a communication unit and a first device. FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating an assistance process at a first position. FIG. 12 is a sequence diagram illustrating a connection process between a communication unit and a first device. FIG. 13 is a sequence diagram illustrating a connection process between a communication unit and a first device. FIG. 14 is a configuration example of an information processing system when a smart speaker is used. FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of an information processing system when association information is taken over. FIG. 16 is a sequence diagram illustrating a takeover process. FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a detailed configuration example of an information processing system. FIG. 18 is a sequence diagram illustrating assistance process at a second position. FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a detailed configuration example of an information processing system.

[0008] Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, identical or equivalent elements are designated by the same reference numerals, and duplicate explanations will be omitted. Note that the present embodiment described below does not unduly limit the content described in the claims. Furthermore, not all of the configurations described in the present embodiment are necessarily essential components of the present disclosure.

[0009] 1. System Configuration Example FIG. 1 illustrates a configuration example of an information processing system 1 according to this embodiment. The information processing system 1 includes a server system 20, a relay device 30, and various devices located at specific locations within a facility. In FIG. 1, three locations within the facility, Room A to Room C, are illustrated as examples. Room A to Room C are, for example, private rooms in a nursing home or hospital, but are not limited thereto and may include locations such as a dining room, bathroom, and toilet. For example, the information processing system 1 includes a communication unit 10, a bed 610 (broadly speaking, a first device 100), and a second device 200 located in Room A. The second device 200 includes various devices such as a smartphone CP, a seat sensor 440, and a choking detection device 460. Details of each device will be described later using FIGS. 6A to 8. The second device 200 may also include a medical device 800. Specific examples of the medical device 800 will be described later. 1 , a communication unit 10, a bed 610, and a second device 200 are also arranged in Room B and Room C. However, the devices arranged in each location do not need to be the same. For example, in Room B and Room C, some of the devices illustrated in Room A in FIG. 1 may be omitted, or other devices may be added. Furthermore, the configuration of the information processing system 1 is not limited to that shown in FIG. 1 , and various modifications are possible, such as omitting some components or adding other components.

[0010] The information processing system 1 according to this embodiment digitizes the tacit knowledge of experienced caregivers, who perform tasks that rely on their "intuition" or "tacit knowledge" (hereinafter simply referred to as tacit knowledge) when providing care in, for example, a medical facility or a nursing care facility, thereby supporting other caregivers in providing appropriate care regardless of their level of expertise. For example, the tacit knowledge of an experienced caregiver is realized as application software. Applications using tacit knowledge include applications that include judgment criteria or algorithms used in providing care in medical facilities or nursing care facilities. These algorithms may include judgments based on trained models using machine learning or deep learning. Hereinafter, application software will be referred to simply as an application. Furthermore, applications using tacit knowledge will be referred to as nursing care applications.

[0011] For example, in the information processing system 1 of this embodiment, the server system 20 may store and manage the care application. The second device 200 then acquires the care application via the communication unit 10 and the bed 610, or directly from the server system 20. This allows management of the care application to be centralized using the server system 20, which has a relatively high processing capacity. Furthermore, by transmitting the care application to the second device 200, a caregiver using the second device 200 can provide care similar to that of a skilled caregiver. Furthermore, the care application may run on the bed 610 or on another device, such as the third device 300 described below.

[0012] However, the application running on the second device 200 etc. is not limited to digitized tacit knowledge, and may be software that supports care by a caregiver without using tacit knowledge. Below, an example in which a care application runs on the second device 200 etc. will be described, but the care application can be replaced with an application that does not use tacit knowledge.

[0013] In this embodiment, the term "caregiver" refers to a person in charge of assisting the person being assisted, and includes, for example, a care manager, a caregiver, and a visiting helper. In addition, since family members of the person being assisted may also assist the person being assisted in home care, the caregiver in this embodiment may also include the family members of the person being assisted. In this embodiment, the person being assisted may also be a patient suffering from some kind of illness, and the caregiver may include medical professionals such as doctors, nurses, and pharmacists. The information processing system 1 and each device included in the information processing system 1 will be described in detail below.

[0014] The communication unit 10 is placed at a first location in, for example, a nursing home. The first location (e.g., Room A) is the room of the person receiving care as described above, but may be another location such as a dining room. As shown in FIG. 1 , the communication unit 10 may be a smart plug connected to a socket SO that is supplied with commercial power and is placed on the wall of the first location. The communication unit 10 may have a communication unit that performs wireless communication with other devices. Various communication methods, such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), ZigBee (registered trademark), and IEEE 802.11, can be used for the wireless communication.

[0015] The bed 610 and the second device 200 are devices used to assist a person receiving care, for example, in a nursing facility. The bed 610 and the second device 200 may have a communication unit that performs wireless communication with other devices. Various modifications of the communication method for these devices are also possible.

[0016] For example, the communication unit 10 is connected to a bed 610. The bed 610 is connected to the second device 200.

[0017] The server system 20 is connected to the communication unit 10 via a network, for example. The network here may be a public communication network such as the Internet, or a network such as a LAN. For example, the server system 20 is connected to the communication unit 10 using a communication method conforming to the IEEE 802.11 standard. The server system 20 may also be connected to the communication unit 10 via a relay device 30. The communication method between the server system 20, the relay device 30, and the communication unit 10 can be modified in various ways.

[0018] The server system 20 may be a single server or may include multiple servers. For example, the server system 20 may include a database server and an application server. The database server stores various data, such as the association information described below with reference to FIG. 9 . The application server performs processes such as updating the association information and transmitting the association information to the bed 610, based on sensing data collected via the communication unit 10. The multiple servers may be physical servers or virtual servers. If a virtual server is used, the virtual server may be provided on a single physical server or may be distributed across multiple physical servers. As described above, the specific configuration of the server system 20 in this embodiment can be modified in various ways.

[0019] The relay device 30 is, for example, a router that is an L3 switch, but other devices such as an L2 switch may also be used.

[0020] In this embodiment, a device that is expected to be used permanently for a certain person receiving care at a first position (within a range of a predetermined distance from the communication unit 10) where the communication unit 10 is placed is referred to as the first device 100. The first device 100 may be, for example, a nursing care bed 610 as shown in FIG. 1 . The bed 610 is likely to be used as a device dedicated to a single person receiving care unless an event occurs, such as the person receiving care (resident) moving out. Below, an example in which the first device 100 is the bed 610 will be described. However, as will be described later, a device other than the bed 610 may be used as the first device 100.

[0021] The second device 200 is, for example, the smartphone CP shown in Fig. 1. For example, the second device 200 may be a device on which a positioning application, which will be described later with reference to Figs. 6A and 6B, runs. The positioning application is an example of a care application.

[0022] However, the second device 200 in this embodiment may be any device used in care and is not limited to the smartphone CP. For example, the second device 200 may be a seat sensor 440, which will be described later with reference to FIG. 7, or a choking stool detection device 460, which will be described later with reference to FIG. 8. The second device 200 may also be a detection device that detects information such as sleep, heart rate, and breathing based on the body movements of the person being assisted in bed, or may be some other device. For example, the above-mentioned nursing care application may run on devices among the second devices 200, such as the smartphone CP, the seat sensor 440, and the choking stool detection device 460.

[0023] The second device 200 may also include a medical device 800. The medical device 800 is, for example, a device that senses information regarding the biological activity of the person being assisted and outputs the sensing results. The sensing results output by the medical device 800 are stored, for example, in an electronic medical records (EMR) system. As shown in FIG. 1 , the medical device 800 includes a thermometer 810, an SpO2 sensor (pulse oximeter) 820, a blood pressure monitor 830, an infusion sensor 840, and the like. The medical device 800 is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 1 , and may also include devices such as an oxygen tank and a catheter.

[0024] 2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration example of the server system 20. The server system 20 includes, for example, a control unit 21, a storage unit 22, and a communication unit 23.

[0025] The control unit 21 of this embodiment is configured by the following hardware. The hardware can include at least one of a circuit for processing digital signals and a circuit for processing analog signals. For example, the hardware can be configured by one or more circuit devices or one or more circuit elements mounted on a circuit board. The one or more circuit devices are, for example, an integrated circuit (IC), an FPGA (field-programmable gate array), etc. The one or more circuit elements are, for example, a resistor, a capacitor, etc.

[0026] The control unit 21 may also be implemented by the following processor. The server system 20 of this embodiment includes a memory that stores information and a processor that operates based on the information stored in the memory. The information may be, for example, a program and various data. The memory may be the storage unit 22 or another memory. The processor includes hardware. Various processors, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or a digital signal processor (DSP), may be used. The memory may be a semiconductor memory such as a static random access memory (SRAM), a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), or a flash memory, or may be a register, a magnetic storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD), or an optical storage device such as an optical disk drive. For example, the memory stores computer-readable instructions, and the processor executes the instructions to realize the functions of the control unit 21 as processing. The instructions may be instructions from an instruction set that constitutes a program, or instructions that instruct the processor's hardware circuitry to operate.

[0027] The control unit 21 includes, for example, a capability information acquisition unit 24, a scene information acquisition unit 25, and an association information processing unit 26.

[0028] The ability information acquisition unit 24 performs a process of acquiring ability information representing the activity ability of the person being assisted. For example, the ability information acquisition unit 24 acquires sensing data from the second device 200. The sensing data here may be output values ​​of sensors included in each device, or may be processing results based on the output values. For example, the sensing data may include log data of a nursing care application for a predetermined period of time.

[0029] For example, the ability information acquisition unit 24 determines changes in the condition of the person receiving care over time based on the sensing data and estimates the ability information based on the changes. The ability information here may be index information related to activities of daily living (ADL). Various methods for assessing ADL, such as the Barthel Index, are known, and these methods can be widely applied in this embodiment. Furthermore, the ability information may be a nine-level index disclosed as the Clinical Frailty Scale in "Frailty and the potential kidney transplant recipient: time for a more holistic assessment?" by Henry H.L. Wu, et al. For example, the ability information acquisition unit 24 in this embodiment determines which of the nine levels the person receiving care belongs to based on the sensing data.

[0030] The scene information acquisition unit 25 determines a scene in which assistance is to be provided to the person being assisted. The scene information here may be information specifying the type of assistance to be provided, such as meal assistance, excretion assistance, or movement / transfer assistance. The scene information may also be information about the assistants providing assistance to the person being assisted, such as the number and skill level of the assistants. The scene information may also be information about the person being assisted, such as the attributes of the person being assisted. For example, the scene information acquisition unit 25 performs processing to obtain scene information based on user input, the schedule of the assistant, or the like. The scene information may also be information about the location where assistance is to be provided.

[0031] The correspondence information processing unit 26 performs processes related to the creation, update, and transmission of correspondence information. The correspondence information is, for example, information that associates location information with information about a person being assisted. Specific examples of correspondence information will be described later with reference to FIG. 9 .

[0032] The association information processing unit 26 performs a process of updating the association information when, for example, the ADL of the person being assisted is updated by the ability information acquisition unit 24. For example, when the ADL of the target person being assisted decreases, the association information processing unit 26 may perform a process of adding data to the association information so that more thorough assistance can be provided than before.

[0033] The association information processing unit 26 may also perform processing to transmit association information to the bed 610. Specific processing will be described later with reference to FIG.

[0034] The storage unit 22 is a work area for the control unit 21 and stores various information. The storage unit 22 can be realized by various types of memory, and the memory may be a semiconductor memory such as an SRAM, a DRAM, a ROM, or a flash memory, or may be a register, a magnetic storage device, or an optical storage device. The storage unit 22 stores, for example, nursing care applications created in the server system 20 or another device, and association information.

[0035] The communication unit 23 is an interface for communication via a network, and includes, for example, an antenna, an RF (radio frequency) circuit, and a baseband circuit when the server system 20 performs wireless communication. However, the server system 20 may also perform wired communication, in which case the communication unit 23 may include a communication interface such as an Ethernet connector and a control circuit for the communication interface. The communication unit 23 may operate under the control of the control unit 21, or may include a processor for communication control that is different from the control unit 21.

[0036] 3 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration example of the communication unit 10. The communication unit 10 includes, for example, a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, a communication unit 13, a first connection unit 14, and a second connection unit 15.

[0037] The control unit 11 of this embodiment is configured by hardware including at least one of a circuit for processing digital signals and a circuit for processing analog signals. The control unit 110 may also be realized by a processor. Various types of processors, such as a CPU, a GPU, or a DSP, can be used as the processor. The processor executes instructions stored in the memory of the communication unit 10, thereby realizing the functions of the control unit 11 as processing.

[0038] The storage unit 12 is a work area for the control unit 11 and stores various information. The storage unit 12 can be realized by various types of memory, and the memory may be a semiconductor memory such as an SRAM, a DRAM, a ROM, or a flash memory, or may be a register, a magnetic storage device, or an optical storage device. The storage unit 12 stores, for example, information regarding the location where the communication unit 10 is installed. An example of a process for acquiring information regarding the location will be described later using FIG. 10 etc.

[0039] The communication unit 13 is an interface for communication via a network, and includes, for example, an antenna, an RF (radio frequency) circuit, and a baseband circuit. The communication unit 13 may operate under the control of the control unit 11, or may include a processor for communication control that is different from the control unit 11.

[0040] The first connection unit 14 receives power from a commercial power source. For example, the first connection unit 14 includes a power plug unit that is connected to a commercial power socket SO provided on a wall or the like, and a power supply circuit. The power supply circuit may include an AC / DC converter, a step-down circuit, etc. The first connection unit 14 processes the power supplied via the power plug unit in the power supply circuit, and then supplies the output of the power supply circuit to the second connection unit 15.

[0041] The second connection unit 15 includes a socket for supplying power to another device. For example, when a power plug of another device is connected to the socket of the second connection unit 15, the communication unit 10 supplies power to the other device via the socket. The first connection unit 14 and the second connection unit 15 may be connected via the control unit 11. For example, the control unit 11 may control the on / off of the power supply from the second connection unit 15 to the other device, or may control monitoring of the amount of power supplied to the other device.

[0042] 4 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a bed 610 (first device 100). The bed 610 includes, for example, a control unit 110, a storage unit 120, a communication unit 130, a movable unit 140, and an operation unit 150. However, the configuration of the bed 610 is not limited to that shown in FIG. 4 , and modifications such as omitting some components or adding other components are possible. Furthermore, as described above, equipment other than the bed 610 may be used as the first device 100.

[0043] The control unit 110 is configured by hardware including at least one of a circuit for processing digital signals and a circuit for processing analog signals. The control unit 110 may also be realized by a processor. Various types of processors, such as a CPU, a GPU, or a DSP, can be used as the processor. The functions of the control unit 110 are realized as processing by the processor executing instructions stored in the memory of the bed 610.

[0044] The storage unit 120 is a work area for the control unit 110 and is realized by various types of memory such as SRAM, DRAM, ROM, etc. The storage unit 120 may store association information that associates position information with information about the person being assisted. For example, the bed 610 obtains the association information from the server system 20 via the communication unit 10 and stores the association information in the storage unit 120.

[0045] The communication unit 130 is an interface for communicating via a network, and includes, for example, an antenna, an RF circuit, and a baseband circuit. The communication unit 130 communicates with the communication unit 10. The communication unit 130 also communicates with, for example, the second device 200 and a third device 300 (described later).

[0046] The movable unit 140 is a member whose position and posture can be changed. For example, the movable unit 140 of the bed 610 includes a bottom, which is a surface on which a mattress is placed. Therefore, the movable unit 140 here may be the bottom and a drive unit (motor, etc.) that drives the bottom. For example, the movable unit 140 controls the position and posture of the bottom by driving the drive unit under the control of the control unit 110.

[0047] The operation unit 150 is an interface used to operate the bed 610. For example, the operation unit 150 is used to set the direction and amount of movement of the movable unit 140. The operation unit 150 may include a hand switch located in a position (e.g., near the pillow) that is easy for a user lying on the bed 610 to use. For example, the hand switch may be connected via a cable to a control box in which the control unit 110 and the like are provided, and its position may be adjustable by bending and straightening the cable. The bed 610 may also include a display unit that displays information related to the bed 610. The display unit displays various information such as the status of the movable unit 140 of the bed 610 and sensor output. The operation unit 150 of the bed 610 may be buttons or the like located together near the display unit, or the display unit and operation unit 150 may be integrated using a touch panel or the like.

[0048] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example configuration of the second device 200. The second device 200 includes, for example, a control unit 210, a storage unit 220, a communication unit 230, a display unit 240, and an operation unit 250. As described above, the method of this embodiment allows devices of various configurations to be used as the second device 200. Therefore, the configuration of the second device 200 is not limited to that shown in FIG. 5 , and modifications such as omitting some components or adding other components are possible. For example, the second device 200 may have various sensors depending on the type of device, such as a motion sensor such as an acceleration sensor or a gyro sensor, an image sensor, a pressure sensor, a GPS (Global Positioning System) sensor, or the like.

[0049] The control unit 210 is configured by hardware including at least one of a circuit for processing digital signals and a circuit for processing analog signals. The control unit 210 may also be realized by a processor. Various types of processors, such as a CPU, a GPU, or a DSP, can be used as the processor. The processor executes instructions stored in the memory of the second device 200, thereby realizing the functions of the control unit 210 as processing.

[0050] The storage unit 220 is a work area for the control unit 210 and is realized by various types of memory such as SRAM, DRAM, and ROM.

[0051] The communication unit 230 is an interface for communicating via a network, and includes, for example, an antenna, an RF circuit, and a baseband circuit. The communication unit 230 communicates with, for example, the bed 610. The communication between the bed 610 and the second device 200 can be performed using various communication methods, such as Bluetooth, ZigBee, and IEEE802.11. The communication method used for communication between the communication unit 10 and the bed 610 and the communication method used for communication between the bed 610 and the second device 200 may be the same as or different from each other. The communication unit 230 may also communicate with the communication unit 10.

[0052] The display unit 240 is an interface that displays various information and may be a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, or another type of display. The operation unit 250 is an interface that accepts user operations. The operation unit 250 may be a button or the like provided on the second device 200. The display unit 240 and the operation unit 250 may also be a touch panel that is integrally configured.

[0053] The second device 200 may also include components not shown in FIG. 5 . For example, the second device 200 has an imaging unit (image sensor) that captures an image of a predetermined imaging range and outputs image information. The image information here may be a still image or a moving image. The image information may also be color or monochrome. The imaging unit may also include a depth sensor that detects the distance to the subject, or a sensor (e.g., an infrared sensor) that detects the heat of the subject. The second device 200 may also include a light-emitting unit, a vibration unit, a sound input unit, a sound output unit, etc. The light-emitting unit is, for example, an LED (light emitting diode) and provides notification by light emission. The vibration unit is, for example, a motor and provides notification by vibration. The sound input unit is, for example, a microphone. The sound output unit is, for example, a speaker and provides notification by sound.

[0054] As described above, the information processing system 1 of this embodiment includes a communication unit 10 that is placed at a first position in the living space of the person being assisted and has a communication unit 13, a bed 610 (broadly speaking, a first device 100) that is also placed at the first position, and a second device 200 that is used to assist the person being assisted in the vicinity of the bed 610.

[0055] The bed 610 then acquires, based on communication with the communication unit 10, location information indicating the location where the bed 610 is located and association information that associates the location information with assisted person information regarding the assisted person using the bed 610. When connected to a second device 200, the bed 610 changes the processing content to be executed depending on the type of second device 200. For example, when the bed 610 is connected to a medical device 800 as the second device 200, the bed 610 performs processing to transmit data acquired from the medical device 800 to the server system 20 via the communication unit 10 and the relay device 30. For example, when the bed 610 is connected to a second device 200 used to assist an assisted person, the bed 610 performs processing to search for a second device 200 used to assist another assisted person, and performs processing to acquire data from the second device 200 and transmit the data acquired from the second device 200 to the other second device 200. Specific examples will be described later.

[0056] Furthermore, when the second device 200 is connected to the bed 610, it performs processing corresponding to the person being assisted identified by the assisted person information, based on the association information. The second device 200 may store the processing result here in association with the bed 610. For example, as will be described later, the processing result in the second device 200 may be associated with information indicating that the processing was performed near the bed 610. Details of the processing will be described later using FIG. 10 etc.

[0057] In the method of this embodiment, the communication unit 10 is a wall unit (or, in a narrow sense, a smart plug) that is placed on the wall of a room, for example, and therefore has the advantage that it can be realized by a device with a simple configuration and can be easily associated with a location.

[0058] Furthermore, the bed 610 in this embodiment is likely to be used as a device dedicated to a specific person being assisted. Therefore, when the bed 610 is found near the communication unit 10, it is considered that the bed 610 is being used at the first location by the person being assisted who is linked to the bed 610. In other words, by communication between the communication unit 10 and the bed 610, the bed 610 can automatically associate the bed 610 with the location and the person being assisted. Furthermore, since the communication unit 10 is expected to be connected to the server system 20, it is also possible to share this association in the information processing system 1.

[0059] Also, for example, a caregiver accesses the server system 20 using a terminal device at a station or the like and inputs association information that associates information about the person being assisted with the bed 610. In this case, the latest association information is held by the server system 20. When the bed 610 is found near the communication unit 10, the communication unit 10 and the bed 610 communicate with each other, and the server system 20 can automatically associate the bed 610 with its location and the person being assisted.

[0060] Furthermore, as long as the person being assisted moves with the bed 610, the correspondence between the bed 610 and the person being assisted will not change. For example, a patient hospitalized in the ICU may be moved to a general ward along with the bed 610. In this case, the information regarding the location can be easily updated by connecting the bed 610 to the communication unit 10 at the new location, and the previous information regarding the correspondence between the bed 610 and the person being assisted can continue to be used. This reduces the burden on staff at the nursing facility for tasks such as setting and registering the bed 610 when the bed 610 is moved.

[0061] For example, in the information processing system 1 of this embodiment, when the medical device 800 is used as the second device 200 near the bed 610, the medical device 800 transmits sensing results to the bed 610, and the bed 610 transmits the sensing results and association information to the server system 20. The server system 20 associates the sensing results with the person being assisted and registers them in the EMR. As a result, it is possible to easily identify the location and the person being assisted from which the sensing results of the medical device 800 were acquired. Therefore, for example, when registering the sensing results of the medical device 800 in the EMR, it is possible to appropriately associate the location and information about the person being assisted and register them.

[0062] Furthermore, when the second device 200 used to assist the person being assisted is connected to the bed 610, the bed 610 can provide the second device 200 with the association information itself or information based on the association information. Therefore, the second device 200 can appropriately perform processing that takes into account the location where assistance is to be performed and the target person being assisted. In particular, when the association information includes various additional information as described below with reference to FIG. 9 , the second device 200 can perform assistance that takes into account information about the location (e.g., the scene) and information about the person being assisted (e.g., ADL). More specifically, the second device 200 can change the care application used depending on the scene or ADL, change other devices to which it is linked, and so on. That is, the method of this embodiment not only acquires data from the second device 200 and associates the data with information about the location and the person being assisted, but also provides appropriate data to the second device 200. In other words, the bed 610 of this embodiment not only uses information about the location and the person being assisted when acquiring data from peripheral devices, but also executes a process of providing data to peripheral devices based on the information about the location and the person being assisted. The bed 610 changes the specific process depending on the type of peripheral device (e.g., a medical device) and the request content acquired from the peripheral device (e.g., a request to extract peripheral devices to link with, a request to acquire information about the person being assisted). Furthermore, if the specific process content of the bed 610 is determined depending on the type of peripheral device, the bed 610 may acquire the type of peripheral device along with the data and automatically perform specific processing. An example of a specific process flow will be described later.

[0063] The information processing system 1 may also include a terminal device 700 connected to the server system 20 directly or via another device, as shown in FIG. 1 . The terminal device 700 may be, for example, a smartphone CP used as the second device 200, or a different smartphone from the smartphone CP. For example, if the smartphone CP is used by a first caregiver in charge of the target care recipient, the terminal device 700 may be used by a second caregiver during work hours. For example, the terminal device 700 may connect to the server system 20 to reference the results of assistance provided by other caregivers in the same facility (e.g., log data, as described below). For example, if the terminal device 700 is used by a caregiver, the server system 20 may function as a system (in a narrower sense, a nurse call system) that prompts the caregiver to provide care to the care recipient.

[0064] The terminal device 700 may be a smartphone or a PC used by a family member of the person receiving care. By connecting to the server system 20 using the terminal device 700, the family member of the person receiving care can check how the person receiving care is doing at the nursing care facility.

[0065] The terminal device 700 may also receive push notifications from the server system 20. For example, if the terminal device 700 is a smartphone used by a second caregiver, an alert notification can be sent to the smartphone to prompt the second caregiver to support the first caregiver. Also, if the terminal device 700 is a smartphone or the like used by a family member of the person being assisted, it can notify the family member if the condition of the person being assisted changes or if an incident such as a fall occurs.

[0066] Furthermore, some or all of the processing performed by the information processing system 1 of this embodiment may be realized by a program. In a narrow sense, the processing performed by the information processing system 1 includes at least one of processing performed by the control unit 11 of the communication unit 10, processing performed by the control unit 110 of the bed 610, and processing performed by the control unit 210 of the second device 200. Furthermore, the information processing system 1 may include other devices such as the server system 20 and relay device 30 shown in FIG. 1 , and the processing performed by the information processing system 1 may include processing executed by these other devices.

[0067] The program according to this embodiment can be stored in, for example, a non-transitory information storage medium (information storage device), which is a medium readable by a computer. The information storage medium can be realized, for example, by an optical disc, a memory card, a HDD, or a semiconductor memory. The semiconductor memory is, for example, a ROM. The control unit 11 and the like perform various processes of this embodiment based on the program stored in the information storage medium. In other words, the information storage medium stores a program for causing a computer to function as the control unit 11 and the like. The computer is a device equipped with an input device, a processing unit, a storage unit, and an output unit. Specifically, the program according to this embodiment is a program for causing a computer to execute at least some of the steps described below using Figures 10 to 13, 16, 18, 20, etc.

[0068] The technique of this embodiment can also be applied to a control method including the following steps. The control method according to this embodiment is a control method for an information processing system including a communication unit that is placed at a first position in the living space of a person being assisted and that has a communication unit, a bed (broadly speaking, a first device) that is placed at the first position, and a second device that is used to assist the person being assisted around the bed. The control method includes the steps of: storing, in the bed, location information that indicates where the bed is placed and correspondence information that associates assisted person information about the person being assisted who uses the bed, based on communication between the communication unit and the bed; and, when the bed and the second device are connected, causing the second device to execute, based on the correspondence information, a process corresponding to the person being assisted identified by the assisted person information.

[0069] 2. Specific Examples of Devices Next, specific examples of the second device 200 will be described. Note that the second device 200 is not limited to the devices described below, and may include a device that detects food intake, a device that detects whether the person being assisted is inserting their hand into their clothing (pants or underwear) and attempting to touch (tamper with) the skin or the inside of the clothing of the person being assisted, or the like. Furthermore, the devices described below may perform different processes by operating according to different applications. For example, the choking detection device 460 described below may function as a medication management device that manages medication administration by the person being assisted by detecting the swallowing of medicine.

[0070] Furthermore, each device described below is not limited to functioning as the second device 200, and may function as the third device 300 described below. In this embodiment, when assistance is performed by multiple devices working together, the master device that detects a trigger for the collaboration process is referred to as the second device 200, and the slave device that performs the collaboration process based on a collaboration request from the second device 200 is referred to as the third device 300. Furthermore, whether a device is the second device 200 or the third device 300 does not have to be fixed. That is, each device described below may function as the second device 200 for one type of assistance and as the third device 300 for another type of assistance. Furthermore, each device described below may function as the fifth device 500 described below, or as a sixth device that operates in collaboration with the fifth device 500.

[0071] 2.1 Smartphone (Positioning Application) For example, the second device 200 may be a smartphone CP or a personal computer (PC). A positioning application may run on the smartphone CP or PC as a care application.

[0072] A positioning application is an application that processes the position or posture of at least one of a person and an object during care. The positioning application may be used to adjust the posture of a person being assisted in a bed, or may be used to adjust the posture of a person being assisted in a wheelchair. For example, the positioning application may operate in a setting mode for setting the position and a usage mode for supporting actual position adjustment according to the setting. For example, in the setting mode, the positioning application acquires training data by capturing an image of a person or object at a desired position based on the operation of an expert. Then, in the operation mode, the positioning application superimposes the training data, which has been subjected to transparency processing, on the captured image of the person or object to be adjusted.

[0073] FIG. 6A illustrates an example of training data acquired in the setting mode. In the example of FIG. 6A, image information representing the desired posture of the person being assisted when lying on a bed is acquired as training data. Note that in the example shown in FIG. 6A, the training data may be an image of a cushion, with a triangle or square displayed at a position corresponding to the cushion as additional information. The shape may be input, for example, by a user (e.g., an administrator such as an occupational therapist) who sets the training data. FIG. 6B illustrates an example of the usage status of a positioning application in the usage mode and a specific example of a display screen. For example, a device such as a smartphone running a positioning application may superimpose the training data shown in FIG. 6A on a captured image of a person being assisted whose position is to be adjusted. For example, the positioning application may apply transparency processing to the training data and then superimpose the training data after the transparency processing (e.g., corresponding to the dashed line in FIG. 6B) on the captured image. The caregiver assists the person being assisted so that the person in the captured image approaches the training data. This allows for appropriate support for the caregiver's position adjustment.

[0074] While the above example illustrates the superimposition of image information, i.e., training data, on the display, the positioning application may output a judgment result (OK / NG) indicating whether the posture of the person being assisted is appropriate. For example, the positioning application may determine whether the posture of the person being assisted or the caregiver is appropriate based on the degree of similarity between the image captured during position adjustment and the training data, and output the judgment result. Specifically, the positioning application may determine whether the posture of the person being assisted or the caregiver is appropriate, or whether the position of a cushion or other equipment is appropriate. The judgment of whether the posture is appropriate or not may be based on skeletal information of the person being assisted contained in the training data and skeletal information of the person being assisted contained in the image captured during position adjustment. For example, skeletal information includes information on several feature points, such as the shoulders, elbows, and wrists, making it possible to identify the coordinate values ​​of these feature points. The coordinate values ​​here are x and y coordinates representing the vertical and horizontal positions of the image. Furthermore, if depth information is acquired, the coordinate values ​​may include a z coordinate representing the distance from the camera. The positioning application determines whether the degree of difference between the coordinate values ​​of the training data and each of the feature points included in the skeletal information during position adjustment is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, and determines the adjustment as NG if the number of points with large differences exceeds a threshold.

[0075] The positioning application may also perform processing to display specific points determined to be NG. For example, the positioning application may compare the captured image with training data and highlight areas determined to have large differences. Alternatively, the positioning application may output specific instructions, such as how to change the position of the cushion or how to change the posture. The areas determined to have large differences may be based on skeletal information of the person being assisted contained in the training data and skeletal information of the person being assisted contained in images captured during position adjustment. For example, the positioning application may determine the coordinate values ​​of the above-mentioned feature points and highlight points where the degree of difference is greater than or equal to a predetermined value as points with large differences. For example, the black frame shown in FIG. 6B and the feature points corresponding to the ankles correspond to the highlighting results. The rightward arrow in FIG. 6B indicates information indicating the direction of posture change.

[0076] The positioning application may also accept additional information, such as points considered important by an expert, in the setting mode and present the additional information in the use mode. The additional information may include information such as the position and angle of specific body parts, the presence, size, and softness of a cushion, etc. The positioning application may also recommend appropriate welfare equipment for the user based on the results of posture assessment of the user. Even if the user is already using a cushion, the application may recommend a new cushion if the cushion's position is not properly adjusted or if the cushion's size differs from the size of the cushion included in the training data. The recommendation may specify the size, hardness, etc. of the cushion, or a specific product (e.g., model number). When a specific product is specified, the positioning application may output a link to an e-commerce site or other website selling the product.

[0077] The positioning application may also display a questionnaire about the set teacher data when setting the teacher data in the setting mode. This questionnaire about the teacher data is conducted to obtain information necessary for interpreting the teacher data, such as the purpose of setting the teacher data (e.g., for pressure ulcer treatment, pressure relief) and the target area for the pressure ulcer treatment.

[0078] The positioning application may accumulate training data by prompting the caregiver to manually enter information into a questionnaire at the start of service. When a predetermined number of pieces of training data have been accumulated, the positioning application performs a learning process based on the training data. The learning process is performed based on training data that includes both training data and the results of the questionnaire. As a result, the trained model generated by the learning process can output appropriate training data for the purpose of setting the training data and for each target body part. For example, in the case of bed positioning targeting a certain body part, the learning model can determine the size of a cushion to be placed where and the posture of the person being assisted. In other words, after creating a trained model, it is possible to confirm optimal positioning in the position app by simply selecting the target body part without setting training data. Furthermore, when starting service, training data may be accumulated by prompting the caregiver to manually enter desired welfare equipment. When a predetermined number of pieces of training data have been accumulated, the positioning application may perform a learning process based on the training data to create a trained model that recommends welfare equipment.

[0079] Note that various modifications are possible regarding how application A used to adjust the position of the first person being assisted (Mr. AAA) and application B used to adjust the position of the second person being assisted (Mr. BBB). For example, application A and application B may be treated as different applications. For example, on a smartphone, each application is launched by selecting a different icon.

[0080] Alternatively, application A and application B may share a common interface application and be switchable within the interface application. For example, on a smartphone, an icon of a positioning application may be selected first, and then application A and application B may be switched by selecting a tab within the positioning application.

[0081] Note that application A and application B may share the same processing (algorithm) but use different parameters for the processing, or both the processing and the parameters may be different. Furthermore, even if they are the same application A, application A1, which cooperates with other applications (devices), and application A2, which does not cooperate with other applications, may be treated as different applications. Furthermore, the management and usage of applications described above is not limited to the positioning application, and the same applies to other applications, such as the choking hazard application that runs on choking hazard detection device 460 described below.

[0082] 7 is an example of the second device 200, and shows a seat sensor 440 arranged on the seat of the wheelchair 630. The seat sensor 440 includes a pressure sensor that outputs a pressure value, and outputs the pressure value.

[0083] In the example of FIG. 7 , four pressure sensors Se1 to Se4 are disposed on the underside of a cushion 441 placed on the seat of a wheelchair 630. Pressure sensor Se1 is disposed in the front, pressure sensor Se2 is disposed in the rear, pressure sensor Se3 is disposed on the right, and pressure sensor Se4 is disposed on the left. Note that front, back, left, and right here refer to the directions as seen from the perspective of the person being assisted when sitting in the wheelchair 630. Pressure sensors Se1 to Se4 are connected to a control box 442. The control box 442 contains a processor that controls pressure sensors Se1 to Se4 and memory that serves as the processor's work area. The processor detects pressure values ​​by operating pressure sensors Se1 to Se4.

[0084] The seat sensor 440 may determine whether the posture of the person being assisted when sitting in the wheelchair 630 (hereinafter also referred to as "sitting posture") is normal, shifted forward, shifted to the side, or any of a number of other postures, based on the pressure values ​​from the pressure sensors Se1 to Se4. A "forward shift" refers to a state in which the user's center of gravity is shifted further forward than normal, while a "lateral shift" refers to a state in which the user's center of gravity is shifted to either the left or right. For example, the seat sensor 440 determines a "forward shift" when the value of the pressure sensor Se1 increases by a predetermined amount compared to the initial state, and determines a "lateral shift" when the value of the pressure sensor Se3 or Se4 increases by a predetermined amount compared to the initial state. The seat sensor 440 may also perform a fall possibility determination, which determines whether or not the person being assisted is likely to fall from the seat.

[0085] The criteria for determining whether the seat is normal, forward slippage, or sideways slippage, or the criteria for determining whether the seat is likely to fall, may vary depending on the person being assisted and the situation. For example, the seat sensor 440 may perform the above determination based on a care application. The seat sensor 440 may also add or update the care application based on communication with the server system 20, which will be described later.

[0086] The second device 200 of this embodiment may be a mattress capable of detecting pressure, or may be a device that communicates with the mattress. These devices determine the posture of the person being assisted in bed.

[0087] 8 is a diagram illustrating a swallowing choking detection device 460 used during meals, which is an example of the second device 200. As shown in Fig. 8, the swallowing choking detection device 460 includes a throat microphone 461 worn around the neck of the person being assisted, and a terminal device 462 with a camera.

[0088] The throat microphone 461 outputs audio data resulting from swallowing, coughing, etc. of the person being assisted. The camera of the terminal device 462 outputs captured images of the person being assisted eating. The terminal device 462 is, for example, a smartphone or tablet PC placed on a table where the person being assisted eats. The throat microphone 461 is connected to the terminal device 462 using Bluetooth or the like. However, the specific connection method can be modified in various ways.

[0089] The swallowing choking detection device 460 determines whether the person being assisted has choked or swallowed based on audio data from the throat microphone 461. A device that detects swallowing using a microphone worn around the neck is described, for example, in U.S. Patent Application No. 16 / 276,768, filed February 15, 2019, entitled "Swallowing action measurement device and swallowing action support system." This patent application is incorporated by reference in its entirety into this specification. The swallowing choking detection application can detect the number of choking incidents, the duration of the choking (time of occurrence, duration, etc.), and whether or not the person swallowed based on the audio data.

[0090] The camera of the terminal device 462 captures an image of the person being assisted from the front, as shown in Fig. 8, for example. Therefore, the choking detection application may detect the mouth and eyes of the person being assisted, as well as chopsticks and spoons used by the person being assisted, based on the captured image. Various methods for detecting these facial features and objects based on image processing are known, and a wide range of known methods can be applied in this embodiment.

[0091] For example, the choking detection device 460 may calculate the swallowing time from when the person being assisted opens their mouth to when they swallow, based on the swallowing detection result and the result of determining whether the person being assisted is opening or closing their mouth. In this way, for example, if the number of swallows has decreased, it is possible to determine specific situations, such as whether the person is not even putting food in their mouth, or whether the person has put food in their mouth but is not swallowing it. As a result, it is possible to accurately determine the risk of aspiration during meals. For example, the choking detection device 460 may make these determinations based on a care application. The choking detection device 460 may also add or update care applications based on communication with the server system 20, which will be described later.

[0092] 3. Specific Examples of Corresponding Information FIG. 9 shows an example of the corresponding information. In this embodiment, the corresponding information may include information identifying the person being assisted, the ability information of the person being assisted, information identifying the assistance scene, information identifying the type of assistance to be performed, information identifying the device used for the assistance, information identifying the care application used for the assistance, and information on the update date and time of the corresponding information. The corresponding information is, for example, table data (or, in a narrow sense, a relational database) in which item values ​​are associated with each item. However, the configuration of the corresponding information is not limited to the example of FIG. 9 ; some items may be omitted, or other items may be added. Furthermore, the corresponding information is not limited to table data; other formats of data may be used. Although FIG. 9 illustrates four rows of data as table data, the item values ​​of each row are merely an example, and various modifications of the specific item values ​​are possible, as described below.

[0093] The information identifying the person being assisted corresponds to the above-mentioned assisted person information. The assisted person information is, for example, an assisted person ID, which is an ID uniquely assigned to the person being assisted. The assisted person ID is associated with information such as the person's name, address, and facility where they reside. The assisted person ID may also be associated with attribute information of the person being assisted, such as age, sex, height, weight, medical history, and medication history. The name and other information and attribute information may be different from the assisted person information or may be included in the assisted person information.

[0094] The ability information of the person receiving care is determined based on sensing data. The sensing data represents the state of the person receiving care's biological activity or the results of sensing the person's surrounding environment. For example, the sensing data may be the output of a sensor included in the bed 610 or the second device 200, or the output of a sensor included in a different sensing device. The server system 20, described below, may determine time-series changes in the person receiving care's condition based on the sensing data and estimate the ability information based on the changes. The ability information may be index information related to activities of daily living (ADL). Various methods for assessing ADL, such as the Barthel Index, are known, and these methods can be widely applied in this embodiment. The ability information may also use the nine-level index disclosed as the Clinical Frailty Scale in "Frailty and the Potential Kidney Transplant Recipient: Time for a More Holistic Assessment?" by Henry H.L. Wu et al. For example, the ability information may represent which of the nine levels the person receiving care belongs to.

[0095] The scene information includes, for example, information about the location where assistance is provided to the person being assisted. Specifically, the location where assistance is provided may be the location where the bed 610 is located. That is, the scene information may include position information indicating the location of the bed 610. The scene information may also be information specifying the type of assistance to be provided, such as meal assistance, toilet assistance, or movement / transfer assistance. The scene information may also be information about the assistants who will be providing assistance to the person being assisted, such as the number and skill level of the assistants. The scene information may also be information about the person being assisted, such as the attributes of the person being assisted. For example, the scene information may be determined based on user input, the schedules of the assistants, etc.

[0096] The information specifying the type of assistance to be performed is information specifying specific assistance content, such as, for example, meal assistance, excretion assistance, mobility assistance, etc. Note that meal assistance and excretion assistance may be further subdivided.

[0097] Information identifying a device used for assistance (hereinafter referred to as device information) may be information (type ID) that identifies the type of device, such as a "smartphone," "choking detection device," or "seat sensor." Alternatively, device information may be information (device ID) that identifies one of multiple devices belonging to a specific type. The device ID is information that uniquely identifies a device, such as a serial number or MAC address. The device ID and type ID may be associated with information such as the vendor or the app ID of an installed application. Information such as the vendor may be different from the device information, or may be included in the device information.

[0098] The information for identifying the tacit knowledge used for the assistance is, for example, an application ID, which is an ID uniquely assigned to each of a plurality of care applications. The application ID may be associated with information such as the application name and creator.

[0099] The update date and time is information indicating when the target association information was updated, and is, for example, information specifying the year, month, and day. The update date and time may also include hour and minute information. For example, if the association information is table data with the configuration shown in FIG. 9 , the data for each row includes, as an update date and time field value, information indicating when the row was newly added or when at least one of the field values ​​for the row was updated. Note that, although an example in which an update date and time is associated with each row of data has been shown here, this is not limiting. For example, the association information may include one update date and time information for the entire association information. In this case, the update date and time indicates when the last update process was performed on any row of the association information.

[0100] For example, even when providing the same meal assistance, an experienced caregiver is likely to change the device and tacit knowledge they use based on the recipient and their situation (e.g., abilities, situation, etc.). In other words, tacit knowledge is considered not only about the content of the assistance but also about the condition judgment for performing the assistance. In this regard, the association information of this embodiment associates a device ID and an app ID with the recipient's ID, ADL, and situation, respectively. This allows not only the assistance of the expert (creating a care application) but also the usage conditions of the care application to be appropriately digitized. For example, the server system 20 may create and update association information based on the use history of the care application by the experienced care recipient. Devices such as the second device 200 can change the care application they use based on the association information.

[0101] The correspondence information may also include information associating multiple devices used in cooperation when assisting a person being assisted. For example, consider table data that includes a row in which the assisted person ID, ADL, scene, and assistance type are common, and a row in which the device ID is device ID1 and another row in which the device ID is device ID2. This indicates that, for one type of assistance identified by the assisted person ID, ADL, scene, and assistance type, two devices, one corresponding to device ID1 and the other corresponding to device ID2, are used in cooperation. However, one row may include information on multiple device IDs used in cooperation, and various modifications are possible for the data structure for associating multiple devices used in cooperation.

[0102] The server system 20 according to this embodiment may store correspondence information related to multiple care recipients as a master table. The master table may include, for example, information related to all care recipients residing in a nursing facility. The bed 610 according to this embodiment may acquire information related to the care recipient associated with the bed 610 from the master table as narrow correspondence information. For example, if the bed 610 is associated with an assisted person with an assisted person ID of 1, the bed 610 may acquire, as narrow correspondence information, the result of extracting only rows with an assisted person ID field value of 1 from among multiple rows included in the master table. Alternatively, the bed 610 may acquire the entire master table and use a portion of the master table related to the target care recipient as narrow correspondence information for processing. Below, an example will be described in which the bed 610 acquires narrow correspondence information (the result of extracting a portion) from the server system 20. Details of the processing will be described later using FIG. 10 .

[0103] Note that since the bed 610 can acquire location information by communicating with the communication unit 10, the bed 610 can also acquire from the server system 20 only the results of extracting part of the information in the master table that corresponds to the first location (for example, rows in which the location included in the scene information is the first location). However, in this embodiment, as will be described later using FIG. 15 etc., it is also assumed that the association information acquired by the bed 610 will be used at a second location different from the first location. Therefore, the association information acquired by the bed 610 from the server system 20 may include information on a location other than the first location.

[0104] 4. Details of Processing The processing of the information processing system 1 of this embodiment will be described in detail. First, a specific flow of processing will be described using an example in which the first location is the room of the person being assisted. Then, processing will be described in the case in which the person being assisted moves to a second location different from the first location. Specifically, processing will be described in the case in which the second location is a dining room and processing will be described in the case in which the second location is a bathroom.

[0105] 4.1 Living Room 4.1.1 Example of Connection Between Communication Unit and Bed Figure 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating the process of establishing a communication connection between the communication unit 10 and the bed 610. When this process starts, first in step S101, the communication unit 10 is connected to a commercial power source in the first position, which is the living room. For example, the first connection portion 14 (power plug portion) of the communication unit 10, which is a smart plug, is inserted into a commercial power socket SO provided on the wall of the room. This supplies power to the communication unit 10, and the communication unit 10 starts operating.

[0106] In step S102, the communication unit 10 acquires information identifying the first location and stores it in the memory unit 12. For example, the communication unit 10 may be connected to a staff terminal (e.g., a smartphone) used by staff at a care facility or the like, and acquire information indicating the first location from the staff terminal. The staff member may be a caregiver or an administrator. For example, the staff terminal operates according to a setting application provided by a smart plug vendor or the like. The smartphone may be a smartphone CP used by a caregiver and functioning as the second device 200 or the like. The processes of steps S101 and S102 are performed only once, for example, when the communication unit 10 is inserted into a commercial power socket SO. In contrast, the processes from step S103 onward described below are repeatedly performed when a care recipient moves in, a bed is replaced, or the like.

[0107] In step S103, information associating the person being assisted with the bed 610 is registered in the server system 20 using a staff terminal. For example, the staff member uses the staff terminal to execute a process of registering an assisted person ID that identifies the person being assisted and a bed ID that identifies the bed 610 in the EMR managed by the server system 20. For example, the staff member executes the process of step S103 when a new person being assisted moves into the facility or when an existing person being assisted is moved to a different bed 610.

[0108] In step S104, the communication unit 10 performs a process of searching for devices that are present in the vicinity and can be connected to the communication unit 10. For example, the communication unit 10 searches for devices whose communication signal strength with the communication unit 13 (e.g., Bluetooth communication signal strength) is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. Furthermore, in step S105, the communication unit identifies devices whose communication signal strength is equal to or greater than the threshold and whose device type is "bed." Through the processes of steps S104 and S105, the communication unit 10 can identify beds 610 that are present in the vicinity.

[0109] In step S106, the communication unit 10 establishes a communication connection with the bed 610 identified in the processing of steps S104 and S105. The communication method here is arbitrary and may be the same as or different from the communication method between the communication unit 10 and the server system 20 (relay device 30).

[0110] In step S107, the communication unit 10 starts processing to have the bed 610 acquire the association information (table data) shown in Fig. 9. For example, the communication unit 10 transmits an acquisition request for the association information to the server system 20. The acquisition request here may include a bed ID that identifies the bed 610 with which a communication connection has been established. The communication unit 10 may acquire the bed ID of the bed 610 when the communication connection is established in the processing of step S106, for example.

[0111] In step S108, the server system 20 identifies the assisted person ID of the assisted person linked to the target bed based on the combination of the bed ID and assisted person ID registered in step S103 and the bed ID included in the acquisition request in step S107.

[0112] In step S109, the server system 20 extracts a portion of the correspondence information (master table) that corresponds to the assisted person's ID, and in step S110, the server system 20 transmits the extraction result to the communication unit 10 as narrow correspondence information.

[0113] In step S111, the communication unit 10 transmits the association information received from the server system 20 to the bed 610. In step S112, the bed 610 receives the association information from the communication unit 10 and stores the association information in the storage unit 120. The association information stored in the bed 610 is, for example, the same information as the association information received by the communication unit 10 from the server system 20. However, the communication unit 10 may also extract a portion of the association information received from the server system 20 or process the association information, and transmit the processing results to the bed 610.

[0114] As described above, in this embodiment, when a bed 610 is present near the communication unit 10, the communication unit 10 and the bed 610 are connected, thereby enabling the bed 610 to acquire association information including at least information on the location and the person being assisted. Note that information specifying the location (information on the first location) may be transmitted from the communication unit 10 to the bed 610 in step S106, or may be transmitted together with the association information in step S111. In the example shown in Fig. 10, the communication unit 10 only needs to store information indicating the first location, and does not need to store information on the ID of the person being assisted.

[0115] The trigger for performing the process of step S104 (the trigger for starting the search for the bed 610) may be the insertion of a power plug of another device into the second connection unit 15 (smart plug socket) of the communication unit 10. For example, the manual for the bed 610 may instruct the user to insert the power plug of the bed 610 into the smart plug socket. In this case, when the bed 610 is replaced, the power plug of the new bed 610 is inserted into the second connection unit 15 of the communication unit 10, making it possible to establish a connection between the communication unit 10 and the bed 610 at an appropriate time. In this example, the communication unit 10 may identify the device connected to the second connection unit 15 as the bed 610, rather than determining the communication signal strength or the device type.

[0116] However, the method of this embodiment is not limited to this. For example, the device connected to the communication unit 10 may be a device other than the bed 610. In this case, the power connection of the other device to the communication unit 10 is used as a trigger indicating that assistance may be provided near the communication unit 10. The processing to identify the bed 610 may be realized by processing from a perspective different from whether or not the communication unit 10 is connected to a power source (for example, processing based on the communication signal strength and device type, as described above).

[0117] 3, in the case where the communication unit 10 has the first connection section 14, the second connection section 15, and the communication section 13 and supplies power from a commercial power source via the first connection section 14 via the second connection section 15, when another device is connected to the second connection section 15, the communication unit 10 may perform a process of searching for a device of a type corresponding to the first device from devices whose communication radio wave strength with the communication section 13 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. In this way, it becomes possible to automatically identify the bed 610 based on the communication radio wave strength and the device type, triggered by the connection of another device to a power source.

[0118] By performing the above-described processing, the bed 610 stores the association information (step S112), and thus the bed 610 is ready to function as a hub at the first location.

[0119] 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating a coordination process executed using the bed 610 (first device 100) as a hub. The following describes an example of coordination between a smartphone CP running a positioning application or the like and the choking stool detection device 460 in providing assistance around the bed 610. In particular, in the following example, the smartphone CP is the master device (second device 200) that detects a trigger for coordination, and the choking stool detection device 460 is the slave device (third device 300) that coordinates with the master device based on instructions from the master device.

[0120] When this process starts, first, in step S201, trigger information for starting assistance is acquired by the smartphone CP, which is the second device 200. Here, the trigger information is, for example, information indicating that a specific application has been launched on the second device 200. For example, when a positioning application for adjusting position while eating is launched on the smartphone CP, it is considered that it is time for the person being assisted to start eating. Therefore, by activating the choking detection device 460, it becomes possible to have the person being assisted adopt a posture that makes it less likely for choking or aspiration to occur while eating.

[0121] In step S202, the communication unit 230 of the second device 200 searches for peripheral devices (e.g., by determining the Bluetooth communication signal strength with each device) and determines whether any peripheral devices have corresponding information. For example, the communication unit 230 of the second device 200 inquires about the presence or absence of corresponding information in a Bluetooth advertisement packet, and the peripheral device that receives the advertisement packet replies with information indicating the presence or absence of corresponding information. The second device 200 identifies a device whose communication signal strength is equal to or greater than a given threshold and that has corresponding information as the bed 610.

[0122] In step S203, the second device 200 establishes a communication connection with the bed 610. For example, the bed 610 and the second device 200 perform pairing in Bluetooth communication.

[0123] Note that the device with which the second device 200 establishes a communication connection in step S203 may be determined not only based on the presence or absence of the above-described association information, but also based on the presence or absence of connection to a network (e.g., the presence or absence of connection to the server system 20). For example, the second device 200 holds association information and establishes a communication connection with a device that is connected to the network. Alternatively, the second device 200 may perform processing to display a list of peripheral devices sorted so that devices that hold association information and are connected to the network are given priority. The second device 200 establishes a communication connection with a device selected by the user from among the peripheral devices.

[0124] In step S204, the bed 610 performs processing to identify the nursing care application used by the second device 200 and the linked device (third device 300) that operates in cooperation with the second device 200. In step S205, the bed 610 transmits information on the nursing care application and the linked device to the second device 200.

[0125] The association information in this embodiment may include, for example, information regarding tacit knowledge data that is digitized tacit knowledge of an experienced caregiver. The tacit knowledge data here may be, for example, a care application. In the example shown in FIG. 9, the association information includes an app ID that identifies the care application. However, the tacit knowledge data in this embodiment may include data in a form other than an application. For example, the tacit knowledge data may not be the application itself, but may be setting data (parameters, etc.) used in the application. For example, if the target application is a positioning application, the tacit knowledge data may be data that identifies one of multiple training data included in the positioning application.

[0126] For example, the bed 610 acquires information such as the latest ADL and scene of the assisted person. The latest ADL of the assisted person may be acquired from the server system 20 via the communication unit 10 in step S204, for example, or may be acquired together with the association information when performing the processing shown in Fig. 10. The scene is, for example, information indicating the location of assistance, and the first position acquired in the processing shown in step S102 of Fig. 10 is used. Furthermore, since the association information acquired by the bed 610 corresponds to the ID of the assisted person (steps S108-S109 of Fig. 10), the ID of the assisted person is also known.

[0127] In other words, based on this known information and the acquired association information, the bed 610 can identify the tacit knowledge data (care application) that the second device 200 should use when providing assistance using the second device 200.

[0128] When the second device 200 is connected to the bed 610 (step S203), the second device 200 determines the tacit knowledge data to be used in the second device 200 based on the association information, and if the tacit knowledge data has not been acquired, the second device 200 may acquire the tacit knowledge data via the bed 610. Here, the process of determining the tacit knowledge data is executed, for example, in the bed 610 (step S204), but the process may also be executed in the second device 200.

[0129] For example, the second device 200 that has acquired the information for identifying the necessary care application in step S205 determines whether the care application has been installed. If the care application has been installed, the processes of steps S206 to S210 described below are omitted.

[0130] If the care application is not already installed, in step S206, the second device 200 requests the care application from the bed 610. In step S207, the bed 610 transmits the request for the care application to the communication unit 10. In step S208, the communication unit 10 acquires the care application required by the second device 200. Specifically, in step S208, the communication unit 10 may communicate with the server system 20 and receive the care application required by the second device 200 from the server system 20. In step S209, the communication unit 10 transmits the acquired care application to the bed 610. In step S210, the bed 610 transmits the care application received from the communication unit 10 to the second device 200. When the second device 200 installs the care application, tacit knowledge required for assisting the person being assisted becomes available in the second device 200.

[0131] Furthermore, as described above in step S205, the bed 610 may transmit information about the linked devices to the second device 200. For example, as described above with reference to FIG. 9 , the association information may include device information (such as a type ID or an apparatus ID) that indicates the devices used for assistance. The device information is not limited to information that identifies the type of a single device, but may be information about a combination of the types of multiple devices used in association with each other. Based on the association information of the bed 610, the second device 200 determines the third device 300 that will be used to assist the person being assisted in association with the second device 200, and when the third device 300 is connected to the bed 610, communicates with the third device 300 via the bed 610. In this way, it is possible to link various devices used for assistance around the bed 610, using the bed 610 as a hub.

[0132] For example, in step S204, the bed 610 identifies the type of device that can be used as the third device 300 based on known information such as the assisted person ID, the ADL, the scene, and a type ID indicating the type of the second device 200, as well as the association information. Here, consider an example in which the type of device that can be used as the third device 300 is type ID=1.

[0133] In this case, bed 610 may identify a device whose type ID is 1 and whose communication radio wave strength with bed 610 is the strongest, and transmit information about that device to second device 200 in step S205. Second device 200 accepts user input regarding whether or not to permit collaboration with that device. If second device 200 has accepted user input permitting collaboration, second device 200 transmits information about that device to bed 610 in step S211.

[0134] Alternatively, the bed 610 may obtain list information of one or more devices whose type ID is 1 and whose communication radio wave strength with the bed 610 is equal to or greater than a threshold, and in step S205 transmit the list information to the second device 200. The second device 200 may accept a user input to select the third device 300 from the list information. When a user input to select any device is made, the second device 200 transmits information about the selected device to the bed 610 in step S211.

[0135] In step S212, the bed 610 establishes a communication connection with the third device 300 identified by the information acquired in step S211. For example, the bed 610 and the third device 300 perform pairing via Bluetooth communication. As a result, both the second device 200 and the third device 300 are paired with the bed 610. This enables the second device 200 and the third device 300 to perform cooperative processing using the bed 610 as a hub.

[0136] In step S213, the second device 200 transmits a link request to the third device 300 via the bed 610. When the third device 300 receives the link request, it determines whether a communication connection with the bed 610 has been established. If a communication connection has been established, in step S214, the third device 300 returns a link acceptance response to the second device 200 via the bed 610. Note that in FIG. 11 , for the sake of simplicity, the processing of steps S213-S214 is depicted as if it were performed directly between the second device 200 and the third device 300; however, as described above, this processing is performed via the bed 610. This also applies to the processing of step S216, which will be described later. Furthermore, if the second device 200 and the third device 300 are each connected to the bed 610 (steps S203 and S212), link processing between them is possible, and therefore the processing shown in steps S213-S214 may be omitted.

[0137] If the collaboration acceptance response is received, in step S215, the display unit 240 of the second device 200 displays "ready," indicating that preparations for starting collaboration are complete. In step S216, the second device 200 and the third device 300 start collaboration for assisting the person being assisted via the bed 610. For example, as described above, the smartphone CP, which is the second device 200, determines whether the position is OK or NG, and the choking detection device 460, which is the third device 300, determines whether swallowing or choking occurs. In this case, collaboration may be performed such that, if choking is detected, a positioning application is used to prompt the person to adjust their posture, or if the positioning application determines that the person is NG, the choking detection device 460 prompts the person to stop eating.

[0138] For example, data acquired by the second device 200 and data acquired by the third device 300 may be collected in the control unit 110 (e.g., a control box) of the bed 610, and processing of each piece of data may be performed in the control unit 110. Alternatively, data acquired by the third device 300 may be transmitted to the second device 200 via the bed 610, and processing of both the data from the second device 200 and the third device 300 may be performed in the control unit 210 of the second device 200. For example, one possible processing mode is that, when choking is detected, the choking detection device 460 inquires of a positioning application (which is constantly monitoring) of the smartphone CP about the posture situation via the bed 610, and obtains the results and raw data via the bed 610.

[0139] Furthermore, data and logs resulting from the use of the second device 200 and the third device 300 may be transmitted to the server system 20 via the bed 610. For example, in step S217, the third device 300 transmits the processing results to the bed 610. In step S218, the second device 200 transmits the processing results to the bed 610. In step S219, the bed 610 transfers the processing results of the second device 200 and the third device 300 to the server system 20. The transfer timing may be staggered for each device to avoid placing a burden on the server system 20. The transfer timing may also be set during an off-peak period with low communication load, such as late at night. The server system 20 may automatically register the log data in an EMR (Electronic Medical Records). The server system 20 may also summarize the log data using generative AI (e.g., ChatGPT) as needed. Summarizing the log data simplifies record-keeping tasks.

[0140] In the present embodiment, when a process related to assistance to the person being assisted is performed, the second device 200 may transmit a care record indicating that assistance for the person being assisted was performed near the bed 610 (or, more broadly, the first device 100) to the server system 20 via the bed 610. In other words, in the method of the present embodiment, the second device 200 communicates with the bed 610, and therefore, the fact that the second device 200 was used near the bed 610 is recorded as log data. By recording such log data, it is possible to easily determine where the second device 200 is actually being used, which also facilitates inventory management of the device and consumables consumed by the device.

[0141] Furthermore, if the caregiver is wearing an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) or the like, the presence of the caregiver near the bed 610 is automatically recorded based on the results of reading the RFID. Therefore, the care record associated with the bed 610 can be kept in association with the caregiver's name, etc. At that time, the caregiver may input additional notes using the display unit 240 of the second device 200 or a display unit of the bed 610 (for example, a display provided on the bed 610). In this way, the care record can include additional notes input by the caregiver.

[0142] For example, if a caregiver authentication process is performed when using a positioning application, the result of the authentication process can be used to identify the caregiver without using RFID. In this case, too, it becomes possible to include the caregiver's information in the care record.

[0143] Although not described above, as described above with reference to FIG. 9 , the association information may include assistance type information indicating the type of assistance to be provided to the person being assisted. Therefore, when the second device 200 is connected to the bed 610, the second device 200 may execute processing to provide the type of assistance indicated by the assistance type information to the person being assisted identified by the assisted person information, based on the association information. In other words, the type of assistance may also be automatically determined from the association information and information such as the assisted person ID. However, as described above, if the trigger information is the launch of a specific application, the type of assistance may be determined from the launched application, and in this case, the association information may not be used to determine the type of assistance.

[0144] Furthermore, in the method of the present embodiment, various devices can be used as the second device 200 and the third device 300 that cooperates with the second device 200. For example, the vendor of the second device 200 and the vendor of the third device 300 may be different. However, when the second device 200 cooperates with another device, the data structure used when transmitting data to the other device is considered to be determined by the vendor of the second device 200. Similarly, the data structure used when the third device 300 receives data from the other device is considered to be determined by the vendor of the third device 300. Therefore, when the second device 200 attempts to transmit data to the third device 300 during the cooperation process, it is possible that the structure of the transmitted data from the second device 200 and the structure of the received data from the third device 300 may not match due to differences in vendors. The same possibility of a data structure mismatch exists when the second device 200 receives data from the third device 300.

[0145] Therefore, in this embodiment, the bed 610 may convert the data structure of data received from one of the second device 200 and the third device 300, and transmit the converted data to the other device. In this way, the bed 610, which functions as a hub for the second device 200 and the third device 300, can convert the data structure, eliminating the need for processing in each device connected to the hub that takes into account differences in data structure between vendors.

[0146] Although the above describes an example in which the second device 200 and the third device 300 are used in cooperation with each other to provide assistance around the bed 610, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the second device 200 may be used alone for a given type of assistance. Even in this case, the association information of the bed 610 can be used to identify the person being assisted, determine an appropriate care application, determine the content of assistance, and so on, which has the same advantage as the above example in that assistance around the bed 610 can be appropriately provided.

[0147] 4.1.3 Modifications <Other Examples of First Device 100> The above describes an example in which the first device 100 is a bed 610. However, the first device 100 may be a device other than the bed 610 as long as it is a device that can be relatively easily associated with a person being assisted one-to-one. For example, a mattress, a pillow, or the like having a communication function may be used as the first device 100. The first device 100 may also be a device that is attached to a bed, a mattress, or the like. In other words, the term "bed 610" in this specification may be replaced with another device, such as a mattress, as appropriate.

[0148] <Process for Acquiring Information Representing First Location by Communication Unit> The above describes an example in which the communication unit 10 acquires information representing the first location based on an input operation at the staff terminal (step S102 in FIG. 10 ). However, the process of this embodiment is not limited to this, and the communication unit 10 may acquire the first location based on communication with the server system 20, the relay device 30, or the like.

[0149] For example, the relay device 30 may store information indicating the location where the relay device 30 is located in advance, and the control unit 11 of the communication unit 10 may identify the first location based on which relay device 30 in the nursing facility the communication unit 13 is connected to. Alternatively, the server system 20 may store information in advance that associates an ID that identifies the communication unit 10 with the first location where the communication unit 10 is located. This information is input, for example, by a system administrator of the nursing facility. The communication unit 10 may request location information from the server system 20 via the relay device 30. The server system 20 identifies the first location based on the ID of the requesting communication unit 10 and returns information indicating the first location to the communication unit 10.

[0150] <Another Example of Processing for Connecting Communication Unit and Bed> Another example of processing for connecting the communication unit 10 and bed 610 and processing for storing correspondence information in the bed 610 will be described using Figures 12 and 13. In the processing in Figure 12, first, in step S301, the communication unit 10 is connected to a commercial power socket SO. In step S302, the communication unit 10 obtains information representing the first position. The processing in steps S301-S302 is the same as the processing in steps S101-S102 in Figure 10.

[0151] In step S303, the communication unit 10 acquires the ID of the person being assisted from the staff terminal. For example, the staff member uses a staff terminal with a smart plug configuration application installed to input information identifying the person being assisted who resides in the room where the smart plug is installed. While FIG. 12 shows an example of inputting the ID of the person being assisted, other information, such as the name of the person being assisted, may be input on the staff terminal, and the server system 20 may collate the ID with the ID of the person being assisted.

[0152] In step S304, the communication unit 10 searches for connectable peripheral devices. In step S305, the communication unit 10 identifies the bed 610 from the peripheral devices. In step S306, a communication connection is established between the communication unit 10 and the bed 610. The processing in steps S304 to S306 is the same as steps S104 to S106 in FIG. 10.

[0153] In step S307, the communication unit 10 transmits a request to acquire the association information to the server system 20. The request may include the ID of the person being assisted acquired in step S303.

[0154] In step S308, the server system 20 extracts a portion of the correspondence information (master table) that corresponds to the ID of the person being assisted, and in step S309, transmits the extraction result to the communication unit 10 as correspondence information in the narrow sense.

[0155] In step S310, the communication unit 10 transmits the association information received from the server system 20 to the bed 610. In step S311, the bed 610 receives the association information from the communication unit 10 and stores the association information in the storage unit 120.

[0156] 13, first, in step S401, the communication unit 10 is connected to a commercial power socket SO. In step S402, the communication unit 10 acquires information representing the first position. The processing in steps S401-S402 is the same as the processing in steps S101-S102 in FIG.

[0157] In step S403, the communication unit 10 searches for connectable peripheral devices. In step S404, the communication unit 10 creates a list of devices whose communication radio wave intensity is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, and transmits the list to the staff terminal.

[0158] In step S405, the staff terminal performs a user operation to select a device corresponding to the bed 610 from the list and input the ID of the person being assisted, thereby enabling the staff terminal to obtain information indicating the correspondence between the bed 610 and the person being assisted (more specifically, the correspondence between the bed ID and the ID of the person being assisted).

[0159] In step S406, the staff terminal transmits the bed ID and the assisted person ID to the communication unit 10. The communication unit 10 can identify the bed 610 to connect to based on the bed ID, and therefore, in step S407, a communication connection between the communication unit 10 and the bed 610 is established.

[0160] The processing in steps S408 to S412 is similar to that in steps S307 to S311 in FIG. 12, and therefore a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0161] Even when the processing shown in Figure 12 or Figure 13 is performed, the server system 20 can properly identify the person being assisted corresponding to the bed 610, and as a result, the bed 610 can obtain association information appropriate for that person being assisted.

[0162] 10 , 12 , and 13 , the difference is that in FIG. 10 , the communication unit 10 does not necessarily acquire the ID of the person being assisted, whereas in FIG. 12 and 13 , the communication unit 10 acquires the ID of the person being assisted. However, in the process of FIG. 10 , the communication unit 10 may acquire the ID of the person being assisted corresponding to the bed 610 from the server system 20 or the like. Also, in all of FIG. 10 , 12 , and 13 , the communication unit 10 simply transfers the association information acquired from the server system 20 to the bed 610, and is not required to retain the association information. However, the method of this embodiment is not limited to this, and the memory unit 12 of the communication unit 10 may also store the association information. As such, various modifications are possible with respect to the data retained by the communication unit 10.

[0163] <Example of Communication Unit Other than Smart Plug> The above describes an example in which the communication unit 10 is a smart plug. However, the method of the present embodiment is not limited to this. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a device arranged at the first position (room) of the information processing system 1. As shown in FIG. 14 , in addition to a bed 610, a smart speaker 640 that recognizes the voice of a user (caregiver) and controls various devices based on the voice recognition results may be arranged as the communication unit 10 in the room. Furthermore, a curtain 690, a beverage server 660 that provides thickened beverages, an aroma diffuser 670, lighting 680, etc. may also be arranged at the first position.

[0164] Each device, such as bed 610, placed in a living room may be connected to, for example, a smart speaker 640 and controlled by voice recognition processing using the smart speaker. For example, bed 610, curtain 690 (a driving mechanism for opening and closing curtain 690), beverage server 660, aroma diffuser 670, and lighting 680 are each connected to smart speaker 640 directly or via a network, and can operate based on operation signals from external devices, similar to a so-called smart home example. Smart speaker 640 is also equipped with a microphone for receiving voice, and a smart home application is installed that recognizes voice and transmits control signals to devices based on the voice recognition results.

[0165] For example, the caregiver may speak to the smart speaker 640, including a command such as "Open the curtains." Although not shown here, a specific hotword may be recognized before the command. The smart speaker 640 recognizes that the voice is an instruction to operate the curtains 690 by performing voice recognition processing in accordance with the smart home application. Similarly, the caregiver may adjust the height of the bed 610 by speaking, for example, "Raise the bed to the height required for changing." The caregiver may also instruct the beverage server 660 to prepare a beverage with a specific thickness by speaking, for example, "Prepare Thickening Agent 3." In this way, issuing instructions to devices through voice recognition reduces the burden on the caregiver. For example, the caregiver can concentrate on tasks such as changing the person being assisted and providing them with a beverage.

[0166] The caregiver may also control the aroma diffuser 670 and the lighting 680 using voice. For example, the smart speaker 640 may control the on / off of the aroma diffuser 670 or the on / off of the lighting 680 when a corresponding keyword is recognized. If these devices have multiple operation modes (for example, when fine adjustment of air volume or illuminance is possible), the smart speaker 640 may perform control to determine a specific operation mode based on the user's voice. Note that while FIG. 14 illustrates both a small light placed on a shelf and a ceiling light as the lighting 680, either one of them may be omitted. Other types of lighting may also be used as the lighting 680.

[0167] 14 , the smart speaker 640 can be connected to the server system 20 via a network, and can also be connected to the bed 610. Therefore, in this embodiment, the smart speaker 640 can be used as the communication unit 10 to execute the various processes described above.

[0168] The smart plug and smart speaker 640 are not limited to being used alone, and may operate in conjunction with each other. For example, the smart plug may be connected to a medical device (second device 200) as described above with reference to FIG. 1, and the smart speaker 640 may be connected to a non-medical device (such as lighting or air conditioning).

[0169] Furthermore, when the smart speaker 640 controls the light 680 or the like, a process for identifying which room's light to control, i.e., a process for identifying the location to be controlled, is required. In this case, if both the smart plug and the smart speaker 640 are installed, the smart plug is considered to have acquired information representing the first location as described above. Therefore, the smart speaker 640 may request information representing the first location from the smart plug via the bed 610. Then, when the smart speaker 640 recognizes a voice requesting control of the light 680 or the like, it controls the light 680 or the like located at the first location acquired from the smart plug. In this way, by linking with the smart plug according to this embodiment, the smart speaker 640 can perform appropriate control based on its location.

[0170] <Control of Bed According to Type of Second Device> As described above, the second device 200 of this embodiment may be a device that operates according to a care application (such as the smartphone CP, the seat sensor 440, or the choking stool detection device 460), or may be the medical device 800. In other words, the second device 200 of this embodiment may be a device to which the bed 610 transmits information about the care application or a linked device, or may be a device that transmits sensing results to the bed 610. Therefore, the bed 610 of this embodiment needs to switch the processing to be executed between the bed 610 and the second device 200 according to the device type of the second device 200.

[0171] Therefore, the storage unit 120 of the bed 610 may store data (e.g., a program or application software) that specifies a process targeted at the second device 200 of the corresponding device type, in association with the device type of the second device 200. In this way, it becomes possible to cause the bed 610 to execute an appropriate process according to the device type.

[0172] The data stored in the bed 610 may also be updated using an external device such as a smartphone (e.g., a staff terminal). For example, by using a bed application installed on the smartphone, the smartphone may rewrite at least one of the data specifying the device type and the process stored in the bed 610. Alternatively, the smartphone may perform a process of writing new data that associates the device type with the data specifying the process to the storage unit 120. This makes it possible to flexibly change the operation of the bed 610 and the operation of peripheral devices used around the bed 610 without replacing the hardware of the bed 610 (e.g., a control box including the control unit 110 and the communication unit 130) itself. For example, this allows for flexible changes even when a vendor develops a new peripheral device or when a vendor develops additional functions for an already registered peripheral device.

[0173] 4.2 Dining Room <Handover> As described above, the bed 610 used in the room acquires information about the position and the person being assisted based on communication with the communication unit 10, making it possible to appropriately provide assistance around the bed using the bed 610 as a hub.

[0174] However, in a nursing care facility or the like, assistance may be provided in places other than the patient's room. For example, meals and medication are taken in the dining room, so various types of assistance, such as assistance with meals and medication, are provided. However, since it is not practical to carry the bed 610 from the patient's room to the dining room, a device other than the bed 610 must be set as a hub in the dining room. For example, since the possibility of multiple people receiving care using a wheelchair at the same time is sufficiently low, in the short term, it is possible to assign one wheelchair to each person receiving care.

[0175] However, it is expected that multiple people receiving care will gather in the dining room. Therefore, even if the second communication unit 10b (smart plug) located in the dining room tries to search for a wheelchair that will serve as a hub, there are often multiple wheelchairs around the second communication unit 10b. Therefore, even when the communication signal strength and device type are taken into consideration, it is not easy for the second communication unit 10b to determine which wheelchair should be used as the hub at the second location.

[0176] Furthermore, when devices are used on dining tables, it is conceivable that most devices are used without obtaining power via a wired connection. Therefore, it may not be easy to identify the device that serves as the hub based on the power connection between the second communication unit 10b and the device. Furthermore, if a wired power connection were required, the number of power wirings would increase, increasing the risk of tripping over the wiring.

[0177] Therefore, in this embodiment, when moving from a first location (e.g., a living room) to a second location (e.g., a dining room), the function as a hub may be taken over from the bed 610 to another device such as the wheelchair 630. In this way, even if the second communication unit 10b placed in the second location (dining room) does not search for the wheelchair 630, it becomes possible to set the wheelchair 630 as a hub at the second location (holding association information corresponding to the person being assisted). Note that the taking over of the hub function may be specifically performed by taking over the association information. Specific processing will be described below.

[0178] Fig. 15 is a diagram illustrating a situation in which a handover occurs in a room, which is a first location. Among the devices shown in Fig. 15, the communication unit 10, the bed 610, and the smartphone CP, which is an example of the second device 200, are the same as those shown in Fig. 1. Although omitted in Fig. 15, other devices not shown in Fig. 15 may be placed at the first location (Room A).

[0179] In addition to these components, the information processing system 1 shown in Figure 15 further includes a fourth device 400 that moves to the second position with the person being assisted when the person being assisted moves from the first position to the second position. When the first device 100 detects the movement of the person being assisted, it transmits association information to the fourth device 400. Here, detecting the movement of the person being assisted does not necessarily mean detecting the movement from the first position to the second position itself, but may also mean detecting signs of movement to a position away from the first position. In this way, it is possible to hand over the association information at an appropriate time.

[0180] 15 , the first device 100 may be a bed 610 placed at the first position, and the fourth device 400 may be a wheelchair 630 used to assist the person being assisted in moving. By using the bed 610 and the wheelchair 630, it becomes possible to use devices that can be easily associated with the person being assisted as the first device 100 and the fourth device 400. However, the fourth device 400 is not limited to the wheelchair 630, and other devices such as the seat sensor 440 described above with reference to FIG. 7 or a walker having a communication unit may also be used as the fourth device 400.

[0181] 16 is a sequence diagram illustrating the process of handing over the association information. In step S501, the bed 610 detects the transfer of the person being assisted from the bed 610 to the wheelchair 630. For example, the bed 610 may be a device capable of detecting pressure, and may determine that the transfer has occurred when it detects that the person being assisted has left the bed. Alternatively, the bed 610 may determine that the transfer has occurred when the person being assisted has moved from a lying position to a sitting position (particularly, a sitting position at one of the left and right ends of the bed). Furthermore, a detector capable of detecting pressure may be disposed in the bed 610, and this detector may perform the transfer detection.

[0182] If a transfer is detected, in step S502, the bed 610 searches for a wheelchair 630 to which the user is to transfer. For example, the bed 610 determines that a device whose communication radio wave strength is equal to or greater than a threshold and whose device type is "wheelchair" is the wheelchair 630 to which the user is to transfer.

[0183] In step S503, the bed 610 establishes a communication connection with the wheelchair 630. For example, the bed 610 and the wheelchair 630 perform pairing in Bluetooth communication.

[0184] Although the above describes an example in which transfer detection is performed on bed 610, the present invention is not limited to this, and transfer detection may be performed on wheelchair 630. Specifically, the processing shown in steps S501-S503 in Fig. 16 may be changed to the following steps S501'-S503'.

[0185] For example, the wheelchair 630 may be provided with a seat sensor 440, and in step S501', the wheelchair 630 may determine that the person being assisted is being transferred when the seat sensor 440 detects that the person being assisted is sitting.

[0186] If a transfer is detected, in step S502', the wheelchair 630 searches for the bed 610 from which the association information will be taken over. For example, the wheelchair 630 determines that the device whose communication radio wave strength is equal to or greater than a threshold and that stores the association information is the bed 610. In step S503', the bed 610 establishes a communication connection with the wheelchair 630.

[0187] Furthermore, transfer detection may be performed using both the bed 610 and the wheelchair 630, and various modifications of the specific processing are possible.

[0188] In step S504, the bed 610 transmits the association information to the wheelchair 630. In step S505, the wheelchair 630 stores the acquired association information. This allows the association information to be handed over from the bed 610 to the wheelchair 630. Because the association information here is information that identifies the person being assisted (for example, table data related to the ID of a specific person being assisted), the wheelchair 630 and the person being assisted are associated with each other by handing over the association information.

[0189] As described above, the association information processing unit 26 of the server system 20 may update the association information based on the ability information (ADL) of the person being assisted, etc. Therefore, depending on the relationship between the timing at which the bed 610 acquires the association information and the timing of the update process in the association information processing unit 26, the association information of the bed 610 may not be the latest. Therefore, the control unit 110 of the bed 610 may inquire of the server system 20 whether the association information is the latest before the process of handing over the association information. This inquiry is executed, for example, via the communication unit 10. For example, the bed 610 transmits information on the update date and time of the association information to the server system 20, and the server system 20 determines whether the association information of the bed 610 is the latest by comparing the update date and time of the association information stored in the memory unit 22 with the update date and time acquired from the bed 610. If the association information of the bed 610 is not the latest, the server system 20 transmits the latest association information to the bed 610 via the communication unit 10. The bed 610 executes a process of transferring the updated association information to the wheelchair 630 .

[0190] Thereafter, in step S506, the wheelchair 630 is moved to the second location. For example, the caregiver moves the wheelchair 630 with the person being assisted in the wheelchair 630 to the second location (dining room).

[0191] In step S507, the wheelchair 630 searches for a communication unit 10 located at the second location. Here, the description assumes that the second communication unit 10b, which is a smart plug, is connected to a commercial power socket SO installed on the wall of the dining room. In other words, the second communication unit 10b is a device located at the second location and has a communication unit. For example, the wheelchair 630 searches for a device whose communication signal strength is above a threshold and whose device type is a smart plug. If a device that meets the conditions is found, the wheelchair 630 attempts to connect to that device. In step S508, the wheelchair 630 establishes a communication connection with the second communication unit 10b.

[0192] Instead of the processing of step S507, the second communication unit 10b may search for the wheelchair 630. For example, the second communication unit 10b may periodically perform processing to search for peripheral devices. The second communication unit 10b determines that a device whose communication radio wave intensity is equal to or greater than a threshold and that stores association information is the wheelchair 630. In step S508, the second communication unit 10b establishes a communication connection with the wheelchair 630.

[0193] 17 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the information processing system 1 at the second location. The information processing system 1 includes a server system 20, a relay device 30, a second communication unit 10b, and a wheelchair 630. The information processing system 1 may also include a fifth device 500 used to assist the person being assisted at the second location.

[0194] The server system 20 is the same as in the example described above with reference to FIG. 1 . The relay device 30 is, for example, an L3 switch (router), as in the example described above with reference to FIG. 1 . The relay device 30 at the first location and the relay device 30 at the second location may be the same device or different devices. For example, if one relay device 30 has radio wave strength sufficient to cover both a living room and a dining room, both the communication unit 10 in the living room and the second communication unit 10b in the dining room may be connected to the single relay device 30. Alternatively, different relay devices 30 may be provided in the living room and the dining room.

[0195] The wheelchair 630 may be connected to the second communication unit 10b, for example, as described above using step S508 in Fig. 16. In this case, the wheelchair 630 is connected to the server system 20 via the second communication unit 10b. Therefore, the wheelchair 630 has the same function as the bed 610 not only in terms of retaining association information but also in terms of being able to communicate with the server system 20. Note that the wheelchair 630 does not have to be connected to the second communication unit 10b, and an example of this case will be described later using Figs. 19 and 20.

[0196] 17 , when the wheelchair 630 and the second communication unit 10b are connected, a fifth device 500, which is equipment used for assistance at the second position, is connected to the wheelchair 630. For example, the fifth device 500 may be a smartphone CP running a positioning application or a choking detection device 460. When these devices transmit and receive data to and from the server system 20, the transmission and reception is performed via the wheelchair 630.

[0197] Furthermore, the information processing system 1 may include a sixth device that operates in cooperation with the fifth device 500 during assistance at the second position. Similar to the relationship between the second device 200 and the third device 300 described above, the smartphone CP or the choking hazard detection device 460 may operate as either the fifth device 500 or the sixth device. Furthermore, an appliance operating as the second device 200 or the third device 300 may also operate as the fifth device 500 or the sixth device.

[0198] 18 is a sequence diagram illustrating a linking process executed using the wheelchair 630 (fourth device 400) as a hub. The following describes an example in which a smartphone CP running a positioning application or the like and a linked device operate in cooperation with each other when providing assistance around the wheelchair 630. The linked device may be the choking detection device 460 or another device.

[0199] When this process starts, first, in step S601, trigger information for starting assistance is acquired by the smartphone CP, which is the fifth device 500. In step S602, the communication unit of the fifth device 500 determines whether there is a device whose communication radio wave strength is equal to or greater than a threshold and which holds association information. Here, it is assumed that the wheelchair 630, which has inherited the association information, is found as a device that satisfies the conditions. In this case, in step S603, a communication connection is established between the wheelchair 630 and the fifth device 500.

[0200] In other words, the fifth device 500 determines the type of each of one or more devices with which it can communicate, and if the one or more devices include the wheelchair 630, establishes a connection with the wheelchair 630. Here, whether or not a device type corresponds to the wheelchair 630 may be determined based on whether or not association information is stored, as described above. Alternatively, the fifth device 500 may obtain a device type name or type ID, and determine that a device with a type name or type ID corresponding to the wheelchair 630 is the wheelchair 630. In this way, assistance at the second position can also be processed using the wheelchair 630, which stores association information, as a hub.

[0201] The fifth device 500 executes processing corresponding to the person being assisted based on the association information of the wheelchair 630. For example, the wheelchair 630, the fifth device 500, the sixth device, and the second communication unit 10b may execute the processing shown in steps S604-S616 in FIG. 18 . Compared to the processing described above using FIG. 11 , the processing shown in steps S604-S616 is the same as the processing in steps S204-S216, except that the communication unit 10 at the first location is changed to the second communication unit 10b at the second location, the bed 610 is changed to the wheelchair 630, the second device 200 is changed to the fifth device 500, and the third device 300 is changed to the sixth device. In other words, by transferring the association information from the bed 610 to the wheelchair 630 in advance, it is possible to execute the same processing at the second location as at the first location.

[0202] 11. Furthermore, the storage of log data shown in steps S617-S619 is similar to steps S217-S219 in FIG. 11, except that the device associated with the processing result is changed to wheelchair 630.

[0203] <Example 2 of Information Processing System> In the above, an example has been described in which the wheelchair 630 is connected to the server system 20 via the second communication unit 10b, but the method of this embodiment is not limited to this. For example, the bed 610, which is an example of the first device 100, is likely to communicate relatively frequently with the server system 20, as it may transmit monitoring results of a sleeping person being assisted to the server system 20. On the other hand, the wheelchair 630, which is an example of the fourth device 400, is often not ridden by a person being assisted, and therefore communicates relatively infrequently with the server system 20. Therefore, the wheelchair 630 does not need to be connected to the second communication unit 10b.

[0204] Fig. 19 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the information processing system 1 in this case. The information processing system 1 includes a server system 20, a relay device 30, a second communication unit 10b, a wheelchair 630, and a fifth device 500 (a smartphone CP or a choking hazard detection device 460), as in Fig. 17. The smartphone CP or the choking hazard detection device 460 may also function as a sixth device, as in Fig. 17.

[0205] 17, in the example of Fig. 19, as described above, the second communication unit 10b and the wheelchair 630 are not always connected. For example, the wheelchair 630 transmits and receives data to and from the server system 20 by connecting to the second communication unit 10b during times when the network communication load is low, such as late at night. Therefore, during times such as daytime when assistance is provided at the second position, the second communication unit 10b and the wheelchair 630 do not need to be connected, as shown in Fig. 19.

[0206] Even in this case, as in the above-described example, the fifth device 500 is connected to the wheelchair 630. In this way, it becomes possible for the wheelchair 630 to appropriately provide assistance to a specific person being assisted based on the association information inherited by the wheelchair 630.

[0207] On the other hand, if the fifth device 500 is connected only to the wheelchair 630, it will not be able to communicate with the server system 20. As a result, it may be impossible to update the nursing care application. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 19 , the fifth device 500 may also be connected to the second communication unit 10b. In this way, communication between the fifth device 500 and the server system 20 will also be possible.

[0208] 20 is a sequence diagram illustrating the linking process executed using the wheelchair 630 as a hub. The process of acquiring trigger information in step S701 is the same as step S601 in FIG.

[0209] Next, the communication unit of the fifth device 500 determines whether there is a device whose communication radio wave intensity is equal to or greater than a threshold and which holds association information. In addition, the fifth device 500 may obtain information on whether each device is connected to the network (whether it is connected to the server system 20).

[0210] For example, if the Bluetooth communication signal strength is above a threshold, a wheelchair 630 storing association information is present, and the wheelchair 630 is connected to a LAN, the fifth device 500 executes the process described above with reference to FIG. 18 to implement the configuration shown in FIG. 17 . On the other hand, if the Bluetooth communication signal strength is above a threshold, and a wheelchair 630 storing association information is present but the wheelchair 630 is not connected to a LAN, the fifth device 500 executes the process to implement the configuration shown in FIG. 19 . In other words, if the wheelchair 630 is not connected to the server system 20, the fifth device 500 establishes a connection with the second communication unit 10b. In this way, the fifth device 500 becomes able to communicate with the server system 20 via the second communication unit 10b.

[0211] Specifically, the fifth device 500 performs a process of identifying a peripheral device whose Bluetooth communication signal strength is equal to or greater than a threshold and that stores association information (step S702), and a process of identifying a peripheral device connected to the network (step S703). The fifth device 500 determines the device identified in step S702 as the wheelchair 630, and determines the device identified in step S703 as the second communication unit 10b. Alternatively, the fifth device 500 may perform a process of presenting to the user a first list, which is a list of peripheral devices whose Bluetooth communication signal strength is equal to or greater than a threshold and that stores association information, and a second list, which is a list of peripheral devices connected to the network. The fifth device 500 accepts a user input to select one of the devices from each list, and determines the device selected from the first list as the wheelchair 630 and the device selected from the second list as the second communication unit 10b.

[0212] In step S704, the fifth device 500 establishes a communication connection with the wheelchair 630. In addition, in step S705, the fifth device 500 establishes a communication connection with the second communication unit 10b. This enables the fifth device 500 to perform assistance processing using the association information of the wheelchair 630 and to communicate with the server system 20 as necessary.

[0213] The processing in steps S706 and S707 is similar to that in steps S604 and S605 in FIG.

[0214] If the necessary care application is not installed in the fifth device 500, the fifth device 500 performs a process to acquire the care application. In this case, in steps S606-S610 of FIG. 17 , the process was performed via the wheelchair 630. However, in the example of FIG. 19 , the fifth device 500 and the second communication unit 10b are directly connected. Therefore, in step S708, the fifth device 500 transmits a request to acquire the care application to the second communication unit 10b. In step S709, the second communication unit 10b communicates with the server system 20 to acquire the care application necessary for the fifth device 500. In step S710, the second communication unit 10b transmits the acquired care application to the fifth device 500.

[0215] The processing in steps S711 to S716 is the same as that in steps S611 to S616 in FIG.

[0216] The fifth device 500 may also switch the transmission destination depending on the type of data acquired during the linking process. For example, if the fifth device 500 detects a highly urgent abnormality while performing a process related to caregiving, it may output alert information. By outputting the alert information from the fifth device 500, it becomes possible to prompt the caregiver providing care at the second location to take the necessary action. Furthermore, if the emergency is particularly urgent, it may also be necessary to notify the care facility manager or a caregiver at another location of the alert. In this case, as described above with reference to FIG. 1, the alert information may be transmitted to the terminal device 700 via the server system 20.

[0217] 19 , even if alert information is sent to the wheelchair 630, the wheelchair 630 is not connected to the server system 20. Therefore, in step S717, the fifth device 500 sends alert information when an abnormality is detected in the processing to the second communication unit 10b. The second communication unit 10b sends the alert information to the server system 20. In this way, it becomes possible to appropriately send and share information of high importance.

[0218] On the other hand, log data and the like when no abnormality has occurred is of low urgency, and therefore, there is little problem even if the log data and the like are uploaded collectively, for example, late at night, to the server system 20. Therefore, in step S719, the fifth device 500 transmits log data representing the results of processing related to the person being assisted to the wheelchair 630. The same applies to the sixth device (step S718).

[0219] The wheelchair 630 accumulates log data in a storage unit and transmits the log data to the server system 20 via the relay device 30 when it connects to the network, such as late at night. If the wheelchair 630 remains disconnected from the network, the log data may not be uploaded to the server system 20. Therefore, the fifth device 500 and the sixth device 500 may store a usage history of the care application. For example, the fifth device 500 may store timestamps, such as when the care application was turned on and off. The fifth device 500 may then inquire about whether the log data has been uploaded by transmitting the usage history to the server system 20. If the log data has not been uploaded within a predetermined period of time since the end of use of the care application, the server system 20 or the fifth device 500 may output information prompting the user to connect the wheelchair 630 to the network. For example, the smartphone CP, which is the fifth device 500, or the terminal device 700 used by an administrator or the like may perform a process of displaying information identifying the wheelchair 630 (such as a device ID) and text prompting the user to connect the wheelchair 630 to the network.

[0220] 4.3 Bathroom The second location is not limited to a dining room and may be a bathroom. FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information processing system 1 in a bathroom. The information processing system 1 includes a server system 20, a relay device 30, a third communication unit 10c, and a lift 650 used for bathing assistance. The server system 20 and the relay device 30 are the same as those in FIG. 1. The third communication unit 10c is a smart plug placed on the wall of the bathroom (which may be inside the bathroom or in a changing room) and is connected to the server system 20 via the relay device 30. The lift 650 has, for example, a communication unit and is connected to the third communication unit 10c.

[0221] The lift 650 is a device that is shared by multiple people who may use the bathroom, and therefore it is not easy to store information about a specific person in the third communication unit 10c and associate the information about that person with the lift 650.

[0222] 15 and 16, consider a case in which the association information of the bed 610 is transferred to the wheelchair 630, and the person being assisted moves to the bathroom using the wheelchair 630. In this case, since the wheelchair 630 is associated with information about the person being assisted who has moved to the bathroom, this information can also be used for bathing assistance.

[0223] For example, the lift 650 determines whether the peripheral devices include a wheelchair 630. For example, the lift 650 determines that a device whose communication radio wave strength is equal to or greater than a threshold and that has association information is the wheelchair 630. If the wheelchair 630 is found, the lift 650 obtains the association information from the wheelchair 630 and uses the association information to provide assistance appropriate for the person being assisted. In this case, because the lift 650 is connected to the network via the third communication unit 10c, bathing assistance can be completed using the device in the bathroom without using other communication devices, etc.

[0224] In addition, if the lift 650 does not have the function to connect to the third communication unit 10c, the wheelchair 630 may be connected to the third communication unit 10c, and processing may be performed with the wheelchair 630 as the hub, as in the example described above using Figure 17.

[0225] Although the present embodiment has been described in detail above, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that many modifications are possible without substantially departing from the novel features and advantages of the present embodiment. Therefore, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present disclosure. For example, a term described at least once in the specification or drawings with a different term having a broader or equivalent meaning may be replaced with that different term anywhere in the specification or drawings. Furthermore, all combinations of the present embodiment and modifications are also included within the scope of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the configurations and operations of the information processing system, communication unit, first to sixth devices, etc. are not limited to those described in the present embodiment, and various modifications are possible.

Claims

1. An information processing system comprising: a communication unit placed at a first position in a living space of a person being assisted and having a communication unit; a first device placed at the first position; and a second device used for assisting the person being assisted in the vicinity of the first device, wherein the first device acquires, based on communication with the communication unit, location information indicating the location where the first device is placed and correspondence information that associates assisted person information regarding the person being assisted using the first device, and when connected to the first device, the second device performs processing corresponding to the person being assisted identified by the assisted person information based on the correspondence information.

2. An information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the correspondence information includes device information representing a device to be used in the assistance, and the second device determines a third device to be used in the assistance of the person being assisted in cooperation with the second device based on the correspondence information, and when the third device is connected to the first device, communicates with the third device via the first device.

3. An information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the association information includes information regarding tacit knowledge data that is a digitized version of the tacit knowledge of an experienced caregiver, and the second device determines the tacit knowledge data to be used in the second device based on the association information, and if the tacit knowledge data has not been obtained, obtains the tacit knowledge data via the first device.

4. In claim 1, the correspondence information includes assistance type information indicating the type of assistance to be provided to the person being assisted, and the second device is an information processing system that executes processing to provide the type of assistance represented by the assistance type information to the person being assisted identified by the person being assisted information based on the correspondence information.

5. An information processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a fourth device that moves to the second position accompanying the person being assisted when the person being assisted moves from the first position to the second position, wherein the first device transmits the correspondence information to the fourth device when movement of the person being assisted is detected.

6. An information processing system according to claim 5, wherein the first device is a bed placed at the first position, and the fourth device is a wheelchair used to assist the person being assisted in moving.

7. An information processing system as claimed in claim 5, further comprising a fifth device used for the assistance of the person being assisted at the second location, wherein the fifth device determines the type of each of one or more devices with which it can communicate, and if the one or more devices include the fourth device, establishes a connection with the fourth device, and executes processing corresponding to the person being assisted based on the correspondence information of the fourth device.

8. An information processing system as claimed in claim 7, further comprising a second communication unit disposed at the second position and having a communication section, wherein the fifth device establishes a connection with the second communication unit when the fourth device is not connected to a server system, transmits log data to the fourth device representing the results of processing relating to the person being assisted, and transmits alert information to the second communication unit when an abnormality is detected in the processing.

9. In any one of claims 1 to 4, the second device is an information processing system that, when a process related to the assistance to the assisted person is performed, transmits a care record indicating that the assistance to the assisted person has been performed in the vicinity of the first device to a server system via the first device.

10. An information processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the communication unit has a first connection portion, a second connection portion, and a communication portion, and supplies power supplied from a commercial power source via the first connection portion via the second connection portion, and when another device is connected to the second connection portion, the communication unit performs a process of searching for a device of a type corresponding to the first device from devices whose communication radio wave strength with the communication portion is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold.

11. A control method for an information processing system including a communication unit placed at a first position in a living space of an assisted person and having a communication unit, a first device placed at the first position, and a second device used to assist the assisted person executed in the vicinity of the first device, the control method storing in the first device, based on communication between the communication unit and the first device, location information indicating the location where the first device is placed and correspondence information that corresponds to assisted person information related to the assisted person using the first device, and when the first device and the second device are connected, causing the second device to execute processing corresponding to the assisted person identified by the assisted person information based on the correspondence information.

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