Information processing device, social participation determination method, social participation determination program, and computer-readable non-transitory storage medium

Abstract

A social participation determination system (10) comprises an activity meter (12), a mobile terminal device (14), and a server (16). On the basis of the measurement results from the activity meter (12) and the portable terminal device (14), the server (16) determines a conversation state with respect to a measurement subject, a contact state between the measurement subject and another person, and the behavior state of the measurement subject. On the basis of the determination results, the server (16) then determines the degree of social participation of the measurement subject, and notifies a prescribed notification destination.

Description

Information processing device, social participation determination method, social participation determination program, and computer-readable non-transitory storage medium CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of Patent Application No. 2024-35360, filed in Japan on March 7, 2024, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] The present disclosure relates to an information processing device, a social participation determination method, a social participation determination program, and a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium.

[0003] In recent years, the importance of human interaction, i.e., exchanges between people, has been attracting attention. For this reason, technology to evaluate the degree of human interaction is being developed.

[0004] For example, Patent Document 1 (JP 2009-129338 A) describes an interpersonal relationship evaluation system that obtains location information for two or more users over multiple time periods and calculates the average value of the distance between each user for times when certain conditions are met, thereby determining the interpersonal relationship evaluation value for each user.

[0005] Patent document 2 (JP 2013-3942 A) describes an exchange relationship evaluation device that calculates the degree of intimacy between users included in a community based on the amount of communication between users included in the community and a communication obstruction distance, which is the degree to which communication between users may be obstructed.

[0006] Patent Document 3 (JP 2016-134696 A) describes a beacon detection system in which students wear beacons like name tags and teachers carry mobile beacon readers. With this beacon detection system, when a teacher praises a student, the teacher touches the beacon reader to the student's beacon, accumulating beacon detection information and enabling the teacher to check changes in the student's growth in the classroom.

[0007] Patent document 4 (International Publication No. 2018 / 074224) describes an atmosphere creation system that estimates the psychological state of a subject and determines an appropriate psychological state to which the subject should transition based on the estimated psychological state and the situation in which the subject is present.

[0008] The above patent documents evaluate the degree of human interaction from different perspectives. However, the above patent documents do not evaluate the degree of participation in various social activities (hereinafter referred to as "social participation") for people who should increase their participation, such as elderly people. Social frailty is also assessed through a medical interview that asks about the degree of social participation. However, assessing social frailty through a medical interview is time-consuming. Furthermore, because the assessment of social frailty is not objective, there are cases where responses vary from person to person.

[0009] Therefore, the present disclosure aims to provide an information processing device, a social participation assessment method, a social participation assessment program, and a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium that can easily assess the degree of social participation and encourage the social participation of the person being measured.

[0010] The information processing device of the first aspect of the present disclosure comprises a state determination means for determining at least two of the conversation state of the person being measured, the contact state of the person being measured with others, and the behavioral state of the person being measured, a social participation determination means for determining the degree of social participation of the person being measured based on the determination result by the state determination means, and a notification means for notifying a predetermined notification destination of the determination result by the social participation determination means.

[0011] According to this configuration, the level of social participation of the person being measured is determined based on the person's conversation state, the person's contact state with others, and the person's behavioral state, and the determined level of social participation of the person being measured is notified. The notification of the determined level of social participation may be sent to, for example, the person being measured, or to the person's relatives, etc. This configuration makes it possible to easily determine the level of social participation and encourage the person being measured to participate in society.

[0012] The degree of social participation of the subject may be determined by assigning a predetermined weight to each of the conversation state, contact state, and behavior state. The weight may also vary depending on changes in the degree of social participation. For example, a weight may be set to be larger when a subject changes from a state of no social participation to a state of social participation compared to when a subject who is already participating in society increases the frequency of social participation.

[0013] In a second aspect of the information processing device, in the information processing device of the first aspect, the state determination means may determine the conversation state, the contact state, and the behavioral state based on measurement results of at least one measuring device worn by the person being measured. With this configuration, the conversation state, the contact state, and the behavioral state can be measured without the person being measured being aware of it.

[0014] A third aspect of the information processing device is the information processing device of the second aspect, wherein the measuring device is equipped with a microphone and an acceleration sensor and is worn by the person being measured so as to be in contact with the person's body, and the state determination means determines the conversation state based on the measurement results from the microphone and the measurement results from the acceleration sensor.

[0015] According to this configuration, for example, the subject carries the measuring device by hanging it from a string around their neck so that the measuring device is in contact with their body at chest level, which allows the acceleration sensor to measure the subject's conversation state more accurately.

[0016] A fourth aspect of the information processing device is the information processing device of the third aspect, wherein the state determination means determines an emotional index indicating the emotion of the person being measured based on the voice of the person being measured measured by the microphone, and the social participation determination means may determine the degree of social participation of the person being measured by also using the emotional index determined by the state determination means.

[0017] This configuration determines the subject's emotional index from the measured voice, for example, the number of times the subject laughed or the number of times the subject uttered pre-registered phrases that indicate positive emotions. By using the results of the determination of the subject's emotional index, the subject's level of social participation can be appropriately determined.

[0018] In a fifth aspect of the information processing device, in the information processing device of the second aspect, the state determination means may determine the contact state based on a proximity state between the measuring device carried by the person being measured and an information terminal carried by another person. With this configuration, the contact state between the person being measured and the other person can be easily determined. The information terminal carried by the other person is a measuring device or a portable terminal device.

[0019] In a sixth aspect of the information processing device, in the information processing device of the second aspect, the measuring device may further include a position information acquiring means for acquiring its own position information, and the state determining means may determine the behavioral state based on the position information. With this configuration, the behavioral state of the person being measured can be easily determined.

[0020] An information processing device of a seventh aspect is the information processing device of any one of the first to sixth aspects, wherein the state determination means indicates the determination results of the conversation state, the contact state, and the behavioral state as scores, and the social participation determination means determines that the lower the score, the lower the degree of social participation. With this configuration, the degree of social participation can be easily determined.

[0021] In an information processing device of an eighth aspect, in the information processing device of the seventh aspect, one or more determination criteria may be defined for each of the conversation state, the contact state, and the behavioral state, and the state determination means may derive the score for each of the determination criteria. With this configuration, it is possible to easily determine the degree of social participation.

[0022] The information processing device of a ninth aspect is the information processing device of the eighth aspect, further comprising a recommended activity determination means for determining recommended activities for the subject based on statistical survey results showing the relationship between the degree of social participation of other subjects and the activity content and the change in the subject's score over a predetermined period, and the notification means may notify the subject of the activity content determined by the recommended activity determination means. This configuration may encourage the subject's social participation in response to changes in the subject's level of social participation. For example, if the subject is fully socially engaged, only the score may be evaluated, and if the score remains low or decreases, the subject may be notified of recommended activities that will encourage social activity.

[0023] In a tenth aspect of the information processing device, in the information processing device of the eighth or ninth aspect, a weighting value may be set for each of the judgment criteria, and the social participation judgment means may judge the degree of social participation based on a result of multiplying the score by the weighting value. With this configuration, the degree of social participation can be accurately judged.

[0024] An information processing device of an eleventh aspect is the information processing device of any one of the first to tenth aspects, further comprising advice generating means for generating advice for the person being measured based on the determination result by the social participation determination means, and the notifying means may notify the person being measured of the advice generated by the advice generating means. With this configuration, it is possible to encourage the person being measured to participate in society.

[0025] In a twelfth aspect of the information processing device, in the eleventh aspect, the state determination means indicates the determination results of the conversation state, the contact state, and the behavioral state as scores, and the advice generation means generates the advice based on a change in the scores of the person being measured over a predetermined period of time. With this configuration, it is possible to more appropriately encourage the person being measured to participate in society in accordance with changes in the person's level of social participation.

[0026] The information processing device of a thirteenth aspect is the information processing device of any one of the first to twelfth aspects, further comprising recommended activity determination means for determining recommended activity content for the subject based on statistical survey results showing the relationship between the degree of social participation of other subjects and activity content and the determination result by the social participation determination means, and the notification means may notify the subject of the activity content determined by the recommended activity determination means. With this configuration, it is possible to encourage the subject to participate in society.

[0027] In a fourteenth aspect of the information processing device, in the information processing device of any one of the first to thirteenth aspects, the degree of social participation determined by the social participation determination means may be a degree of social frailty. With this configuration, the subject can recognize their own social frailty.

[0028] In a fifteenth aspect, the information processing device of the fourteenth aspect may further include a function of determining the degree of physical frailty of the subject, determining the degree of frailty of the subject based on the degree of physical frailty and the degree of social frailty of the subject, and the notifying means notifying the determined degree of frailty. With this configuration, the subject can recognize the degree of frailty of his or her own.

[0029] In a sixteenth aspect of the information processing device, in the information processing device of any one of the first to fifteenth aspects, the social participation assessment means may assess the degree of social participation of the person being measured at predetermined intervals. This configuration prevents variations in the assessment results of the degree of social participation due to differences in the person's daily activity status caused by the day of the week or the weather.

[0030] The social participation determination method of the seventeenth aspect includes a first step in which a state determination means determines the conversation state of the person being measured, the contact state of the person being measured with others, and the behavioral state of the person being measured; a second step in which a social participation determination means determines the degree of social participation of the person being measured based on the determination result by the state determination means; and a third step in which a notification means notifies a predetermined notification destination of the determination result by the social participation determination means.

[0031] The social participation determination program of the 18th aspect causes a computer to function as a state determination means for determining the conversation state of the person being measured, the contact state of the person being measured with others, and the behavioral state of the person being measured, a social participation determination means for determining the degree of social participation of the person being measured based on the determination result by the state determination means, and a notification means for notifying a predetermined notification destination of the determination result by the social participation determination means.

[0032] According to the present disclosure, the degree of social participation can be easily determined, and the social participation of the person being measured can be encouraged.

[0033] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a social participation determination system according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of an activity meter according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a server according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the results of speech period determination according to the first embodiment, where (A) shows the results of speech period determination when the activity meter is worn outside of clothing, (B) shows the results of speech period determination when the activity meter is worn inside of clothing, and (C) shows the results of speech period determination when the microphone measurement results are combined with the measurement results of an acceleration sensor. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing scores assigned to each of the criteria for determining the conversation state, contact state, and behavior state according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing weights assigned to each of the criteria for determining the conversation state, contact state, and behavior state according to the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of a social participation determination process according to the first embodiment. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a frailty determination system according to a second embodiment.

[0034] (First embodiment) Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the embodiment described below shows an example of how the present disclosure is implemented, and the present disclosure is not limited to the specific configuration described below. When implementing the present disclosure, a specific configuration according to the embodiment may be appropriately adopted.

[0035] 1 is a schematic diagram of a social participation determination system 10 according to this embodiment. The social participation determination system 10 is a system that executes a social participation determination process to determine the degree of social participation of a person being measured. In this embodiment, the person being measured is an elderly person as an example, but the person being measured is not limited to being an elderly person. Note that determining the degree of social participation is, in other words, determining the degree to which the person being measured interacts with others.

[0036] The social participation determination system 10 includes an activity meter 12, a mobile terminal device 14, and a server 16. The activity meter 12 and the mobile terminal device 14 are information terminals that the subject wears when going out, etc. This allows the social participation determination system 10 to measure the conversation state, contact state, and behavior state, which will be described in detail below, without the subject being aware of the activity meter 12 and the mobile terminal device 14.

[0037] The activity meter 12 is worn by the person being measured so as to be in contact with the person's body. Specifically, the person being measured carries the activity meter 12 by hanging it from a string around the neck so that the activity meter 12 is in contact with the person's chest. The mobile terminal device 14 may be carried so as to be capable of communicating with the activity meter 12.

[0038] The activity meter 12 has, as an example, a pedometer function, and a monitor 22 and an operation button 24 are provided on the main body 20. The monitor 22 displays the number of steps taken by the user. The operation button 24 is used to turn the activity meter 12 on or off and to input various setting values. The measurement results of the activity meter 12 are used to determine the conversation state and behavior state of the person being measured, as will be described in detail below. The activity meter 12 transmits the measurement results to the mobile terminal device 14.

[0039] The mobile terminal device 14 is a portable information processing device such as a smartphone, a tablet device, or a smartwatch, and includes a touch panel display 26. In the present embodiment, the mobile terminal device 14 is, for example, a smartphone. The mobile terminal device 14 transmits the measurement results received from the activity meter 12 to the server 16.

[0040] An application (hereinafter referred to as the "social participation app") for checking the results of the social participation determination process of this embodiment is installed in the mobile terminal device 14. The person being measured registers an ID in the social participation app and inputs user information such as their age, sex, weight, and height via the social participation app.

[0041] The mobile terminal device 14 also has a proximity detection function that detects proximity between the subject and other people. The detection results (measurement results) by the proximity detection function are used to determine the contact state between the subject and other people, as will be described in detail below. In other words, the mobile terminal device 14 also functions as a measurement device that measures information used in the social participation determination process of the subject.

[0042] The proximity detection function automatically searches for other nearby mobile terminal devices 14 via short-range communication functions such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark) and Bluetooth, and transmits and receives contact information to and from the other mobile terminal devices 14. The contact information, which may include, for example, the location information of the mobile terminal device 14 and the date and time information of the transmission of the contact information, is transmitted and received when the mobile terminal device 14 is in proximity to the other mobile terminal device 14 for a predetermined period of time or longer (e.g., one minute or longer). In other words, when the subject approaches another subject carrying another mobile terminal device 14 within, for example, several meters for a predetermined period of time or longer, the mobile terminal device 14 transmits its own contact information to the other mobile terminal device 14 and receives contact information from the other mobile terminal device 14. The contact information received by the mobile terminal device 14 is transmitted to the server 16. Note that the other mobile terminal devices 14 that transmit and receive contact information to and from the mobile terminal device 14 also have a social participation app installed.

[0043] The server 16 transmits and receives data (information) to and from the mobile terminal device 14, stores the data received from the mobile terminal device 14 in chronological order, and executes a social participation determination process.

[0044] The social participation assessment process executed by the server 16 of this embodiment assesses the subject's conversation state, contact state with others, and behavioral state using the activity meter 12 and mobile terminal device 14 worn by the subject. The social participation assessment process assesses the subject's level of social participation based on these assessment results and notifies the subject of the assessment result. The assessment result of the level of social participation (hereinafter referred to as the "social participation assessment result") may be notified to, for example, the subject himself / herself or his / her relatives, etc. In this way, the social participation assessment system 10 of this embodiment can easily assess the level of social participation and encourage the subject to participate in society.

[0045] The assessment of the subject's conversational state is a assessment of social participation based on the subject's conversations with others. The assessment of the subject's contact state with others is a assessment of social participation based on the subject's interactions with others in some way. The assessment of the subject's behavioral state is a assessment of social participation based on the subject's going out, etc.

[0046] In this embodiment, the meaning of the degree of social participation is, for example, synonymous with the degree (level) of social frailty. Note that social frailty is an index representing the social aspect of frailty.

[0047] 2 is a functional block diagram of the activity meter 12 according to the present embodiment. The activity meter 12 includes a monitor 22, an operation button 24, a microphone 30, an acceleration sensor 32, a position information acquisition unit 34, an information processing unit 36, a storage unit 38, and a short-range communication unit 40.

[0048] The microphone 30 collects the voice of the subject.

[0049] The acceleration sensor 32 detects acceleration in three directions (x direction, y direction, and z direction) applied to the activity meter 12 .

[0050] The location information acquisition unit 34 acquires its own location information using, for example, a GPS (Global Positioning System).

[0051] In the following description, the various pieces of information acquired by the microphone 30, the acceleration sensor 32, and the position information acquisition unit 34 will be collectively referred to as measurement results.

[0052] The information processing unit 36 ​​performs predetermined processing on the acquired measurement results. The information processing unit 36 ​​calculates the number of steps of the person being measured based on the acceleration acquired by the acceleration sensor 32, for example.

[0053] The storage unit 38 stores the acquired measurement results and the processing results by the information processing unit 36 ​​in chronological order.

[0054] The short-range communication unit 40 communicates with the mobile terminal device 14 using a wireless communication standard with a narrow communication range, such as a communication distance of about 10 m. Specifically, the measurement results, processing results, etc. stored in the storage unit 38 are transmitted to the mobile terminal device 14 at predetermined time intervals via the short-range communication unit 40. As an example, the short-range communication unit 40 of the present embodiment communicates with the mobile terminal device 14 using BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), but this is not limiting, and wireless communication may be performed using other standards.

[0055] 3 is a functional block diagram of the server 16 according to this embodiment. The server 16 includes a communication unit 50, a storage unit 54, a status determination unit 56, a social participation determination unit 58, an advice generation unit 60, a recommended activity determination unit 62, and a notification unit 64.

[0056] 4 are executed by a central processing unit (CPU) of the server 16 by starting a program, for example. However, the above functions may also be implemented by individual hardware such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

[0057] The communication unit 50 transmits and receives information between the mobile terminal device 14 and other information processing devices.

[0058] The storage unit 54 is a large-capacity storage device that stores programs for executing the social participation determination process, various data, etc. Specifically, the storage unit 54 stores the measurement results, etc. received from the mobile terminal device 14 in chronological order for each subject, and stores the determination results, etc., made by the status determination unit 56 and the social participation determination unit 58 for each subject.

[0059] The state determination unit 56 determines the conversation state of the person being measured, the contact state of the person being measured with other people, and the behavioral state of the person being measured based on the measurement results of the activity meter 12 and the mobile terminal device 14 worn by the person being measured.

[0060] The state determination unit 56 of this embodiment includes a conversation state determination unit 65 , a contact state determination unit 66 , and a behavior state determination unit 67 .

[0061] The conversation state determination unit 65 determines the conversation state of the person being measured based on the measurement results from the microphone 30 of the activity meter 12. As will be described in detail later, the conversation state determination unit 65 of the present embodiment determines the conversation state of the person being measured based on the measurement results from the microphone 30 and the measurement results from the acceleration sensor 32.

[0062] The contact state determination unit 66 determines the contact state between the subject and another person based on the proximity state between the portable terminal device 14 carried by the subject and the portable terminal device 14 carried by the other person. The contact state is determined based on contact information received by the portable terminal device 14 from the other portable terminal device 14.

[0063] The behavioral state determination section 67 determines the behavioral state of the person being measured based on the position information of the person being measured and the like.

[0064] The social participation determination unit 58 determines the degree of social participation of the person being measured based on the person's conversation state, the person's contact state with others, and the person's behavioral state determined by the state determination unit 56.

[0065] The advice generating section 60 generates advice for the person being measured based on the social participation determination result.

[0066] The recommended activity determination unit 62 determines the activity content to recommend to the subject based on statistical survey results showing the relationship between the degree of social participation of other subjects and the activity content and the social participation determination result of the subject by the social participation determination unit 58. The survey results are referred to as questionnaire survey results, and the recommended activity content is referred to as recommended activity content. The questionnaire survey results are stored in the memory unit 54.

[0067] The notification unit 64 notifies predetermined recipients of the social participation assessment result, advice, recommended activities, etc. via the communication unit 50. The recipients may be registered in a social participation app by the subject, pre-registered email addresses, etc. The email address may be the subject's own email address or the email address of a relative of the subject, etc.

[0068] When the notification unit 64 sends a notification to the email address or the like of a relative or the like, the content of the notification may be simplified compared to when the notification is sent to the subject. For example, the notification content may include the number of people with whom the subject has spoken or whether or not the subject has gone out, but may not include recommended activities or advice. In other words, it is sufficient for the subject's relative or the like to receive a notification that allows them to confirm whether the subject is engaging in activities as usual while respecting the subject's privacy.

[0069] Next, the determination of the speech period will be explained with reference to Fig. 4. In order to determine the conversation state of the subject, it is first necessary to determine the period during which the subject is speaking. In Fig. 4, the area indicated by the dashed line is the period during which actual speech occurred, and the area indicated by the solid line is the determined speech period.

[0070] 4A shows the result of determining the speech period by the conversation state determination unit 65 when the activity meter 12 is worn outside of clothing. When the activity meter 12 is worn outside of clothing, this refers to when the activity meter 12 is hung around the neck by a string and carried outside of clothing. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4A , the influence of noise caused an erroneous determination of the speech period, resulting in an inaccurate determination result.

[0071] 4B shows the results of determining the speech period when the activity meter 12 is worn inside clothing. When the activity meter 12 is worn inside clothing, it means that the activity meter 12 is hung from a string around the neck and carried inside the clothing, for example, in contact with the skin or underwear. In such a case, the sound is muffled inside the clothing, increasing the volume of the sound picked up by the microphone 30, and relatively reducing noise. Therefore, when the activity meter 12 is worn inside clothing, the accuracy of determining the speech period is improved compared to when the activity meter 12 is worn outside the clothing.

[0072] FIG. 4C shows the results of determining the speech period by combining the measurement results of the microphone 30 and the measurement results of the acceleration sensor 32 when the activity meter 12 is worn inside clothing.

[0073] When a person speaks, their neck and chest move. Therefore, by measuring this movement with the acceleration sensor 32, it is possible to detect whether or not someone is speaking. For example, if the acceleration sensor 32 measures a predetermined vibration (a signal indicating chest movement) that has not been measured before, it can detect this as the start of speaking, and if the vibration is no longer detected, it can detect the end of speaking.

[0074] By combining the measurement results of the acceleration sensor 32 with the measurement results of the microphone 30, the speech period of the subject can be determined more accurately. For example, if the microphone 30 measures speech but the acceleration sensor 32 does not, the measurement results of the microphone 30 are determined to be noise. In other words, by using the measurement results of the acceleration sensor 32, it is possible to separate voice and noise from the measurement results of the microphone 30. By determining the speech period in this way while taking the measurement results of the acceleration sensor 32 into account, the accuracy of determining the speech period is further improved.

[0075] Although it is preferable that the activity meter 12 be worn inside the subject's clothes, this is not limiting, and the activity meter 12 may be worn outside the subject's clothes. Even when the activity meter 12 is worn outside the subject's clothes, the measurement results of the acceleration sensor 32 and the measurement results of the microphone 30 can be combined to more accurately determine the subject's conversation state.

[0076] Furthermore, the conversation state may be determined based not only on the subject's speech periods but also on the speech of the other person with whom the subject is conversing. For example, if the subject's speech periods occur sporadically over a short period (several minutes to several tens of minutes) and the microphone 30 also captures the voices of the other person, the conversation state of the subject is determined based on a series of periods including the period during which the other person's voice is captured. Furthermore, for example, if the subject's position information remains almost constant and the subject's speech periods occur sporadically over a short period, the subject is considered to be conversing with the other person, and the conversation state is determined based on the series of speech periods.

[0077] Alternatively, the microphone 30 may be normally turned off, and when the acceleration sensor 32 detects vibrations of the subject's chest or the like, it may be determined that the subject has started talking, and the microphone 30 may be turned on. On the other hand, when the acceleration sensor 32 no longer detects vibrations of the subject's chest or the like, it may be determined that the conversation has ended, and the microphone 30 may be turned off. In this way, the on / off of the microphone 30 may be controlled in accordance with the vibrations of the subject's chest detected by the acceleration sensor 32. This reduces the power consumption of the activity meter 12.

[0078] The conversation state determination unit 65 of this embodiment determines an emotion index indicating the emotion of the subject based on the subject's voice. The social participation determination unit 58 also uses the emotion index determined by the conversation state determination unit 65 to determine the degree of the subject's social participation.

[0079] Specifically, the conversation state determination unit 65 determines, from the measurement results of the subject's voice, the number of times the subject laughed and the number of times the subject uttered pre-registered words indicating positive emotions (hereinafter referred to as "positive words") as emotional indices of the subject. In other words, the emotional indices indicate, for example, the subject's positive emotions. By using the determination results of the subject's emotional indices, the subject's level of social participation can be appropriately determined.

[0080] Positive words are words that indicate positive emotions, such as "fun," "happy," and "good," and may be words that can be determined by a conventionally known voice recognition process. Whether the subject is laughing may also be determined by a conventionally known voice recognition process. Alternatively, a learning model that has learned positive words and laughter may be constructed, and the voice measured by activity meter 12 may be input to the learning model, and the number of times that positive words and laughter are included in the voice measurement results may be determined.

[0081] The social participation determination system 10 of this embodiment defines one or more determination criteria for each of the conversation state, contact state, and behavior state.

[0082] In the social participation determination system 10 of this embodiment, the criteria for determining the conversation state are, for example, the conversation time per day, the number of times the subject laughed, and the number of times the subject used positive words. Note that the conversation time is the total duration of the subject's conversation in one day.

[0083] In addition, the social participation determination system 10 of this embodiment uses, as an example, the number of people per day who talk and the number of people who come into contact as criteria for determining the contact state. As described above, the contact state determination unit 66 of this embodiment determines the contact state by receiving contact information from the mobile terminal device 14 of the other person. This allows the social participation determination system 10 to easily determine the contact state between the subject and the other person.

[0084] If a conversation was taking place at the date and time indicated by the transmission date and time information included in the contact information, the contact state determination unit 66 determines that a conversation was taking place at that time, and determines the number of people as the number of conversations.

[0085] The contact status determination unit 66 determines the number of contacts per day as the number of contacts per day based on the number of contacts received by the mobile terminal device 14. The number of contacts is the number of people who came into close proximity with the subject, and is not limited to the number of people with whom the subject had some kind of relationship, such as conversation. In other words, the number of contacts is determined by, for example, determining whether the subject went out to a crowded area, such as a downtown area.

[0086] In the social participation determination system 10 of this embodiment, the criteria for determining the behavioral state are, for example, the distance traveled per day, the number of steps taken, places visited, weather, and average temperature. The distance traveled and places visited are determined based on location information measured by the activity meter 12. More specifically, the distance traveled is the distance traveled from the person's home. The places visited are determined based on location information and map information. The number of steps taken is determined based on the measurement results of the acceleration sensor 32 of the activity meter 12. Environmental factors such as weather and average temperature are acquired from a predetermined server (Internet site) via the Internet, etc.

[0087] The state determination unit 56 of this embodiment indicates the determination results of the conversation state, contact state, and behavior state as scores, and the social participation determination unit 58 determines that the lower the score, the lower the degree of social participation. This allows the social participation determination unit 58 to easily determine the degree of social participation.

[0088] 5 is a diagram showing a table of scores defined for each of the criteria for the conversation state, contact state, and behavior state. Note that the scores for each criterion shown in FIG. 5 are an example and are not limited to this.

[0089] As shown in Figure 5, a score ranging from 0 to 5 is assigned to each of the criteria for the conversation state, contact state, and behavior state. As described above, the criteria for the conversation state are the conversation time, the number of laughs, and the number of positive words uttered. For the contact state, the criteria are the number of people spoken to and the number of people contacted. For the behavior state, the criteria are the distance traveled, the number of steps taken, the places visited, the weather when going out, and the average temperature when going out.

[0090] The score is 0 for conversation time per day of less than 1 minute, 1 for 1 to 2 minutes, 2 for 2 to 3 minutes, 3 for 3 to 5 minutes, 4 for 5 to 10 minutes, and 5 for 10 minutes or more. Also, the number of times laughed per day is 0 points, 1 for 1 to 2 times, 2 for 2 to 3 times, 3 for 3 to 5 times, 4 for 5 to 10 times, and 5 for 10 or more times. The number of times positive words were uttered per day is 0 points, 1 for 1 to 2 times, 2 for 2 to 3 times, 3 for 3 to 5 times, 4 for 5 to 10 times, and 5 for 10 or more times.

[0091] Furthermore, if you talk to 0 people per day, you get 0 points, if you talk to 1 or more but less than 2 people, you get 1 point, if you talk to 2 or more but less than 3 people, you get 2 points, if you talk to 3 or more but less than 5 people, you get 3 points, if you talk to 5 or more but less than 10 people, you get 4 points, and if you talk to 10 or more people, you get 5 points. If you contact 0 people per day, you get 0 points, if you contact 1 or more but less than 5 people, you get 1 point, if you contact 5 or more but less than 10 people, you get 2 points, if you contact 10 or more but less than 20 people, you get 3 points, if you contact 20 or more but less than 30 people, you get 4 points, and if you contact 30 or more people, you get 5 points.

[0092] In addition, the score for distance traveled per day was 0 if less than 50m, 1 if 50m to less than 300m, 2 if 300m to less than 1000m, 3 if 1000m to less than 2000m, 4 if 2000m to less than 3000m, and 5 if 3000m or more. The score for number of steps taken per day was 0 if less than 500, 1 if 500 to less than 1000, 2 if 1000 to less than 3000, 3 if 3000 to less than 5000, 4 if 5000 to less than 10,000, and 5 if 10,000 or more. The score for places visited was 0 if at home (without going out), 1 if at a park or street, 2 if at a store, 3 if at a station, 4 if on a train, and 5 if at a friend's house. Location information such as home, park or street, shop, station, train, friend's house, etc. is defined in map information, and the subject or the like registers this location information as needed.

[0093] For weather, sunny is given a score of 0, cloudy is given a score of 2, strong wind is given a score of 3, rain is given a score of 4, and snow is given a score of 5. For average temperature, 20°C or higher but lower than 30°C is given a score of 0, 10°C or higher but lower than 20°C is given a score of 3, 30°C or higher is given a score of 4, and 10°C or lower is given a score of 5. If the subject's location information for the day is that they remain at home and do not go out, the points for weather and average temperature are given a score of 0, regardless of the weather and average temperature.

[0094] In this way, in the social participation determination system 10 of this embodiment, multiple determination criteria are defined for each of the conversation state, contact state, and behavior state, and the state determination unit 56 derives a score for each determination criterion. This allows the social participation determination system 10 to easily determine the degree of social participation.

[0095] The criteria for the evaluation are not limited to the above. For example, the conversation state may include the number of sentences included in one conversation. For example, a conversation consisting of multiple sentences indicates a deeper interaction with another person than a conversation that ends with a single sentence (one word). More specifically, a conversation with a store clerk often ends with a single sentence such as "Thank you." On the other hand, a conversation with an acquaintance often involves many sentences. For this reason, the more sentences included in one conversation, the higher the score.

[0096] Furthermore, for example, the conversation state in the determination criteria may include an online conversation, which includes a telephone call, a video call, and an online conference, and is determined when a conversation is detected without contact.

[0097] The number of times negative words are used may be added as an emotional index that serves as a criterion for determining the conversational state. Negative words are, for example, "sad," "bad," "painful," and other words that indicate negative emotions. The more negative words are used, the more negative points are added.

[0098] Environmental factors in the behavioral state may include the amount of sunlight, humidity, time of day, and the like.

[0099] Furthermore, it is sufficient that at least one judgment criterion is set for each of the conversation state, contact state, and behavior state. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, a judgment criterion is set for each of the conversation state, contact state, and behavior state, and a score is calculated for each of them, but this is not limiting. Scoring may be performed by integrating the conversation state, contact state, and behavior state.

[0100] Furthermore, in the social participation determination system 10 of this embodiment, a weight value is set for each determination criterion. The weight is an index corresponding to a situation or state that affects the determination criteria for the conversation state, contact state, and behavior state. The social participation determination unit 58 then determines the degree of social participation based on the result of multiplying the score by the weight value. This allows the social participation determination system 10 to accurately determine the degree of social participation.

[0101] 6 is a diagram showing a table of weights set for each of the criteria for determining the conversation state, contact state, and behavior state in this embodiment. Note that the weight values ​​shown in FIG. 6 are merely an example and are not limited to these.

[0102] As shown in Figure 6, the weight of conversation time is 3, the weight of the number of laughs is 2.5, and the weight of the number of positive words uttered is 2.5. The weight of the number of people conversed is 2, and the weight of the number of people contacted is 1. The weight of travel distance is 1, the weight of the number of steps is 1, the weight of places visited is 1.5, the weight of weather is 1, and the weight of average temperature is 1.

[0103] The weights assigned to the respective criteria may be dynamically changed as data used to determine the conversation state, contact state, and behavior state is accumulated. For example, if the accumulated data indicates that the subject's daily conversation time is short, the weight assigned to the conversation time may be relatively large. On the other hand, if the accumulated data indicates that the subject's daily conversation time is long, the weight assigned to the conversation time may be relatively small.

[0104] The weighting in this embodiment may also vary depending on the change in the degree of social participation. For example, the weighting may be set to be larger when a subject changes from not participating in society to participating in society, compared to when a subject who is already participating in society increases the frequency of their social participation.

[0105] An increase in the frequency of social participation is, for example, when the conversation time per day increases from 5 to less than 10 minutes to 10 minutes or more, in other words, when the score increases from 1 point or more to 2 points or more. A change from a state of no social participation to a state of social participation is, for example, when the conversation time per day increases from less than 1 minute to 1 to 2 minutes, in other words, when the score increases from 0 points to 1 point or more. In this way, by increasing the weight for a change from a state of no social participation to a state of social participation, the motivation of the person being measured to participate in society can be increased.

[0106] The conversation state determination unit 65 multiplies the score derived for each of the conversation state determination criteria by a weight and sums up these scores to determine the conversation state determination result. The contact state determination unit 66 multiplies the score derived for each of the contact state determination criteria by a weight and sums up these scores to determine the contact state determination result. The behavior state determination unit 67 multiplies the score derived for each of the behavior state determination criteria by a weight and sums up these scores to determine the behavior state determination result.

[0107] The social participation determination unit 58 determines the degree of social participation by averaging the conversation state determination results, contact state determination results, and behavior state determination results (hereinafter referred to as the "average score"). In other words, the higher the average score, the higher the degree of social participation.

[0108] The social participation assessment unit 58 may divide the magnitude of the average score into multiple ranges so that the subject can easily recognize the degree of social participation as a degree of social frailty. For example, a first score range with a low average score may represent a frail state, a second score range with a medium average score may represent a pre-frail state, and a third score range with a high average score may represent a robust state (healthy). The frail state, pre-frail state, and robust state represent degrees of social frailty, but the degree of social frailty may be expressed in more stages than just three.

[0109] Furthermore, the social participation determination system 10 of this embodiment determines the degree of social participation at regular intervals, thereby preventing variations in the determination results of the degree of social participation due to differences in daily activity status caused by the day of the week or weather.

[0110] In the social participation assessment system 10 of this embodiment, for example, the score for each assessment criterion is calculated daily, but the degree of social participation is assessed every fixed period of one day or more. The fixed period is, for example, one week or ten days. The reason for using a period of more than one day as the assessment period is that there may be days when the subject does not go out due to bad weather or other reasons, and therefore it may not be appropriate to assess the degree of social participation every day.

[0111] Furthermore, the social participation determination system 10 of this embodiment may display the determination result of the degree of social participation in real time. This allows the subject to recognize their behavioral state in real time. The subject also learns whether their current behavior is desirable or not. Therefore, the social participation determination system 10 of this embodiment can encourage the subject to continue desirable behavior.

[0112] In this embodiment, the degree of social participation is determined from the average value of the scores derived for each of the judgment criteria, as described above, but this is not limited to this and it may also be determined from the total value of the scores derived for each of the judgment criteria.

[0113] Furthermore, the degree of social participation does not have to be determined based on the scores set for each of the determination criteria. For example, the determination may be performed using a trained model that has been trained using training data that represents the degree of social participation based on the subject's conversation state, the subject's contact state with others, and the subject's behavioral state. For example, this trained model outputs one of the frail, pre-frail, and robust states of social frailty as the degree of social participation.

[0114] Next, we will explain in detail how to notify the results of the social participation assessment.

[0115] The notification unit 64 of this embodiment periodically notifies the subject of the social participation assessment result made by the social participation assessment unit 58. The notified social participation assessment result may be displayed as a score, or may be notified as social frailty in any one of a frail state, a pre-frail state, and a robust state, or may be notified as a combination of a score and social frailty.

[0116] The notification may include the social participation assessment result, as well as scores for each conversation state, contact state, and behavior state, and scores for each assessment criterion. In this notification, to make it easy to recognize assessment criteria with high scores, the criteria may be highlighted in real time, marked, or given special points. Similarly, to make it easy to recognize assessment criteria with low scores, the criteria may be highlighted.

[0117] The notification unit 64 may also notify the user of the advice generated by the advice generation unit 60 and the content of the recommended activity generated by the recommended activity determination unit 62 together with the social participation determination result.

[0118] The advice generating section 60 of this embodiment generates advice for the person being measured based on, for example, the social participation assessment result of the person being measured over a certain period of time.

[0119] The advice may include, for example, encouraging the subject to go out if they rarely go out, encouraging them to talk to others if they rarely talk, or encouraging them to improve the evaluation criteria for which they scored highly. The advice content, for example, is stored in advance in the storage unit 54 as a database of standard advice phrases corresponding to the determined level of social participation, conversation state, contact state, behavioral state, and each of the evaluation criteria. The advice generation unit 60 extracts one or more standard phrases from the database according to the evaluation result of the subject, and generates advice by combining the extracted standard phrases, etc.

[0120] Furthermore, the advice generating unit 60 may notify the subject on the same day or the next day, for example, when an evaluation criterion that has a high score (high evaluation) equal to or higher than a certain score occurs. For example, when the distance traveled, which is the judgment criterion, reaches 5 points, advice such as "You walked a lot today. Your social frailty has improved" may be generated. In this way, when a judgment criterion that has a high score per day occurs, advice may be generated for each day.

[0121] The advice generating unit 60 may also generate advice based on the change in the subject's score over a predetermined period. For example, if the subject's conversation time score decreases over a predetermined period of one month, the advice generating unit 60 generates advice such as, "Your daily conversation time is decreasing. Try talking more with your friends." This makes it possible to more appropriately encourage the subject's social participation in accordance with changes in the subject's level of social participation.

[0122] The advice generating unit 60 may generate advice using a trained model that has been trained using training data to provide advice in response to the subject's assessment results.

[0123] Next, the determination of the recommended activity content by the recommended activity determination unit 62 of this embodiment will be described.

[0124] The questionnaire survey results used by the recommended activity determination unit 62 of this embodiment are obtained by surveying the activities of many other subjects through a questionnaire, and correlating the social participation determination results of the other subjects with the activities of the other subjects. The activities of the other subjects include the hobbies, exercise content, range of daily activities, etc. of the other subjects. The questionnaire survey results are stored in the memory unit 54.

[0125] The recommended activity determination unit 62 then extracts, from the questionnaire survey results, the behavioral details of other subjects who have similar assessment results to the subject's assessment result as recommended activity details. The questionnaire survey results are, for example, subdivided by the scores of the other subjects on the assessment criteria, and the behavioral details corresponding to the subject's assessment criteria are extracted as recommended activity details. The extracted recommended activity details are notified to the subject via the notification unit 64. The questionnaire survey results may also be subdivided by user information such as the age, gender, and income of the other subjects, and recommended activity details may be extracted taking into account not only the subject's assessment results but also the subject's user information.

[0126] The recommended activity determination unit 62 may generate recommended activity content using a trained model that has been trained using the questionnaire survey results as training data.

[0127] The recommended activity determination unit 62 may also have a so-called matching function that introduces other subjects based on the subject's determination results, thereby enabling the subject to interact with other subjects and increase their level of social participation.

[0128] Other subjects introduced to the subject may be, for example, other subjects engaging in similar activities to those recommended to the subject, or other subjects to whom similar activities have been recommended. Other subjects with similar assessment results or similar scores on assessment criteria may also be introduced. This matching function introduces other subjects to the subject via the social participation app. The introduction of other subjects is determined taking into consideration the subject's gender, age, place of residence, etc.

[0129] The recommended activity determination unit 62 may also determine the content of activities recommended to the subject based on the results of the questionnaire survey and the progress of the subject's score over a predetermined period. Specifically, the recommended activity determination unit 62 of this embodiment determines the content of activities recommended to the subject based on the relationship between the behavior of other subjects who answered the questionnaire survey and the progress of the scores of these other subjects. The notification unit 64 then notifies the subject of the content of the recommended activities determined by the recommended activity determination unit 62.

[0130] In this way, by determining the recommended activities for the person being measured based on the progress of the person's score, the social participation determination system 10 of this embodiment can encourage the person to participate in society in accordance with changes in the person's level of social participation. Note that the social participation determination system 10 of this embodiment may only evaluate the person based on their score if they are fully participating in society, and may notify the person of recommended activities that will encourage them to engage in social activity if their score remains low or decreases.

[0131] For example, if a low score continues for a predetermined period of time, it may be inferred that the subject is not actively participating in society, and the subject may be notified of recommended activities that will stimulate social activity, thereby encouraging the subject to actively participate in society. Furthermore, if a high score disappears within a predetermined period of time, it may be inferred that the subject, who was previously actively participating in society, has left the community to which he or she belonged, and the subject may be notified of recommended activities that will stimulate social activity, thereby encouraging the subject to actively participate in society again. Note that, for example, if a low score continues or if the score decreases, i.e., if the subject was not originally actively participating in society, the recommended activities notified may be different from those of a subject who was once actively participating in society but has now drifted away from active social participation for some reason.

[0132] 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of the social participation determination process of this embodiment. The social participation determination process is executed by the server 16.

[0133] First, in step 100, the measurement results and contact information of the activity meter 12 are obtained at predetermined intervals via the mobile terminal device 14, and are stored in chronological order for each person being measured in the storage unit 54. The predetermined interval is, for example, 12 hours, and is obtained from the mobile terminal device 14 at predetermined times.

[0134] In the next step 102, the state determination unit 56 determines whether it is time to determine the degree of social participation of the person being measured, and if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 104, whereas if the determination is negative, the process returns to step 100. The determination timing is a predetermined time, for example, every week or every 10 days.

[0135] In the next step 104, the measurement results of the subject corresponding to the determination period are read from the storage unit 54.

[0136] In the next step 106, the state determination unit 56 determines the conversation state, contact state, and behavior state of the person being measured based on the read measurement results and the like.

[0137] In the next step 108, the social participation determination section 58 determines the degree of social participation of the person being measured based on the determination results of the conversation state, contact state, and behavior state.

[0138] In the next step 110, the advice generating section 60 generates advice for the person being measured based on the social participation determination result. Also, the recommended activity determining section 62 may determine the content of recommended activities for the person being measured.

[0139] In the next step 112, the notification unit 64 notifies the subject of the social participation assessment result and advice, etc., and the process returns to step 100.

[0140] In addition, the conversation status, contact status, and behavioral status may be determined at shorter intervals than the determination of the degree of social participation, for example, once a day, and the determination results and advice, etc. may be notified to the person being measured, etc.

[0141] Second Embodiment In this embodiment, the degree of frailty of a subject is determined by determining the degree of physical frailty as well as the degree of social frailty of the subject. Note that the degree of frailty refers to a determination result that combines the degrees of social frailty, physical frailty, and mental / psychological frailty of the subject.

[0142] Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a frailty assessment system 70 according to this embodiment. Note that the same components in Fig. 8 as those in Fig. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in Fig. 1, and their description will be omitted.

[0143] The frailty assessment system 70 of this embodiment includes an activity meter 12 , a mobile terminal device 14 , a server 16 , an upper body measurement device 72 and a lower body measurement device 74 .

[0144] Upper body measurement device 72 functions as a body composition measurement device and a muscle strength measurement device, and is a device that measures bioimpedance (hereinafter referred to as "upper body impedance") from the user's upper body, particularly the arms. For this purpose, upper body measurement device 72 is equipped with right hand grip 80R and left hand grip 80L. Right hand grip 80R and left hand grip 80L are each provided with a current electrode for passing current and a voltage electrode for measuring voltage.

[0145] The user grasps right handgrip 80R with his right hand and left handgrip 80L with his left hand. Then, upper body measurement device 72 passes a current through the current electrodes and measures the voltage (potential difference) with the voltage electrodes, thereby acquiring the upper body impedance of the user.

[0146] The upper body measurement device 72 also includes a grip strength meter 82 that measures the grip strength of the user. The grip strength meter 82 functions as a device for measuring the muscle strength of the user.

[0147] The grip strength meter 82 has a pair of grips 82, 82 positioned opposite each other. The user grasps the grips 82, 82 of the grip strength meter 82 with one hand and squeezes them tightly. The grip strength meter 82 outputs an electrical signal corresponding to the distance the grips 82, 82 move, which allows the upper body measurement device 72 to measure the grip strength of the user.

[0148] The upper body measuring device 72 of this embodiment is activated and controlled via the mobile terminal device 14, and transmits the measurement results to the mobile terminal device 14.

[0149] Lower body measuring device 74 functions as a weight measuring device and a body composition measuring device, and is a device that measures bioimpedance (hereinafter referred to as "lower body impedance") and weight from the user's lower body. Lower body measuring device 74 is equipped with a right foot electrode unit 88R and a left foot electrode unit 88L on platform 86. Right foot electrode unit 88R and left foot electrode unit 88L are each provided with a current electrode for passing current and a voltage electrode for measuring voltage.

[0150] The user stands on platform 86 with the sole of his / her right foot in contact with right foot electrode 88R and the sole of his / her left foot in contact with left foot electrode 88L. Lower body measurement device 74 obtains the lower body impedance of the user by passing a current through the current electrodes and measuring the voltage (potential difference) with the voltage electrodes.

[0151] Lower body measurement device 74 includes a load cell for measuring weight. When the user stands on platform 86, lower body measurement device 74 measures the weight of the user based on the displacement of the load cell in response to the load (weight).

[0152] The lower body measuring device 74 also includes a display unit 90 and an operation unit 92. The display unit 90 displays measurement results such as weight. The operation unit 92 accepts power operations and input operations for the lower body measuring device 74.

[0153] The lower body measuring device 74 of this embodiment transmits the measurement results to the mobile terminal device 18 in the same manner as the activity meter 12 and the upper body measuring device 72 .

[0154] The server 16 has a function of determining the degree of physical frailty of the person being measured, and determines the degree of frailty of the person being measured based on the degree of physical frailty and the degree of social frailty of the person being measured.

[0155] The server 16 determines the degree of physical frailty of the person being measured based on the person's weight, muscle strength, muscle function, and activity amount (number of steps) acquired based on the measurement results of the upper body measurement device 72, the lower body measurement device 74, and the activity meter 12, as well as user information such as the person's age and gender. The determination of the degree of physical frailty is based on, for example, the amount of change between previous input content and current input content, or the difference between the user's input content and an average value corresponding to age, gender, weight, height, etc., and performs a frailty determination of weight, muscle strength, and muscle function.

[0156] The frailty assessment of body weight is made based on the measurement results of body weight obtained from the lower body measurement device 74. The frailty assessment of muscle strength is made based on the measurement results of grip strength obtained from the upper body measurement device 72. The frailty assessment of muscle function is made based on the measurement results of bioelectrical impedance (e.g., muscle mass) obtained from the upper body measurement device 72 and the lower body measurement device 74. The frailty assessment of activity amount is made based on the measurement results of the number of steps obtained from the activity meter 12. The degree of physical frailty of the subject is determined based on such frailty assessment of body weight, muscle strength, and activity amount.

[0157] The degree of mental / psychological frailty is determined, for example, by interviewing the subject. This interview may be conducted by a doctor asking the subject questions, or by the subject answering a questionnaire without the intervention of a doctor. The results of the interview are transmitted to the server 16. The degree of mental / psychological frailty is determined based on the results of the interview transmitted to the server 16.

[0158] The assessment results of the degree of frailty, including the degree of physical frailty and the degree of mental / psychological frailty, are also expressed as scores. The server 16 assesses the degree of frailty of the subject based on the total score of the score indicating the degree of physical frailty, the score indicating the degree of mental / psychological frailty, and the score indicating the degree of social frailty assessed in the first embodiment.

[0159] For example, the server 16 divides the total score into multiple categories, and defines the first score area with a low total score as a frail state, the second score area with a medium average score as a pre-frail state, and the third score area with a high average score as a robust state (healthy).

[0160] The server 16 then notifies a predetermined destination of the determined degree of frailty of the subject together with the degrees of social frailty and physical frailty. The server 16 may also generate advice based on the degrees of frailty and physical frailty and notify the advice together with the determined frailty.

[0161] The degree of frailty of the subject may be determined based on the degree of social frailty and the degree of physical frailty, without including the degree of mental / psychological frailty.

[0162] Although the present disclosure has been described using the above-mentioned embodiments, the technical scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the scope described in the above-mentioned embodiments. Various modifications or improvements can be made to the above-mentioned embodiments without departing from the gist of the disclosure, and such modifications or improvements are also included in the technical scope of the present disclosure.

[0163] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the contact information used to determine the contact state is transmitted and received by the mobile terminal device 14, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. The contact information may be transmitted and received between the activity meter 12 carried by the person being measured and another activity meter 12 carried by another person using a short-range communication function of the activity meter 12. The contact information may be transmitted and received between the activity meter 12 carried by the person being measured and the mobile terminal device 14 carried by the other person, or between the mobile terminal device 14 carried by the person being measured and the activity meter 12 carried by the other person.

[0164] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the activity meter 12 acquires location information, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. Location information may be acquired by a GPS function of the mobile terminal device 14. Furthermore, any of the devices constituting the social participation determination system 10 may not have a GPS function. For example, any of the devices constituting the social participation determination system 10 may receive location information acquired by a device other than the devices constituting the social participation determination system 10, thereby allowing the social participation determination system 10 to acquire location information.

[0165] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the social participation determination system 10 includes the activity meter 12, the mobile terminal device 14, and the server 16, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. The mobile terminal device 14 may also include the functions of the activity meter 12. In this embodiment, the social participation determination system 10 is composed of the mobile terminal device 14 and the server 16, and the only information terminal worn by the person being measured as part of the social participation determination system 10 is the mobile terminal device 14.

[0166] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the social participation determination process is performed by the server 16, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. The social participation determination process may be performed by the mobile terminal device 14 that receives the measurement results from the activity meter 12. In this case, the mobile terminal device 14 acquires information necessary for the social participation determination process from the server 16. Furthermore, the mobile terminal device 14 transmits the determination results of the person being measured to the server 16 and stores them in the server 16.

[0167] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, a configuration has been described in which the conversation state of the person being measured is determined based on the measurement results from the microphone 30 of the activity meter 12, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. For example, the conversation state of the person being measured may be determined based on the person's contact state and behavior state. In this configuration, for example, the person being measured is determined to be in a conversation state when the person being measured goes out and is in contact with the same person for a long period of time (e.g., a predetermined period of time, such as five minutes or more). This allows the social participation determination system 10 to determine the person's conversation state without using the microphone 30.

[0168] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, a configuration has been described in which the contact state between the subject and another person is determined based on the proximity state between the mobile terminal device 14 carried by the subject and the mobile terminal device 14 carried by the other person, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. For example, the contact state may be determined based on location information acquired by the mobile terminal device 14 carried by the subject and measurement results from the microphone 30 of the activity meter 12. In other words, the contact state may be determined based on the length of time the subject remains in the same place and the state of conversation. In this way, the social participation determination system 10 can determine the contact state between the subject and another person even if the other person does not have an information terminal such as the mobile terminal device 14.

[0169] In addition, in the above embodiment, the conversation state of the person being measured, the contact state of the person being measured with others, and the behavioral state of the person being measured are determined, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. For example, at least two of the conversation state, contact state, and behavioral state of the person being measured may be determined, and the degree of social participation of the person being measured may be determined based on the two determination results.

[0170] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 Social participation determination system 12 Activity meter (measuring device) 14 Portable terminal device (measuring device) 16 Server (information processing device) 56 Status determination unit (status determination means) 58 Social participation determination unit (social participation determination means) 60 Advice generation unit (advice generation means) 62 Recommended activity determination unit (recommended activity determination means) 64 Notification unit (notification means)

Claims

1. An information processing device comprising: a state determination means for determining at least two of the conversation state of the person being measured, the contact state of the person being measured with others, and the behavioral state of the person being measured; a social participation determination means for determining the degree of social participation of the person being measured based on the determination result by the state determination means; and a notification means for notifying a predetermined notification destination of the determination result by the social participation determination means.

2. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the state determination means determines the conversation state, the contact state, and the behavioral state based on the measurement results of at least one measuring device worn by the person being measured.

3. The information processing device according to claim 2, wherein the measuring device is equipped with a microphone and an acceleration sensor and is worn by the person being measured so as to be in contact with the person's body, and the state determination means determines the conversation state based on the measurement results from the microphone and the measurement results from the acceleration sensor.

4. The information processing device according to claim 3, wherein the state determination means determines an emotional index indicating the emotion of the subject based on the voice of the subject measured by the microphone, and the social participation determination means determines the degree of social participation of the subject using the emotional index determined by the state determination means.

5. The information processing device according to claim 2, wherein the state determination means determines the contact state based on the proximity state between the measuring device carried by the person being measured and an information terminal carried by another person.

6. The information processing device according to claim 2, wherein the measuring device includes a location information acquisition means for acquiring its own location information, and the state determination means determines the behavioral state based on the location information.

7. An information processing device as described in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the state determination means indicates the determination results of the conversation state, the contact state, and the behavioral state as scores, and the social participation determination means determines that the lower the score, the lower the degree of social participation.

8. The information processing device according to claim 7, wherein one or more judgment criteria are defined for each of the conversation state, the contact state, and the behavioral state, and the state judgment means derives the score for each of the judgment criteria.

9. An information processing device as described in claim 8, further comprising a recommended activity determination means for determining the activity content to be recommended to the subject based on statistical survey results showing the relationship between the degree of social participation and activity content of other subjects and the progress of the subject's score over a specified period of time, and wherein the notification means notifies the subject of the activity content determined by the recommended activity determination means.

10. The information processing device according to claim 8, wherein a weighting value is set for each of the judgment criteria, and the social participation judgment means judges the degree of social participation based on the result of multiplying the score by the weighting value.

11. An information processing device as described in claim 1 or claim 2, further comprising an advice generation means for generating advice for the person being measured based on the judgment result by the social participation judgment means, and the notification means notifies the person of the advice generated by the advice generation means.

12. The information processing device according to claim 11, wherein the state determination means indicates the determination results of the conversation state, the contact state, and the behavioral state as scores, and the advice generation means generates the advice based on the progress of the scores of the person being measured over a predetermined period of time.

13. An information processing device as described in claim 1 or claim 2, further comprising a recommended activity determination means for determining the activity content to be recommended to the subject based on statistical survey results showing the relationship between the degree of social participation and activity content of other subjects and the determination results by the social participation determination means, and wherein the notification means notifies the subject of the activity content determined by the recommended activity determination means.

14. An information processing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the degree of social participation determined by the social participation determination means is the degree of social frailty.

15. An information processing device as described in claim 14, having a function of determining the degree of physical frailty of the person being measured, determining the frailty of the person being measured based on the degree of physical frailty of the person being measured and the degree of social frailty, and the notification means notifying the determined degree of frailty.

16. An information processing device according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the social participation determination means determines the degree of social participation of the person being measured at predetermined intervals.

17. A social participation assessment method comprising: a first step in which a state assessment means assesses the conversation state of the person being measured, the contact state of the person being measured with others, and the behavioral state of the person being measured; a second step in which a social participation assessment means assesses the degree of social participation of the person being measured based on the assessment results of the state assessment means; and a third step in which a notification means notifies a predetermined notification destination of the assessment results of the social participation assessment means.

18. A social participation determination program that causes a computer to function as: a state determination means that determines the conversation state of the person being measured, the contact state of the person being measured with others, and the behavioral state of the person being measured; a social participation determination means that determines the degree of social participation of the person being measured based on the determination results by the state determination means; and a notification means that notifies a predetermined notification destination of the determination results by the social participation determination means.

19. A computer-readable non-transitory storage medium storing the social participation determination program according to claim 18.

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