An arrangement and method to improve and / or keep well-being of a user

Abstract

An arrangement to improve and / or keep well-being of a user according to the invention comprises a device (10), which comprises an acceleration sensor (2) to measure movement accelerations of the user, and a display (3). The device is arranged to record a movement acceleration of the user when acceleration is at least 1,8 G, and to record that a daily quantity of exercise has been reached when 1000 movement accelerations have been recorded. The device comprises also an input interface (4), which is arranged to receive information from the user that a daily amount of lingonberry has been taken. The daily amount of lingonberry is at least 20 g.

Description

[0001] An arrangement and method to improve and / or keep well-being of a user

[0002] Field of technology

[0003] The invention relates to an arrangement to improve and / or keep well-being of a user.

[0004] Prior art

[0005] Parameters such as heart rate and quantity of exercise can be measured with devices like heart rate meter and pedometer that give health and well-being information to users. Some devices may also give instructions to enhance the user’s well-being, for example by giving exercise instructions.

[0006] Different measurement devices have been noticed useful by consumers. Especially when regarding the modern lifestyle, which increases diabetes, overweight and cardiovascular diseases. Although, the different measurement devices can be used successfully, there is room for improvements and new devices.

[0007] Short description

[0008] The object of the invention is to make an alternative arrangement and method to improve and / or keep well-being of a user. The object is achieved in a way described in the independent claims. Dependent claims illustrate different embodiments of the invention.

[0009] An arrangement to improve and / or keep well-being of a user according to the invention comprises a device 10, which comprises an acceleration sensor 2 to measure movement accelerations of the user and a display 3. The device is arranged to record a movement acceleration of the user when acceleration is at least 1 ,8 G, and to record that a daily quantity of exercise has been reached when 1000 movement accelerations have been recorded. The device comprises also an input interface 4, which is arranged to receive information from the user that a daily amount of lingonberry has been taken. The daily amount of lingonberry is at least 20 g. The device is also arranged to inform the user that the daily actions of well-being have been performed when said daily quantity of exercise has been reached and daily amount of lingonberry has been taken. The display 3 is utilized when informing the user.

[0010] A method to improve and / or keep well-being of a user according to the invention has a step of measuring movement accelerations of the user. The method also comprises steps of recording a movement acceleration of the user when acceleration is at least 1 ,8 G; and recording that a daily quantity of exercise has been reached when 1000 movement accelerations have been recorded.

[0011] Further, the method according to the invention has steps of receiving information from the user that a daily amount of lingonberry has been taken; and informing to the user that daily actions of well-being have been performed when said daily quantity of exercise has been reached and daily amount of lingonberry has been taken. As said, the daily amount of lingonberry is at least 20 g.

[0012] List of figures

[0013] In the following, the invention is described in more detail by reference to the enclosed drawings, where

[0014] Figure 1 illustrates an example of an arrangement according to the invention,

[0015] Figure 2 illustrates another example of the invention,

[0016] Figure 3 illustrates a further example of the invention,

[0017] Figure 4 illustrates yet another example of the invention,

[0018] Figure 5 illustrates further another example of the invention,

[0019] Figure 6 illustrates a flow chart example of the method according to the invention,

[0020] Figure 7 illustrates an example of a Body Mass Index (BMI) result of test groups Figure 8 illustrates an example of a fat percentage result of the test groups, and

[0021] Figure 9 illustrates an example of a visceral fat percentage result of the test groups.

[0022] Description of the invention

[0023] Figure 1 illustrates an example of an arrangement 1 to improve and / or keep wellbeing of a user according to the invention. The arrangement comprises a device 10, which comprises an acceleration sensor 2 to measure movement accelerations of the user, and a display 3. The device is arranged to record a movement acceleration of the user when acceleration is at least 1 ,8 G, and to record that a daily quantity of exercise has been reached when 1000 movement accelerations have been recorded.

[0024] Exercise has been found to improve well-being. Even light exercise is useful for a human. In the invention, exercise must be brisk enough and there must be enough movements during a day that are brisk enough. The movement is brisk enough when its acceleration is at least 1 ,8 G. The movement can be any exercise like a step, jump, rolling motion etc. A required daily quantity of exercise has been reached when 1000 brisk enough movements have been made.

[0025] The device comprises also an input interface 4, which is arranged to receive information from the user that a daily amount of lingonberry has been taken. The daily amount of lingonberry is at least 20 g. The device is also arranged to inform to the user that daily actions of well-being have been performed when said daily quantity of exercise has been reached and daily amount of lingonberry has been taken. The display 3 is utilized when informing the user.

[0026] The input interface 4 can be a touch screen button on the display of the device 1 or a separate mechanical button on the device. The device 1 can be a mobile phone or another unit. Figure 2 illustrates a simple example of components of the arrangement according to the invention. The device comprises a memory 7 and a processor 6 to handle the recordings of said movement accelerations being at least 1 ,8 G, and the recordings that a daily quantity of exercise has been reached. The processor and the memory are also arranged to receive information that a daily amount of lingonberry has been taken. The processor is also arranged to handle the information to the user that daily actions of well-being have been performed when said daily quantity of exercise has been reached and daily amount of lingonberry has been taken, utilizing the display 3.

[0027] A usual way is that the memory 7 comprises a random access memory and a mass memory. The random access memory is for working data and its read / write actions are faster than in the mass memory. The mass memory is for keeping long-time data. The size of the mass memory is larger than the size of the random access memory. So, as can be noted this description simply refers only to the memory of the device. The memory structures as such are known.

[0028] The processor 6, such as a central processing unit, and the memory 7 (as said having the random access memory and the mass memory) is installed on a circuit board 5, like a motherboard of the device. The circuit board can comprise also other components not illustrated in figure 2, such as a display card, network cards, and peripheral devices. The acceleration sensor 2 can be a peripheral device that can be installed on the circuit board.

[0029] Figure 3 shows another embodiment. The structures of the circuit board 5 are generally known as such. As said, the circuit board can be a motherboard, for example in the mobile phone, or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), for example when the device 10 is said other unit 10A. The inventive arrangement and the devise 1C can also be distributed, for example the other unit 10A comprises the circuit board 5 or an ASIC (with said processor and memory) and the display 3 is the mobile phone’s 10B display, like figure 3 illustrates. In this case the other unit is in connection with the mobile phone wirelessly or through a wire connection, in other words the other unit 10A is arranged to be in connection with the mobile phone 10B. In the example of figure 3 the input interface 4 is arranged to be on the mobile phone 10B, in which case the information that a daily amount of lingonberry has been taken is transmitted to the other unit 10A. However, it is also possible that the input interface is positioned on the other unit 10A.

[0030] The example of figure 4 illustrates that the inventive arrangement 1 A can comprise at least one further acceleration sensor 8, 9. At least one of said further sensors 8, 9 is arranged to be in a wire or wireless connection with the mobile phone or the other unit. The acceleration sensor 2 does not need to be directly installed in the circuit board I ASIC, it can also be connected through a wire or wireless connection.

[0031] The sensor or sensors outside the mobile phone, like in the examples of figures 3 and 4, can give more accurate measurements than the sensor / s inside the mobile phone, especially when taking into account a number of different exercise movements, what a user can do. Further, the sensor / s and the arrangement may be arranged so that accelerations in three Cartesian coordinates (x, y and z axes) are determined and added together in order to get total acceleration. This description when mentioning acceleration or movement acceleration means the total acceleration.

[0032] The device can be arranged to monitor that said daily actions of well-being have been performed for five days in a week. To fulfil the required actions for five in a week is enough for a week, so two days in a week can be days off. However, the required actions can be made every day in a week (and the device monitoring every day).

[0033] It is convenient that the inventive arrangement comprises software, which is installed on the device. The software contains the code how the device works to perform the actions of the invention. So, said recordings (the exercise movements and the reached daily quantities) utilizing the measurements of the acceleration sensor / s, handling the received information from the user that a daily amount of lingonberry has been taken, and handling the informing to the user that daily actions of well-being have been performed when said daily quantity of exercise has been reached and daily amount of lingonberry has been taken, utilizing the display 3, are taken care of.

[0034] Figure 5 illustrates an example of an arrangement 1 B according to the invention that comprises a lingonberry product 11. It is convenient to have a lingonberry product, because it is easier for a user to follow the daily amount taken. For example, the product may comprise serving packages, where each package has 20 g of lingonberry. In this example the user consumes one package in a day in order to reach the required daily amount of 20 g. Of course, the package size may be different. It is also possible that the content of the package is, for example, in a liquid form or flour, and the content of the package is designed to mix with water before taken.

[0035] The daily required exercise can be made during a day, but it may be more convenient, and preferable, that the daily exercise is as uninterrupted as possible.

[0036] Figure 6 illustrates a flow chart example of the method for improving and / or keeping well-being of a user according to the invention. The method has a step of measuring movement accelerations of the user 60. the method also comprises steps of recording a movement acceleration of the user when acceleration is at least 1 ,8 G 61 ; and recording that a daily quantity of exercise has been reached when 1000 movement accelerations have been recorded 62. Further, the method has a step of receiving information from the user that a daily amount of lingonberry has been taken 63, the daily amount of lingonberry being at least 20 g; and a step of informing to the user that daily actions of well-being have been performed when said daily quantity of exercise has been reached and daily amount of lingonberry has been taken 64.

[0037] The method is used in the inventive arrangement from which the above description discloses different embodiments. The method may also comprise an additional step of monitoring that said daily actions of well-being have been performed for five days in a week.

[0038] As can be seen the invention makes it possible to follow exercise exceeding a certain acceleration limit and a daily use of required amount of lingonberry. The combination of brisk enough exercise and the required amount of lingonberry has positive effects for well-being of users. Body Mass Index (BMI), body fat percentage and amount of visceral fat decrease according to studies of the inventors. Figure 7 shows a relative change of BMI, (i.e. the body mass divided by the square of the body height), for different test groups. A control group is a group of people living normally during a test period. The test period was 12 weeks. A lingonberry group took lingonberry during the test period. An exercise group made physical exercises during the test period, and a lingonberry / exercise group took lingonberry and also made physical exercises during the test period. Figure 8 shows a relative change of fat percentage and figure 9 a relative change of visceral fat percentage for the test groups at the test period. Figures 7 - 9 show mean values (the heights of the columns) + / - Standard Error of Means (SEM) (narrow lines).

[0039] As can be seen, combined effects of daily consumption of lingonberry and physical exercise decreased BMI (p<0.05 *) in the study population, whereas statistically significant decrease was not observed with either the lingonberry product or exercise alone. Combined daily consumption of lingonberry product and physical exercise showed decreased visceral fat percentage (p<0.01 **) and a non-significant (ns) trend towards decreased fat percentage (p=0.08). These results indicate that the observed decrease in body fat is especially due to decreased visceral fat, which is associated with health benefits. A p-value < 0.05 indicates that the probability of the effect to be true and not by chance is higher than 95%, and a p-value < 0.01 indicates that the probability is higher than 99%.

[0040] Different embodiments have been described above. However, it is also possible to make other embodiments, for example, having two or more acceleration sensors on the circuit board of the device. The device, such as a mobile phone, can also transmit the recordings and other information to an external unit, such as a server, via a mobile phone network or other possible network. The acceleration sensor / s connected to the device may be connected, for example, through an LISB-C port, or via wireless connection, like Bluetooth.

[0041] It is evident from the above that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described in this text but can be implemented in many other different embodiments within the scope of the independent claims.

Claims

Claims1 . An arrangement to improve and / or keep well-being of a user, the arrangement comprising a device (10), which comprises an acceleration sensor (2) to measure movement accelerations of the userand a display (3), characterised in that the device is arranged to- record a movement acceleration of the user when acceleration is at least 1 ,8 G, and- record that a daily quantity of exercise has been reached when 1000 movement accelerations have been recorded, and the device comprises also an input interface (4), which is arranged to receive information from the user that a daily amount of lingonberry has been taken, the daily amount of lingonberry being at least 20 g, and the device is also arranged to inform to the user that daily actions of well-being have been performed when said daily quantity of exercise has been reached and daily amount of lingonberry has been taken, utilizing the display (3).

2. An arrangement according to claim 1 , characterised in that the device comprises a memory (7) and a processor (6).

3. An arrangement according to claim 2, characterised in that the device is a mobile phone or another unit.

4. An arrangement according to claim 3, characterised in that it comprises at least one further acceleration sensor (8, 9).

5. An arrangement according to claim 4, characterised in that at least one of said sensors (8, 9) is arranged to be in a wire or wireless connection with the mobile phone or the other unit.

6. An arrangement according to any of claim 3 - 5, characterised in that the other unit (10A) is arranged to be in connection with a mobile phone (10B).

7. An arrangement according to any of claim 1 - 6, characterised in that the device is arranged to monitor that said daily actions of well-being have been performed for five days in a week.

8. An arrangement according to any of claim 1 - 7, characterised in that the arrangement comprises a lingonberry product (11 ).

9. A method to improve and / or keep well-being of a user, the method having a step of measuring movement accelerations of the user (60), characterised in that the method also comprises steps of- recording a movement acceleration of the user when acceleration is at least 1 ,8 G (61), and- recording that a daily quantity of exercise has been reached when 1000 movement accelerations have been recorded (62),- receiving information from the user that a daily amount of lingonberry has been taken, the daily amount of lingonberry being at least 20 g (63),- informing to the user that daily actions of well-being have been performed when said daily quantity of exercise has been reached and daily amount of lingonberry has been taken (64).

10. A method according to claim 9, characterised in that the method comprises a step of monitoring that said daily actions of well-being have been performed for five days in a week.

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