Thought transmission assistance system, thought transmission assistance device, and thought transmission assistance program

Abstract

The present invention comprises: a thought confirmation unit 11 that presents to a user a question for confirming the user's thought of seeking assistance from a second person other than the user and answer options for the question, and acquires an answer selected by the user; and an information presentation unit 12 that presents to the user, on the basis of the answer acquired by the thought confirmation unit 11, transmission assistance information that can be utilized for thought transmission when the user seeks assistance from the second person. When the user answers with his / her thought by selecting one of the answer options in seeking assistance from the second person, the transmission assistance information that can be utilized for thought transmission to the second person is presented to the user on the basis of the contents of the answer, thereby assisting thought transmission when the user seeks assistance, such as an answer, advice, guidance or the like, from the second person other than the user.

Description

Thought Transmission Support System, Thought Transmission Support Device, and Thought Transmission Support Program

[0001] The present invention relates to a thought transmission support system, a thought transmission support device, and a thought transmission support program.

[0002] Regarding medical care in the final stage of life, there is something called ACP (Advance Care Planning). ACP is an effort in which the family members and medical staff of the individual repeatedly discuss the future medical care and support the decision-making of the individual, with the individual as the main body, and is also called a life conference. In particular, it is an important effort for the elderly, patients with chronic diseases, and patients with a predicted end stage, but it can be said to be a beneficial activity for all people.

[0003] By engaging in ACP, there are merits such as it becomes easier to provide medical care in line with the wishes of the individual, the mental burden on the family when sudden decisions are required can be reduced, and it becomes possible to effectively utilize medical resources by avoiding unnecessary life-prolonging treatments.

[0004] On the other hand, when the individual has an interview with medical staff, in order to appropriately determine the future medical care policy and plan, it is not clear how to convey the symptoms and anxieties of the individual to the medical staff, and what and how to ask the medical staff, and there is a problem that there may be a lack of communication.

[0005] In addition, there is a known device that presents questions necessary for the respondent in an easy-to-answer form from a large number of mutually related questions such as those in a conditional branching type questionnaire survey (for example, see Patent Document 1). In the question presentation device described in Patent Document 1, after transmitting the first question to the respondent terminal, the next question is selected according to the option selected by the respondent for each question and transmitted to the respondent terminal. When receiving the answer to the final question from the respondent terminal, the question presentation device transmits the result data corresponding to the option selected for the final question to the respondent terminal.

[0006] Furthermore, systems are known to ensure that all necessary questions are asked during a medical interview (see, for example, Patent Document 2). In the medical interview system described in Patent Document 2, the server device receives symptom data from the patient terminal indicating symptoms selected by the patient, and transmits data to the patient terminal indicating multiple questions corresponding to the symptoms and multiple answer options corresponding to those questions. When the server device receives response data from the patient terminal indicating answers selected by the patient, it determines whether any unanswered questions are necessary based on the answers indicated by the received response data, and transmits data to the patient terminal indicating the questions that are deemed necessary and the answer options.

[0007] However, the system described in Patent Document 1 presents the questions necessary for the respondent in an easy-to-answer format by repeating questions and answers in a conditional branching questionnaire survey, and does not present the questions necessary for the questioner from a large number of non-conditional branching questions. Therefore, the system described in Patent Document 1 cannot be used to support the resolution of the above-mentioned problems related to ACP.

[0008] Furthermore, the system described in Patent Document 2 assists healthcare professionals in appropriately understanding a patient's symptoms and other information by ensuring that all necessary questions are asked during the interview conducted by the healthcare professional with the patient. Therefore, the system described in Patent Document 2 cannot be used to support the resolution of the aforementioned problems related to ACP.

[0009] Furthermore, not only within specific frameworks like ACP, but also when seeking support from experts or other support providers by asking questions or seeking advice, it is not uncommon to feel unsure about what to say, how to say it, or what kind of questions are appropriate.

[0010] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-312536 Japanese Patent Publication No. 2023-80373

[0011] This invention was made to solve the problems described above, and aims to provide a mechanism that assists in the communication of thoughts when a first-party user seeks support such as answers, advice, or guidance from a second-party party.

[0012] To solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention presents the user with questions and answer choices to confirm the user's thinking when seeking support from a second party, and based on the answers selected by the user, presents the user with communication support information that can be used to communicate the user's thinking when seeking support from a second party.

[0013] According to the present invention configured as described above, when a user, acting as the first party, seeks support from a second party, they respond by selecting an answer from the answer options. Based on this response, the user is presented with communication support information that can be used to communicate their thoughts to the second party. This mechanism can assist in the communication of thoughts when a user seeks support such as answers, advice, or guidance from a second party other than themselves.

[0014] This figure shows an example of the overall configuration of the thought transmission support system according to this embodiment. This figure shows an example of the hardware configuration of the thought transmission support device according to this embodiment. This block diagram shows an example of the functional configuration of the thought transmission support device according to this embodiment. This figure shows an example of a clustering question stored in the clustering question storage unit according to this embodiment. This figure shows an example of a QPL question stored in the QPL question storage unit according to this embodiment. This flowchart shows an example of the operation of the thought transmission support device according to this embodiment. This figure shows an example of the TOP screen displayed on the display unit by the transmission support application 1a. This figure shows an example of the question screen displayed on the display unit by the transmission support application 1a. This figure shows an example of the result screen displayed on the display unit by the transmission support application 1a.

[0015] Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of the thought communication support system according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 1(a), the thought communication support system according to this embodiment is configured to include a thought communication support device 1 used by the user.

[0016] Furthermore, the thought transmission support system according to this embodiment may be configured as shown in Figure 1(b), comprising a thought transmission support device 1 and a server device 2 connected to the thought transmission support device 1 via a communication network 3. The communication network 3 consists of an IP network, including the Internet, and an access network for accessing this IP network. Examples of access networks include public wired networks, mobile phone networks, wired LANs (Local Area Networks), and wireless LANs. In the configuration shown in Figure 1(b), the thought transmission support device 1 and the server device 2 cooperate to execute the processes detailed below.

[0017] The thought communication support device 1 is comprised of a general-purpose computer such as a personal computer, tablet, or smartphone. The thought communication support device 1 has an application program installed that performs processing to assist in the communication of thoughts when a user requests support from a second party other than themselves (corresponding to the thought communication support program in the claims; hereinafter referred to as communication support application 1a).

[0018] Here, "support" refers to answers, advice, and guidance to questions and consultations from users. A "second party" other than the user is someone who receives questions and consultations from users and provides answers, advice, and guidance to them. The second party only needs to be someone who can provide the necessary support to the user, for example, an expert in a specific field. Furthermore, "processing to assist in thought transmission" refers to the process of presenting the user with communication support information that can be used when the user seeks support from the second party.

[0019] In the following, Advance Care Planning (ACP) is given as an example of the application of this embodiment. The person conducting the ACP is the user of the thought communication support device 1, the medical professional is the second party who receives questions and consultations from the user, and the communication support information presented to the user is described as candidate question sentences that the user can use when seeking support from the second party.

[0020] Figure 2 shows an example of the hardware configuration of the thought communication support device 1 according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 2, the thought communication support device 1 comprises a control unit 101, a storage unit 102, an input unit 103, a display unit 104, and a communication unit 105 as its hardware configuration.

[0021] The control unit 101 is composed of a processor, such as a microcomputer equipped with a CPU, RAM, and ROM, and operates according to the operating system and communication support application 1a stored in the storage unit 102, and performs information processing using various data stored in the storage unit 102. In addition to the microcomputer, it may also be equipped with a DSP (Digital Signal Processor).

[0022] The storage unit 102 is composed of a computer-readable storage medium. For example, the storage unit 102 includes a hard disk or semiconductor memory. Various programs executed by the control unit 101 are stored in the storage unit 102. Among these various programs is the program for the communication support application 1a.

[0023] The memory unit 102 also stores various types of data, including data used in the processing of the control unit 101 and data generated during the processing. This data includes data related to questions (described later) and data related to various display screens. Alternatively, the data related to questions may be stored in the server device 2, and the communication support application 1a may retrieve and use the necessary data from the server device 2 as needed when processing is executed by the communication support application 1a.

[0024] The input unit 103 is composed of, for example, a keyboard, mouse, or touch panel, and supplies data to the control unit 101 in accordance with the user's operation input. The display unit 104 is composed of, for example, a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display, and displays information according to instructions input from the control unit 101.

[0025] The communication unit 105 is composed of a communication module that exchanges data with the server device 2 via the communication network 3, and communicates with the server device 2 according to instructions input from the control unit 101. Note that when the thought transmission support system of this embodiment is configured as a standalone thought transmission support device 1 as shown in Figure 1(a), the communication unit 105 is not an essential component.

[0026] Figure 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the thought communication support device 1 according to this embodiment. Here, an example of the functional configuration of the thought communication support device 1 is shown when the thought communication support system of this embodiment is configured as shown in Figure 1(a).

[0027] As shown in Figure 3, the thought transmission support device 1 of this embodiment has a thought confirmation unit 11 and an information presentation unit 12 as its functional configuration. The processing of these functional blocks 11 and 12 is performed by the operation of a program including the transmission support application 1a stored in the storage unit 102, under the control of the control unit 101 shown in Figure 2.

[0028] Furthermore, the thought transmission support device 1 of this embodiment includes a clustering question storage unit 13 and a QPL question storage unit 14 as storage media. These question storage units 13 and 14 are composed of the storage unit 102 shown in Figure 2. When the thought transmission support system is configured including the server device 2 as shown in Figure 1(b), the server device 2 may also be equipped with the question storage units 13 and 14.

[0029] The thought confirmation unit 11 presents the user with a question and answer options to confirm the user's thinking in the thought transmission support device 1, and obtains the answer selected by the user. The questions presented to the user by the thought confirmation unit 11 are called "clustering questions" in this embodiment, and multiple questions are pre-stored in the clustering question storage unit 13.

[0030] Figure 4 shows an example of clustering questions stored in the clustering question storage unit 13. In the example in Figure 4, the clustering question storage unit 13 stores 12 clustering questions, but the number of clustering questions is not limited to this. Each clustering question is associated with and stored multiple answer choices and the class assigned to each answer choice.

[0031] A class indicates the category to which the communication support information presented to the user belongs. As will be explained later using Figure 5, one or more classes are associated with the communication support information. This class links the answer choices to the clustering question (corresponding to the content of the user's response) with the communication support information.

[0032] In Figure 4, for example, the first clustering question is "Do you want to ask about the present or the future?", with class "1" associated with the answer option "present" and class "2" associated with the answer option "future". Similarly, for the third clustering question, class "3" is associated with the answer option "yes" and class "other than 3" is associated with the answer option "no". Note that "I don't know" is also an answer option in all clustering questions, but it is not associated with any class.

[0033] The information presentation unit 12 presents communication support information (candidate questions for a second party) to the user based on the user's response (one of the answer choices) obtained by the thought confirmation unit 11. This presentation to the user is done, for example, by displaying the communication support information on the display unit 104. Here, the reason why the communication support information is referred to as "candidates" for questions for a second party is that it does not mean deriving the correct question to use when the user asks a second party for help based on the user's response to the clustering question, but rather deriving a question that is presumed to be what the user might want to ask a second party.

[0034] Multiple QPL questions are pre-stored in the QPL question storage unit 14 as communication support information that the information presentation unit 12 presents to the user. The information presentation unit 12 selects one or more QPL questions from among the multiple QPL questions stored in the QPL question storage unit 14 based on the user's answers to the clustering questions, and presents the question text of the selected QPL questions to the user. QPL questions are specific questions prepared in advance based on Question Prompt Lists (QPL).

[0035] Figure 5 shows an example of QPL questions stored in the QPL question storage unit 14. In the example in Figure 5, the QPL question storage unit 14 stores 45 QPL questions, but the number of QPL questions is not limited to this. Each QPL question is associated with one or more classes and the probability of occurrence of the QPL question. The probability of occurrence is a probability value used when selecting one or more QPL questions from the 45 QPL questions. An initial value is set for each of the 45 QPL questions, and the probability of occurrence changes as appropriate in response to the user's answers to the clustering questions.

[0036] The initial values ​​for the probability of occurrence can be arbitrarily determined. For example, it is possible to set the same initial value (e.g., 1 / 45) for all 45 QPL questions. Alternatively, the selection probability values ​​statistically calculated based on the selection results of multiple subjects who underwent ACP may be set as the initial values ​​for each of the 45 QPL questions. The probability of occurrence shown in Figure 5 illustrates the latter example. Note that the initial values ​​for the probability of occurrence of each QPL question may be normalized to a value whose sum is "1".

[0037] Furthermore, the method for changing the probability of appearance can also be arbitrarily determined. For example, it is possible to add a predetermined fixed value to the current probability of appearance for all classes. Alternatively, a value to be added or subtracted can be set in advance for each class.

[0038] The information presentation unit 12 changes the probability of appearance of QPL questions linked to the content of the answers obtained by the thought confirmation unit 11, from among a plurality of QPL questions pre-stored in the QPL question storage unit 14. Then, according to the changed probability of appearance, it performs a probabilistic selection process on the plurality of pre-stored QPL questions to select one or more QPL questions from among the plurality of QPL questions, and presents the question text of the selected QPL questions to the user.

[0039] For example, suppose a user selects the answer "currently" in response to the first clustering question illustrated in Figure 4. This response is associated with class "1". The information presentation unit 12 then changes the probability of appearance of one or more QPL questions associated with class "1" among the 45 QPL questions illustrated in Figure 5.

[0040] The information presentation unit 12 then performs a probabilistic selection process on the 45 QPL questions according to their appearance probabilities after the changes, selecting one or more QPL questions from the 45 QPL questions and presenting the question text of the selected QPL questions to the user. In performing the probabilistic selection process, the information presentation unit 12 normalizes the appearance probabilities of each QPL question after the changes so that the sum of these probabilities is "1", and performs the probabilistic selection process according to the normalized appearance probabilities.

[0041] Probabilistic selection is a process that randomly selects one or more QPL questions according to the probability of occurrence assigned to each QPL question, using algorithms similar to roulette or dice selection. Therefore, for example, the QPL question with the highest probability of occurrence is most likely to be selected, but it is not guaranteed to be selected. In other words, it is the question that has the highest probability of being selected.

[0042] For example, the information presentation unit 12 selects five QPL questions from 45 QPL questions by probabilistic selection processing and presents them to the user as candidates for question sentences that the user might want to ask a third party. If the user's desired question sentence is included in the five presented question sentences, the user can use that question sentence to ask a third party. On the other hand, if the user's desired question sentence is not included in the five presented question sentences, the user can receive the presentation of candidates for other question sentences by re-executing the processing of the thinking confirmation unit 11 and the information presentation unit 12.

[0043] In this embodiment, the thinking confirmation unit 11 presents one clustering question and its answer options to the user to obtain one answer, and the information presentation unit 12 varies the appearance probability of one or more QPL questions associated with the content of the one answer, and then it is possible to select one or more QPL questions from 45 QPL questions by probabilistic selection processing.

[0044] Alternatively, the thinking confirmation unit 11 presents a plurality of different clustering questions and their answer options to the user to obtain a plurality of answers, and the information presentation unit 12 varies the appearance probability for the QPL questions associated with the content of each answer based on the plurality of answers, and then performs probabilistic selection processing on the 45 QPL questions, so that one or more QPL questions can be selected from the 45 QPL questions.

[0045] In the latter case, the thought confirmation unit 11 obtains a plurality of responses by presenting a plurality of different clustering questions and their response options, which are extracted from the 12 clustering questions stored in advance in the clustering question memory unit 13, to the user. The plurality of different clustering questions may be randomly extracted from the clustering question memory unit 13, or may be extracted based on a certain rule. For example, the plurality of clustering questions may be extracted based on a rule that all classes are covered by the classes associated with the plurality of clustering questions to be extracted.

[0046] Here, the thought confirmation unit 11 sequentially presents a plurality of clustering questions to the user, for example. That is, after presenting one clustering question on the screen and obtaining an answer from the user, the screen is transitioned to present the next clustering question. Alternatively, the plurality of clustering questions and their respective response options may be presented on one screen at a time, and a plurality of responses may be obtained collectively.

[0047] By presenting a plurality of clustering questions to obtain a plurality of responses from the user and varying the appearance probabilities of one or more QPL questions associated with the response contents, and then selecting the QPL questions, it is possible to make it easier to select QPL questions that are more likely to match the user's thinking compared to the case of selecting QPL questions based on only one response.

[0048] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the thought transmission support device 1 according to the present embodiment configured as described above. FIGS. 7 to 9 are diagrams showing an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 104 by the transmission support application 1a. FIG. 7 is an example of a TOP screen displayed when starting the processing by the transmission support application 1a. The flowchart shown in FIG. 6 starts when the "Start" button is operated on this TOP screen.

[0049] First, the thought confirmation unit 11 extracts one of several clustering questions pre-stored in the clustering question storage unit 13, presents the extracted clustering question and its answer options to the user (step S1), and obtains the answer selected by the user (step S2). Figure 8 shows an example of a question screen presented to the user by the thought confirmation unit 11 in step S1.

[0050] Next, the information presentation unit 12 changes the probability of appearance of QPL questions that are linked to the content of the answers obtained by the thought confirmation unit 11, from among a plurality of QPL questions pre-stored in the QPL question storage unit 14 (step S3). Here, the thought confirmation unit 11 determines whether or not it has presented n clustering questions (where n is any number greater than or equal to 2) (step S4). If the number of questions presented is still less than n, the process returns to step S1.

[0051] On the other hand, when the number of questions presented reaches n, the information presentation unit 12 performs a probabilistic selection process on the 45 QPL questions according to the probability of occurrence which has been changed for each QPL question by the processing of step S3 over n times. The information presentation unit 12 selects one or more QPL questions from the 45 QPL questions and presents the question text of the selected QPL questions to the user as a candidate (step S5). Figure 9 shows an example of the result screen presented to the user by the information presentation unit 12 at this time.

[0052] If the five questions presented on the results screen shown in Figure 9 include a question that the user wanted to ask, the user selects that question and then clicks the "Next" button. This transitions the process to the next screen (not shown). The processing performed on the next screen can be designed arbitrarily.

[0053] For example, in the configuration of the thought transmission support system including a server device 2 as shown in Figure 1(b), the thought transmission support device 1 may notify the server device 2 of the QPL question information selected by the user, and the server device 2 may present the QPL question to a second party's terminal (not shown). Alternatively, the second party's terminal may access the server device 2 to view the QPL question. Furthermore, the second party's terminal may send an answer to the QPL question to the server device 2, and the server device 2 may send that answer to the thought transmission support device 1 for presentation to the transmission support application 1a.

[0054] On the other hand, if the five questions presented on the results screen shown in Figure 9 do not include a question that the user wanted to ask, the user can restart from step S1 by pressing the "Start over" button, thereby re-executing the processes of the thought confirmation unit 11 and the information presentation unit 12.

[0055] As explained in detail above, in this embodiment, the user is presented with clustering questions and answer options to confirm the user's thinking process when seeking support from a second party, and based on the answers selected by the user, the user is presented with candidate QPL questions that can be used to communicate the user's thinking when seeking support from a second party.

[0056] According to this embodiment configured as described above, when a user seeks assistance from a second party, they respond by selecting an answer from the options provided in a clustering question. Based on this response, the user is presented with candidate QPL questions that can be used to communicate their thoughts to the second party. This mechanism assists the user in communicating their thoughts when seeking support such as answers, advice, or guidance from a second party other than themselves. As a result, the user is freed from uncertainty about what to communicate to the second party, how to communicate it, and what questions are appropriate, enabling them to ask questions that do not miss anything.

[0057] In the above embodiment, an example was described in which candidate question sentences are used as communication support information presented to the user in an ACP use case, but the communication support information is not limited to this. For example, the communication support information may be advice on how to ask questions that the user can use when seeking support from a second party. In this case, the information presentation unit 12 selects one or more pieces of advice information from a plurality of pieces of advice information pre-stored in the memory unit based on the answer obtained by the thought confirmation unit 11, and presents the selected pieces of advice information to the user.

[0058] Furthermore, the use cases to which this embodiment applies are not limited to Advance Care Programs (ACP). In other words, this embodiment can be broadly applied to use cases in which a user seeks support by asking questions or seeking advice from experts or other support providers. For example, when a user asks questions or seeks advice from experts such as sommeliers, designers, real estate agents, career advisors, or lawyers, the embodiment may be presented as communication support information, which may include candidate sentences that verbalize the content of the consultation.

[0059] Furthermore, the above embodiments are merely examples of how the present invention may be implemented, and the technical scope of the invention should not be interpreted as being limited by them. In other words, the present invention can be implemented in various ways without departing from its gist or its main features.

[0060] 1. Thought transmission support device 2. Server device 11. Thought confirmation unit 12. Information presentation unit 13. Clustering question storage unit 14. QPL question storage unit

Claims

1. A thought transmission support system characterized by comprising: a thought confirmation unit that presents a user with questions and answer choices for confirming the user's thinking when seeking support from a second party other than oneself, and obtains the answer selected by the user; and an information presentation unit that presents the user with communication support information that can be used to communicate the user's thoughts when seeking support from the second party, based on the answer obtained by the thought confirmation unit.

2. The thought communication support system according to claim 1, characterized in that the information presentation unit changes the probability of appearance of communication support information linked to the content of the answer acquired by the thought confirmation unit from among a plurality of communication support information stored in the memory unit in advance, and performs a probabilistic selection process on the plurality of communication support information stored in advance according to the changed probability of appearance, thereby selecting one or more communication support information from the plurality of communication support information and presenting the selected communication support information to the user.

3. The thought confirmation unit obtains multiple answers by presenting the user with multiple different questions and answer choices; the information presentation unit changes the probability of appearance of the communication support information associated with the content of each answer based on the multiple answers obtained by the thought confirmation unit; and selects one or more communication support information from the multiple communication support information by performing a probabilistic selection process on the multiple pre-stored communication support information according to the probability of appearance changed based on the content of the multiple answers. This is the thought communication support system according to claim 2.

4. The thought confirmation unit is characterized in that it obtains multiple answers by presenting to the user a plurality of different questions and their answer choices, which are extracted from a plurality of questions pre-stored in the memory unit.

5. The thought transmission support system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the above-mentioned communication support information is a candidate for a question that can be used when the user seeks support from the above-mentioned second party, and the above-mentioned information presentation unit selects one or more question sentences from a plurality of question sentences pre-stored in the memory unit based on the answer obtained by the thought confirmation unit, and presents the selected question sentences to the user.

6. The thought transmission support system according to any one of paragraphs 1 to 4, characterized in that the above-mentioned communication support information is advice information on how to ask questions that can be used when the above-mentioned user seeks support from the above-mentioned second party, and the above-mentioned information presentation unit selects one or more pieces of advice information from a plurality of pieces of advice information pre-stored in the memory unit based on the answer obtained by the thought confirmation unit, and presents the selected advice information to the above-mentioned user.

7. A thought transmission support device characterized by comprising: a thought confirmation unit that presents a user with questions and answer choices for confirming the user's thinking when seeking support from a second party other than oneself, and obtains the answer selected by the user; and an information presentation unit that presents the user with communication support information that can be used for communicating the user's thoughts when seeking support from the second party, based on the answer obtained by the thought confirmation unit.

8. A thought transmission support program that causes a computer to function as a thought confirmation means, which presents a user with questions and answer choices to confirm the user's thinking when seeking support from a second party other than oneself, and obtains the answer selected by the user, and as an information presentation means, which presents the user with communication support information that can be used to communicate the user's thoughts when seeking support from the second party, based on the answer obtained by the thought confirmation means.

Images