Lifestyle Collection via Object Relevance Analysis

Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional devices fail to accurately and automatically determine a user's lifestyle without relying on explicit actions or user-reported information, missing attributes not noticed by the user and requiring frequent explicit actions for estimation.

Innovation Solution

A lifestyle collecting apparatus that detects object information around the user, calculates a relevance degree using object information, and stores this information in a lifestyle database to determine the user's lifestyle, allowing for automatic collection and analysis of lifestyle data without explicit user action.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of information

If conventional devices use explicit actions (viewing records, movement, shopping) to estimate user preference, then the estimation can be based on observable behavior, but attributes not noticed by the user cannot be collected and frequent explicit actions are required

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvelifestyle informationVSAvoidautomatic lifestyle determination

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSExtent of automation

Solution Approach 1:

The system automatically collects lifestyle information without requiring user participation or explicit actions. The image processing apparatus autonomously captures images, identifies objects, calculates relevance degrees, and determines lifestyle attributes, eliminating the need for users to manually report or perform specific actions to provide lifestyle data.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces manual information collection methods with automated image processing technology. Instead of relying on users to manually report lifestyle attributes or perform explicit actions, the system uses computer vision and image analysis to automatically extract lifestyle information from environmental images.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

2Loss of information

If manual lifestyle determination is used, then the user can report their lifestyle, but the process is troublesome and attributes not noticed by the user cannot be collected

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvelifestyle informationVSAvoidmanual lifestyle reporting

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system automatically collects lifestyle information without requiring user participation or explicit actions. The image processing apparatus autonomously captures images, identifies objects, calculates relevance degrees, and determines lifestyle attributes, eliminating the need for users to manually report or perform specific actions to provide lifestyle data.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

3Measurement precision

If explicit actions are used to estimate lifestyle, then user behavior can be observed, but the estimation is insufficient for attributes not noticed by the user and requires frequent occurrences

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvelifestyle estimation accuracyVSAvoidlifestyle collection efficiency

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent replaces manual information collection methods with automated image processing technology. Instead of relying on users to manually report lifestyle attributes or perform explicit actions, the system uses computer vision and image analysis to automatically extract lifestyle information from environmental images.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Solution Approach 2:

The system introduces an intermediary mechanism (image processing apparatus) that indirectly captures lifestyle information through environmental images. Rather than directly observing user actions, the apparatus analyzes objects and their relationships in the environment to infer lifestyle attributes, enabling collection of unnoticed attributes.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS8909636B2Lifestyle collecting apparatus, user interface device, and lifestyle collecting method

Publication Date: 2014.12.09 PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CORP OF AMERICA

AI summary

Provided is a lifestyle collecting apparatus that collects information for determining a lifestyle of a user, and includes: an object information detecting unit configured to detect object information representing an object around the user; a relevance degree calculating unit configured to calculate a relevance degree of the user to the object, using the object information; an appearance information extracting unit configured to extract appearance information from the object information, and add the relevance degree to the extracted appearance information, the appearance information representing an appearance of the object; and a lifestyle database which stores the appearance information to which the relevance degree has been added, as the information for determining the lifestyle of the user.