JPH0922314A - Stress-adaptive controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the interface between game machine, etc., and the player by adaptively switching the control of a game machine, etc., corresponding to stress or the degree of fatigue. SOLUTION: This stress-adaptive controller is provided with a living body information detection part 1 for measuring physical quantity generated from the human body, a stress and fatigue degree arithmetic part 3 for calculating stress level and the degree of fatigue based on this measured value, an output control part 5 for outputting either one of driving instructions corresponding to the stress level and the degree of fatigue, and a driving control part 7 for switching the driving state (such as speed or the degree of difficulty of program) of the game machine, etc., corresponding to the driving instruction.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for adaptively switching control (level, content, etc.) of a target device according to stress or fatigue.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Living body such as temperature difference between palm and finger, temperature difference between forehead and nose, perspiration of palm and sole, brain wave (α wave, FM θ wave), or electrocardiogram (PR interval, PRCV value) It is known that there is a close relationship between information and stress.
It is also known that the level of each of the above-mentioned biometric information changes according to the degree of stress.

FIG. 6 shows the measurement result of each temperature of the finger and the palm when the stress is applied from the time 0 when the time when the temperature sensor reaches the steady state is 0, and the horizontal axis shows time. As shown in the figure, the temperature of the finger is slightly affected by the outside air temperature, but the temperature change due to stress is much larger. On the other hand, the palm temperature is affected by the outside air temperature to about the same degree as the finger temperature, but the temperature hardly changes due to stress. Therefore, the degree of stress can be estimated from the temperature difference between the palm and the finger. Also, from the estimated amount, it can be expected that the influence of the outside temperature is removed. It is known that the same tendency holds for the temperature difference between the forehead and the nose.

FIG. 8 shows the measurement results of the amount of sweat of the palm when stress is applied, with the horizontal axis representing time. As shown in the figure, the sweat rate of the palm fluctuates due to the influence of stress. It should be noted that each peak in the figure corresponds to the degree of stress applied, and from this it can be seen that the degree of stress can be estimated based on the amount of perspiration.

Regarding the electroencephalogram, the alpha wave (frequency is 8 to 13)
It is known that an increase in the power of the electroencephalogram (Hz) causes sleepiness and a decrease in the degree of concentration on work. Also, F
It is known that the degree of concentration increases as the power of the Mθ wave (the brain wave having a frequency of 4 to 7 Hz detected at a position slightly ahead of the crown is increased).

Regarding the electrocardiogram, the interval from the R wave (wave component with the highest amplitude in the electrocardiogram) to the R wave, that is, PR
It is known that short intervals correspond to stressed conditions. Further, it is known that a state in which the PRCV value (CV is “standard deviation / average value”) is small corresponds to a state in which stress is large. All physiological quantities have fluctuations, and if fluctuations are small,
It is known to be stressed and ill.

[0007]

In a game machine, a display in a waiting room or a hospital room, BGM (Back Ground Music), CAI learning, etc., the level of each control or There is a demand to adaptively switch the content and so on.

[0008] For example, in a game machine, moderate stress is required to enjoy the game, but if the stress becomes too great, fatigue becomes great, which deviates from the original purpose of relaxing by enjoying the game. . Therefore, there is a demand for a device that can provide appropriate stress and can perform adaptive control such as switching the game content and level according to the stress level and fatigue level.

In addition, in a waiting room, a hospital room, etc., it is desired to continue to provide optimum images and music in order to relieve the stress of patients and the like and to help improve the medical condition. For this reason,
It is desired to adaptively adjust the volume and the like, and adaptively select music software and video software. In order to do so, it is necessary to monitor how stress changes according to the contents of music software and video software.

Further, in CAI learning, moderate stress is required to improve the learning results, but if stress becomes too great, fatigue becomes great, and learning efficiency decreases. Therefore, it is desired to maximize learning results by adaptively selecting subjects and selecting difficulty levels, and by optimally setting learning time and rest time.

The present invention makes it possible to improve the interface between each target device and a person by adaptively switching the control of the target device according to the degree of stress or fatigue, and thereby bring out the capabilities of each target device to a great extent. To aim.

[0012]

The present invention is a biological information detecting means for measuring a physical quantity (a temperature difference between a palm and a finger, a temperature difference between a forehead and a nose, a perspiration amount of a palm, an electroencephalogram, an electrocardiogram, etc.) emitted from a human body. ,
Stress calculation means for calculating a stress level corresponding to the measured value of the physical quantity and a conversion formula stored in advance (however, different for each physical quantity to be measured), and the calculated stress level. A command output unit that reads out and outputs a corresponding drive command (drive level, drive direction, etc.) from a predetermined storage unit, and switches the drive state of the target device (but different for each target device) in response to the drive command. And a drive control means, which is a stress-adaptive control device. That is, the stress level corresponding to the measured biological information is calculated, and the driving state of the target device is switched according to the calculated stress level, so that appropriate stress is given to a person and excessive stress is prevented. It is a device.

In addition to the above structure, a fatigue degree calculating means for calculating the fatigue degree based on the cumulative value of the calculated stress level is added, and when the fatigue degree calculated by the command output means is below a predetermined level. Only when there is a certain level, a driving command corresponding to the stress level is read and output. When the calculated fatigue level exceeds a predetermined level, the driving command corresponding to the fatigue level is read from a predetermined storage unit and output. It is a control device for stress adaptation. That is, when the human stress is within the appropriate range, the ability of the target device is drawn out by adjusting the level of stress to be applied, and when the stress exceeds the appropriate range, the stress is promptly reduced to recover fatigue. This is a device that optimizes the overall capability of the target device.

Further, in the above-mentioned structure for measuring the temperature difference between the palm and the finger, when the measured temperature of the palm and / or the measured temperature of the finger is within a predetermined temperature range, the temperature difference calculating means is provided. Is a stress-adaptive control device, in which a determination means for making the output of (1) valid and for making the output of the temperature difference computing means invalid when outside the temperature range is added. That is, it is a device that prevents malfunctions when the temperature of a person is not measured.

Further, in the above-mentioned structure in which the temperature difference between the forehead and the nose is measured, the human face is extracted from the background image, and the position coordinates of the forehead and the nose are calculated based on the luminance distribution in the face. By including the coordinate specifying means for specifying and the measuring means for measuring the temperature of the position coordinate of the forehead and the temperature of the position coordinate of the nose specified by the coordinate specifying means, the temperature difference between the forehead and the nose can be changed from a position away from It is a device that enables measurement. In addition, it is a device that switches the drive state (volume, video software, music software) of the display and the speaker according to the result.

Further, in the above-mentioned structure for measuring the temperature difference between the forehead and the nose, a storage means for storing the stress level and the software output to the display and / or the speaker as a pair, and a predetermined time. And an increase / decrease determination means for determining whether the increase amount or the decrease amount exceeds a predetermined threshold value by calculating the increase or decrease of the stress level in the When the value exceeds the limit, a command for switching the software output to the display and / or the speaker in response to the increase or decrease is read out from a predetermined storage means and output,
This is a device that allows you to select the most suitable software. In other words, it is a device that enables selection of software that minimizes stress and fatigue.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration example of an apparatus of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the present apparatus includes a biometric information detection unit 1, a stress & fatigue level calculation unit 3 which inputs information from the biometric information detection unit 1 to calculate a stress level and a fatigue level, and the stress & fatigue level. An output control unit 5 which inputs a stress level and a fatigue level from the calculation unit 3 and outputs a drive command corresponding to the stress level, and the output control unit.
It comprises a drive control unit 7 for switching the drive state of the target device in response to a drive command from 5.

The biometric information detected by the biometric information detection unit 1 includes the amount of sweat on the palm or sole, the temperature difference between the palm and the finger, the temperature difference between the nose and the forehead, and the brain waves such as α wave power and FM θ wave power. Quantity, P
There are ECG information such as R intervals and PRCV values.

In the stress & fatigue degree calculation unit 3, the stress level is calculated as follows, for example, or evaluated based on the following information. (1) When the biological information is the amount of sweat from the palm: Stress level = 125 x (Amount of sweat from the palm-0.2) (2) When the biological information is the temperature difference between the palm and the finger or the temperature difference between the nose and the forehead Stress level = 33.59x (palm temperature-finger temperature) or stress level = 33.59x (forehead temperature-nose temperature) (3) When the biological information is EEG volume: Increase / decrease in EEG power of 8-13Hz 4-7Hz Increase / decrease in electroencephalogram power (4) When biometric information is electrocardiogram information R-wave and R-wave interval "standard deviation / average value" of the interval

The degree of fatigue is a predetermined time (eg, 10 minutes) of the stress level calculated every predetermined time (eg, 1 minute).
Is calculated as the cumulative value of.

In the output control section 5, the drive command corresponding to the stress level and the fatigue level is selected and output, for example, as follows. (1) When the fatigue level is 800 or less and the stress level is 50 or less, an instruction to rapidly increase the stress (2) The fatigue level is 800 or less and the stress level is 50 or more and 80 or less In case of order to gradually increase stress (3) When fatigue level is 800 or less and when stress level exceeds 80 Command to maintain current stress (4) Fatigue level exceeds 800 In the case of 900 or less, an instruction to reduce the stress sharply (5) When the fatigue level exceeds 900, an instruction to stop the target device

The drive state is switched in the drive control section 7 in response to the drive commands (1) to (3).

Next, a specific example in which the present invention is applied to a control device for a game machine will be described with reference to FIGS.
2 is a detailed functional block diagram of the biological information detection unit 1 and the stress / fatigue degree calculation unit 3 of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is the output control unit of FIG.
5 is a detailed functional block diagram of FIG. 5, FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of this example, FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of elements whose control can be switched by the drive control unit 7 of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a mouse in which a sensor A and a sensor B of the information detection unit 1 are arranged. FIG.

As shown in FIG. 7, a thermistor B for detecting the temperature of the finger is provided at the upper left position in the figure in the mouse, and a thermistor B for detecting the palm temperature is provided at the lower right lower position. A thermistor A is provided. A perspiration sensor for detecting the amount of perspiration of the palm is provided at the upper right lower position in the figure.

As shown in FIG. 4, the detection signal from the thermistor A11a is processed by the sensor circuit 12a and input to the CPU 40 as palm temperature data. Similarly, the detection signal from the thermistor B11b is processed by the sensor circuit 12b,
It is input to the CPU 40 as finger temperature data. CPU40
Then, the processes shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 are performed using the conversion formulas stored in the ROM 41.

First, the stress estimation validity judging section 39 judges whether the detected temperature is valid or not. Here, the palm temperature is 34
If it is in the range of ℃ to 36 ℃, it is effective, and if it is not in the range, it is invalid. The data to that effect is sent to the stress level & fatigue level output unit 37. Stress level & fatigue output 37
Outputs the stress level information and the fatigue level information, which will be described later, only when the valid data is sent.

On the other hand, on the basis of the palm temperature data and the finger temperature data, the temperature difference between the two is calculated by the temperature difference calculating section 31. This calculation is performed every minute controlled by the timer 30. Further, the calculated temperature difference data is sent to the stress level calculation unit 33.

The stress level calculator 33 calculates the stress level according to the conversion formula "stress level = 33.59 × (palm temperature-finger temperature)" read from the ROM 41. This calculation is performed every minute controlled by the timer 30. Further, the calculated stress level information is sent to the stress level & fatigue level output unit 37 and the fatigue level calculation unit 35.

The fatigue level calculation unit 35 adds the stress level information sent from the stress level calculation unit 33 every 10 minutes. This calculation is performed every minute controlled by the timer 30. In addition, the stress level & fatigue level output unit 37 calculates the added total value as fatigue level information every 10 minutes.
Send to

The stress level & fatigue level output unit 37 outputs the stress level information sent every minute, and the stress level determination unit (branch unit) of the output control unit 5 determination unit (branch unit) 51.
It sends to the 51a every 1 minute, and sends the fatigue level information sent every 10 minutes to the fatigue level determination section (branch section) 51b of the determination section (branch section) 51 of the output control section 5 every 10 minutes. .

The fatigue degree judging section (branching section) 51b judges whether the fatigue degree is 800 or less, more than 800 and less than 900, or more than 900.

As a result, if the fatigue level is 800 or less,
Information to that effect is sent to the stress level determination unit (branching unit) 51a. As a result, the output from the stress level determination unit (branching unit) 51a is permitted. Also, the degree of fatigue is 80
If it exceeds 0 but is 900 or less, an instruction to reduce stress rapidly is read from the ROM 41,
It is set by the instruction setting unit 53d and sent to the instruction output unit 55. If the fatigue level exceeds 900, a command to stop the target device is read from the ROM 41, set by the command setting unit 53e, and sent to the command output unit 55.

The stress level determination unit (branching unit) 51a determines whether the stress level is 50% or less, more than 50% and less than 80%, or more than 80%. It is determined whether or not information indicating that the fatigue level is 800 or less is sent from the determination unit (branching unit) 51b.

As a result, when the fatigue level is 800 or less and the stress level is 50% or less, a command to sharply increase the stress is read from the ROM 41 and set by the command setting section 53a. Sent to the command output unit 55. If the fatigue level is 800 or less and the stress level exceeds 50% but is 80% or less, an instruction to gradually increase the stress is issued in the ROM 41.
Is read from, set by the instruction setting unit 53b, and sent to the instruction output unit 55. If the fatigue level is 800 or less and the stress level exceeds 80%, the instruction to maintain the current stress level is R
It is read from the OM 41, set by the command setting unit 53c, and sent to the command output unit 55.

The command output unit 55 sends any of the driving commands (1) to (3) sent as described above to the game machine driver 70 each time. Corresponding to this, game console driver 70
Switches levels and changes contents of each element shown in FIG. For example, the screen speed suddenly increases, or
Gradually speed up or slow down. Further, the screen contents are switched to those with a high thrill, fear, etc. suddenly or gradually, or those without a thrill, fear, etc., or those with a calm and calming effect.
For example, several types of software of the same type but different levels are prepared, and any one of them is adopted. Also, the difficulty level of the game is raised or lowered suddenly or gradually. In addition, the amount of change in the screen or color is increased or decreased rapidly or gradually. Also, the volume is increased or decreased suddenly or gradually. Also, suddenly,
Alternatively, the vibration of the operation seat is gradually increased or decreased. Alternatively, stop the operation of the device.

FIG. 9 is based on the temperature difference between the forehead and the nose.
The case of performing processing in the stress & fatigue degree calculation unit 3 of is shown. In the illustrated apparatus, the color camera 10a extracts a human face from the background, and the forehead and nose coordinate detection unit 32 specifies the position coordinates of the forehead and nose based on this image data. on the other hand,
A temperature distribution is obtained by the infrared camera 10b, and the temperature of the forehead and the nose is obtained from this temperature distribution and the position coordinates of the forehead and the nose obtained by the coordinate detection unit 32.

From the thus obtained forehead and nose temperature,
The temperature difference calculation unit 31 calculates the temperature difference, and thereafter, the stress level and the degree of fatigue are calculated and sent to the output control unit 5 as in the above-described example. Subsequent processing may be the same as the above-described example, but in this specific example, since the temperature difference between the forehead and the nose can be obtained from a distant position, for example, the degree of stress of the patient in the waiting room is detected. Thus, it can be useful for control such as switching between screens and BGM.

Although the game machine has been described above, the present invention is applied so that fatigue can be minimized and the learning effect can be maximized in a CAI learning device, or stress and fatigue in a waiting room of a hospital. The invention can also be applied so that the degree is minimal. Further, in the above, the drive command to the drive control unit 7 is output each time, but it may be output only when the drive command changes.

[0039]

According to the present invention, since the driving state of the target device is switched according to the stress level of the person, it is possible to prevent the excessive stress while giving appropriate stress to the person. Further, fatigue due to accumulated stress can be prevented in advance, and as a result, the capability of the target device can be effectively brought out.

For example, in the invention in which the control of the game machine is switched according to the temperature difference between the palm and the finger, it is possible to entertain the game without boring it by giving appropriate stress and prevent excessive stress. You can prevent fatigue in advance.

Further, in the invention in which the output and software of the display and the speaker are switched according to the temperature difference between the forehead and the nose, the optimum software and output can be selected according to the stress of the person at a remote place. In this, it is possible to reduce human stress and prevent fatigue.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of the present invention and an explanatory diagram of each function.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a biological information detection unit and a stress & fatigue degree calculation unit in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an output control unit in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the present invention.

5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of elements controlled according to the commands 1 to 4 in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a characteristic diagram showing an example of measurement results of palm temperature and finger temperature.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a mouse provided with a sensor that detects palm temperature, finger temperature, and sweat rate.

FIG. 8 is a characteristic diagram showing an example of a measurement result of a sweat rate.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the biological information detection unit and the stress & fatigue degree calculation unit in FIG.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Masanori Miyatake, 2-5-5 Keihan Hon-dori, Moriguchi City, Osaka Prefecture Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Keimi Okura 2-chome, Keihan Hon-dori, Moriguchi City, Osaka Prefecture 5-5 Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hirokazu Mineno 2-5-5 Keihan Hondori, Moriguchi City, Osaka Prefecture Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tetsuya Kimura Keihanmoto, Moriguchi City, Osaka Prefecture 2-5-5, Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masaaki Taira, 2-5-5, Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Kozo Okuda, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka Keihan Hondori 2-5-5 Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A biological information detecting means for measuring a physical quantity emitted from a human body, and a stress calculating means for calculating a stress level corresponding to the measured value based on the measured value of the physical quantity and a conversion formula stored in advance. , A command output means for reading out and outputting a drive command corresponding to the calculated stress level from a predetermined storage means, and a drive control means for switching the drive state of the target device in response to the drive command. Control device. 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a fatigue degree calculation means for calculating a fatigue degree based on a cumulative value of stress levels calculated by the stress calculation means, and the command output means The driving command corresponding to the stress level is read and output only when the calculated fatigue level is less than or equal to a predetermined level, and the driving command corresponding to the fatigue level is output when the calculated fatigue level exceeds the predetermined level. A stress-adaptive control device that reads out and outputs from a predetermined storage means. 3. A measuring means for measuring a temperature of a human palm and a temperature of a finger, a temperature difference calculating means for calculating a temperature difference between the measured palm temperature and a finger temperature, and the calculated temperature difference stored in advance. A stress calculating means for calculating a stress level corresponding to the temperature difference based on the conversion formula, and a command output means for reading out and outputting a driving command corresponding to the calculated stress level from a predetermined storage means, Drive control means for switching at least one of the speed of the screen of the game machine, the content of the screen, the degree of difficulty of the game, the amount of change in the screen or color, the volume, and the vibration state of the operating seat in response to the drive command. A stress-adaptive control device having: 4. The output according to claim 3, wherein the output of the temperature difference calculating means is valid when the measured temperature of the palm and / or the measured temperature of the finger is within a predetermined temperature range,
A stress-adaptive control device comprising: a determination unit that invalidates the output of the temperature difference calculation unit when the temperature is out of the temperature range. 5. The method according to claim 3 or 4, further comprising a fatigue degree calculation means for calculating a fatigue degree based on a cumulative value of the stress level calculated by the stress calculation means, and the command output. The means reads out and outputs a driving command corresponding to the stress level only when the calculated fatigue level is below a predetermined level, and when the calculated fatigue level exceeds the predetermined level, the fatigue level A stress-adaptive control device that reads out and outputs a corresponding drive command from a predetermined storage means. 6. A coordinate specifying unit that extracts a human face from a background image and specifies position coordinates of a forehead and a nose based on a luminance distribution in the face, and a position of the forehead specified by the coordinate specifying unit. Measuring means for measuring temperature of coordinates and temperature of position of nose, temperature difference calculating means for calculating temperature difference between measured forehead temperature and nose temperature, and calculated temperature difference and conversion stored in advance A stress calculation means for calculating a stress level corresponding to the temperature difference based on the equation, a command output means for reading out a drive command corresponding to the calculated stress level from a predetermined storage means, and outputting the drive command, Correspondingly, a stress-adaptive control device having drive control means for switching the drive state of the display and / or the speaker (BGM: Back Ground Music). 7. The storage device according to claim 6, further comprising: a storage unit configured to store the stress level calculated by the stress calculation unit and software output to the display and / or the speaker as a pair, within a predetermined time period. And an increase / decrease determining unit that determines whether the increase amount or the decrease amount exceeds a predetermined threshold value by calculating the increase or decrease of the stress level in the command output unit. A stress-adaptive control device that reads out a command for switching the software output to the display and / or the speaker in response to increase or decrease from a predetermined storage means and outputs the command when the threshold value is exceeded. 8. A biological information detecting means for measuring a physical quantity emitted from a human body, a stress calculating means for calculating a stress level based on the measured value, and a command outputting means for outputting a driving command corresponding to the stress level. A drive control means for switching the drive state of the target device in response to the drive command, and a stress adaptive control device.