JP2005070894A - Operating state notification device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an operating state notification device for notifying the operating state of equipment so as to be easy for a user to understand in conformation to the circumferential background noise around the user. <P>SOLUTION: The circumferential sound around the user 21 is collected by the sensor microphone 11 of a sound information detection part 1 carried by the user 21, and a sound information transmission part 15 transmits the collected sound to an operating state information generation part 3 attached to the equipment which generates a notification sound. In the operating state information generation part 3, a masking information calculation part 33 calculates a masking pattern from the received sound information, and a notification sound determination part 35 determines a notification sound of acoustic characteristic not shielded by the masking pattern. When a notification sound generation determination part 39 determines that the notification sound determined from the sound information can be heard by the user 21, the notification sound is outputted from a notification sound amplification part 37. When it is determined that the notification sound cannot be heard, the operating state of the equipment is transmitted from an operating state information transmission part 41 to the sound information detection part 1 without outputting the notification sound. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an operation state notification device, and more particularly to an operation state notification device for equipment used in a home.

  Various home appliances used in the home, for example, rice cookers, microwave ovens, timer alarms, and other operating states are displayed on a screen such as a liquid crystal, and in many cases, a method using a notification sound is used. It is possible to confirm visually and / or auditoryly for the user.

  As a conventional method using the notification sound, the noise around the device and the notification sound generated by the devices in the vicinity (all of them are referred to as background noise) are measured and analyzed. There are techniques for generating and outputting easy notification sounds (see Patent Documents 1, 2, 3, and 4).

Here, masking is a phenomenon in which when two or more sounds reach the ear at the same time, one of the sounds is obstructed by the other sound, making it difficult to hear.
JP-A-7-12358 JP-A-8-233287 JP-A-9-200300 JP 2002-230669 A

  However, in the above-described prior art, background noise around the device itself that emits the notification sound is detected, masking information is calculated therefrom, and an unmasked notification sound is generated and output based on the detected masking information. There is a problem that the sound environment around the listening user is not considered.

  For this reason, for example, when a user is performing another work away from a device that emits a notification sound, the device does not notice the notification sound even if the device generates and outputs a notification sound different from the surrounding background noise. become.

  In addition, even if the background noise level around the user is high and the background noise level around the device is low, or when the background noise around the user is different from the background noise around the device, Even if the notification sound is not hidden, it may be difficult or impossible to hear due to background noise around the user.

  In such a situation, since the notification sound itself is difficult to notice or cannot be heard, the user is often concerned about the state of the operating device and has to bother to move closer to the device to know it. Sometimes.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide an operation state notification device capable of notifying the operation state of a device so that a user can easily understand in response to background noise around the user. It is.

  In order to solve the above problems, the invention according to claim 1 is a sound information collecting means for collecting sounds around the user, a sound information transmitting means for transmitting the sounds collected by the sound information collecting means as sound information, Sound information receiving means for receiving sound information transmitted by the sound information transmitting means, masking information calculating means for calculating masking information from sound information received by the sound information receiving means, and notification sound based on the masking information Notification sound generation and output means for determining and outputting the frequency and sound pressure level, and notification sound generation determination unit means for determining whether or not to output notification sound from the notification sound generation and output means based on sound information; When the notification sound generation determination unit determines that at least the notification sound is not output, the operation state transmission unit transmits the operation state information of the device, and the operation state transmission unit And operating state receiving means for receiving information transmitted Te, is the information received by the operation status receiving means in an operating state notification apparatus according to subject matter that has a operating state display means for displaying to the user a.

  As described above, according to the present invention, a sound around the user is detected and transmitted as sound information, and a notification sound that is not masked by the sound around the user is generated based on the sound information, or an operation is performed. Since it is displayed as a status, even if the user is away from the device that generates the notification sound or in a sound environment that is different from the periphery of the user and the device that generates the notification sound, the operation status of the device is surely shown to the user. It becomes possible to inform.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the operation state notification device according to the present invention.

  This operation state notification device is broadly divided into a sound information detection unit 1 that is carried by the user or in the vicinity of the user, and an operation state information generation unit 3 that is provided on the device side that emits the notification sound.

  The sound information detection unit 1 includes a sensor microphone 11, a transmission determination unit 13, a sound information transmission unit 15, an operation state information reception unit 17, and an operation state information display unit 19.

  The operation state information generation unit 3 includes a sound information reception unit 31, a masking information calculation unit 33, a notification sound determination unit 35, a notification sound amplification unit 37, a notification sound generation determination unit 39, and an operation state information transmission unit 41. .

  The function and operation of each part will be described below.

  In the sound information detection unit 1, the sensor microphone 11 collects various sounds (referred to as background noise 23) surrounding the user 21 when the user 21 is worn or placed in a familiar place. The background noise 23 collected here is all ambient sounds that can be heard by the user. This is, for example, various sounds that can be heard in the home, such as running water in sinks and washrooms, children's crying, other people's voices, noise from outside, and notification sounds emitted by other devices. .

  The background noise 23 collected by the sensor microphone 11 is sent to the transmission determination unit 13 and the sound information transmission unit 15 as a background noise signal (electric signal).

  The transmission determination unit 13 compares the signal level of the background noise signal with a preset threshold value (referred to as a transmission threshold value), and when a signal level exceeding the transmission threshold value is input Only, the sound information transmitting unit 15 is instructed to transmit the sound collected by the sensor microphone 11 as sound information. Here, the sound information means that the sensor microphone 11 may transmit the electrical signal of the under-collected sound as it is, or the wireless communication function of the sound information transmitting unit and the sound information receiving unit such as transmitting the digital signal after converting it. It depends on.

  The sound information transmission unit 15 performs wireless communication with the sound information reception component 31 provided in the operation state information generation unit 3.

  The sound information transmitting unit 15 transmits the background noise signal from the sensor microphone 11 to the operation state information generating unit 3 as sound information when there is a command to transmit the sound information from the unit transmission determining unit 13. Note that the sound information transmission unit 15 does not perform the transmission operation when there is no instruction from the transmission determination unit 13 to transmit the sound information.

  For example, the processing of the transmission determination unit 13 always compares the signal level of the background noise signal from the sensor microphone 11 with the transmission threshold value, and the signal level of the background noise signal is higher than the transmission threshold value. A method of sending a command to transmit the sound information during the period to the sound information transmitting unit 15 and a function of transmitting the sound information at regular time intervals while the signal level of the background noise signal is higher than the transmission threshold. There is a method of sending a command to the sound information transmitting unit 15. In the former case, the sound information transmission unit 15 transmits the sound information to the operation state information generation unit 3 while there is a command to transmit the sound information. On the other hand, in the latter case, the sound information transmission unit 15 transmits the sound information to the operation state information generation unit 3 from the time when there is a command to transmit the sound information, and again transmits the sound information during the predetermined time interval. If there is a command to transmit, the transmission of the sound information is continued, and if there is no command to transmit the sound information during the predetermined time interval, the transmission of the sound information is stopped.

  The operation state information generation unit 3 is provided inside a device that emits a notification sound, or is attached to such a device (may be externally attached).

  Then, in the operation state information generation unit 3, the sound information signal transmitted from the sound information detection unit 1 is received by the sound information reception unit 31, and the received sound information signal is analyzed by the masking information calculation unit 33.

  A conventional method can be used for the analysis of the sound information signal in the masking information calculation unit 33 (for example, paragraphs 0025 to 0029 of Patent Document 4).

  That is, when the signal itself from the sensor microphone 11 is received as sound information (that is, when the electric signal output from the sensor microphone 11 is received), first, the masking information calculation unit 33 first receives the electric signal that is the received sound information. Is fast Fourier transformed (FFT). It should be noted that various known algorithms can be used for the fast Fourier transform.

  Then, a masking threshold is calculated for each frequency band (band) from the fast Fourier transformed signal to create a masking pattern. Here, the masking pattern represents a masking threshold value for each band. The method for calculating the masking threshold is described in detail in “ISO / IEC 13817-7 ANNEX B Chapter 2 ENCODER” prepared by the International Organization for Standardization / International Electrotechnical Commission.

  The masking pattern calculated by the masking information calculating unit 33 and the sound information signal received by the sound information receiving unit 31 are sent to the notification sound determining unit 35.

  The notification sound determination unit 35 selects and determines the acoustic characteristic of the notification sound that can be heard by the user 21 with a frequency characteristic deviating from the masking pattern and sufficiently higher than the signal level of the sound information signal. Such determination of the acoustic characteristics of the notification sound may be the same as in the conventional method (for example, paragraphs 0030 to 0042 of Patent Document 4).

  The determined acoustic characteristics of the notification sound are sent to the notification sound amplification unit 37 and further sent to the notification sound generation determination unit 39.

  The notification sound generation determination unit 39 generates a notification sound from each information when notification activation information is received that is a command signal for emitting a notification sound sent from the device when the device is in a state to notify the operation state. Whether to output the notification sound, that is, whether to actually generate the notification sound is determined based on the determined acoustic characteristics of the notification sound.

  The case where the device is in a state to notify the operation state is, for example, when a device having a function of notifying the operation state starts, ends, or has an abnormality. The notification activation information includes not only a command to generate a notification sound but also information about these operation states.

  Whether or not to output the notification sound, the threshold value is set to the range of the frequency band to be output in advance and the sound pressure level of the notification sound, and the acoustic characteristics of the determined notification sound are within this frequency band range, And it determines so that a notification sound may be output when a sound pressure level is below a threshold value.

  The range of the frequency band set in advance here is a human audible frequency band, and the threshold of the sound pressure level is the maximum sound pressure level that can be generated.

  This determination is made when the sound pressure level of the background noise 23 around the user 21 is large and it is difficult to transmit information with the sound pressure level and frequency of the notification sound that can be generated. Even if it is output, it is useless. In such a case, the notification sound is not output.

  Also, a certain frequency band is set in the frequency characteristics, and a notification sound is output even when it is determined that a user 21 out of this range has to generate a notification sound at a frequency that would be difficult to hear. Do not.

  That is, when it is determined that these notification sounds are not output, no command is issued to the notification sound amplification unit 37.

  When the notification sound generation determination unit 39 determines that the notification sound is not output, the operation state information included in the notification activation information from the operation state information transmission unit 41 (start, end, abnormal, etc. as described above) Is transmitted to the sound information detector 1.

  The operating state information receiving unit 17 receives the operating state information transmitted by the operating state information transmitting unit 41. Then, the operation state information display unit 19 displays so that the user 21 can recognize that the operation state information has been received. Here, it is an operating state information display unit, for example, a liquid crystal display device.

  It should be noted that the sound information detection unit 1 is provided with vibration means, light blinking means, etc. instead of the operation state information display unit 19 or together with the operation state information display unit 19 so that the user 21 can know that the operation state information has been received. You may make it emit a vibration or blink light.

  On the other hand, when the notification sound generation determination unit 39 determines to output the notification sound, the notification sound generation determination unit 39 generates a notification sound based on the acoustic characteristics of the notification sound determined for the notification sound amplification unit 37. Command to generate, amplify, and output. At this time, the timbre of the notification sound is instructed as to which timbre is output according to the operation state information included in the notification activation information. As a result, the user can predict the state of the device to some extent by the tone color of the generated notification sound.

  Here, as the tone color of the notification sound, for example, an electronic sound (such as a beeping sound) or a chime sound (ping pong) is used as a basic sound, and these sounds are frequency characteristics and sound pressure determined by the notification sound determining unit 35. It is modulated and amplified by the notification sound amplifying unit 37 so as to have a level (volume), and is output from the speaker 43.

  Here, an example of chime sound (ping pawn) generation will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing signal waveforms for explaining chime sound generation.

  First, a sound wave signal S as shown in FIG. 2A is generated by a frequency oscillator or the like (not shown). The sound wave signal generated here is a signal having a frequency of the acoustic characteristic of the notification sound determined by the notification sound determination unit 35 within the human audible frequency band. Therefore, it is desirable that a frequency oscillator or the like is provided in the notification sound amplifying unit 37 to generate the sound wave signal S and can output frequencies within various audible frequency bands.

  And the pulse width modulation wave W as shown in FIG.2 (c) is produced | generated by taking the logical product of the produced | generated sound wave signal and the high frequency pulse signal F shown in FIG.2 (b). The high-frequency pulse signal F is for adding a tone color (pitch sense) like a ping pong, for example. Therefore, it is also possible to generate notification sounds of various timbres by changing the pulse width of the high-frequency pulse signal F in various ways.

  When the pulse width modulated wave W generated in this way is amplified and output from the speaker 43, the notification sound emitted from the speaker 43 is a high-frequency pulse signal as shown by a chain line in FIG. 2 (c). As the duty ratio decreases, the sound pressure gradually decreases, resulting in a notification sound such as “ping pawn”.

  The tone of the notification sound may be used to play music or the like instead of the electronic sound.

  Even when it is determined to output the notification sound, the operation state information is transmitted from the operation state information transmission unit 41 to the sound information detection unit 1, and the operation state information is received by the user 21 in the operation state information display unit 19. It may be displayed so that can be understood.

  Next, a processing procedure of a notification operation by the operation state notification device will be described.

  3 and 4 are flowcharts showing a processing procedure of the entire notification operation by the operation state notification device. In addition, in this flowchart, while each process of the sound information detection part 1 and the operation state information generation part 3 is shown in parallel, the exchange of a mutual signal is shown.

  First, the sensor microphone 11 collects background noise 23 around the user 21 (S11).

  Then, the transmission determination unit 13 determines whether or not the signal level of the background noise 23 exceeds the transmission threshold value (S12). If the signal level exceeds the transmission threshold value, the transmission information input unit 15 inputs the sound information. The background noise 23 is transmitted as sound information to the operation state information generation unit 3 (S13).

  On the other hand, in the operation state information generating unit 3, the sound information receiving unit 31 receives the sound information (S31), and the masking information calculating unit 33 calculates a masking pattern based on the received sound information (S32).

  Subsequently, the notification sound determination unit 35 determines the acoustic characteristics of the notification sound based on the masking pattern (S33). That is, the acoustic characteristic of the notification sound that is easy to hear for the user 21 that is not masked by the sound environment around the user 21 is determined.

  Subsequently, the notification sound generation determination unit 39 determines whether notification start information is received from the device (S34).

  If the notification sound generation determination unit 39 has not received the notification activation information from the device (S34: No), the process returns to step S31 as it is, receives the sound information, and the acoustic characteristics of the notification sound that is not masked by the sound information as needed. Continue the process of determining. Accordingly, it is possible to follow the change in the sound environment around the user and determine the acoustic characteristics of the notification sound that is easy for the user to hear.

  On the other hand, when the notification sound generation determination unit 39 receives the notification activation information from the device (S34: Yes), the notification sound generation determination unit 39 continues with the sound of the notification sound determined by the notification sound determination unit 35. It is determined whether or not the characteristic is within a preset frequency band (audible frequency band) and equal to or lower than the sound pressure level threshold value of the notification sound (S35).

  Here, when the acoustic characteristic of the notification sound determined by the notification sound determination unit 35 is within a preset frequency band range and is equal to or lower than the sound pressure level threshold value of the notification sound (S35: Yes), The notification sound amplification unit 37 is instructed to output the notification sound to output the notification sound (S36), and the operation state information transmission unit 41 is instructed to transmit the operation state information to the sound information detection unit 1. Then, the operation state information is transmitted (S37). The operating state information transmitted here is based on the state received as the notification activation information, and is information transmitted as notification activation information from the device, such as device activation, termination, or failure.

  On the other hand, when it is determined in step S35 that the notification sound is not generated (S35: No), that is, the acoustic characteristics of the notification sound determined by the notification sound determination unit 35 are not within the preset frequency band range. Or, when the sound pressure level is equal to or higher than the sound pressure level threshold value of the notification sound, the operation state information transmission unit 41 is instructed to transmit the operation state information to the sound information detection unit 1, and the operation state information is transmitted. (S37). Thereby, the operation state information is transmitted.

  Then, in the sound information detection unit 1, the production state information reception unit receives the operation state information (S14), and the received operation state information is displayed by the operation state information display unit 19 so as to be understood by the user 21 (S15).

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the sound information detection unit 1 collects sounds around the user 21 and transmits the collected sounds as sound information to the operation state information generation unit 3 to generate operation state information. If the unit 3 generates and outputs an easily audible notification sound corresponding to the sound environment around the user 21 based on the sound information, or determines that the notification sound cannot be heard, the sound information detection unit 1 Since the operation state information display unit 19 provided and the operation state of the device are displayed, even when the user 21 is in a different sound environment from the installation location of the device, a notification sound that is easy to hear for the user 21 can be generated. In addition, when the user 21 is in a place where it is difficult to hear the notification sound, the operating state of the device can be transmitted via the display unit.

  Although the embodiment to which the present invention is applied has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

  For example, since the sound information detection unit 1 is carried by the user 21 away from the device, even if the state of the device is informed, the sound information detecting unit 1 cannot be immediately moved to the device and is notified. You may not be able to check the status of the device immediately. Therefore, the sound information detection unit 1 may be added with an information storage unit for storing the operation state information received by the operation state information reception unit 17. Thereby, it becomes possible to confirm the operation state information of the device not only at the time of notification but also afterwards.

  In the above-described embodiment, the sound information detection unit 1 includes the microphone sensor that collects sounds around the user, the operation state information reception unit 17 and the operation state display unit 19 for displaying the state of the device. Although they are provided at the same time, they may be separate.

  Furthermore, as the sound information detection unit 1, an individual dedicated machine that is paired with the operation state information generation unit 3 may be manufactured. However, instead of the dedicated machine, for example, a mobile phone (including PHS) It is also possible to provide the function of the sound information detection unit 1. In this case, the mobile phone microphone can be used as the sensor microphone 11, and the display can be used as the operation state information display unit 19. And the function of each part can be made to implement the function as the sound information detection part 1 easily by making the mobile phone run the program created along the processing procedure mentioned above.

  When the mobile phone is used as the sound information detecting unit 1 as described above, the sound information transmitting unit 15 and the operation state information receiving unit 17 may use a telephone function as a mobile phone, but in addition, a short-range wireless It is desirable to provide communication means (for example, Bluetooth). By using short-distance wireless communication means in this way, if the short-distance wireless communication means is provided as the sound information reception unit 31 and the operation state information transmission unit 41 on the operation state information generation unit 3 side, the present invention can be easily achieved. Can be carried out.

  In addition, a personal digital assistant (PDA) or the like can be used as the sound information detection unit 1 in the same manner as a mobile phone.

It is a block diagram which shows carrying of one implementation of the operation state alerting | reporting apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is drawing which shows the signal waveform for demonstrating chime sound production | generation. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the alerting | reporting operation | movement whole by an operation state alerting | reporting apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the alerting | reporting operation | movement whole by the operation state alerting | reporting apparatus following FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Sound information detection part 3 Operation state information generation part 11 Sensor microphone 13 Transmission determination part 15 Sound information transmission part 17 Operation state information reception part 19 Operation state information display part 21 User 23 Background noise 31 Sound information reception part 33 Masking information calculation part 35 Notification Sound Determining Unit 37 Notification Sound Amplifying Unit 39 Notification Sound Generation Determination Unit 41 Operating State Information Transmitting Unit 43 Speaker

Claims (1)

Sound information collection means for collecting sounds around the user;
Sound information transmitting means for transmitting the sound collected by the sound information collecting means as sound information;
Sound information receiving means for receiving sound information transmitted by the sound information transmitting means;
Masking information calculating means for calculating masking information from the sound information received by the sound information receiving means;
Notification sound determining means for determining the frequency and sound pressure level of the notification sound based on the masking information;
Operational state receiving means for receiving information transmitted by the operational state transmitting means;
Operation state display means for displaying information received by the operation state reception means to a user;
An operation state notification device comprising:

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