JP2005261869A - Device and method of announcing visual range to electronic display device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device and a method for always monitoring the distance between an electronic display screen of an electronic device and a person using the electronic device by the electronic device itself for calling the person's attention. <P>SOLUTION: The electronic device comprises a central operation device for processing information, and the electronic display screen for displaying the result of the process. The electronic device also has a distance sensor disposed at an edge of the electronic display screen for always monitoring the distance between the person operating the electronic device and the electronic display screen. The distance sensor compares the distance detected by a comparison part and a predetermined value, and if the detected distance is smaller than the prescribed value, a warning signal announcing that the person may become nearsighted is outputted. A warning part, receiving the warning signal, outputs a warning to the person with sound and light emission. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a viewing distance notification device for an electronic display device, and more particularly to a viewing distance notification device and method performed by an electronic device in use.

In recent years, computer training has been incorporated in elementary and junior high school education, and more and more young adults have faced up with PCs. Also, it is normal to work for a long time at a workplace. As for the workplace, the visual distance between the electronic screen and the eyes is preferably 40 cm, as described in “Occupational health practice for VDT work” published by the Central Industrial Accident Prevention Association.
Concentrating and staring at an electronic screen such as a personal computer exhausts the eyes, and characters on the screen become obscured, inevitably bringing the face closer to the screen. This is a major contributor to developing near-sighted young people.

In recent years, the use of adolescents' personal computers at schools and homes has been encouraged so that advanced knowledge of intelligent intelligence can be understood at an early stage and for the purpose of developing such thoughts.
On the other hand, even if you look into your computer screen and bring your face close to it without knowing it, the person who is engrossed in learning and work often does not notice.
When working with an electronic screen of a mobile phone, a portable mobile game machine, an electronic terminal, an electronic book, a computer, various PCs, etc. It was only myopia.

Teachers and parents sometimes take care to keep children at the correct distance from the screen, but there are limits to constantly monitoring and alerting youth. Even in the general public, even if the viewing distance between the electronic screen and the eyes is shorter than 40 cm, even if it is far away, the posture is lost, the spinal cord is burdened, and there is not much risk of becoming a herniated disc. Hygiene practices ".
As the knowledge society promotes the use of personal computers, a side effect of undesired reduction of youth's vision has occurred, which has become a social problem. The more people working in society, the more they face electronic devices, and the health management of vision is important. However, there has been no known visual distance notification device for effective visual acuity that can maintain a reference distance of 40 cm even in such a situation.
In this invention, the electronic device itself such as a personal computer used automatically reports the distance between the electronic screen and the user's eyes so that the eye of the user is too close to the display screen. It is an object of the present invention to provide a device that prevents deterioration, occurrence of near-sightedness, and poor posture, and prevents poor posture due to excessive separation.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem. In the first invention, an electronic apparatus comprising a central processing unit for processing information and an electronic screen for displaying the processing result, A distance sensor that always detects the distance between a human face that is disposed at the edge of the electronic screen and that faces the electronic screen and operates the electronic device, and the electronic screen, and a predetermined distance determined in advance A comparison unit that outputs a warning signal when the detected distance is smaller than the predetermined value, and a warning unit that receives the warning signal and issues a warning by sound and light emission toward the human It is characterized by comprising.

According to claim 2 of the first invention, the distance sensor generates an ultrasonic wave and emits the ultrasonic wave toward the human face, and an ultrasonic wave reception that receives the ultrasonic wave reflected from the face. And a calculation unit that calculates the distance from the emitted ultrasonic wave and the received ultrasonic wave.
In a third aspect of the present invention, the distance sensor includes an infrared receiving unit that receives infrared rays generated from the human face and a calculation unit that calculates the distance from the intensity of the received infrared rays. Features.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the warning section is composed of a sound generation section that emits sound in response to the alarm signal and a light emitter that electronically emits light in response to the alarm signal. .
According to claim 5 of the first invention, the sound generation unit includes a speaker and emits a sound that pays attention to being too close to the human being, and the light emitter is based on a symbol, a character, or a color. And
According to claim 6 of the first invention, the sound generator and the speaker are provided in advance in the electronic device, and the light emitter is the electronic screen provided in advance in the electronic device. It is characterized by.

In the second invention, an electronic camera is arranged at the edge of an electronic screen of an electronic device that processes information, and a face of the human operating the electronic device is photographed by facing the electronic screen with the electronic camera, and then the human The actual length of the predetermined area of the face is calculated by a calculation program from these image data, and the calculated actual length of the predetermined area is stored in a memory.
Furthermore, by this electronic camera, a plurality of video data obtained by photographing an object of a known size by moving these distances in predetermined increments are created and stored in a storage file,
Thereafter, the electronic camera captures the human face, and the central processing unit of the electronic device compares the obtained video image data with the actual length in the memory and a plurality of video data in the standard file, The distance between the human face and the electronic screen is detected, the detected distance is compared with a predetermined value, and the central processing unit is myopic when the detected distance is smaller than the predetermined value. An alarm signal is output indicating that there is a possibility that the alarm will occur, and upon receiving this alarm signal, the warning unit issues a warning to the person by sound and light emission.

Without requiring special human effort, it automatically prevents the eyes of users such as PCs from getting too close or too far from the display screen. Occurrence can be prevented. It also prevents posture collapse and reduces the burden on the spinal cord.
Prevents anyone from approaching the electronic screen too much on a personal computer in the office or home without the effort of others, can promote computer education for young people with peace of mind, and can easily and widely promote eye and spine health management .

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
First, in FIG. 1, an embodiment using an electronic screen of a desktop computer (personal computer) will be described as a visual acuity management method and apparatus for an electronic display device of the present invention.
FIG. 1 shows an overall appearance of a visual acuity management device for an electronic display device. This apparatus uses a personal computer 1 and is provided with a distance sensor 2 and an alarm device 3 in a frame 5 of a screen portion 4 which is a large liquid crystal electronic screen.

By attaching the distance sensor 2 to the central part on the frame 5, the distance D between the eyes of the personal computer user 13 and the screen part 4 can be set more accurately.
As the distance sensor 2, an ultrasonic type, an infrared type, and an electronic camera type can be used.
First, the ultrasonic type includes an intruder alarm device, an automatic light switch, an automobile back sonar, an automatic door, a liquid level meter, and a distance meter commercially available for a traffic signal automatic switching device. This distance meter is sold by Nippon Ceramic, for example, and can be ordered on the Internet. Regarding its performance and specifications, NIPPON CERAMIC CO,. LTD. Homepage
http: // www. nicera. co. jp / html / htmlj3 / ut / seihinc001. htm
Available from

Next, the infrared type uses an infrared sensor that suddenly turns on when passing in the dark, or automatically opens when you stand at the front door. The infrared sensor is the basis for this mechanism.
Infrared light is a type of light that is invisible to the human eye, and is outside the red color of the rainbow. Its wavelength is longer than the light that humans perceive with its eyes, and it is called heat rays because it has a greater thermal effect. In other words, since infrared rays are always emitted from places with heat, infrared rays having a wavelength corresponding to the body temperature are emitted from the human body as well.

などからで入手できる。The wavelength of infrared rays around 36.5C is 6-14 μm, and the infrared sensor knows a wide infrared band, but if a filter that transmits only the wavelength of 6-14 μm is attached to the front, a sensor that detects only the human body Become. The infrared sensor can sense up to about 5m on a straight line. Infrared sensors can also be ordered on the Internet.

It can be obtained from.

First, the ultrasonic type will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
The distance sensor 2 includes an ultrasonic transmission unit 20 and a reception unit 21, and a series of pulsed sound waves corresponding to the distance are sequentially emitted from the transmission unit 20 every 2 seconds, for example. The receiving unit 21 counts the series of pulse sound wave numbers reflected from the face F of the human 13 in synchronization with the transmitting unit 20. The more the number of pulse sound waves, the greater the distance from reflection, and the narrower the pulse sound wave width, the more accurate the distance can be measured.
Since the person 13 using the personal computer 1 does not suddenly approach the screen unit 4, it is sufficient to emit a pulse sound wave every 2 seconds, but it is also possible to shorten the emission interval.
The receiving unit 21 calculates the number of pulse sound waves, that is, the time difference between emission and reception, the speed of the sound wave, and the distance D between the screen unit 4 and the face F.

The comparison circuit 23 outputs an alarm pulse to the alarm device 3 when the distance D becomes equal to or less than the value 40 cm set in the memory 22 in advance. The alarm device 3 includes a light drive circuit 24 and a sound drive circuit 25. The light drive circuit 24 generates a drive signal for the red lamp 26 and sends it to the red lamp 26. The sound drive circuit 25 generates alarm sound data and sends it to the speaker 27.
Then, the red lamp 26 is turned on, and a warning sound such as “You are too close, take care of your eyes more closely” is heard from the speaker 27.
Therefore, the user notices that he / she is too close to the screen unit 4 and becomes careful. Instead of the red lamp 26, yellow and red lamps may be provided so that the yellow lamp is turned on when approaching, and the red lamp is turned on when the distance is 40 cm or less. Furthermore, instead of the red lamp 26, a blue lamp, a yellow lamp and a red lamp are provided. When the distance is 50 cm or more, the blue lamp is turned on. When the distance approaches 40 cm, the yellow lamp is turned on. You may do it.
The warning sound can also be changed in various ways, such as changing the sound quality such as the mother's voice, teacher's voice, and father's voice, and the content of the words can be further away. When it becomes 40 cm or less, a beeping and warning sound may be emitted from the speaker 27.
Further, a value of 30 cm can be set in the memory 22, and an alarm sound can be sounded quickly from the speaker 27 when it exceeds 30 cm and reaches 30 cm.

Next, in FIG. 3, in the case of the infrared type, when the human 13 approaches the screen unit 4, the infrared ray of the human body heat emitted from the face F is detected by the infrared sensor light receiving unit 30 having high directivity. Since the detected current generated here becomes stronger as the human face is closer to the screen unit 4, the average value obtained by experimenting the distance between the face F and the screen unit 4 and the intensity of the detected current in advance with many human bodies. Is stored in the storage device 33.
For example, D = 60 cm for 1 mA, D = 50 cm for 2 mA, 40 cm for 3 mA, 30 cm for 4 mA, 25 cm for 5 mA, 20 cm for 6 mA, 15 cm for 7 mA, 10 cm for 8 mA, and D = 5 cm for 9 mA.

The comparison circuit 36 compares the detected current mA and the table data of the storage device 33. When the distance D corresponding to the detected current mA is 40 cm or less set in the storage device 33 in advance, that is, 3 mA or less, an alarm pulse is generated. It outputs to the light drive circuit 24 and the sound drive circuit 25 of the alarm device 3.
Here, the infrared sensor light receiving unit 30, the storage device 33, and the comparison circuit 36 constitute the distance sensor 2. As described above, the light drive circuit 24 generates a drive signal and sends it to the red lamp 26, and the sound drive circuit 25 generates alarm sound data and sends it to the speaker 27. As in the first embodiment, the red lamp 26 is turned on, and a warning sound such as “You are too close, take care of your eyes more closely” is heard from the speaker 15, so the user notices that the screen is too close. Be careful.

The red lamp 26 may be a light emitting diode or a normal light bulb. The distance sensor 2 and the alarm device 3 of the first and second embodiments may be attached later. For mobile phones, portable electronic terminals, electronic books, etc. that are small in size for movement, an embedded type is desirable when manufacturing electronic devices. In the case of a large computer, a CRT personal computer, or a large liquid crystal screen, if it is a new product, it may be a built-in type, but in an existing electronic device, it may be attached to the screen frame later or a separate type. An AC / DC adapter or a solar cell can be used as the power source.
Further, in the case of the separately installed type, as shown in FIG. 4, the distance sensor 2 and the alarm device 3 are assembled in the table clock frame mold 8 so that the power is received from the USB terminal of the personal computer main body. Further, the table clock frame mold 8 can be provided with a plurality of new USB terminals 9. In this case, the USB terminal of the personal computer main body is electrically connected to the new USB terminal 9 by the cable 15. These new USB terminals 9 can be used as input / output terminals for other various peripheral devices.
Note that the table clock frame 8 can be a popular anime or a character doll for a sports player.

Next, an embodiment in the case where the distance sensor 2 in FIG. 1 is an electronic camera arranged in the frame 5 of the screen unit 4 of the personal computer 1 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, the operator 12 sits in front of the distance sensor 2 (electronic camera) and takes a picture of his face F when sending an e-mail to a family member or friend.
The face F photograph with the finger 10 in FIG. 4 adjusts the size of the image data reflected on the face F and the screen part 4 of the personal computer with electronic camera 1 by bringing the face close to the screen part 4 as indicated by the arrow in FIG. To do. Therefore, the face F is photographed so that it appears on the entire screen of the electronic camera 40, and by doing so, the distance between the left and right eyes can be measured more accurately.
In FIG. 5, the CPU 14 sends the front face F photograph data with the object finger 10 photographed in this way to the storage unit 6 in the personal computer 1 as reference image data.

In the personal computer 1, the CPU 14 calculates the distance L between the eyes of the face F shown in FIG. 4 (the actual interval is an individual constant) from the input front face F photograph with the finger 10 by the calculation program 7. And the length of the image on the photo. This technique is known in the image analysis industry as length calibration.
The vertical (length) and horizontal (width) size of the screen portion 4 of the personal computer 1 is standardized and constant (for example, about 30 cm wide × 25 cm high), and the distance L between both eyes is displayed as a length of Pcm on the screen. . When the correlation is expressed as a function by a functional expression G,
Screen image Pcm = L (individual constant) · G (width 30 cm × length 25 cm).

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, the standard file 6 of the personal computer 1 stores in advance a lot of data when a disc reference object having a diameter of 10 cm is photographed as shown in FIG. A data table of shooting distance and image size in the standard file 6 is prepared by measuring by the CPU 14 of the personal computer 1.
In FIG. 6, the electronic camera-equipped personal computer 1 is fixed to a graduated table 12, for example, a disk reference object 11 having a diameter = 10 cm is photographed at a nearby D1 = 10 cm, and the disk reference object 11 is D2. Take a picture every time while keeping the distance up to 60cm.

The smaller the predetermined step value, the more detailed video size is obtained. The reason for using the disk reference object 11 is to confirm whether or not the photographing characteristics of the electronic camera are equal in length and width and that there is no distortion.
As shown in the upper display of FIG. 6, the 10 cm disk reference object 11 and the electronic camera-equipped personal computer 1 have a distance of 10 cm → 60 cm on the screen (for a certain area), The image size of the disk reference object 11 is gradually shortened to 21, 22, and 23. In the figure, the heels are displayed in an explanatory manner assuming the object finger 10 of FIG.

For example, if the distance D = 10 cm, the screen is full and the image size is 30 cm, and the viewing angle α
If the distance D = 15cm, the image size is 25cm and the viewing angle β
If the distance D = 20cm, the image size is 21cm.
If the distance D = 30cm, the image size is 15cm,
If the distance D = 40cm, the image size is 12cm and the viewing angle γ
If the distance D = 50 cm, the image size is 10 cm, and the viewing angle α>β> γ.

A tabular version of this data is created and stored in advance in the standard file 6 of the personal computer 1 as shown in FIG. Referring to the table of the standard file 6 in FIG. 5, regarding the distance L (individual constant) between both eyes in FIG. 4, the distance D between both eyes and the PC 1 with electronic camera shown in FIG. 6 is as far as 10 cm → 60 cm. It can be understood that the interval P on the video image of both eyes on the screen is also shortened.
Therefore, the distance L between the eyes and the disk reference object 11 of 10 cm are proportional, and the CPU 14 multiplies the distance between the image images of both eyes by L (individual constant) / 10 cm by the calculation program 7.
If the distance D1 = 10 cm, the distance between the video images of both eyes is P1 = L / 10 · 3 cm,
If the distance D2 = 15 cm, the distance between the video images of both eyes is P2 = L / 10 · 2.5 cm,
If the distance D3 = 20 cm, the distance between the video images of both eyes is P3 = L / 10 · 2.1 cm,
If the distance D4 = 30 cm, the distance between the video images of both eyes is P4 = L / 10 · 1.8 cm,
If the distance D5 = 40 cm, the distance between the video images of both eyes is P5 = L / 10 · 1.5 cm,
If the distance D6 = 50 cm, the distance between the video images of both eyes can be calculated in the same manner as P6 = L / 10 · 1.2 cm.

If the movement increment from D1 to Dn (n is the number of 2, 3, 4, 5,...) Is made fine, the interval between the video images of both eyes can be grasped finely from P1 to Pn.
Next, the personal computer 1 captures the latest face of the operator with an electronic camera at a cycle of one minute, and sends video image data to the internal CPU 14.
If it is nearsighted, the face F approaches the screen of the personal computer 1 and moves to D1.
Thus, a face picture corresponding to any position in the upper part of FIG. 6 is sent to the CPU 14 of the personal computer 1 as video image data.

The CPU 14 of the personal computer 1 refers to the input face image and the standard file 6 and can calculate the distances P1 to P6 between the binocular video images by the calculation program 7, and calculates the distance D in FIG.
Further, the calculated distance D is compared with a predetermined 40 cm, and when D <40 cm, an alarm signal is generated and sent to the internal speaker P and the electroluminescent body of the alarm unit 3.
Since the operator is working and learning information processing in the personal computer 1, this “distance measurement processing” is performed as a fixed program while the preset key and mouse operations are stopped and the operator is thinking. Set.

  It can be used as a low-priced and simple device for notifying the viewing distance of a mobile phone, a portable game machine and an electronic terminal, an electronic book, a computer, various personal computers, etc., or an electronic screen of a television that a modern person needs to watch every day.

  It is a figure which shows the whole structure of the visual distance notification apparatus with respect to the electronic display apparatus of this invention.   It is a figure which shows Example 1 of the visual distance notification apparatus with respect to the electronic display apparatus of this invention.   It is a figure which shows Example 2 of the visual distance notification apparatus with respect to the electronic display apparatus of this invention.   It is a figure which shows the stand-alone type | mold example of the viewing distance notification apparatus of this invention.   It is a figure for demonstrating Example 3 of the visual distance notification method with respect to the electronic display apparatus of this invention.   It is a detailed block block diagram of the apparatus of Example 3 of the visual distance notification method with respect to the electronic display apparatus of this invention.   It is another figure for demonstrating Example 3 of the visual distance notification method with respect to the electronic display apparatus of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Electronic device 2 Distance sensor 3 Warning part 4 Electronic screen part 5 Frame 6 Standard file 7 Calculation program 8 Clock frame type 9 USB terminal 10 Object point 11 Disc reference object 12 Table 13 Human 14 CPU
15 Cable 20 Ultrasonic transmission unit 21 Ultrasonic reception unit 22 Memory 23, 36 Comparison unit 24 Optical drive unit 25 Audio drive unit 26 Light emission unit 27, P Speaker 30 Infrared sensor 33 Storage device F Face α Horizontal field of view β Vertical field of view

Claims (7)

  An electronic device comprising a central processing unit for processing information and an electronic screen for displaying the processing result, which is arranged at the edge of the electronic screen and faces the electronic screen and operates the electronic device A distance sensor that constantly detects the distance between the face and the electronic screen is compared with the detected distance and a predetermined value, and if the detected distance is smaller than the predetermined value, an alarm signal And a warning unit that receives the warning signal and issues a warning to the person by sound and light emission. The distance sensor generates an ultrasonic wave and emits an ultrasonic wave toward the human face, an ultrasonic wave reception unit that receives an ultrasonic wave reflected from the face, and receives the emitted ultrasonic wave. The visual distance notification device according to claim 1, further comprising an arithmetic unit that calculates the distance from an ultrasonic wave. The said distance sensor is comprised from the infrared receiving part which receives the infrared rays which generate | occur | produce from the said human face, and the calculating part which calculates the said distance from the intensity | strength of the received infrared rays. Viewing distance notification device. The visual distance notification according to claim 1, wherein the warning unit includes a sound generation unit that emits sound in response to the warning signal, and a light emitter that electronically emits light in response to the warning signal. apparatus The viewing distance according to claim 4, wherein the sound generation unit includes a speaker and emits a sound that is not too close to the human being, and the light emitter is based on a symbol, a character, or a color. Notification device 6. The sound generation unit and the speaker are provided in advance in the electronic device, and the light emitter is the electronic screen provided in the electronic device in advance. Viewing distance notification device. An electronic camera is placed on the edge of the electronic screen of an electronic device that processes information, and a face of the person operating the electronic device is photographed by facing the electronic screen with this electronic camera, and then the object is pointed along with the human face. Taking a picture, calculating the actual length of the predetermined area of the face from these image data with a calculation program, storing the calculated actual length of the predetermined area in the memory,
Furthermore, by this electronic camera, a plurality of video data obtained by photographing an object of a known size by moving these distances in predetermined increments are created and stored in a storage file,
Thereafter, the electronic camera captures the human face, and the central processing unit of the electronic device compares the obtained video image data with the actual length in the memory and a plurality of video data in the standard file, The distance between the human face and the electronic screen is detected, the detected distance is compared with a predetermined value, and the central processing unit issues an alarm if the detected distance is smaller than the predetermined value A visual distance notification method for an electronic display device that outputs a signal and receives a warning signal, and a warning unit issues a warning to the person by sound and light emission.

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