JP2020039444A - Air conditioning system - Google Patents

Abstract

To control an environment of a space where a user is staying so as to suppress lowering of a degree of concentration on intellectual work of a user.SOLUTION: An air conditioning system 100 for executing air conditioning control for a space R where a user W is staying includes an air conditioner 101 for adjusting at least one of a room temperature, a wind direction, and wind velocity in the space R, an information processing unit 102 for executing operation control for the air conditioner 101, and a biological information acquisition unit 103 for acquiring biological information on the user W, and sending the biological information to the information processing unit 102. The information processing unit 102 is provided so as to determine presence or absence of lowering of a degree of concentration of the user W on the basis of the biological information. The air conditioner 101 is configured to have a concentration operation mode for executing an operation to lower warm and cold feelings of the user W when the information processing unit 102 determines that the degree of concentration of the user W is lowered.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to an air conditioning system, and more particularly, to an air conditioning system that performs operation control based on biological information of a user.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an air conditioning system in which various modes prepared in a system are executed according to a user's preference to adjust an environment in a space where the user exists. It has been known. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses an environment control system that adjusts to an environment suitable for comfortable sleep of a user. Specifically, the environmental control system specifies the position information of the user and changes at least one of the wind speed and the sound at the position of the user to change the arousal level of the user. At the time of the above control, driving control was performed in accordance with the mode selected by the user, and in addition to comfortable sleep, when the “work / study” mode was selected, the user's arousal level was awakened It is disclosed that environmental control can be performed so as to maintain the state.

JP 2015-108469 A

  However, the content disclosed in Patent Literature 1 is to appropriately adjust the “arousal level” of the user. Therefore, when the user engages in intellectual work such as study or work, it is not possible to consider the degree of concentration of the user on intellectual work, even if the user can prevent drowsiness. That is, the arousal level, which is an index of the user's drowsiness, is involved only in the reduction of the efficiency of the intellectual work, and cannot directly increase the efficiency of the intellectual work, that is, the improvement of the productivity.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to realize an air conditioning system that can provide an environment where a worker can easily engage in intellectual work and the like by controlling air conditioning according to a change in the degree of concentration of the user. .

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the user's heart rate or body motion information is acquired, and the user's concentration is estimated from the change in the user's heart rate or body motion information. It is configured to perform an operation for reducing the thermal sensation of the vehicle.

  Specifically, according to the case where the determination of the decrease in the concentration of the user is based on the heart rate which is one embodiment of the present invention, the information processing section sets an upper limit value and a lower limit value for the heart rate, and sets the heart rate of the user. Is determined to be a decrease in the degree of concentration when at least one of the case where is greater than the upper limit value and the case where is less than the lower limit value.

  Further, according to the case based on the body motion information which is another aspect of the present invention, the information processing unit sets an upper limit value for the frequency and the size of the body motion, and the frequency and the size of the body motion of the user have the upper limit. The configuration is such that a case where the value exceeds the value is determined to be a decrease in the degree of concentration.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to estimate a change in the degree of concentration based on biological information such as the heart rate and body movement of the user, and to reduce the user's thermal sensation when the degree of concentration is further reduced. Perform air conditioning. Thereby, when the degree of concentration of the user decreases, the spatial environment is controlled so as to suppress the decrease in the degree of concentration of the user.

  Therefore, the productivity of the intellectual work of the user can be improved.

Diagram showing worker's concentration under comfortable room temperature and uncomfortable room temperature Diagram showing the relationship between the thermal sensation of the worker and the degree of concentration Schematic diagram of the air-conditioning system according to Embodiment 1. Block diagram of an air conditioning system according to Embodiment 1. The figure which shows the selection button which concerns on the input section Flow chart of air conditioning system according to Embodiment 1 Schematic diagram of an air conditioning system according to Embodiment 2. Block diagram of an air conditioning system according to Embodiment 2. Flow chart of the air conditioning system according to Embodiment 2 Schematic diagram of an air conditioning system according to Embodiment 3. Block diagram of an air conditioning system according to Embodiment 3. Flowchart of air conditioning system according to Embodiment 3

  An air conditioning system according to a first aspect of the present invention is an air conditioning system for performing air conditioning control of a space where a user is present, wherein air for adjusting at least one of a room temperature, a wind direction, and a wind speed of the space is provided. An air conditioner, an information processing unit that performs operation control of the air conditioner, and a heart rate information obtaining unit that obtains a heart rate of the user and sends the heart rate to the information processing unit. The unit is provided so as to determine that the degree of concentration of the user has decreased, when the heart rate is larger than the upper limit, and at least one of the case where the heart rate is smaller than the lower limit, The air conditioner is configured to have a concentration mode in which the information processing unit performs an operation for reducing the thermal sensation of the user when the information processing unit determines that the degree of concentration of the user has decreased. .

  According to such a configuration, the degree of concentration on the intellectual work of the user is estimated based on the heart rate of the user, and when the degree of concentration of the user decreases, the decrease in the degree of concentration is suppressed. In such a case, the operation is performed such that the thermal sensation of the user is reduced. Thereby, it is possible to appropriately suppress a decrease in the degree of concentration.

  The air conditioning system of the second invention is an air conditioning system that performs air conditioning control of a space where a user is present, and an air conditioner that adjusts at least one of a room temperature, a wind direction, and a wind speed of the space, An information processing unit that performs operation control of the air conditioner; and a body motion information acquisition unit that acquires body motion information of the user and sends the body motion information to the information processing unit. Calculates a body motion change amount of the user for a predetermined time based on the body motion information, and if the body motion change amount is larger than a predetermined value, determines that the user's degree of concentration has decreased. Is provided, the air conditioner, when the information processing unit determines that the degree of concentration of the user has decreased, so as to have a concentration operation mode to perform operation to reduce the thermal sensation of the user It is configured.

  According to such a configuration, the degree of concentration on the intellectual work of the user is estimated based on the frequency of the body movement of the user, and when the degree of concentration of the user decreases, the decrease in the degree of concentration is suppressed. In such a manner as to perform the driving, the thermal sensation of the user is reduced. Thereby, it is possible to appropriately suppress a decrease in the degree of concentration.

  The air conditioning system according to a third aspect of the present invention is the air conditioning system according to the first aspect, further comprising: a body motion information acquisition unit that acquires the body motion information of the user and sends the body motion information to the information processing unit. The information processing unit calculates a body motion change amount of the user for a predetermined time based on the body motion information, and when the body motion change amount is larger than a predetermined value, the user's concentration is reduced. It is configured to determine.

  According to such a configuration, both the case based on the user's heart rate and the case based on the body movement shown in the first and second inventions can be used together. Thus, a decrease in the degree of concentration can be determined based on both the heart rate and the body movement of the user, and the suppression can be appropriately performed.

  The air conditioning system according to a fourth aspect is the air conditioning system according to the first to third aspects, further comprising: a body temperature information acquisition unit that acquires a body temperature of the user and sends the body temperature to the information processing unit. The unit is configured to determine that the degree of concentration of the user has decreased when the body temperature is higher than a predetermined temperature.

  According to such a configuration, a decrease in the degree of concentration can be determined based on the body temperature in addition to the heart rate and body movement of the user, and the suppression can be appropriately performed.

  The air conditioning system according to a fifth aspect is the air conditioning system according to the first to fourth aspects, further comprising: a position information acquisition unit that acquires the position information of the user and sends the position information to the information processing unit. The information processing unit is configured to apply the intensive operation mode to the user whose change amount of the position information is small among the users.

  According to such a configuration, even when a plurality of users exist in the space, it is possible to specify a target to be prevented from lowering the concentration, and to suppress the reduction in the concentration.

  In a sixth aspect based on the first aspect or the third to fifth aspects, the upper limit is 1.2 times the normal heart rate.

  A seventh invention is the air-conditioning system according to the first invention or the third to sixth inventions, wherein the lower limit is set to 0.9 times the heart rate in a normal state.

  An eighth invention is the air-conditioning system according to the second to fifth inventions, wherein the predetermined value is 1.2 times an amount of change in body motion at rest.

  A ninth invention is the air conditioning system according to any one of the first to eighth inventions, further comprising an input unit for switching to the concentrated operation mode.

  According to such a configuration, when the user actually performs the intellectual work, the operation mode can be switched by the input unit to adjust the air conditioning to be suitable for the intellectual work.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described.

  First, the present invention is based on the inventors' discovery that when the user's concentration on work decreases, the user's thermal sensation increases, that is, the user feels hot. For that discovery, the inventors are conducting experiments.

  FIG. 1 shows the average degree of concentration, which is the average value of the degree of concentration of each of a plurality of subjects, for a case at a comfortable room temperature and a case for an uncomfortable room temperature. Specifically, here, the comfortable room temperature is 24 ° C. and the uncomfortable room temperature is 28 ° C. However, this is based on PMV (Predicted Mean Vote), and the condition where PMV = 0 under the experimental conditions was room temperature 24 ° C., and the condition where PMV = + 1 was room temperature 28 ° C. Is shown. That is, the comfortable room temperature and the uncomfortable room temperature are not limited to 24 ° C. and 28 ° C., respectively.

  Also, in the case of the present embodiment, CTR (Concentration time Ratio) (%) is examined as the degree of concentration on the work of the worker. The CTR value is a ratio of the concentration duration time to the total work time, and a higher value indicates that the subject is working more concentratedly. As shown in FIG. 1, the degree of concentration (CTR value) at a comfortable room temperature is higher than the degree of concentration at an uncomfortable room temperature.

  Here, consideration will be given based on “thermal sensation”. The thermal sensation refers to a sense of the overall air environment, such as the temperature of the surrounding environment of a person such as heat, warmth, coolness, and cold, the amount of air, and the amount of clothes. "Increase in thermal sensation" means that the surrounding environment changes to the side where people feel hot, and "reduction in thermal sensation" means that the surrounding environment changes to the side where people feel cold. Say. In the present invention, PMV is used as one of the indicators used to indicate thermal sensation.

  FIG. 1 will be described again according to the thermal sensation. Since the environment of PMV = 0, which is a comfortable room temperature under the conditions of this experiment, is a "neutral" state in which the subject under the comfortable room temperature does not feel hot or cold. On the other hand, since the environment is PMV = + 1 at the uncomfortable room temperature under the conditions of the present experiment, the subject at the uncomfortable room temperature feels "slightly warm". Thus, FIG. 1 shows that the "neutral" ambient environment has a higher concentration (CTR) than the "slightly warm" ambient environment. That is, it is shown that the concentration of the intellectual work of the subject is more likely to be increased in the environment where PMV = 0.

  FIG. 2 shows the thermal sensation and the degree of concentration (CTR) of the experimental data shown in FIG. 1 in the case of the comfortable room temperature condition and the case of the uncomfortable room temperature condition under the present experimental conditions for each subject. . The thermal sensation on the horizontal axis is the subjective thermal sensation based on the subject's report, and the cold sensation from the lower thermal sensation is “cold”, “cool”, “slightly cool”, “neither”, “slightly warm” , "Warm" and "hot".

  FIG. 2 shows that the results of the comfortable room temperature condition are gathered at the upper left of the drawing, and the results of the uncomfortable room temperature condition are gathered at the lower right of the drawing. That is, FIG. 2 shows that when the thermal sensation is low, the degree of concentration tends to increase, and conversely, when the thermal sensation is high, the degree of concentration tends to decrease. Therefore, it can be seen that it is effective to reduce the thermal sensation of the worker in order to increase the concentration of the worker.

  Therefore, based on the test results shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the inventor reduces the concentration of the user in order to suppress the decrease in the concentration of the user, that is, the temperature decreases as the concentration decreases. When the cold sensation rises, it is considered that the operator's thermal sensation is lowered to suppress a further decrease in the degree of concentration of the user. Then, as to a method of estimating the degree of concentration of the user, earnest verification was performed on a determination method based on the biological information of the user.

As a result, the inventors pay attention to determining a decrease in the user's concentration based on changes in heart rate and body movement, and as described above, the user's thermal sensation decreases when the concentration is reduced. By controlling the air conditioning as described above, the reduction in the degree of concentration of the user was suppressed. In the following embodiments, a method of determining a decrease in the degree of concentration based on a change in heart rate or body motion will be described in detail.
(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an air conditioning system according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the air conditioning system.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the air conditioning system 100 according to the present embodiment is a system that performs air conditioning control of a space R (for example, a room) where the user W exists, and the heart rate or the body movement of the user W. It is configured to acquire such biological information, estimate the degree of concentration on the work of the user W from the acquired biological information, and execute air conditioning control based on the result.

  The air conditioning system 100 illustrated in FIG. 3 includes an air conditioner 101 that performs an air conditioning operation on the space R, an information processing device 102 that controls the operation of the air conditioner 101, and biometric information that acquires biometric information of the user W. An acquisition unit 103 is included. Here, an air conditioning system 100 having a heart rate information acquisition unit that acquires the heart rate of the user W as the biological information acquisition unit 103 will be described.

  Although FIGS. 3 and 4 disclose a method of acquiring a heart rate as biological information, the information may be based on body motion information of the user W as described later.

  The air conditioner 101 is configured to blow high-temperature or low-temperature air toward the space R in order to maintain the space R at the set temperature, that is, the air conditioner 101 is capable of selectively performing the heating operation and the cooling operation. . The air conditioner 101 is configured to be able to adjust its wind direction and air volume. Operating conditions of the air conditioner 101, such as temperature, wind direction, and air volume, are set for the user W via a controller (not shown) of the air conditioner 101. The air conditioner 101 only needs to be able to perform an operation for reducing the thermal sensation of the user W in the control described below. That is, at least one of the room temperature, the wind direction, and the wind speed in the space R may be adjusted.

  The information processing unit 102 is a device including an arithmetic unit and a storage unit, and is, for example, a computer including a CPU and a hard disk memory. Note that the information processing device 102 may be provided separately from the air conditioner 101 as shown in FIG. 3 and connected by appropriate communication means, or may be provided inside the air conditioner 101. Further, the computer may be incorporated in a computer provided in the air conditioner 101.

  The information processing unit 102 executes an operation described below by driving the arithmetic unit according to a program stored in the storage unit of the information processing unit 102.

  Further, the information processing unit 102 is configured to be able to communicate with the air conditioner 101 wirelessly or by wire. For example, the information processing unit 102 communicates with the air conditioner 101 via a LAN.

  Here, the biological information acquisition unit 103 is a heart rate information acquisition unit that acquires a heart rate as biological information of the user W. The biological information acquiring unit 103 emits, for example, millimeter waves toward the user W, receives the millimeter waves reflected from the user W, and measures the heart rate of the user W based on the received millimeter waves. A non-contact heart rate measuring device configured as described above. By detecting the heartbeat, the degree of concentration is estimated from the correlation tendency between the heartbeat and the degree of concentration, where the heart rate increases as the degree of concentration decreases. The method of detecting the heartbeat is not limited to the method using millimeter waves, but may be another method. For example, a commonly used medical electrocardiographic measuring instrument used in the experiments according to FIGS. 1 and 2 may be used.

  Note that a device that detects a body motion (periodic body motion) of the user W, that is, a body motion information acquisition unit may be provided as the biological information acquisition unit 103. The body movement information acquisition unit is, for example, a camera that can continuously capture images, and detects body movements of the user W based on changes in images of the user W appearing in a plurality of captured images of the camera. The reason for detecting the body movement is that there is a correlation between the body movement and the degree of concentration, and the body movement tends to occur when the degree of concentration decreases. Note that the body motion information detection unit is not limited to the camera as long as the body motion can be detected. That is, an infrared sensor or an acceleration sensor may be used.

  Further, the method of acquiring the body motion information is not particularly limited. That is, it is only necessary to obtain a change related to body movement. For example, the size and frequency of the body movement, the period of the periodic movement, or a combination thereof may be used.

  Returning to FIG. 3, the biological information acquisition unit 103 is connected to the information processing unit 102. The biological information acquiring unit 103 acquires the biological information of the user W, and the information processing unit 102 acquires the biological information obtained by the biological information acquiring unit 103. Although FIG. 3 shows the biological information acquisition unit 103 connected to the information processing unit 102, the present invention is not limited to this mode. That is, the biometric information acquisition unit 103 may be provided in the air conditioner 101 or may be provided separately, and the biometric information may be communicated with the biometric information acquisition unit 103 by various wireless communication means. In addition, when communicating by various wireless means, biological information may be acquired by a wearable terminal that directly contacts the user W. Further, it may be in a form of directly contacting the user W, or may be provided on a desk or chair used by the user W.

  As a specific example of the biological information acquisition unit 103, a heartbeat information acquisition unit and a body motion information acquisition unit are mentioned as described above. In these specific examples, a heart rate, a duration of body movement, and a signal of information corresponding thereto are sent to the information processing unit 102 as biological information.

  The input unit 107 is a device for the user W to operate the information processing apparatus 102, and is provided, for example, in a remote controller having a touch screen shown in FIG. In the case of the present embodiment, the input unit 107 is provided on the remote controller as a button for allowing the user W to select whether to set the “concentration mode”. When this button is pressed, the operation shifts to an air-conditioning operation in which an operation for reducing the thermal sensation of the user W is performed based on the biological information of the user W, which will be described later, when the degree of concentration is reduced. Note that the input unit 107 is not limited to the physical buttons as described above. That is, input by a touch panel or voice recognition may be used.

  In addition, by providing the input unit 107, when the user W desires an air-conditioning environment that suppresses a decrease in the degree of concentration, such as when the user W engages in work having a degree of concentration, the user selects the input unit 107. Can switch from the normal air conditioning environment. The input unit 107 may not be provided. For example, when an air-conditioning environment that constantly suppresses a decrease in the degree of concentration is required, such as in an office, air-conditioning control that suppresses a decrease in the degree of concentration can be performed.

  Next, the relationship with each component will be described using the block diagram of FIG. The information processing unit 102 periodically obtains information on the heart rate of the user W by periodically receiving a signal from the heart rate information obtaining unit. The information processing unit 102 estimates the degree of concentration of the user W based on the acquired heart rate. Specifically, the degree of concentration is estimated from the acquired heart rate of the user W based on the arithmetic expression stored in the storage unit of the information processing unit 102. Hereinafter, a method of estimating the degree of concentration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  The control of the air conditioning system 100 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 illustrates a case based on heart rate information for the sake of explanation.

  First, in accordance with an instruction from the input unit 107, operation control for performing air conditioning that suppresses a decrease in the degree of concentration of the user W is started. At this time, it is preferable to acquire the heart rate of the user W corresponding to immediately after shifting to the concentrated driving mode as the "heart rate in normal times". For example, the biological information acquisition unit 103 may acquire the heart rate for 10 minutes after shifting to the concentrated driving mode, and the information processing unit 102 may calculate the average of the acquired heart rate for 10 minutes per minute.

  The “normal heart rate” may be a heart rate that is estimated not to be engaged in intellectual work. That is, it may be obtained in advance during operation in the normal mode. When the heart rate of the user W is acquired in advance during operation in the normal mode, the heart rate of the user W is periodically acquired by the biological information acquisition unit 103, and the heart rate per minute is calculated. It is preferable that the lowest value among the heart rates per minute is “normal heart rate”. For example, in the case of acquiring a heart rate for 5 minutes every hour, the heart rate for one minute during the five minutes may be recorded as the “normal heart rate” first. Then, if the one-minute heart rate obtained in the subsequent five-minute heart rate measurement every one hour is smaller than the recorded “normal heart rate”, the small value is used as the “normal heart rate”. Heart rate "should be updated.

  Alternatively, the user W may be designed to manually input the normal heart rate. By combining the manual input design with the above, it is possible to input when the user W knows the normal heart rate.

  Subsequently, in S101, the heart rate of the user W is acquired by the heart rate information acquisition device as the biological information acquisition unit 103. Specifically, it is preferable to acquire the heart rate every 5 minutes and calculate it as the heart rate per minute. Needless to say, the method of calculating the heart rate is not limited to this.

  In S102, the degree of concentration is estimated based on the heart rate acquired in S101. A specific estimation method will be described later.

  In S103, it is determined whether or not the degree of concentration has decreased based on the heart rate of the user W. When the heart rate exceeds the upper limit value or falls below the lower limit value, a method of estimating “decrease in concentration” is used. Specifically, the upper limit value is 1.2 times the value of “normal heart rate”, and the lower limit value is 0.9 times the value of “normal heart rate”.

  When the user W engages and concentrates on intellectual work, the user W becomes slightly nervous. Therefore, the heart rate is slightly higher than the "normal heart rate", and the state where the heart rate is slightly higher is used as a reference, so that the difference between the predetermined lower limit and the "normal heart rate" is It is preferable that the difference be smaller than the difference between the predetermined upper limit value and the “normal heart rate”.

  The state in which the heart rate is slightly higher is specifically about 1.1 times the “heart rate in normal times”. If your heart rate tends to increase relative to this criterion, you are moving toward a more nervous state. When there is this tendency, the tension is unnecessarily increasing, and it is estimated that "the concentration level has decreased". On the other hand, when the heart rate tends to decrease with respect to this criterion, the state of tension is released and the user is moving toward a relaxed state. When there is this tendency, the user is relaxed without concentrating on the intellectual work, and it is estimated that "the degree of concentration has decreased". Based on such knowledge of the present inventors, in the embodiment of the present invention, a predetermined upper limit and a predetermined lower limit are provided.

  In this embodiment, an embodiment in which both a predetermined upper limit and a predetermined lower limit are provided is disclosed. However, only the upper limit may be used, or only the lower limit may be used.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the numerical value obtained by multiplying the “normal heart rate” by a coefficient is set as the upper limit value and the lower limit value. However, as described above, when the user W concentrates on the intellectual work, the heart rate of the user W is slightly larger than the “heart rate in normal times”. Therefore, it is preferable to set the difference between the upper limit value and the “normal heart rate” to be larger than the difference between the “normal heart rate” and the lower limit value.

  As described above, it is determined whether or not the degree of concentration has decreased in S103. If it is not determined in S103 that there is a decrease in the degree of concentration, the process proceeds to S109 described later. On the other hand, if it is determined in S103 that the degree of concentration has decreased, the process proceeds to S104 described below.

  In S104, the air conditioner 101 executes air conditioning control for reducing the thermal sensation of the user W. Specifically, an operation for lowering the room temperature in the space R is executed by the air conditioner 101. Note that the air conditioning control for reducing the thermal sensation of the user W is not limited to lowering the room temperature. For example, a method of lowering the thermal sensation by sending a cool wind to the user W by controlling the air conditioner 101 to increase the air volume during the cooling operation, or a method of reducing the air volume by the air conditioner 101 during the heating operation, A method of lowering the thermal sensation by preventing the warm wind from being sent to the user W may be used.

  In S105 and S106, similarly to S101 and S102, the heart rate of the user W is obtained, and the degree of concentration of the user W is estimated.

  Then, in S107, it is determined whether or not the reduced state of the concentration of the user W has been released. In brief, the reverse of the determination in S103 is that when the heart rate per minute of the user W returns within the range between the upper limit value and the lower limit value, it is determined that the decrease in the degree of concentration has stopped. Specifically, the upper limit is set to 1.2 times the value of “normal heart rate”, and the lower limit is set to 0.9 times of “normal heart rate”.

  If it is not determined in step S107 that the concentration has stopped, the process returns to step S105. Thereby, until the degree of concentration of the user W recovers, the user can perform the driving in which the thermal sensation is reduced.

  When it is determined in S107 that the concentration level has stopped, the operation for reducing the thermal sensation of the user W started in S104 is stopped.

  Then, in S109, it is determined whether or not there is an instruction to stop the concentrated mode. The instruction to stop the centralized mode includes an instruction to stop the centralized operation mode by pressing the input unit 107 provided in the remote controller and an instruction to stop the operation of the air conditioner 101 by operating the remote controller of the user W. I do.

  In S109, if there is an instruction to stop the concentrated driving mode, the concentrated driving mode is stopped. On the other hand, if there is no stop instruction, the process returns to step S101.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the biological information acquiring unit 103 is a heart rate information acquiring unit, but may be a body motion information acquiring unit. A modified example in that case is shown below.

  When the body motion information acquisition unit is used as the biological information acquisition unit 103, when the frequency of the body motion exceeds a predetermined upper limit, it is determined that the degree of concentration has decreased. Specifically, a case where a body motion equivalent to 1.2 times as much as “body motion at rest” is detected is determined to have a decrease in concentration.

  Here, the “body motion at rest” may be any body motion information that is presumed not to be engaged in intellectual work, similarly to the above-mentioned heart rate. For example, when acquiring in advance when driving in the normal mode, the body information of the user W is periodically acquired by the biological information acquisition unit 103, and the lowest value is set as the “resting heart rate”. Is preferred. For example, when acquiring body movement information for five minutes every other hour, first, the body movement information for one minute during the five minutes may be recorded as the “body movement at rest”. Then, when the one-minute body movement acquired as the five-minute body movement information every other hour thereafter is smaller than the recorded “body movement at rest”, the smaller value indicates “the body movement at rest”. What is necessary is just to update "body movement".

  Further, “resting body motion” may be determined based on the body motion information immediately after shifting to the concentrated mode. In this case, the body information is continuously acquired by the biological information acquisition unit 103 immediately after the shift to the concentrated mode transition, for example, 5 minutes or 10 minutes, and the acquired body movement information is acquired by the information processing unit 102. Calculate every other minute. Then, it is preferable that the body movement information of the lowest value time of the one-minute body movement is “resting body movement”.

  Further, the change of the body motion information may be based on the amount of change after shifting to the concentrated mode. Specifically, the body motion information acquisition unit that is the biological information acquisition unit 103 acquires the body motion for 5 minutes, and the information processing unit 102 calculates the duration of the body motion for 5 minutes. It is estimated that the degree of concentration has decreased when a body motion having a duration 1.2 times as long as the duration of the body motion in the immediately preceding 5 minutes is calculated.

In the above description, the calculation of the duration of the body motion may be changed depending on each part of the user W. For example, a predetermined upper limit may be set for each part by distinguishing between hands, feet, head, and the like. Since the hand performs movements such as writing characters and inputting an electronic computer during the intellectual work, the upper limit value may be set larger than usual. In these calculations, the magnitude of the movement may be viewed. For example, when an imaging device is used as the body motion information acquisition device, the range in which the target part has moved may be calculated by the number of pixels. Further, the classification of the site is not limited to the above, and the site corresponding to the trunk may be measured.
(Embodiment 2)
Subsequently, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The second embodiment will be described in the first embodiment, and portions having the same contents will be denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

  FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an air conditioning system 200 according to Embodiment 2. FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an air conditioning system 200 according to Embodiment 2.

  7 and 8, the biological information acquisition unit 203 acquires three types of biological information of the user W: heart rate, body movement, and body temperature. Therefore, the living body information acquisition unit 203 includes three units, that is, a heart rate information acquisition unit 204, a body movement information acquisition unit 205, and a body temperature information acquisition unit 206, as means for acquiring each piece of biological information.

  Note that the biological information acquiring unit 203 is not limited to including three acquiring units of the heartbeat information acquiring unit 204, the body motion information acquiring unit 205, and the body temperature information acquiring unit 206. That is, the three acquisition units of the heartbeat information acquisition unit 204, the body motion information acquisition unit 205, and the body temperature information acquisition unit 206 may be separately provided. For example, the heartbeat information acquisition unit 204 and the body motion information acquisition unit 205 may be provided in a wearable terminal provided on the wrist of the user W, and the body temperature information acquisition unit 206 may be provided in the air conditioner 101.

  As illustrated in FIG. 8, the heartbeat information acquisition unit 204, the body motion information acquisition unit 205, and the body temperature information acquisition unit 206 included in the biological information acquisition unit 203 transmit signals of the acquired biological information to the information processing unit 202. ing. The information processing unit 202 estimates the degree of concentration based on the biological information sent from the biological information acquiring unit 203. A specific estimation method will be described later with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

  Like the air conditioning system 100, the air conditioning system 200 includes an input unit 107 and an air conditioner 101.

  Next, the operation of the air conditioning system 200 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the air conditioning system 200.

  The operation of the air conditioning system 200 is almost the same as that of the air conditioning system 100 described with reference to FIG. Since the method of estimating the degree of concentration in S203 and S207 is different, the description of the same parts will be omitted, and only the differences will be described in detail.

  In S203, the air-conditioning system 200 determines whether or not the degree of concentration has decreased based on the biological information. Using each of the heart rate information obtained from the heart rate information obtaining unit 204, the body motion information obtained from the body motion information obtaining unit 205, and the body temperature information obtained from the body temperature information obtaining unit 206, whether or not the degree of concentration has been reduced Is determined.

  The control for making a determination using the heart rate information obtained from the heart rate information obtaining unit 204 and the body motion information obtained from the body motion information obtaining unit 205 is the same as that of the air conditioning system 100 described in the first embodiment.

  On the other hand, as a method based on the body temperature information, when the body temperature exceeds a predetermined temperature, it is determined that the degree of concentration has decreased. Specifically, the body temperature information acquisition unit 206 acquires the body temperature for 5 minutes, and the information processing unit 202 calculates the change amount of the body temperature for 5 minutes. When the change in body temperature for 5 minutes is 0.2 ° C. or more, it is estimated that the degree of concentration has decreased. However, the method of determining the decrease in the degree of concentration is not limited to this, and the absolute value of the body temperature of the user W may be used. That is, for example, when the body temperature information acquisition unit 206 acquires the chest skin temperature of the user W, it is set that when the temperature exceeds 36.5 ° C., it is determined that the degree of concentration has decreased. Note that the body temperature and the predetermined temperature acquired by the body temperature information acquisition unit 206 are not limited. That is, the predetermined temperature may be changed depending on the part of the user W acquired by the body temperature information acquisition unit 206, or the predetermined temperature may be corrected according to the average heat of the user W.

  In S203, the information processing unit 202 estimates whether or not there is a decrease in the degree of concentration in each of the heart rate information, body motion information, and body temperature information of the user W. In the air-conditioning system 200 of the present embodiment, if any one of these three determinations determines that the degree of concentration has decreased, it is designed to determine in S203 that the degree of concentration has decreased.

  It should be noted that the handling of the plurality of determinations of the degree of concentration is not limited. That is, priorities may be set for the plurality of determination results, or the timings at which the plurality of determination results are obtained may be shifted to handle the plurality of determination results independently.

  Further, the information processing unit 202 and the biological information acquisition unit 203 may be provided in the air conditioner. Thereby, the entire air conditioning system is incorporated into the air conditioner, and the air conditioning system 200 is made compact. Further, since the air conditioner 101 is provided at a high place near the ceiling, if the air conditioner 101 is provided with the biometric information acquisition unit 203, the biometric information is provided at a different position (low place) in the space. The acquisition unit 203 can more reliably acquire the biological information of the user W.

Further, air conditioning system 200 may include a server connected to air conditioner 101, and the server may perform the function of information processing unit 202. When the estimation of the degree of concentration is performed with high accuracy or when the operating conditions are calculated in detail, the information processing unit 202 requires advanced arithmetic processing. In that case, it is preferable that a server having excellent arithmetic processing capability functions as the information processing unit 202. In this case, the biological information acquisition unit 203 is provided in the space where the user W exists or in the air conditioner 101, and the server is provided outside the space. The server is communicably connected to the air conditioner and the biological information acquisition unit 203. Note that a control unit that collectively transmits the biological information acquired by the biological information acquiring unit 203 to the information processing unit 202 provided in the server may be provided. That is, a control device having a function of aggregating the biological information obtained by the biological information acquisition unit 203 and transmitting it to the server, and a function of executing the operating condition calculated by the server may be provided. This may be provided by providing the air conditioner 101 with a communication device.
(Embodiment 3)
Hereinafter, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the third embodiment, parts having the same contents as those described in the first and second embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals and are omitted.

  FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of an air conditioning system 300 according to Embodiment 3. FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an air conditioning system 300 according to Embodiment 3.

  As shown in FIG. 10, an air conditioning system 300 according to the present embodiment is a system that performs air conditioning control of a space L (for example, a living room) where a plurality of people exist such that a user W and a user X exist. Thus, a position information acquisition unit 308 that acquires the respective position information of the user W and the user X, a heart rate information acquisition unit 204 that acquires the heart rate of the user W and the user X, and a body motion. It includes a body motion information acquisition unit 205 and a body temperature information acquisition unit 206 that acquires a body temperature. The information processing unit 302 determines whether the user W and the user X are engaged in intellectual work based on the frequency and / or the magnitude of the body movement, or both. That is, the user W performing the intellectual work requiring the degree of concentration and the user X performing the work not requiring the degree of concentration are determined. Further, the information processing unit 302 is based on the heart rate, body motion, and body temperature biological information of the user W obtained from the heart rate information obtaining unit 204, the body motion information obtaining unit 205, and the body temperature information obtaining unit 206. It is configured to estimate the degree of concentration of the user W and execute air conditioning control based on the estimation result.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the air-conditioning system 300 includes an air conditioner 101 that performs an air-conditioning operation on the space L and air for suppressing a decrease in the concentration of the user W based on biological information of the user W. And an information processing unit 302 for calculating operating conditions of the harmonic device 101.

  In the case of the present embodiment, in order to maintain the space L at the set temperature, the air conditioner 101 selectively blows high-temperature or low-temperature air toward the space L, that is, selectively performs the heating operation and the cooling operation. It is configured to be executable. The air conditioner 101 is configured to be able to adjust its wind direction and air volume. The operating conditions of the air conditioner 101, such as temperature, wind direction, and air volume, are set for the user W or the user X via a controller (not shown) of the air conditioner 101.

  Similarly, in the case of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, the information processing unit 302 serves as a biometric information acquisition unit 203 for acquiring biometric information of the user W or the user X. , A body motion information acquisition unit 205 and a body temperature information acquisition unit 206. Further, the information processing unit 302 includes a position information acquisition unit 308 that detects the positions of the user W and the user X in the space L.

  In addition, the position information acquisition unit 308 can detect minute movements of the user W and the user X, and whether the user W or the user X is performing an operation using a body such as housework, or on a desk. It is possible to determine whether a relatively small operation using a hand or a finger is being performed. Specifically, if the value of the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit 308 is less than the threshold, the operation state of the worker can be determined to be a minute movement, and it can be determined that the target person is performing intellectual work. Become. On the other hand, if the value of the acquired position information is equal to or larger than the threshold, it is determined that the subject is not performing intellectual work. These determinations may be performed by the position information acquisition unit 308, or may be performed by the information processing unit 302 that has acquired the position information from the position information acquisition unit 308.

  For example, the position information acquisition unit 308 includes an image sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, an infrared sensor, and the like, and further includes, for example, an optical system that collects infrared light or the like so as to detect minute operations with high sensitivity. ing. Further, a minute movement may be detected from a periodic body movement that can be acquired from the body movement information acquiring unit 205 of the biological information acquiring unit 203, and the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to this.

  An example of an operation flow of the air conditioning system 300 for suppressing a decrease in the concentration of the user W in the present embodiment will be described with reference to a flowchart illustrated in FIG. Note that the same or corresponding parts as those in the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 6 and 9 are described to that effect, and description thereof is omitted.

  The operation of the air conditioner 101 illustrated in the flowchart of FIG. 12 is such that the user W or the user X performs a thermal sensation lowering operation for suppressing a decrease in the degree of concentration via the remote controller. This is started when the “concentration mode” is set.

  First, in step S301, the air-conditioning system 300 acquires the position information and the number of persons staying in the space L. In the case of the present embodiment, the positions and the number of users W and X are detected via the position information acquisition unit 308.

  Next, in step S302, the air-conditioning system 300 detects whether or not the user W and the user X continue to perform micromotions based on the position information acquired in step S301. In the case of the present embodiment, the information is acquired using the body motion information acquisition unit 205 included in the biological information acquisition unit 203.

  Subsequently, in step S303, the air-conditioning system 300 (the information processing unit 302) determines whether or not the user W and the user X are performing an intellectual operation based on the small motion detection information in S302. The user W determined to be performing an intellectual task proceeds to step S304, and is registered in the information processing unit 302 as an intellectual worker. On the other hand, the user X determined not to perform the intellectual work proceeds to step S304, and is registered in the information processing unit 302 as a non-intelligent worker because he is not an intelligent worker. Note that the steps S303 to S305 only need to be able to determine whether or not the person existing in the space L is performing an operation requiring a high degree of concentration. That is, the step of S305 can be omitted.

  Hereinafter, when the user W registered as an intelligent worker stays in the space L, the air-conditioning system 300 of the present embodiment executes the same steps as the steps shown in the flowchart described in FIG. 9 (S306). To S3014). On the other hand, it is assumed that the air-conditioning control is not performed on the user X registered as an intellectual worker.

  The operation of reducing the thermal sensation of the user W in S309 may be executed by the wind direction control of the air conditioner 101 based on the position information of the user W. For example, in the case of the cooling operation, an operation may be performed in which a cool wind is sent to the user W performing the intellectual work to reduce the thermal sensation. Further, in the case of the heating operation, an operation may be performed in which a warm air is sent to avoid the user W performing the intellectual work to reduce the thermal sensation. In addition, it is preferable to drive in such a manner that the thermal sensation of the user X is not changed or a comfortable state is maintained in consideration of the position of the user X.

  As described above, the present invention has been described with reference to the above embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments.

  For example, in the case of the above-described embodiment, it is determined that the user X is not performing intellectual work, but if it is determined that the user X is performing intellectual work, the user X is determined to be the same as the user W. X also obtains the biological information, estimates the degree of concentration based on the biological information, calculates the thermal sensation lowering operating condition for each user, controls the temperature, airflow, humidity, and performs air conditioning control. Can be.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, two users W and X exist in the space L. However, three or more users may be used, and the position information of each user may be processed by information processing. The information can be registered in the unit 302, and it is determined whether or not each person existing in the space L is performing an intellectual work, and a decrease in the degree of concentration is suppressed in accordance with the person performing the intellectual work. In addition, the air environment of the space can be controlled.

  As described above, the air-conditioning system according to the embodiment of the present invention is, in a broad sense, an air-conditioning system that performs air-conditioning control of a space where a user is present, and at least one of room temperature, wind direction, and wind speed of the space. An air conditioner that adjusts one, an information processing unit that performs operation control of the air conditioner, and acquires biological information of the user, and a biological information acquisition unit that sends the biological information to the information processing unit, The information processing unit is provided to determine whether the degree of concentration of the user has decreased based on the biological information, the air conditioner, the information processing unit, the concentration of the user When it is determined that the degree has decreased, the apparatus is configured to have a concentrated driving mode for performing an operation for reducing the thermal sensation of the user.

  The present invention is applicable to any air conditioning system that controls air conditioning in a space where a user exists.

100, 200, 300 Air conditioning system 101 Air conditioner 103, 203 Biological information acquisition unit 204 Heart rate information acquisition unit 205 Body motion information acquisition unit 206 Body temperature information acquisition unit 107 Input unit 308 Position information acquisition unit R, L space W, X User

Claims (9)

An air conditioning system that performs air conditioning control of the space where the user exists,
An air conditioner that adjusts at least one of room temperature, wind direction, and wind speed of the space,
An information processing unit that performs operation control of the air conditioner,
A heart rate information acquisition unit that acquires the heart rate of the user and sends the heart rate to the information processing unit,
The information processing unit is provided to determine that the degree of concentration of the user has decreased when at least one of the case where the heart rate is larger than the upper limit value and the case where the heart rate is smaller than the lower limit value. And
The air conditioner, when the information processing unit determines that the degree of concentration of the user has decreased, has a concentration driving mode to perform a driving to reduce the thermal sensation of the user, Air conditioning system. An air conditioning system that performs air conditioning control of the space where the user exists,
An air conditioner that adjusts at least one of room temperature, wind direction, and wind speed of the space,
An information processing unit that performs operation control of the air conditioner,
A body motion information acquisition unit that acquires the body motion information of the user and sends the body motion information to the information processing unit,
The information processing unit calculates a body movement change amount of the user for a predetermined time based on the body movement information, and when the body movement change amount is larger than a predetermined value, the degree of concentration of the user has decreased. Provided to judge that
The air conditioner, when the information processing unit determines that the degree of concentration of the user has decreased, has a concentration driving mode to perform a driving to reduce the thermal sensation of the user, Air conditioning system. Further comprising: a body motion information acquisition unit that acquires the body motion information of the user and sends the body motion information to the information processing unit;
The information processing unit calculates a body movement change amount of the user for a predetermined time based on the body movement information, and when the body movement change amount is larger than a predetermined value, the degree of concentration of the user has decreased. The air conditioning system according to claim 1, wherein the air conditioning system is provided so as to determine that: Further comprising: a body temperature information acquisition unit that acquires the body temperature of the user and sends the body temperature to the information processing unit;
The information processing unit according to claim 1, wherein the information processing unit is provided to determine that the degree of concentration of the user has decreased when the body temperature is higher than a predetermined temperature. The air conditioning system according to item 1. A position information acquisition unit that acquires the position information of the user and sends the position information to the information processing unit,
5. The information processing unit according to claim 1, wherein the concentration driving mode is applied to a user having a small amount of change in the position information among the users. 6. The air conditioning system according to item 1.   The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the upper limit value is 1.2 times a normal heart rate.   The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the lower limit is 0.9 times the heart rate in a normal state.   The air-conditioning system according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the predetermined value is 1.2 times an amount of change in body motion at rest.   The air conditioning system according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising an input unit configured to switch to the concentrated operation mode.

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