JP7489051B1 - Information processing device, information processing method, and information processing program - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To provide an information processing device that can improve a user's motivation to improve energy usage. [Solution] The information processing device includes a reception unit that receives an input of a target amount for a predetermined energy as an upper limit for the usage of the energy in a predetermined period, an acquisition unit that acquires a first usage amount of the predetermined energy at the current time within the predetermined period, an estimation unit that estimates a second usage amount of the predetermined energy at the end of the predetermined period based on the usage amount acquired by the acquisition unit, a generation unit that generates an image showing at least one of a landscape, a character, and an animation based on the relative relationship between the second usage amount and the target amount, and an output unit that outputs the image. [Selected Figure] Figure 4

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing device, an information processing method, and an information processing program that notify information related to energy usage.

In recent years, smart homes have been disclosed that control home appliances according to the user's situation, etc. Patent Document 1 discloses a home appliance management server that can manage home appliances like a smart home.

JP 2020-202461 A

However, while such smart homes are highly convenient, their use requires electricity, gas, etc., and the more you use them, the higher the bill becomes. Therefore, while people want to reduce their usage as much as possible, the technology described in Patent Document 1 does not motivate them to do so.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and aims to provide an information processing device, an information processing method, and an information processing program that can notify a user of information related to energy usage and increase the user's motivation to improve energy usage.

In order to solve the above problem, an information processing device according to one aspect of the present invention includes a receiving unit that receives an input of a target amount for a predetermined energy as an upper limit of the usage of the energy in a predetermined period, an acquisition unit that acquires a first usage amount of the predetermined energy at the current time within the predetermined period, an estimation unit that estimates a second usage amount of the predetermined energy at the end of the predetermined period based on the usage amount acquired by the acquisition unit, a generation unit that generates an image showing at least one of a landscape, a character, and an animation based on the relative relationship between the second usage amount and the target amount, and an output unit that outputs the image.

In order to solve the above problem, an information processing method according to one aspect of the present invention includes a receiving step in which a computer receives an input of a target amount for a predetermined energy as an upper limit of the usage of the energy in a predetermined period, an acquisition step in which a first usage amount of the predetermined energy at the current time within the predetermined period is acquired, an estimation step in which a second usage amount of the predetermined energy at the end of the predetermined period is estimated based on the usage amount acquired in the acquisition step, a generation step in which an image showing at least one of a landscape, a character, and an animation based on the relative relationship between the second usage amount and the target amount is generated, and an output step in which the image is output.

In order to solve the above problem, an information processing program according to one aspect of the present invention causes a computer to implement a reception function that receives input of a target amount for a specified energy as an upper limit for the usage of the energy in a specified period, an acquisition function that acquires a first usage amount of the specified energy at the current time within the specified period, an estimation function that estimates a second usage amount of the specified energy at the end of the specified period based on the usage amount acquired by the acquisition function, a generation function that generates an image showing at least one of a landscape, a character, and an animation based on the relative relationship between the second usage amount and the target amount, and an output function that outputs the image.

In addition, in the above information processing device, the generation unit may generate an image with a relatively brighter color tone the lower the second usage amount is from the target amount, and generate an image with a relatively darker color tone the higher the second usage amount is from the target amount.

In addition, in the above information processing device, the image may be a landscape image showing a natural scene, and the generating unit may generate a landscape image that is relatively rich in nature the lower the second usage amount is from the target amount, and generate a landscape image that is relatively poor in nature the higher the second usage amount is from the target amount.

In addition, in the above information processing device, the information processing device may include a memory unit that stores a learning model that has learned the relationship between the second usage amount and the target amount, and an image that should be displayed for the second usage amount and the target amount, and the generation unit may generate an image based on the learning model, the target amount accepted by the acceptance unit, and the second usage amount estimated by the estimation unit based on the first usage amount acquired by the acquisition unit.

In addition, in the above information processing device, the information processing device may include a storage unit that stores a landscape image to be displayed according to the ratio of the second usage amount to the target amount, and the generation unit may generate a landscape image according to the ratio of the second usage amount to the target amount.

In addition, in the above information processing device, the specified energy may be electricity.

An information processing device according to one aspect of the present invention can display an image according to the relative relationship between the amount of energy predicted to be used in a specified period of time and a target amount set as an upper limit for the specified energy to be used. Therefore, in order to improve the image, the user of the information processing device can maintain or increase motivation to reduce energy use.

FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing an example of the configuration of a management system. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information processing device; FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a server. 13A and 13B are diagrams showing an example of an application screen including a landscape image. 13A and 13B are diagrams showing an example of an application screen including a landscape image. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the information processing device.

Below, an information processing device according to one aspect of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

<Embodiment>
<System Configuration>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a management system according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the management system includes a server 200 that manages various home appliances in a building, and an information processing device 100 used by a user 10. The information processing device 100 is an information processing terminal held by the user 10, and may be a computer system realized by a smartphone, tablet terminal, notebook PC, PC, or the like. The server 200 is an information processing device that is communicatively connected to various home appliances (e.g., lighting 21, air conditioning device 22, electric curtains 23, etc., but is not limited to these) in the building 20 and manages them, and may be a so-called server device, a computer system realized by a PC, or the like. The building 20 may be a house in which the user 10 lives, a facility or building used by an organization to which the user 10 belongs, or a predetermined range in an outdoor facility. In the management system according to this embodiment, the information processing device 100 exchanges information with the server 200 and notifies the information processing device 100 of the user 10 of whether or not the target regarding the energy used in a predetermined period set by the user 10 can be achieved. This notification may include an image showing at least one of a landscape, a character, and an animation based on the relative relationship between the energy expected to be used in a specified period and a target amount as an upper limit of the amount of energy used in the specified period. In this embodiment, the image is described as a landscape image, but this is not limited to landscape images. Also, in this embodiment, electricity is used as an example of energy, but this is not limited to electricity and any energy necessary for living may be used, such as gas, water, petroleum, heavy oil, and coal. A detailed explanation is given below.

<Configuration of information processing device 100>
2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an information processing device 100 included in the management system. As described above, the information processing device 100 is an information processing terminal used by the user 10, and may be a general smartphone. Therefore, the information processing device 100 may be capable of implementing the same functions as a general smartphone. As shown in FIG. 2, the information processing device 100 includes a communication unit 110, an input unit 120, an output unit 130, a storage unit 140, and a control unit 150. Each functional unit included in the information processing device 100 may be configured to be able to communicate with each other.

The communication unit 110 has a function of transmitting and receiving information to and from other devices through wired or wireless communication. The communication unit 110 may receive information indicating the amount of power usage from, for example, the server 200 as an external device, and transmit the information to the control unit 150. The communication unit 110 may also transmit specified information to a specified destination according to an instruction from the control unit 150. For example, the communication unit 110 may transmit setting information regarding the settings of a home appliance to the server 200.

The input unit 120 has a function of accepting input from a user of the information processing device 100 and transmitting it to the control unit 150. The input unit 120 can be realized, for example, by hardware keys provided on the information processing device 100, or soft keys such as a touch panel or touch keys. Note that input to the input unit 120 may be input by voice, in which case the input unit 120 is realized by a microphone. The input unit 120 may, for example, accept input of a target amount of power usage for a specified period of time and transmit it to the control unit 150.

Here, the target amount of power usage is a target upper limit for the amount of power to be used in a specified period of time, and the lower the amount of usage, the better. The specified period may be any period of time, for example, one month, but is not limited to one month and may be one week, one day, three months, or one year.

The output unit 130 has a function of outputting data instructed by the control unit 150. The output unit 130 may output, for example, a landscape image based on the relative relationship between the amount of power used and the target amount of power used, generated by the control unit 150. The landscape image may be an image including a natural scene, or may be an image including animals, plants, mountains, and rivers. The output by the output unit 130 may be realized by displaying characters or images on a monitor (display device) attached to or connected to the information processing device 100, or by outputting audio from a speaker or earphones (audio output device) attached to or connected to the information processing device 100. Alternatively, the output by the output unit 130 may be realized by transmitting information to an external device via the communication unit 110.

The storage unit 140 is a recording medium that stores various programs and various data required for the operation of the information processing device 100. The storage unit 140 is realized, for example, by a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), a flash memory, etc., but is not limited to these. The storage unit 140 may store a management application 141 that generates a landscape image based on a relative relationship between a target amount of power usage and the amount of power usage in a predetermined period. The storage unit 140 may be realized by cloud storage that can be accessed by the information processing device 100. The storage unit 140 may also constitute a ROM or RAM as a working area for executing programs.

The management application 141 may be an application program for managing the electricity used by the user 10, and notifies the user 10 whether or not the user is likely to achieve a target amount of electricity usage, which indicates the amount of electricity usage that the user wants to keep below in a specified period of time, based on the actual amount of electricity usage. The management application 141 outputs information indicating whether the user 10 is likely to achieve the target amount by generating and outputting a landscape image based on the relative relationship between the predicted amount of electricity usage in a specified period based on the current electricity usage status and the target amount of electricity usage.

The control unit 150 is a processor that executes the processes to be realized by the information processing device 100, using various programs and various data stored in the memory unit 140. That is, the control unit 150 may execute the management application 141 to generate and output a landscape image based on the relative relationship between the target amount of power usage set by the user 10 and the amount of power usage.

The control unit 150 includes a reception unit 151, an acquisition unit 152, an estimation unit 153, a generation unit 154, and an output unit 155.

The reception unit 151 receives an input of a target amount for a specific energy as an upper limit of the usage amount of the specific energy in a specific period. In the present embodiment, the specific energy is electricity, but is not limited to this. The specific period is one month, but is not limited to one month. The target amount as the upper limit of the usage amount is a target amount for suppressing the amount of energy used below the target amount, and it is preferable that the actual usage amount is as small as possible below this target amount. The reception unit 151 receives a target amount of electricity usage from the user 10 via the input unit 120. The target amount of electricity usage may be a numerical value indicating the amount of electricity (kWh) itself, or may be an electricity usage fee to be paid to an electric power company or the like that supplies electricity when the target amount of electricity usage is used. This is because the electricity usage fee is a unit that is easier for the user 10 to recognize if it is the target amount of electricity. The target amount of electricity usage received by the reception unit 151 is set in the management application 141.

The acquisition unit 152 acquires the amount of electricity used as a predetermined energy at the present time within a predetermined period (first usage amount). The acquisition unit 152 may acquire the amount of electricity used from the start of the predetermined period to the present time from a smart meter for electricity installed in the building 20, for example. Alternatively, the acquisition unit 152 may acquire the amount of electricity used by analyzing an image captured by a camera that captures an image of a smart meter, for example. Alternatively, the acquisition unit 152 may acquire the amount of electricity used by measuring the amount of electricity supplied to each home appliance per unit time from a distribution board. Alternatively, the acquisition unit 152 may acquire the amount of electricity used that each home appliance or smart device reports via a network. Alternatively, the acquisition unit 152 may acquire from the server 200 the amount of electricity used that the server 200 acquired by using the above-mentioned method. Here, the amount of electricity used may basically be the amount of electricity used in the entire building 20, but may be divided into predetermined units (for example, by room).

The acquisition unit 152 transmits the acquired power usage (first usage) to the estimation unit 153.

The estimation unit 153 estimates the usage (second usage) of a specified energy (electricity) at the end of a specified period based on the usage (first usage) of electricity transmitted from the acquisition unit 152. As an example, the estimation unit 153 may estimate the second usage by dividing the usage of electricity transmitted from the acquisition unit 152 by the number of days elapsed in the specified period and multiplying the value obtained by the division by the number of days in the specified period. For example, assume that the specified period is one month (30 days), the current date and time is the 10th, and the current usage (first usage) is 120 kWh. In this case, the estimation unit may estimate that the usage (second usage) of electricity in the specified period is 120/10 x 30 = 360 kWh.

Alternatively, the estimation unit 153 may estimate the second usage amount by using a learning model that estimates the amount of power usage at the end of a predetermined period using the amount of power usage (first usage amount) transmitted from the acquisition unit 152 as input. That is, a learning model that learns the relationship between the amount of power usage at a certain timing in a predetermined period and the amount of power actually used at the end of the predetermined period in the building 20 of the user 10 of the information processing device 100 may be prepared, and the second usage amount may be estimated by inputting the first usage amount to this learning model. This learning model may be stored in the storage unit 140 in advance, or may be generated by the management application 141 through learning and stored in the storage unit 140. When the learning model is used, the amount of power usage (second usage amount) can be estimated by taking into account the power usage tendency of the user 10 in the predetermined period.

The estimation unit 153 transmits the estimated power usage (second usage) to the generation unit 154.

The generating unit 154 generates a landscape image based on the relative relationship between the amount of power usage (second usage) in a predetermined period transmitted from the estimating unit 153 and the target amount of power usage received by the receiving unit 151. The generating unit 154 may generate a landscape image that is relatively rich in nature the lower the amount of power usage (second usage) is compared to the target amount of power usage, and may generate a landscape image that is relatively poor in nature the higher the amount of power usage (second usage) is compared to the target amount of power usage. A landscape image that is rich in nature may be a landscape image that depicts a relatively large number of plants and animals, or a landscape image that depicts a large variety of plants and animals, or both. Furthermore, a landscape image rich in nature may be an image (video) with animations of animals moving vividly, flowers blooming, or flowers swaying in the wind, and may be an image with a relatively large number of moving animals, or a relatively large amount of animal movement (relatively long distance traveled in the image, or relatively many times the number of times the number of times the number of times the number of times the number of times the number of times the number of times the number of times the number of times the number of times the number of times the number of times the number of times the number of times the flowers of ...

The generating unit 154 may generate a relatively brighter landscape image the lower the power usage (second usage) is compared to the target power usage, and may generate a relatively darker landscape image the higher the power usage (second usage) is compared to the target power usage. Here, the bright landscape image may be a landscape image with a bright color tone overall, and the dark landscape image may be a landscape image with a dark color tone overall. A bright color tone may mean that the saturation of the colors used in the image is generally high. A bright color tone may mean that the brightness of the colors used in the image is generally high. Conversely, a dark color tone may mean that the saturation of the colors used in the image is generally low. A dark color tone may mean that the brightness of the colors used in the image is generally low. In this embodiment, the color tone may mean either brightness or saturation, or may mean both. A bright landscape image may be a landscape image with a relatively bright color scheme, and may be an image that uses relatively many warm colors as colors used in the image. Additionally, a dark landscape image may be a landscape image with a relatively dark color scheme, or an image that uses a relatively large number of cool colors within the image.

An example of a landscape image generated by the generation unit 154 will be described using Figures 4 and 5.

Figures 4 and 5 show example app screens of the management app 141 that include landscape images generated by the generation unit 154. For comparison, the current time during a specified period in Figures 4 and 5 is assumed to be the same.

The application screen 401 shown in FIG. 4(a) is a diagram showing an example of a screen generated by the management application 141 and output by the output unit 130 of the information processing device 100. As shown in FIG. 4(a), the application screen 401 includes a landscape image 410, a comment field 420 that displays comments according to the power usage status, and a power information field 430. The landscape image 410 is an image generated by the generation unit 154. The power information field 430 includes this month's usage status 4301, this month's usage forecast 4302, and this month's goal 4303. This month's usage status 4301 is the amount of electricity usage (first usage) acquired by the acquisition unit 152. This month's usage forecast 4302 is the amount of electricity usage (second usage) estimated to be used at the end of a specified period estimated by the estimation unit 153. And, this month's goal 4303 is a goal as an upper limit of the amount of electricity usage in a specified period accepted by the acceptance unit 151 from the user 10.

As shown in FIG. 4(a), the predicted usage for this month 4302 is significantly lower than the target for this month 4303. As a result, the generation unit 154 generates an image of birds, rabbits, squirrels, and butterflies fluttering about as a landscape image 410 rich in nature, which is displayed as shown in the figure. Also, a comment indicating that the power usage is quite good is displayed in the comment field 420.

4(b) is an example of an app screen 402 generated by the management app 141, and is a diagram showing an example of power usage different from that in FIG. 4(a). As shown in FIG. 4(b), like the app screen 401, the app screen 402 includes a landscape image 411, a comment field 421, and a power information field 431. As can be understood by comparing the current month's usage 4301 in FIG. 4(a) with the current month's usage 4311 in FIG. 4(b), the power usage in FIG. 4(b) is greater. However, the current month's predicted usage 4312 estimated based on this power usage is lower than the current month's target 4313. As a result, the generating unit 154 generates a landscape image 411 that is rich in nature, although it has fewer plants and animals than the landscape image 410. The landscape image 411 may be an image with a darker color tone than the landscape image 410.

Fig. 5(a) is an example of an app screen 402 generated by the management app 141, and shows an example of a different power usage situation from Figs. 4(a) and (b). As shown in Fig. 5(a), and similar to app screen 401 and app screen 402, app screen 501 includes a landscape image 510, a comment field 520, and a power information field 530.

As can be seen by comparing this month's usage status 5301 in FIG. 5(a) with this month's usage status 4311 in FIG. 4(b), the amount of power usage is greater in FIG. 5(a). This month's predicted usage 5302, estimated based on this amount of power usage, exceeds this month's target 5303. As a result, the generation unit 154 generates a landscape image 510 that is slightly less natural and has fewer plants and animals than landscape image 411. This landscape image 510 may be an image with darker colors than landscape image 411.

Figure 5(b) is an example of an app screen 402 generated by the management app 141, and shows an example in which the power usage status is different from that of Figures 4(a), (b), and 5(a). As shown in Figure 5(b), like app screens 401, 402, and 510, app screen 501 includes a landscape image 511, a comment field 521, and a power information field 531.

As can be seen by comparing this month's usage status 5311 in FIG. 5(b) with this month's usage status 5301 in FIG. 5(a), the amount of power usage is greater in FIG. 5(b). This month's predicted usage 5312 estimated based on this amount of power usage greatly exceeds this month's target 5313. As a result, the generation unit 154 generates a landscape image 511 that is less natural (has no plants or animals) and has even fewer plants and animals than the landscape image 511. The landscape image 511 may be an image with darker colors than the landscape image 410.

In this way, the generation unit 154 generates a landscape image based on the relative relationship between the amount of electricity usage (second usage, predicted usage for this month) and the target amount (target for this month).

In the landscape images in Figures 4 and 5, the darkness of the image is represented by vertical hatching, with the image tones becoming darker in the order of Figure 4(a), Figure 4(b), Figure 5(a), and Figure 5(b).

As an example, the generation unit 154 may generate a landscape image using a learning model.

The learning model may be a model that learns the correspondence between the target amount of power usage and the amount of power usage (second usage) and the scenery image that should be generated in the case of the target amount of power usage and the amount of power usage (second usage). The scenery image learned at this time is an image rich in nature the lower the amount of power usage relative to the target amount of usage, and an image poor in nature the higher the amount of power usage relative to the target amount of usage. The learning model may be generated using a VAE, a flow-based model, an autoregressive model, or the like, but is not limited to these. The generation unit 154 may generate scenery images using so-called image generation AI.

Alternatively, the generating unit 154 may be configured to generate a landscape image based on the difference obtained by subtracting the amount of power usage (second usage) from the target amount of power usage. Specifically, the points required for displaying each of the animals and plants included in the landscape image may be allocated, and the calculated difference may be used to consume the points for displaying each animal and plant to generate the landscape image. This landscape image may be generated by adding the number of animals and plants to a basic image (in which certain animals and plants are displayed) that is the basis when the target amount of power usage and the amount of power usage match, the number of points consumed based on the difference. For example, points may be allocated to each of the animals and plants to be displayed, such as 10 points for displaying a rabbit and 2 points for displaying a butterfly, and when the difference obtained by subtracting the amount of power usage from the target amount of power usage is 20, two rabbits may be added to the landscape image. Here, this difference may be the ratio of the amount of power usage (second usage) to the target amount of power usage, and the points may be determined from the ratio. For example, if the percentage is 5%, 10 points are awarded, if 10%, 15 points, if 105%, -10 points, and so on, and the points are allocated as points for displaying plants and animals to generate a landscape image. Also, if the amount of power usage is greater than the target amount of power usage, the landscape image may be generated by deleting plants and animals that correspond to the difference from the plants and animals displayed in the basic image.

The generating unit 154 may also be configured to prepare a plurality of landscape images in advance, and set a range of ratios of the second usage amount to the target amount for those landscape images.Then, the generating unit 154 may be configured to generate (select) the landscape image to be displayed by selecting a landscape image that corresponds to the range in which the ratio calculated at the time of generating the landscape image falls.

In addition, when animating a landscape image, the generation unit 154 may generate a landscape image in which animals, etc. displayed in the landscape image move more or move more frequently as the difference between the target amount of power usage and the amount of power usage (second usage) is larger, or the ratio of the amount of power usage (second usage) to the target amount of power usage is smaller. In addition, the generation unit 154 may generate a landscape image in which animals, etc. displayed in the landscape image move less or move less frequently as the difference between the target amount of power usage and the amount of power usage (second usage) is smaller or more negative, or the ratio of the amount of power usage (second usage) to the target amount of power usage is larger. For the animation of each animal, several movement patterns may be stored in advance, and the animation may be performed by appropriately setting parameters that define the amount of movement for each movement pattern.

In addition to the landscape image, the generation unit 154 may generate a comment regarding the amount of electricity usage. As with the landscape image, the comment may be generated by a learning model that has learned the relationship between the amount of electricity usage and the target amount used in a specified period of time and the comment to be displayed at that time.

The output unit 155 outputs the landscape image generated by the generation unit 154. That is, the output unit 155 causes the output unit 130 to output an app screen including the landscape image as an app screen of the management app 141 as shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. 5.

This concludes the explanation of the configuration of the information processing device 100.

<Configuration example of server 200>
3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the server 200. As described above, the server 200 is a computer system realized as a so-called server device, and in this embodiment, the server 200 acquires the amount of power used in the building 20 and transmits it to the information processing device 100. Note that the server 200 may have a function of managing and controlling various home appliances (electrical devices) arranged in the building 20.

As shown in FIG. 3, the server 200 includes a communication unit 210, an input unit 220, an output unit 230, a memory unit 240, and a control unit 250.

The communication unit 210 has a function of transmitting and receiving information to and from other devices through wired or wireless communication. The communication unit 210 may receive information requesting power usage from the information processing device 100 as an external device, for example, and transmit the information to the control unit 250. The communication unit 210 may also transmit specified information to a specified destination according to instructions from the control unit 250. For example, the communication unit 210 may transmit information indicating the current power usage during a specified period to the information processing device 100.

The input unit 220 has a function of accepting input from a user of the server 200 and transmitting it to the control unit 250. The input unit 220 can be realized, for example, by hardware keys provided on the server 200, or soft keys such as a touch panel or touch keys. Note that input to the input unit 220 may be voice input, in which case the input unit 220 is realized by a microphone. The server 200 does not need to be equipped with the input unit 220.

The output unit 230 has a function of outputting data instructed by the control unit 250. The output by the output unit 230 may be realized by displaying characters or images on a monitor (display device) attached to or connected to the server 200, or by outputting audio from a speaker or earphones (audio output device) attached to or connected to the server 200. Alternatively, the output by the output unit 230 may be realized by transmitting information to an external device via the communication unit 210. For example, the output unit 230 may output (transmit) information indicating the current amount of power usage to the information processing device 100 via the communication unit 110 in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 250.

The storage unit 240 is a recording medium that stores various programs and various data required for the operation of the server 200. The storage unit 240 is realized, for example, by a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), a flash memory, etc., but is not limited to these. The storage unit 240 may store a control program 241 that acquires the current amount of power usage in the building 20 and transmits it to the information processing device 100. The storage unit 240 may be realized by cloud storage that the server 200 can access. The storage unit 240 may also constitute a ROM or RAM as a working area for executing the program. The control program 241 may have a function of controlling various electrical devices provided in the building 20.

The control unit 250 is a processor that executes the processes to be realized by the server 200, using the various programs and data stored in the memory unit 240. That is, the control unit 250 executes the control program 241 to obtain the current amount of power usage from the information processing device 100 and transmit information indicating the obtained amount of power usage.

The control unit 250 includes a management unit 251. The control unit 250 may also include a home appliance control unit 252.

The management unit 251 manages the amount of electricity consumed in the building 20, and in response to a request from the information processing device 100, transmits information on the amount of electricity currently used during a specified period to the information processing device 100 via the communication unit 110.

The home appliance control unit 252 has a function of controlling each electrical device connected to the server 200. The control of the electrical devices by the home appliance control unit 252 may be automatic control according to the situation of the building 20, or may be control according to instructions from the user 10 of the building 20. The situation of the building 20 may be, for example, whether the user 10 is in the building 20 or not, where the user 10 is in the building 20 if present, whether the current time is day or night, the high or low outside temperature or indoor temperature, the brightness of the room, etc., and this information may be obtained from various sensors (which may be, but are not limited to, a human presence sensor, a temperature sensor, an illuminance sensor, etc.) installed in the building 20 and connected to the server 200 so as to be able to communicate with the server 200.

The above is an example of the configuration of server 200.

<Operation>
Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the information processing device 100. As shown in Fig. 6, the reception unit 151 of the information processing device 100 receives an input of a target amount as an upper limit of the amount of power usage in a predetermined period from the user 10 via the input unit 120 (step S601). The control unit 150 sets the received target amount in the management application 141 (step S602).

The acquisition unit 152 of the information processing device 100 acquires the current amount of power usage in a specified period (step S603). For example, at the end of a day, the acquisition unit 152 requests information indicating the current amount of power usage from the server 200. Then, the acquisition unit 152 receives the information indicating the amount of power usage transmitted from the server 200. In this way, the acquisition unit 152 acquires information indicating the amount of power usage (first usage amount). The acquisition unit 152 transmits the acquired amount of power usage to the estimation unit 153.

When the amount of electricity usage (first usage) is transmitted to the estimation unit 153, the estimation unit 153 estimates the total amount of electricity usage (second usage) used in a predetermined period (step S604). The estimation unit 153 transmits the estimated total amount of electricity usage (second usage) to the generation unit 154.

The generation unit 154 generates a landscape image relating to the amount of electricity usage based on the relative relationship between the transmitted total amount of electricity usage (second amount of usage) and the set target amount of electricity usage (step S605). The generation unit 154 transmits the generated landscape image to the output unit 155.

The output unit 155 outputs an app screen by the management app 141 that includes the transmitted landscape image (step S606), and ends the process.

The above is an example of the operation of the information processing device 100.

In this embodiment, the server 200 only acquires the amount of power being used and sequentially transmits it to the information processing device 100, so a detailed explanation using a flowchart will be omitted.

<Summary>
As shown in the above embodiment, the information processing device 100 generates and displays a scenery image based on the relative relationship between the amount of energy ultimately planned to be used in a predetermined period and the target amount. The better the energy usage state (the smaller the planned amount of use), the more natural and bright the scenery image that is generated and displayed. Therefore, by viewing the scenery image, the user 10 of the information processing device 100 can maintain or increase his/her motivation to improve his/her own energy usage state.

<Additional Information>
The information processing device according to the above embodiment is not limited to the above embodiment, and may be realized by other methods. Various modified examples will be described below.

(1) In the above embodiment, the information processing device 100 estimates a landscape image based on the relative relationship between the target amount of power usage and the amount of power usage expected to be used in a predetermined period of time. This estimation may be based on the relationship between the amount of power usage and the electricity bill, rather than the relationship between the power.

That is, the estimation unit 153 may estimate the electricity fee to be paid this month from the electricity fee paid for the current amount of electricity used, and the generation unit 154 may generate a landscape image based on the relative relationship between the estimated electricity fee and the electricity fee set as a target. In this case, when a learning model is used to generate a landscape image, the learning model is a model that has learned the relationship between the electricity fee that is likely to be paid at the end of a specified period and the target amount as the upper limit of the electricity fee, and the landscape image that should be generated in that case.

(2) In the above embodiment, the generating unit 154 generates a landscape image showing a natural scene, but this is not limited to the above. The generating unit 154 may generate an image that can maintain or improve the motivation of the user 10 to refrain from using a certain amount of energy as much as possible, and may generate a better (more colorful, brighter) image the smaller the amount of use of the certain amount of energy is compared to the target amount. As an example, the landscape image may be an image of an amusement park, and the smaller the amount of energy use is compared to the target amount, the more attraction facilities, characters, and people enjoying them will appear. In addition, these facilities or characters may be animated, and the smaller the amount of energy use is compared to the target amount, the greater the amount of animation (amount of movement or number of movements) may be in the image (video). As an example, when the facility is an amusement park, the animation of the facility may be an animation of a merry-go-round moving, electric lights flashing, or fireworks going off. Additionally, character animation may involve the character moving around within the image or making larger limb movements, and the lower the amount of energy used relative to a target amount, the more positive emotions the character will express, such as happiness or enjoyment, and the higher the amount of energy used relative to a target amount, the more negative emotions the character will express, such as sadness or anger.

(3) In the above embodiment, the server 200 may accept control settings for various home appliances via the information processing device 100 of the user 10.

The control settings may be settings for controlling each electrical device individually, or may be settings for more generally controlling multiple electrical devices together. Controlling multiple electrical devices together may be, for example, setting a mode for controlling the electrical devices, such as an outing mode or a sleep mode. In each mode, a predetermined operating state of the electrical devices is set, and the server 200 may control each electrical device according to the setting.

The information processing device 100 may also function as a so-called remote controller that controls various home appliances. In this case, the information processing device 100 may instruct the server 200 on what control to perform on which electrical appliance, and the home appliance control unit 252 of the server 200 may control the electrical appliance according to the instructions received.

(4) In the above embodiment, there is a possibility that information on the power usage status cannot be obtained at the timing of switching between the specified periods. In such a case, the information on the power usage prediction at the previous time point may be used to predict the power usage. In this case, the same landscape image may also be used, and the generation unit 154 does not need to generate a landscape image.

(5) In the above embodiment, the server 200 does not necessarily have to have the function of controlling various home appliances, and may only have the function of acquiring the power used by each of them and transmitting it to the information processing device 100.

(6) In the above embodiment, an example was described in which the amount of electricity used was obtained from each home appliance or a smart meter, but the amount of energy used may be configured to be obtained from a gas meter in the case of gas, or from a water meter in the case of water. Also, as described above, the amount of water or gas used may be obtained by analyzing images captured of each meter.

(7) In the above embodiment, the method of generating a landscape image in the information processing device is specified by the processor of the information processing device executing a predetermined program (management application) or the like, but this may be realized by a logic circuit (hardware) or a dedicated circuit formed in an integrated circuit (IC (Integrated Circuit) chip, LSI (Large Scale Integration)) or the like in the device. Furthermore, these circuits may be realized by one or more integrated circuits, and the functions of the multiple functional units shown in the above embodiment may be realized by one integrated circuit. LSIs are sometimes called VLSIs, super LSIs, ultra LSIs, etc. depending on the degree of integration.

The program may be recorded on a processor-readable recording medium, and the recording medium may be a "non-transient tangible medium" such as a tape, disk, card, semiconductor memory, or programmable logic circuit. The program may be supplied to the processor via any transmission medium capable of transmitting the program (such as a communication network or broadcast waves). In other words, the program may be downloaded from a network and executed using an information processing device such as a smartphone. The present invention may also be realized in the form of a data signal embedded in a carrier wave, in which the program is embodied by electronic transmission.

The above program can be implemented using, for example, scripting languages such as ActionScript and JavaScript (registered trademark), and object-oriented programming languages such as Objective-C, Java (registered trademark), C++, Python, and R, but these languages are just examples.

(8) The various examples shown in the above embodiments may be combined as appropriate. For example, in the flowchart shown in FIG. 6, the process of step S601 may be performed at a different timing before the process of step S602 and subsequent steps are performed.

100 Information processing device 110 Communication unit 120 Input unit 130 Output unit 140 Storage unit 150 Control unit 200 Server 210 Communication unit 220 Input unit 230 Output unit 240 Storage unit 250 Control unit

Claims (7)

a receiving unit that receives an input of a target amount for a predetermined energy as an upper limit of a usage amount of the energy in a predetermined period;
an acquisition unit that acquires a first usage amount of the specified energy at a current time within the specified period;
an estimation unit that estimates a second usage amount of the specified energy at an end of the specified period based on the usage amount acquired by the acquisition unit;
a storage unit that stores a learning model that shows a relationship between the second usage amount, the target amount, and an image to be displayed when the second usage amount is equal to the target amount, and that learns a landscape image that is relatively rich in nature as the second usage amount is lower than the target amount, and learns a landscape image that is relatively poor in nature as the second usage amount is higher than the target amount;
a generation unit that generates a scenery image based on a relative relationship between the second usage amount and the target amount, the scenery image being based on the learning model, the target amount accepted by the acceptance unit, and the second usage amount estimated by the estimation unit based on the first usage amount acquired by the acquisition unit;
an output unit that outputs the scenery image as an image for prompting a user who uses the predetermined energy to improve a usage state of the energy ;
An information processing device comprising: The information processing device according to claim 1 , wherein the generating unit generates an image with a relatively brighter color tone the lower the second usage amount is from the target amount, and generates an image with a relatively darker color tone the higher the second usage amount is from the target amount. The learning model learns a landscape image with a relatively larger number of characters as the second usage amount is lower than the target amount, and learns a landscape image with a relatively smaller number of characters as the second usage amount is higher than the target amount.
2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , The learning model learns a landscape image in which the animation movement of the character is relatively large as the second usage amount is lower than the target amount, and learns a landscape image in which the animation movement of the character is relatively small as the second usage amount is higher than the target amount.
4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the predetermined energy is electricity. The computer
A receiving step of receiving an input of a target amount as an upper limit of a usage amount of a predetermined energy in a predetermined period of time for the predetermined energy;
acquiring a first usage amount of the predetermined energy at a current time within the predetermined period;
an estimation step of estimating a second usage amount of the predetermined energy at an end of the predetermined period based on the usage amount acquired in the acquisition step;
a storage step for storing a learning model that learns a relationship between the second usage amount, the target amount, and an image to be displayed in the case of the second usage amount and the target amount, the lower the second usage amount is from the target amount, the more nature-rich the landscape image is learned, and the higher the second usage amount is from the target amount, the more nature-poor the landscape image is learned;
a generating step of generating a scenery image based on a relative relationship between the second usage amount and the target amount, the scenery image being based on the learning model, the target amount received in the receiving step, and the second usage amount estimated in the estimating step based on the first usage amount acquired in the acquiring step;
an output step of outputting the scenery image as an image for instructing a user who uses the predetermined energy to improve a usage state of the energy ;
An information processing method for performing the above. On the computer,
A receiving function for receiving an input of a target amount as an upper limit of a usage amount of a predetermined energy in a predetermined period of time;
An acquisition function for acquiring a first usage amount of the specified energy at a current time within the specified period;
an estimation function estimating a second usage amount of the predetermined energy at an end of the predetermined period based on the usage amount acquired by the acquisition function;
a memory function for storing a learning model that shows a relationship between the second usage amount and the target amount, and an image to be displayed when the second usage amount is equal to the target amount, and that learns a landscape image that is relatively rich in nature as the second usage amount is lower than the target amount, and learns a landscape image that is relatively poor in nature as the second usage amount is higher than the target amount;
a generation function that generates a scenery image based on a relative relationship between the second usage amount and the target amount, the scenery image being based on the learning model, the target amount accepted by the acceptance function, and the second usage amount estimated by the estimation function based on the first usage amount acquired by the acquisition function;
an output function of outputting the scenery image as an image for instructing a user who uses the predetermined energy to improve a usage state of the energy ;
An information processing program that realizes this.

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