JPH04341243A - Amenity evaluation system and amenity evaluation/ control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the amenity evaluation system which can execute more exactly the amenity evaluation in accordance with various places extending from a work environment of an office and a plant, etc., to a dwelling space. CONSTITUTION:The amenity evaluation system is constituted of a physiological reaction measuring means 11 for detecting a physiological reaction and executing a signal processing, a living body signal processing means 14 for processing a physiological reaction and calculating plural necessary parameters, a physiological quantity estimating means 15 for estimating the internal physiological quantity of a living body from these parameters, a sense quantity estimating means 16 for furthermore estimating the amenity as plural sense quantities on a multi-dimensional semantic space from the estimated physiological quantity, and am output means 17 for outputting its result, and by using the internal physiological quantity estimated from the physiological reaction, the amenity is estimated as plural sense quantities on the multi-dimensional semantic space.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] This invention is useful not only in the medical field and health equipment industry, but also in various situations such as work spaces and living environments such as offices and driving a car, to improve comfort and reduce mental stress. The purpose of this project is to provide a comfort evaluation system that measures and evaluates the degree of stress, which is comfort and negative comfort, in real time based on physiological reactions, and a comfort evaluation and control system that controls the environment to create a comfortable environment. be.

0002

[Conventional technology] In order to develop measures to increase comfort and reduce stress in working and living environments, physiological reactions are used to evaluate conditions in real time, and based on the evaluation, subjective evaluations and external environment A system for collecting data is a correlation data collection system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 3-79600, which is shown in FIG.

In the figure, 41 is a physiological reaction measurement unit that measures physiological reactions using electrocardiograms, pulse waves, brain waves, etc., and 42 is a physiological reaction measurement unit that converts the measured physiological reactions into a plurality of internal parameter sets (internal physiological quantities). 43 is a data collection unit that collects declared values and external environmental data based on the data control collection signal; 44 is a data collection unit that collects declared values and external environmental data based on the data control collection signal; This is a data recording unit that stores data.

Next, the operation will be explained. The physiological reaction measured by the physiological reaction measurement section 41 is processed by the data evaluation section 42.
In the step, a plurality of necessary indicators are extracted, input into a physiological reaction model, and converted into a set of internal parameters (internal physiological quantities) of the living body. Further, the pattern of this internal parameter set is compared with a preset pattern (when to collect data) of a preset pattern group, and when they match, a data collection control signal is output. Based on this, the data collection section 43 collects declared values (subjective evaluation data) and external environment data (room temperature, humidity, etc.), and records them in the data recording section 44 .

[0005]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Conventional correlation data collection systems continuously evaluate the internal state of living organisms using physiological reactions, and only when necessary do they compare declared values (subjective evaluation data) and external environmental data. Although it is intended for collection, from the evaluation value of the internal state of the living body (estimated internal physiological amount), and using these as input, a multidimensional value corresponding to stress level, which is comfort or negative comfort, is calculated. It does not go as far as evaluating comfort, such as estimating sensory quantities on multiple evaluation axes in a semantic space. In addition, the optimal degree of comfort and stress differs depending on work situations in offices and plants, as well as living spaces. It is necessary to conduct evaluations that correspond to various situations, such as the fact that it is desirable to increase the degree of relaxation in the workplace.

Furthermore, when estimating sensory quantities from internal physiological quantities, it is necessary to take into consideration the attributes of the person being measured (gender, age, personality characteristics, etc.), as there are cases where reference values differ depending on gender, age, etc. There is.

[0007] Furthermore, when estimating the sensory amount, a more reliable sensory amount can be obtained by performing calibration using the value reported by the subject at that time.

[0008] Furthermore, a control signal is generated based on the comfort evaluation value estimated by taking these factors into account, and the environment is controlled in real time, such as by adjusting air conditioning, room temperature, lighting, and AV equipment. There was no.

[0009] This invention was made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and uses physiological reactions to control human internal organs in various situations, from work environments such as offices and plants to living spaces. The aim is to create a system that continuously evaluates the condition and controls the environment such as air conditioning, lighting, and AV equipment in real time according to changes in the internal condition, creating a comfortable and stress-free environment.

0010

[Means for Solving the Problems] A comfort evaluation system according to the present invention includes a physiological reaction measuring means for measuring a physiological reaction;
A biological signal processing means that calculates a plurality of evaluation parameters from the measured physiological reactions, a physiological amount evaluation means that estimates the internal physiological amount of the living body from these parameters, and a comfort evaluation method that includes a plurality of sensory quantities based on the estimated internal physiological amount. The present invention is equipped with a sensory amount estimating means for estimating sex, and an output means for outputting the result.

[0011] In addition to the above-mentioned comfort evaluation system, it is preferable to provide attribute input means for inputting attribute information (gender, age, personality characteristics) of the person to be measured.

[0012] In addition to the above-mentioned comfort evaluation systems,
A declared value input means for inputting the declared value (subjective data) of the person to be measured may be provided.

[0013] In addition to the above-mentioned comfort evaluation systems,
Based on the comfort evaluation results of this comfort evaluation system, a control signal generation means for generating a signal for environmental control and an environment control means for controlling the environment by converting the control signal into a plurality of environmental information are provided. It is recommended to use it as a sexual evaluation/control system.

[0014]

[Operation] The comfort evaluation system of the present invention uses the internal physiological quantities of the living body estimated by measuring physiological reactions and determining multiple evaluation parameters. Since it is estimated as a sensory quantity,
More accurate comfort evaluations can be performed in various situations, from work situations to living spaces.

[0015] Furthermore, when estimating the internal physiological amount and the sensory amount, if an evaluation is performed that takes attributes (individual characteristics such as gender, age, and personality characteristics) into consideration, a more accurate comfort evaluation can be performed. .

[0016] Furthermore, when estimating the amount of sensation, if calibration is performed based on the values reported by the person to be measured, more accurate comfort evaluation can be performed.

Furthermore, if the comfort evaluation results obtained as a plurality of sensory quantities on a multidimensional semantic space are used and an environmental control signal is generated based on this and environmental control is performed, the work environment of an office or plant can be improved. The system uses physiological reactions to continuously evaluate a person's internal state in a variety of situations, from the environment to the living space, and then controls the environment, such as air conditioning, lighting, and AV equipment, in real time according to changes in the internal state. This makes it possible to create a comfortable and stress-free environment.

[0018]

【Example】

Example 1. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment in which the inventions of claims 2 and 3 are added to the invention of claim 1. In FIG. 1, 11 is a physiological reaction measurement section;
14 is a biological signal processing section, 15 is a physiological amount estimating section, 16 is a sensory amount estimating section, and 17 is an output section. Note that according to the invention of claim 2, an attribute input section 12 and attribute information 121 are added. Furthermore, according to the invention of claim 3, the declared value input section 13
, a declared value 131 is added.

Next, the operation will be explained. In the physiological reaction measurement unit 11, multiple physiological reactions such as brain waves, electrocardiograms, and pulse waves detected by multiple sensors or transducers are amplified by an amplifier, subjected to preprocessing such as filtering, and then further processed into the living body. In the signal processing unit 14, the brain wave α
Evaluation parameters such as wave power and frequency, instantaneous heart rate value, respiratory heart rate variability, T wave height, respiratory waveform, and pulse wave height are calculated and input to the physiological quantity estimation unit 15, where they are converted into internal physiological quantities of the living body and are The activity and balance of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems are estimated from vascular system indicators, and the degree of activation of the central system is estimated from brain waves, taking into account physiological mechanisms, and output as internal physiological quantities.

The estimated internal physiological amount is calculated by the sensory amount estimating unit 1.
6, and the stress level, which is comfort or negative comfort, is estimated as a sensory quantity on a plurality of evaluation axes in a multidimensional semantic space. In other words, it is converted into sensory quantities on axes such as alertness level, sleepiness level, fatigue level, mental burden level, and physical comfort level. When estimating the sensory amount, a model that evaluates the correlation between the physiological amount and the sensory amount is used. This physiological quantity/sensory quantity correlation evaluation model uses linear estimation such as multiple regression and multiple discrimination, as well as quantitative descriptions, and a look-up table that provides a set of sensory quantities for a set of physiological quantities. Alternatively, a neural network may be constructed that outputs a sensory amount in response to an input of a physiological amount. Comfort is important in various situations, such as the appropriate level of tension and alertness when working in a plant, and the degree of relaxation when relaxing in the living room or bathroom, but the evaluation axis and range of sensation vary, but it has a multidimensional meaning. This can be done by using multiple evaluation axes in space and changing their weighting using these methods. This sensory amount estimation result is output from the output unit 17 as a comfort evaluation value, and the comfort evaluation is performed in real time.

Furthermore, according to the invention of claim 2, the attribute information 121 of the subject input in advance from the attribute input section 12
For example, gender, age, body type, amount of exercise, type of job, type of work, personality, behavioral characteristics, etc. are used in the estimation by the physiological amount estimating section 15 and the sensory amount estimating section 16. First, in the estimation in the physiological quantity estimating unit 15, for parameters that are affected by age, such as respiratory heart rate variability, for each evaluation parameter that should be particularly considered, a table of correction coefficients for each attribute is prepared in advance. The coefficients are extracted from the table and used by multiplying each evaluation parameter or estimated physiological amount, or are used as input data itself. Furthermore, in the estimation by the sensory amount estimation unit 16, the factors and degree of influence on each evaluation axis in the multidimensional semantic space are determined by attributes, such as setting the evaluation threshold of stress level a little looser for elderly people and children. A correction coefficient table is prepared in advance, and used as a coefficient by which it is multiplied when estimating each sensory quantity. It can also be used in addition to the input data of the sensory quantity estimator.

Furthermore, according to the third aspect of the present invention, the declared value 131 which is the subject's subjective evaluation data is input from the declared value input unit 13 over time or intermittently to the sensory quantity estimation unit 16.
and is used to calibrate the sensory quantity based on the declared value during estimation. Declared values can be entered using analog values using a lever or step values using button presses. Calibration is used, for example, to determine weighting factors for individual evaluations before starting measurement.
Answers to several questions are obtained, correction coefficients are determined from these, used in estimating the amount of sensation, and this process is repeated sequentially or intermittently. Alternatively, it is used as an input together with the internal physiological amount used for estimation. With these, it is possible to deal with differences in evaluations between individuals and fluctuations in evaluations within individuals. The declared value is a part of the evaluation axis estimated as a sensory quantity (
(stress, fatigue, etc.), as well as responses to evaluation axes other than estimation. Furthermore, the declared value may be input by the person to be measured or by the observer.

Example 2. FIG. 2 shows claim 1, claim 2,
It is a block diagram of an example when Claim 3 and Claim 4 are added. In FIG. 2, in addition to the components shown in FIG. 1, a control signal generation section 18, an environment control section 19, and an external environment parameter measurement section 20 are further added. From the physiological reaction measured by the physiological reaction measuring section 11,
Evaluation parameters are calculated in the biological signal processing unit 14, inputted to the physiological amount estimating unit 15, converted to internal physiological amounts, inputted to the sensory amount estimating unit 16, and a plurality of sensory quantities are estimated,
The comfort evaluation results output from the output unit 17 further include:
In each environmental control signal generation unit 18, it is converted into a signal for controlling, for example, air conditioning, lighting, AV equipment, etc.
It is sent to the environment control section 19 as an environment control signal 181. The environment control unit 19 takes into account environmental information from an external environment parameter measurement unit 20 consisting of various sensors.
Add control to air conditioners, lighting, AV equipment, etc. Control targets include air quality, temperature, humidity, and scent generation from air conditioners.
Brightness and direction of lighting, number of lights lit, BG of AV equipment
Examples include the volume of M, the selection of image information to be presented, the CRT display screen when working with other OA equipment (control of the display image, such as making it easier to see, displaying messages, etc.), the amount of work, etc. It is not limited to this, and it may be a part of it or something else. The environmental control signal 181 defines the degree of each control object as well as the combination of objects to be controlled, based on a combination of a plurality of comfort evaluation values, that is, estimated sensory quantities. For example, when stress and fatigue levels increase, the lights may be lowered a little and background music played lightly to create a scent that promotes a sedative effect; when alertness level decreases, the lights may be brightened and the background music may be replaced with light music to create a refreshing effect. It performs controls such as generating a certain scent or cool air.

Example 3. FIG. 3 shows an example in which the comfort evaluation/control system of the present invention is applied to comfort evaluation/control in plant monitoring work. As shown in the figure, the H/W includes a physiological reaction measurement section 11 and an attribute input section 12.
, declared value input section 13 and external environment parameter measurement section 20
A biological signal processing section 14, a physiological amount estimating section 15,
It may be configured to include a sensory amount estimation section 16 and an output section 17.

[0025]

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, there is a physiological reaction measuring means for detecting a physiological reaction and signal processing, a biological signal processing means for calculating a plurality of necessary parameters by processing the physiological reaction, and a biological signal processing means for calculating a plurality of necessary parameters by processing the physiological reaction. Physiological amount estimating means for estimating the internal physiological amount of a living body from parameters, sensory amount estimating means for further estimating comfort from the estimated physiological amount as a plurality of sensory amounts on a multidimensional semantic space, and an output for outputting the results. We constructed a comfort evaluation system based on the method, and estimated comfort as multiple sensory quantities in a multidimensional semantic space using internal physiological quantities estimated from physiological reactions. Accordingly, there is an effect that more accurate comfort evaluation can be performed.

[0026] Furthermore, if attribute input means for inputting attribute information of the person to be measured (gender, age, personality characteristics, etc.) is added to the invention of claim 1, when estimating the sensory quantity, This has the effect of making it possible to perform evaluations that take attributes into consideration, allowing for more accurate comfort evaluations.

Furthermore, by adding a declared value input means to the invention of claim 1 or claim 2, if calibration is performed based on the declared value when estimating the sensory amount,
This has the effect of enabling more accurate comfort evaluation.

[0028] Furthermore, the comfort evaluation and
The control system according to any one of claims 1 to 3 includes a control signal generating means for generating a signal for environmental control, and an environmental control for converting the control signal into a plurality of environmental information to perform environmental control. By adding a method, we can control the environment using accurate comfort evaluation values, so we can monitor the internal state of humans using physiological reactions in various situations, from work environments such as offices and plants to living spaces. It is effective in creating a comfortable and stress-free environment by continuously evaluating the environment and controlling the environment such as air conditioning, lighting, and AV equipment in real time according to changes in internal conditions.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a comfort evaluation system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a comfort evaluation/control system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a comfort evaluation/control system in plant monitoring work according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional correlation data collection system.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 Physiological reaction measurement section 12 Attribute input section 13　Declared value input section 14 Biosignal processing unit 15 Physiological amount estimation section 16 Sensory quantity estimation part 17 Output section 18 Environmental control signal generation section 19 Environmental control department 20 External environment parameter measurement section

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. Physiological reaction measuring means for measuring a physiological reaction, biological signal processing means for calculating a plurality of evaluation parameters by processing the measured physiological reaction, and physiological amount estimation for estimating the internal physiological amount of a living body from these parameters. A comfort evaluation system comprising means, a sensory quantity estimating means for further estimating comfort as a sensory quantity on a multidimensional semantic space from the estimated internal physiological quantity, and an output means for outputting the estimation result. [Claim 2] A claim characterized in that the method comprises an attribute input means for inputting attribute information of a person to be measured, and performs estimation taking attributes into consideration when estimating an internal physiological amount of a living body and estimating a sensory amount. Comfort evaluation system described in item 1. 3. The comfort evaluation system according to claim 1, further comprising a declared value input means, and performing calibration based on the reported value of the subject when estimating the sensory amount. 4. The comfort evaluation system according to any one of claims 1 to 3 estimates comfort as a sensory quantity in a multidimensional semantic space in real time, and generates a control signal for environmental control based on the result. A comfort evaluation/control system comprising: a control signal generating means; and an environment control means: converting the control signal into a plurality of pieces of environmental information to control the environment.