Patent Application
20100066508
The invention relates to a method and an arrangement for communicating by means of identifiers. In particular, the invention relates to communication by means of predetermined identifiers that are associated with images so that the user (the one who communicates) does not need to write a message or the like, when communicating.
The mechanical use of modern communications media (the dexterity) can be very difficult, even impossible to many, such as old people, those with limited capabilities of movement, or those suffering from certain illnesses because of the weakening of the path of hands and/or fingers, a severe Parkinson's disease or rheumatism, among others. Typically, such people have great difficulties in writing text messages, for example, or even punching a desired telephone number on the small keys of a mobile station. It is not uncommon that these people also suffer from other illnesses, such as Alzheimer's disease, whereby communication between a doctor and a patient or the patient and a relative is of primary importance in order to remember or to remind the patient of taking a medicine, among others. Furthermore, there are people, who for some other reason are not very well accustomed to using the modern communications media, such as mobile stations or computers.
The prior art teaches a solution, wherein an RFID tag is arranged on an image board, next to each image, the images including, for example, the numbers from 0 to 9, an RFID tag that comprises a specific identifier corresponding to each number; e.g., RFID tag RF#0 corresponds to number 0, whereby when taking a mobile station provided with an RFID reader next to the number in question, the RFID reader reads the identifier RF#0 of the RFID tag that corresponds to number 0. The function in question corresponds to punching the digit key 0 on the keyboard of the mobile station. In this way, the user can punch in a telephone number, for example, by moving their mobile station, which is provided with the RFID reader, alternatively to each number.
Furthermore, the prior art teaches, for example, how to directly provide the image of a home on the image board with the telephone number of the home, whereby when taking the mobile station provided with the RFID reader on top of the RFID tag corresponding to the image of home, the mobile station opens a call between the mobile station in question and the means of communication that corresponds to the telephone number programmed into the RFID tag.
However, there are certain problems with the prior art, such as the limitations caused by the limited space of the RFID tags, and the updateability of the functions related to the RFID tags, as well as the confirmation of the function that is the object of the performance. For example, if there are several images on the image board, such as home, hospital, job, among others, and RFID tags comprising the telephone numbers related to the images in question side by side, the user cannot always be certain of which RFID tag of which image the RFID reader of the mobile station has read. In addition, if the telephone number of the job changes, for example, a new RFID tag provided with the number of the new job must be replaced on the image board, or at least program the previous RFID tag with the new number. A solution is also known from the prior art, wherein a telephone number, such as the number of home health care information, can be programmed into the reader software of the RFID tag included in the mobile station by hand by an expert. However, as programming the RFID tags can seldom be successfully performed at home, the solutions mentioned above are time-consuming and laborious. Furthermore, programming the telephone number into the reader software of the RFID tag of the mobile station is also very laborious, because in the event of the number of the home health care information changing, for example, it would be necessary to separately go and update the software of each user of the home health care services.
The object of the present invention is to eliminate or at least reduce the disadvantages related to the prior art, e.g., by enabling updating and the use of the same RFID tags without reprogramming the tags in the event of the functions related to the RFID tags changing. Another object is to implement a solution, by which the user can be certain of which RFID tag of the image panel the mobile station, the PDA device or another data terminal they use has selected, especially in a case, where several images and the associated RFID tags are located very near to each other.
The objects of the invention are achieved by reading, preferably based on local area communication, the identifier associated with the image on the image panel, and delivering, by a data terminal, the individual message associated with the identifier to a server, wherein at least one specific function is attached to the message in question of the data terminal in question. After receiving the message, the server preferably carries out at least one function that corresponds to the message. Furthermore, the data terminal is arranged to display a symbol or an image, on the basis of which the user can be confirmed of which image of the image panel was selected, and the identifier related to which image of the image panel was read.
The method according to the invention is characterized in that which is presented in the characterizing part of independent Claim 1 that relates to the method.
The system according to the invention is characterized in that which is presented in the characterizing part of independent Claim 8 that relates to the system.
The data terminal according to the invention is characterized in that which is presented in the characterizing part of independent Claim 15 that relates to the data terminal.
The server according to the invention is characterized in that which is presented in the characterizing part of independent Claim 21 that relates to the server.
The computer software product according to the invention, which is to be performed in the data terminal, is characterized in that which is presented in the characterizing part of independent Claim 24 that relates to the computer software product.
The computer software product according to the invention, which is to be performed by the server, is characterized in that which is presented in the characterizing part of independent Claim 27 that relates to the computer software product.
Some preferable embodiments of the invention are presented in the dependent claims.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the readable identifier that is related to the image on the image panel is an RFID tag, for example. Alternatively, the identifier can also be a barcode, or a symbol or a pattern that can be read by means of pattern recognition, a magnetic tape, and/or an optical code or another corresponding identifier, which is well-known by those skilled in the art and can preferably be read from a distance. In the identifier space of the user in question, the identifier is preferably individual, such as “RFID#13”, whereby the said identifier can be distinguished from the other identifiers used by the user in question. In accordance with its properties, the identifier can either be placed behind the image on the image panel (e.g., RFID), next to the image (e.g., bar code) or among the image (e.g., optical code or an identifiable pattern or symbol).
According to an embodiment of the invention, after reading the identifier, a message related to the identifier is delivered from the data terminal to a server, such as the server of a telephone operator. The server preferably includes a private database or the like for each user, wherein specific functions correspond to the possible messages of the user in question, such as delivering a predetermined text message to a predetermined recipient, e.g., making in the database an entry of having taken the medicine, an emergency call or a call request, for example. Depending on the authority of the operator and/or the application in the data terminal, the function can also comprise making a telephone connection.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, an image array is also maintained on the server, wherein one image preferably corresponds to each message, which the data terminal in question has been arranged to deliver. According to an embodiment of the invention, when the identifier associated with the image on the image panel is read and the message associated with the identifier has been delivered by the user's data terminal to the server, the server retrieves the image that corresponds to the message in question and returns it as a return message to the data terminal, which delivered the message, to be displayed to the user. The image preferably depicts, as well as possible, the function corresponding to the message in question, which function the server has been arranged to perform. The image may be, for example, “Pill” corresponding to a specific message, which can be delivered by the data terminal in question. In that case, when the identifier of the image corresponding to the medication is read on the image panel, and the message related to the identifier is delivered by the user's data terminal to the server, the image corresponding to the message in question, i.e., in this case, “Pill”, is preferably delivered from the server as a return message to be displayed to the user before performing the function related to the message in question, whereby the user can be confirmed of their selection. After this, the user may, for example, acknowledge their selection (however, the acknowledgement is an optional function and the message can also be delivered directly without the acknowledgement), whereafter the server carries out a function, such as delivers to a doctor or a party controlling the user's medication a message “Patient has taken medicine”. The function can also consist of a series of functions.
Alternatively, the image array can be maintained in the user's data terminal, whereby the image corresponding to the message related to the identifier does not have to be separately retrieved/delivered each time from the server to the data terminal, whereby the system becomes faster and the amount of data to be transferred can be minimized. The images can be loaded to the user's terminal by any method according to the prior art, such as by means of a memory card, a data cable or a short range radio link, after which the image is preferably attached to a specific identifier, whereby when reading the said identifier, the terminal displays the image related to the identifier in question to the user and the user may be confirmed of their selection.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the images can be loaded from the server to the terminal in connection with the first use and store them in the terminal. For example, the user can determine that the server attaches a specific image to a specific message, whereby when reading the identifier related to the specific image on the user's image panel and when delivering the message related to the identifier in question to the server for the first time, the server delivers the image attached to the message in question to the terminal, which in turn is arranged to store it in its memory devices and preferably attach it to the identifier corresponding to the message it delivered, after which the terminal can directly display the image in question, when the corresponding identifier is read the next time.
According to an embodiment, the user him/herself can load the desired images to the server and attach a specific image to a specific message. Alternatively, or in addition to the above, the server may contain what is called an image library, from where the user can select the images they desire, which are then attached to the messages.
Furthermore, according to an embodiment of the invention, when using RFID tags especially on image panels that contain a lot of images near to each other, the field of the RFID tag is limited and/or oriented in a narrow sector, whereby the RFID tag does not disturb the reader, when reading the adjacent RFID tag. The attenuation, limitation and/or orientation of the RFID tag field are provided by materials that attenuate the frequencies of the RFID tag, such as foil.
The images on the image panel can be printed images, for example, the identifier related to the image being arranged in connection with the same. For example, the image panel may comprise several pages, each one of them comprising at least one image and an associated identifier. According to an example of the invention, the image panel can be a folder (or a cluster) comprising several pages, images, and associated identifiers, such as RFID identifiers, whereby limiting the fields of the RFID identifiers in the manner described above plays a central role. The identifier may also be an identifier other than the RFID identifier, as disclosed herein.
The identifier can either be read directly by a reader located in the terminal, such as the RFID reader or, alternatively, the user may have a separate reader, such as an RFID pen, which communicates with the terminal by means of a short range radio link, such as Bluetooth or WLAN, for example.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, the server can be the user's own PC, for example, comprising software that simulates the terminal or, alternatively, a data terminal circuit, to which a separate reader, such as the RFID pen, can deliver the data of the identifier it has read. In that case, the data terminal circuit or the software simulating the data terminal delivers the message to the server section of the PC, which in turn carries out the function corresponding to the message or another function, such as delivering the image to the terminal and/or displaying it, as described herein in connection with the server functions.
The invention provides considerable advantages over the solutions according to the prior art, such as an easy updating, i.e., for example, the replaceability of the images and the functions without replacing the identifier related to the image, and also a confirmation that ensures the user of the selection they have made. Furthermore, it should be noted that in the invention, the data of the identifier that was read (such as the code of the RFID identifier) is not delivered from the terminal to the server, but only the message related to the identifier, whereby no record of the identifiers (such as the codes of the RFID identifiers) needs to be kept in the server, which in turn reduces the complexity and the vulnerability of the system.
The method according to the invention can be used, for example, to monitor a patient taking their medicine, so that an image panel and a GSM telephone provided with an RFID reader are arranged in the home of a person suffering from Alzheimer's disease, for example. The image panel can include different ways of communication, such as monitoring the medication, call requests, and emergency calls. The one who uses the image panel can see them as images or symbols. For example, when the patient takes their daily medicine, they acknowledge having taken the medicine by placing the telephone on top of the board. At this stage, a relative or another party receives a message, when so desired, in their telephone, telling that the medicine has been taken. If the medicine has not been taken within a specific time window, for example, information will be sent to the relative or the other party, who will then remind the patient. A database of the patient taking their medicine and, when needed, also of other messages will automatically accumulate on the server or, alternatively, to the other party.
In the following, the preferred embodiments of the invention are described in detail with reference to the appended drawings, in which:
At stage 106, an image in the terminal is attached to the identifier, such as the image of a pill or a medicine, such as RF#3=“Pill.jpg”, wherein jpg is the format of the image. However, the stage 106 is optional and it can be carried out later on. At stage 108, a specific function is attached to the message “Message #1” by the server, such as “Message #1”=Send a text message “Patient has taken the pill” to a recipient X, wherein the recipient X is a predetermined recipient, such as the terminal of the relative. In connection with stage 108, an image can also be attached to the message by the server, especially, if it has not been attached to the identifier by the terminal already at stage 106, such as “Message #1”=“Pill.jpg”. The server may contain an image bank, where the user can select the image they desire to the message or, alternatively, the image can be loaded to the server by any methods well-known to those skilled in the art, such as by the internet.
Now, when the user wants to change a function and/or an image, the user may, for example, print a new paper image on top of the RFID tag and define, in accordance with stages 106 or 108, a new image, which is displayed, when the identifier associated with the image on the image panel is read. In addition, the user can determine, according to stage 108, a new function by the server, such as “Message #1”=Call help! It is of primary importance to notice that when updating the new function, the readable identifier (such as the RFID tag) associated with the image on the image panel does not need to be replaced, changed or reprogrammed. When updating the functions and/or the image on the image panel, the message attached to the identifier by the terminal can also be replaced, according to stage 104.
It should also be noticed that the attachment of the image in connection with stage 106 and stage 108 is optional and the image can be attached later or, as described herein in connection with
At stage 134, the image attached to the identifier, such as the pill, is displayed by the terminal to the user. If the image corresponds to the image on the image panel (stage 136), the user having read the identifier associated to the same (or at least thought they read it), the message corresponding to the identifier (such as “Message #1”) is delivered from the terminal to the server at stage 138, wherein at stage 140, the function attached to the message (“Message #1”) that is delivered by the terminal in question, such as ‘Send a text message “Patient has taken the pill” to recipient X’, is searched and carried out. Otherwise, if a wrong image is displayed at stage 136, it is preferable to return to stage 132, whereby the user can read the identifier again.
However, it should be noticed that stage 136/168 (
The data terminal 204, which can be, for example, a mobile station, according to an embodiment of the invention comprises a reader device 211 for reading the identifier 207a, 207b, 207c that is associated with the image on the image panel. The reader device may be, for example, an RFID reader, a barcode reader, a magnetic tape reader, or a reader formed by the camera of the mobile station and pattern recognition software. According to an embodiment, the reader device can also be a reader device 208 that is separate from the terminal, which, however, communicates with the terminal either in accordance with a wire or wireless communications method 209, such as via Bluetooth, for example.
Typically, the terminal also comprises a means 210 for attaching the message to the identifier, and a means 212 for displaying the image associated with the identifier to the user, and a means 214 for delivering the message associated with the identifier to the server. In addition, the terminal may include a means 216 for maintaining an image array so that at least one electric image is associated with at least one identifier 207a, 207b, 207c in the terminal, whereby when reading the identifier 207a, 207b, 207c, the terminal 204 is arranged to display the electric image associated with the said identifier 207a, 207b, 207c by the means 216 of the terminal and the display of the terminal.
Furthermore, the terminal 204 may include a means 218 for receiving at least one image from the server and storing it in connection with the delivery of the message, for example, and a means 220 for attaching the image to the identifier that corresponds to the corresponding message in question on the server.
Server 202, in turn, comprises a means 230 for receiving the message from the said terminal, and a means 232 for attaching a specific function to the message in question of the terminal in question, and a means 234 for carrying out the specific function after receiving the said message. The server can also comprise a means 236 for returning the image that corresponds to the message it received, as a return message, to the terminal that delivered the message to be displayed to the user.
Furthermore, the computer software product can also comprise a means 308 for maintaining an image array in the terminal so that at least one images is attached to at least one identifier, whereby when reading the identifier, the computer software product is arranged to display the image, which is associated with the identifier in question, by means of the terminal. The computer software product can also comprise a means 310 for receiving, in connection with the first use of the identifier, at least one image from the server and storing the said image, and a means 312 for attaching, in the terminal, the said image to the identifier corresponding to the message it delivered.
Only certain embodiments of the solution according to the invention are shown above. Naturally, the principle according to the invention can be modified within the scope defined by the claims, for example, with respect to the details and the range of use of the implementation. In particular, the functions on the server may be most different, and all of them cannot be presented in this connection. In particular, it should thus be observed that the idea of the invention is that only the message, which is predetermined and corresponds to the identifier that has been read, is delivered from the terminal, not the identifier itself.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20061000 | Nov 2006 | FI | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/FI2007/000276 | 11/14/2007 | WO | 00 | 5/15/2009 |
