Patent Application
20210125718
The present invention relates to a program, device, system and method for health-related information management.
In health management, it is important to measure biological information such as body weight and body fat, and information related to health (health-related information) including physical activity information such as the number of steps, and improve the daily life so as to allow the resulting measurement value to become a desirable value. A measurement value of body weight, body fat or the like is likely to vary depending on living conditions of a day, so that it is difficult to accurately figure out a true or real change in body weight or the like. Therefore, there has been proposed a system configured to measure body weight or body fat, and display the resulting measurement value and a past measurement value in the form of a graph, thereby making it possible to accurately figure out a change in body weight or the like, as a long-term transition (Document 1).
Document 1: JP 2001-190514A
However, most persons who need to improve their lifestyle are more likely to be sensitive to a measurement value of body weight or body fat of each day, particularly a measurement value of a day when it was measured, rather than a long-term transition thereof. Although a measurement value of body weight or the like is likely to vary depending on living conditions of a day, many persons react nervously to rise/fall of a measurement value of body weight or the like of each day. Specifically, there are many cases where a person is largely discouraged by a measurement value of body weight of the day when he/she occasionally ate a lot, and stops the measurement after that, finally leading to abandonment of an effort to improve his/her health state. On the other hand, there is also a case where, when a measurement value of body weight exhibits a significant decease because a person occasionally makes the measurement after exercise, the person will neglect to improve his/her habitus.
Further, it is effective for improvement in health state to carry out physical activity such as sustained exercise, and, for example, walking is known as one effective exercise. The number of steps can be measured by using a pedometer. Although it is important for health promotion or the like to continuously walk every day by a given number or more of steps, a person unnecessarily gets satisfaction from a measurement value measured by a pedometer on the day when he/she occasionally walked by a relatively large number of steps, and thereby will neglect walking, from the next day, in some cases. On the other hand, there are also many cases where a person is largely discouraged by a small number of steps measured by a pedometer on the day when he/she occasionally walked by a relatively small number of steps, and stops the measurement after that, finally leading to abandonment of an effort to improve his/her health state.
One or more embodiments of the present invention provide a program, device, system and method for health-related information management, each designed to adequately manage health-related information so as to improve health state.
According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a health-related information management system for presenting a measurement result based on measurement data satisfying a pre-set presentation timing condition. The health-related information management system comprises one or more electronic devices, wherein: at least one of the one or more electronic devices that stores measurement data including measurement values measured by a health-related information measurement device, and information indicative of a measurement timing of the measurement values; at least one of the one or more electronic devices that determines measurement data satisfying the presentation timing condition based on the information indicative of the measurement timing and a timing to present the measurement result based on the measurement data; and at least one of the one or more electronic devices that presents the measurement result based on the measurement data determined to satisfy the presentation timing condition, but not present measurement results based on measurement data failing to satisfy the presentation timing condition.
In the health-related information management system according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the information indicative of the measurement timing includes information indicative of a measurement time of the measurement value, and the presentation timing condition includes a predetermined day-of-week or day-of-month after the measurement time, or a timing after a given time period has elapsed from the measurement time.
In the health-related information management system according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the information indicative of the measurement timing includes information indicative of a number of measurements performed after the measurement of the measurement value, and the presentation timing condition includes a timing after a given number or more of measurements have been performed since the measurement of the measurement value.
In the health-related information management system according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the measurement value satisfies a criterion based on a value indicative of a tendency of measurement values, the measurement value is determined to satisfy the presentation timing condition.
In the health-related information management system according to one or more embodiments the present invention, at least one of the one or more electronic devices that accepts an input of an index (an index input) made by a user, or a measured person, of the health-related information measurement device, wherein the index is indicative of a factor related to the health-related information of the user at the time of the measurement of the health-related information of the user, and is associated with the measurement value, and wherein the measurement data includes the index.
In the above health-related information management system, the health-related information is information about body weight, and wherein the index is indicative of at least one of a state after urination at the time of awakening, a state after eating, a state after taking a bath, a state after exercise, a dressed state, and a state during a menstrual period.
In the health-related information management system according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the one or more electronic devices comprise a health-related information measurement device and a user-side device.
In the health-related information management system according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, at least one of the one or more electronic devices that receives an input of a prediction (a prediction input) made by a user of the health-related information measurement device, wherein the prediction is made as to whether the measurement value which is targeted for the prediction increases or decreases as compared with the previous measurement value, and wherein at least one of the one or more electronic devices that compares the target measurement value with the previous measurement value, to perform a correct/incorrect determination as to whether or not the prediction made by the user is correct, and wherein the measurement data includes a result of the correct/incorrect determination.
In the health-related information management system according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the presenting the measurement result includes presenting a graph based on the measurement data which include the measurement values measured within a given time period.
In the health-related information management system according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the one or more electronic devices comprise: a health-related information measurement device; a user-side device; and a server connected to the health-related information measurement device and the user-side device via a network.
According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, a user-side device for use in a health-related information management system for presenting a measurement result based on measurement data satisfying a pre-set presentation timing condition, wherein the user-side device that presents the measurement result based on the measurement data which are a part of measurement data including measurement values measured by a health-related information measurement device and information indicative of measurement timings of the measurement values, and are determined to satisfy the presentation timing condition, based on the information indicative of the measurement timing and a timing to present the measurement result based on the measurement data, but not to present measurement results based on measurement data failing to satisfy the presentation timing condition.
According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a method performed in a health-related information management system for presenting a measurement result based on measurement data satisfying a pre-set presentation timing condition, wherein the health-related information management system comprises one or more electronic devices. The method comprises: storing, by at least one of the one or more electronic devices, measurement data including measurement values measured by a health-related information measurement device, and information indicative of measurement timings of the measurement values; determining, by at least one of the one or more electronic devices, the measurement data satisfying the presentation timing condition based on the information indicative of the measurement timing and a timing to present the measurement result based on the measurement data; and presenting, by at least one of the one or more electronic devices, the measurement result based on the measurement data determined to satisfy the presentation timing condition, but not presenting measurement results based on the measurement data failing to satisfy the presentation timing condition.
According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a set of programs for causing one or more electronic devices to perform the above method.
According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a method performed by a user-side device for use in a health-related information management system for presenting a measurement result based on a measurement data satisfying a pre-set presentation timing condition. The method comprises presenting the measurement result based on the measurement data which are a part of measurement data including measurement values measured by a health-related information measurement device and information indicative of measurement timings of the measurement values, and are determined to satisfy the presentation timing condition, based on the information indicative of the measurement timing and a timing to present the measurement results based on the measurement data, but not presenting measurement results based on measurement data failing to satisfy the presentation timing condition.
According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a program for causing a user-side device to perform the above method.
One or more embodiments of the present invention makes it possible to perform health-related information management in such a manner as to present, to a user of the health-related information measurement device for measuring health-related information, the measurement results based on the measurement data satisfying the pre-set presentation timing condition, but not presenting, to the user, measurement results based on measurement data failing to satisfy the presentation timing condition. This makes it possible to prevent the user from reacting nervously to a measurement value of each day, and allow the user to sustainably perform the measurement and thus make an effort for sustained health improvement.
In this embodiment, the health-related information measurement device 101 is devoid of a display unit 202 and an input unit 203. However, it should be understood that the health-related information measurement device 101 may be equipped with them. The storage unit 204 stores therein a health-related information measurement device program 206. The storage unit 204 may be any type of storage unit such as a non-volatile memory or a volatile memory, as long as it is capable of storing information therein. The communication unit 205 that performs wire communication using an Ethernet (trademark) cable or the like, or wireless communication using Bluetooth (trademark) connection, wireless LAN or the like, to establish connection to the user-side device 102.
The communication unit 305 that performs wire communication using an Ethernet (trademark) cable or the like, or wireless communication such as mobile communication, Bluetooth (trademark) communication or wireless LAN communication, to establish connection to the health-related information measurement device 101.
With reference to
First of all, the control part 501 of the smartphone 102 operates to set, based on an input made by the user through the input part 503, a presentation timing condition for presenting a result of measurement of body weight to the user. Then, the control part 501 operates to determine measurement data satisfying the presentation timing condition, based on information indicative of a measurement timing when the measurement of body weight was performed, and a timing to present the measurement result based on the measurement data, and then present, to the user, the measurement result based on the measurement data determined to satisfy the presentation timing condition. In this embodiment, any one day-of-week of Sunday to Saturday is used as the presentation timing condition. Whether or not the presentation timing condition is satisfied is determined with respect to each measurement data including the measurement value, and a certain measurement data including a measurement time can satisfy the presentation timing condition, only on or after a day-of-week (used as the presentation timing condition) in a week next to a week including the measurement time. In this embodiment, the information indicative of the measurement timing is a time when the measurement was performed, as described later. However, the information indicative of the measurement timing may be any other information as long as it is indicative of a timing when the measurement was performed
For example, in a case where the presentation timing condition is set to Sunday, a measurement result based on measurement data measured before previous Sunday at 12:00 a.m., is presented, whereas a measurement result based on measurement data measured in a period from the previous Sunday at 12:00 a.m., until before the subsequent Sunday at 12:00 a.m., is not presented. After the next Sunday at 12:00 a.m., a measurement result based on measurement data measured before then is allowed to be presented, but a measurement result based on measurement data measured since then is not presented until the Sunday after the subsequent Sunday comes.
Although, in this embodiment, day-of-week is used as the presentation timing condition, the user-side device 102 may be configured to allow the user to set a time (clock time), in addition to day-of-week. Further, the elapse of a required time period may also be used as the presentation timing condition. In this case, the user-side device 102 may be configured to allow the measurement result based on the measurement value to be presented, when a required time period set to start from the measurement time has elapsed. Instead of day-of-week, date-and-time may be used as the presentation timing condition. Alternatively, the presentation timing condition may be set such that it is satisfied when, after completion of the measurement, a given number or more of further measurements have been performed. Alternatively, the presentation timing condition may be set such that it is satisfied when the measurement value satisfies a criterion based on a value indicative of a tendency of past measurement values. Further, the presentation timing condition may be any condition as long as it determines a timing for presenting the measurement result.
Next, a body weight measurement operation (as a health-related information measurement operation) by the body weight scale 101 and an information processing operation by the smartphone 102 will be described based on
The control part 501 of the smartphone 102 operates to wait for a measurement completion notice (S610), and, upon receiving the measurement completion notice transmitted from the body weight scale 101 and containing the measurement value, display a message indicating the measurement time on the display part 502, thereby notifying the user of the fact that the measurement has been completed, and an input screen for prompting the user to input an index indicative of a factor related to biological information of the user at the time of the measurement, and his/her prediction as to whether the measurement value measured by the measurement increases or decreases as compared with a previous measurement value, as shown in
In this embodiment, the input of an index indicative of a factor related to the health-related information of the user at the time of the measurement of the health-related information is realized by assigning a tag indicative of a factor which is considered to exert an influence on measurement value of body weight. The assignment of the tag, i.e., tagging, can be performed through selection from among a plurality of tags displayed on the input screen (
With regard to the prediction, the user inputs his/her prediction as to whether the measurement value obtained by this measurement increases or decreases as compared with a previous measurement value. As shown in
Therefore, by prompting the user to predict a change in measurement value, it becomes possible to give the user an opportunity to look back living activities of the day, thereby allowing the user to maintain interest in body weight and improvement in his/her lifestyle. The previous measurement value for comparison may be any previous measurement as long as it facilitates the user's prediction about a change in body weight. In this embodiment, the previous measurement value is set as an average of measurement values measured in the preceding week. Alternatively, the previous measurement value may be an average of all measurement values measured in the period from a measurement starting day to the preceding week, or may be an average of a given number of measurement values, e.g., 2 or 3 measurement values, measured in the past, or may be a measurement value of the previous day. However, the system 100 according to this embodiment can be implemented without input of the prediction. Further, the prediction is not limited to increase/decrease, but may include “no change”.
When the smartphone 102 receives the tag selection and the prediction input through the input part 503 (S612), the control part 501 of the user-side device 102 operates to compare the measurement value which is targeted for the prediction input, with a previous measurement value, thereby performing a prediction correct/incorrect determination (S613). Here, the previous measurement value is set as an average of measurement values measured in the preceding week (August 09 to August 15), specifically 81.2 kg. For example, assuming that the measurement value which is targeted for the prediction input is 80.3 kg, this measurement value decreases as compared with 81.2 kg as the previous measurement value. Thus, when the prediction input is “decrease”, it is determined to be correct. On the other hand, when the reduction input is “increase”, it is determined to be incorrect. In this embodiment, the average of the previous measurement values is preliminarily calculated and stored in the storage part 504 of the user-side device 102, and read out during the correct/incorrect determination to execute the comparison processing. Alternatively, the average may be stored in the storage part 404 of the body weight scale 101, or may be sequentially calculated based on given previous values.
Upon completion of the prediction correct/incorrect determination (S613), the control part 501 operates to store, in the storage part 504, the selected tag and a result of the correct/incorrect determination, together with the measurement value of body weight and the measurement time each transmitted from the body weight scale 101, in association with this measurement value and time as a measurement data (S614). In this embodiment, the measurement data has a data structure as shown in Table 1.
In Table 1, the measurement time is a date-and-time when the user measured his/her body weight by the body weight scale, and the measurement value is the measured body weight. The tag is a tag number corresponding to a tag selected by the user. Here, the state after urination at the time of awakening is denoted by 0, and the state in which there is an influence of meal is denoted by 1. The state after taking a bath is denoted by 2, and the state after exercise is denoted by 3. Further, the dressed state is denoted by 4, and the state during a menstrual period is denoted by 5. The prediction input is a number corresponding to the body weight increase/decrease prediction input by the user. Here, a prediction of decrease is denoted by 0, and a prediction of increase is denoted by 1. The correct/incorrect of prediction indicates a result of determination made in the prediction correct/incorrect determination (S613), based on the prediction input by the user, wherein the incorrect prediction is denoted by 0, and the correct prediction is denoted by 1. For example, in Table 1, on August 22, the measurement was performed at 7:20, and the measurement value was 81.5 kg. Further, the selected tag was 0 (state after urination at the time of awakening), and 5 (state during a menstrual period). Although the prediction was 0 (decrease), it was 0 (incorrect). In this example, the user started the measurement from August 09. Thus, until August 15, there is not any measurement value of the preceding week necessary for the prediction input, so that the prediction input and the prediction correct/incorrect determination are not performed until August 15.
After storing the measurement data in the storage part 504 of the smartphone 102 (S614) or receiving no measurement completion notice in a standby mode to wait for the measurement completion notice (S610), the control part 501 operates to wait for a measurement result display request (S620). In this embodiment, the measurement result display request is issued when the user performs an input manipulation for displaying a measurement result, through the input part 503 of the smartphone 102. When no measurement result display request has been issued, the control part 501 operates to return to the standby mode to wait for the measurement completion notice (S610).
When the measurement result display request has been issued, the control part 501 operates to perform processing of determining a set of measurement data satisfying the set presentation timing condition (S621). In this embodiment, the presentation timing condition is set as date-of-week, as mentioned above. Here, the description will be made based on an example where the presentation timing condition is set to Sunday at 12:00 a.m. Each of a plurality of measurement data includes a measurement value of body weight, a measurement time, and a tag and a correct/incorrect determination result each associated with the measurement value. Thus, based on the measurement time included in each of the measurement data, the control part 501 operates to determine whether or not each of the measurement data satisfies the presentation timing condition. More specifically, comparing Sunday at 12:00 a.m. in a week next to a week including the measurement time of a certain measurement data, with a current date-and-time, when the current date-and-time is on or after Sunday at 12:00 a.m. in the next week, the certain measurement data is determined to satisfy the presentation timing condition. In the case where the presentation timing condition is set as the elapse of the required time period, when a value obtained by subtracting the measurement time of a certain measurement data from the current date-and-time is equal to or greater than the required time period, the certain measurement data is determined to satisfy the presentation timing condition.
The control part 501 operates to display a measurement result based on a set of measurement data determined to satisfy the presentation timing condition, on the display part 502 of the smartphone 102 (S622). On the other hand, the control part 501 operates to avoid displaying any measurement result based in the measurement data determined to fail to satisfy the presentation timing condition. A measurement result is based on each of the measurement data, and may be a measurement value itself therein or may include statistical data such as an average based on measurement values. After displaying the measurement result, the control part 501 of the user-side device 102 operates to return to the standby mode to wait for the measurement completion notice.
As one example, a case will be described in which the presentation timing condition was set to Sunday at 12:00 a.m., wherein the measurement was started on August 09 (Sun) and performed everyday until August 24 (Mon), and the measurement result presentation request was issued on August 24 at 15:00. In this case, the control part 501 operates to determine whether or not August 24 at 15:00, which is a request date-and-time when the measurement result presentation request was issued, satisfies the presentation timing condition, with respect to each measurement data. Thus, with regard to measurement data in the period from August 09 (Sun) to August 22 (Sat), the request date-and-time is beyond Sunday of a week next to a week including the measurement time of each of the measurement data, i.e., August 16 or 23 at 12:00 a.m. Thus, a measurement result regarding these measurement data is presented. On the other hand, with regard to measurement data on August 23 and August 24, the request date-and-time is not beyond August 30 at 12:00 a.m., which is Sunday of a week next to a week including the measurement time of each of the measurement data. Thus, these measurement data do not satisfy the presentation timing condition, so that a measurement result based on these measurement data is not presented.
As shown in
As mentioned above, the body weight of the user varies depending on the state of the user at the time of the measurement. Therefore, a judgment about the progress of body weight reduction cannot be adequately made even by focusing on only individual measurement values. By presenting, as a measurement result, an average of measurement data after a certain amount of time has elapsed, instead of presenting a measurement result of each day immediately after the measurement, and presenting a transition of measurement values in the form of a graph, as in this embodiment, it becomes possible to dispassionately figure out the tendency of changes in body weight without excessively focusing on only individual measurement values. Further, as information to be presented, only an average or moving average, or a transition, of past measurement data, may be presented, without presenting any individual measurement data. By avoiding presenting individual data indicative of no significant change in body weight, it becomes possible to prevent the user from reacting nervously to insignificant changes in body weight.
Further, as shown in
In the case where a measurement result of each day is presented immediately after the measurement, when there is a change in measurement value as compared with that of the preceding day, the user can think by which of activities of the day the change is caused. However, in this embodiment, the user can look at a measurement result of the day only on or after next Sunday. Thus, when looking at the measurement result, it is difficult for the user to remember activities of the day when an individual measurement value of body weight was measured, and think by which of the activities a change in measurement value is caused. Therefore, in this embodiment, the tag is used. The tag is indicative of a factor related to the health-related information of the user at the time of the measurement of the health-related information of the user. Thus, the tag can help the user to remember activities of the day when an individual measurement value was measured, and allows the user to easily figure out by what kind of the user's activities and in what kind of pattern a change in measurement value is caused.
Further, as shown in
Further, results of the prediction correct/incorrect determination may be presented as the measurement result. In this embodiment, as shown in
For example, if the user erroneously understands that the body weight immediately decreases only by performing mild exercise once, he/she will make a prediction that the body weight has decreased after performing mild exercise. However, normally, the body weight never decreases immediately after performing mild exercise once, so that a prediction of decrease becomes incorrect. Thus, the body weight prediction graph allows the user to understand a lack of physical exercise, and makes it possible to prompt the user to improve his/her lifestyle, such as an increase in the amount of physical exercise or a decrease in the amount of calorie intake, in daily life. Further, if the user who is unaware that the body weight increases during a menstrual period makes a prediction of decrease, irrespective of during a menstrual period, this prediction becomes incorrect. Because of presentation of the incorrect prediction, the user becomes aware of the fact that her understanding is wrong, and understands that the body weight is apt to increase during a menstrual period. Thus, the increased measurement value does not cause the user to be unnecessarily depressed
Further, as shown in
As mentioned above, in the first embodiment, only a measurement result based on the measurement data satisfying the presentation timing condition is presented to the user, but measurement result based on the measurement data failing to satisfy the presentation timing condition is not presented to the user. Here, a measurement result is updated once per week, and measurement results measured in the week cannot be checked until next updating. If a measurement value of body weight is presented to a user immediately after the measurement as in a conventional body weight scale, the use is likely to react nervously to the measurement value, and to be discouraged when the measurement value is not as good as the user expected to be, thereby stopping the measurement of body weight. However, in the first embodiment, such a measurement value is not presented until Sunday in the next week. Therefore, when the user looks at a measurement result, a certain amount of time has elapsed from the time of the measurement. This makes it possible to diminish user's excessive interest in each measurement value, and allow the user to objectively understand a long-term transition of measurement value.
A measurement value of body weight or the like is likely to vary depending on activities of a day. If the user can look at a measurement value at the time of measurement, he/she can understand the reason for the variation, e.g., a high measurement value was caused by a large size of a meal of the day. However, in the first embodiment, a certain amount of time has elapsed from the time of the measurement to presentation. Thus, it is difficult for the user to remember with what kind of a factor related to body weight (body weight-related factor) existed at the time of the measurement. Therefore, by assigning, to a measurement value, a tag serving as an index indicative of a body weight-related factor at the time of the measurement, it becomes possible to allow the user to easily understand the reason for a change in body weight even when a measurement result based on the measurement value is presented afterward. Further, the user can look at a transition of measurement values assigned with the same tag. This allows the user to more easily understand an influence of a body weight-related factor indicated by each tag, on body weight.
In the case where a measurement value can be checked immediately after the measurement, when the measurement value becomes worse, the user is likely to be discouraged, or is likely to try to improve his/her habitus in a more carefully controlled manner. However, in the invention, a measurement result cannot be checked immediately after the measurement, so that there is a possibility that user's motivation for improvement in daily habitus is diminished. Therefore, in the first embodiment, the user is prompted to make a prediction about increase/decrease in measurement value, during the measurement. This makes it possible to give the user an opportunity to look back and reflect on living activities of each day, and motivate the user to improve his/her habitus. Further, by presenting correct/incorrect of the prediction in a measurement result, it becomes possible for the user to become aware of whether or not user's understanding about a relationship between his/her living activity and body weight is right, and, if wrong, to correct the understanding.
Any measurement data determined to satisfy the presentation timing condition is flagged and stored as a part of the plurality of measurement data in the storage part 504. Then, when the measurement result display request is issued, a measurement data may be presented based on the flagged measurement data which are deemed as the measurement data satisfying the presentation timing condition. This can facilitate processing for a determination as to whether or not each measurement data satisfies the presentation timing condition, to be performed every time a measurement result is displayed. The determination as to whether or not each measurement data satisfies the presentation timing condition, based on a measurement time, may be performed for unflagged measurement data, or may be periodically performed at given time intervals.
In the embodiment, a measurement time (clock time) is used as information indicative of the measurement timing, and whether or not each measurement data satisfies the presentation timing condition is determined based on the measurement time and the timing to present the measurement result. Alternatively, it may be determined based on the number of measurements performed in the period after the measurement through until the present timing. For example, the smartphone 102 may be configured to, when seven or more measurements are performed in the period after the measurement through until the present timing, present a measurement result based on a measurement data of the measurement. In one example, each measurement data may include a measurement number-of-times value to be incremented by one every time a new measurement is performed after a measurement value included in the measurement data is measured, wherein a measurement result based on measurement data each having a measurement number-of-times value of 7 or more at the present timing can be displayed. The measurement number-of-times value indicates that a measurement data including the measurement number-of-times value was measured at an n-th latest timing (n corresponds to the measurement number-of-times value) on the basis of the present timing, so that it is indicative of the measurement timing. Alternatively, each measurement data may include a measurement number indicative of the order of measurement, as the information indicative of the measurement timing, and a value obtained by subtracting 7 from a measurement number of a lastly-measured measurement data at the present timing may be defined as a presentable maximum measurement number, wherein measurement results based on measurement data each having a measurement number less than the presentable maximum measurement number is allowed to be presented. A measurement number-of-times value of a certain measurement data can be obtained by comparing a measurement number of the certain measurement data with a measurement number of a lastly-measured measurement data at the present timing, so that the measurement number indicative of the order of measurement is information indicative of the number of measurements performed after the measurement of a measurement value included in the certain measurement data. As long as the user performs the measurement in each day, he/she can look at a measurement result only after the elapse of one week since the measurement. Thus, it is possible to obtain the same advantageous effects as those in the configuration in which whether or not each measurement data satisfies the presentation timing condition is determined based on the measurement time and the present timing.
The presentation timing condition based on a measurement time and the presentation timing condition based on a measurement number-of-times value may be combined together. For example, such a presentation timing condition may be set to allow a measurement result based on a certain measurement data to be presented only after one week has elapsed since the measurement, and seven or more measurements have been subsequently performed.
Further, when it can be determined, based on a criterion based on a value indicative of a tendency of past measurement values, that a measurement value does not largely deviate from the tendency of the past measurement values, this measurement value may be determined to satisfy the presentation timing condition. For example, when a difference between an average of all measurement values stored in the storage part 504 and a measurement value which is targeted for the determination falls within the range of +5% to −5%, the target measurement value is determined to satisfy the presentation timing condition. On the other hand, when the difference is out of the above range, the target measurement value is determined not to be presented. In the case where the presentation timing condition is based on the tendency of past measurement values, it becomes free of being bound by a time period or the number of measurements after the measurement, so that it is possible to present an effect of improved living activities as soon as possible without unnecessarily keep the user waiting for the presentation. This makes it possible to prevent the user from giving up the improvement in living activities due to a suspicion that a sufficient effect cannot be obtained, even though the effect of improved living activities is actually obtained (avoidance of false-negative).
The criterion based on a value indicative of the tendency of past measurement values may be based on how much difference there is with respect to: an average of all measurement values in the period from a measurement starting day to the preceding week; a moving average of measurement values corresponding to a given number of past measurements such as past 2 or 3 measurements; or an average of transitional minimum ones of the measurement values. In addition to the above, any criterion may be used which allows the determination as to whether or not a measurement value largely deviates from the tendency of past measurement values. In a case where a measurement result to be presented is an average, whether or not an average including a target measurement value largely deviates from the tendency of past measurement values may be determined.
Further, the presentation timing condition based on the transition of past measurement values may be combined with the presentation timing condition based on a measurement time and/or a measurement number-of-times value. For example, when a difference between an average of all measurement values stored in the storage part 504 and a target measurement value falls within the range of +5% to −5%, a measurement result based on the target measurement value is presented even if the target measurement value does not satisfy the presentation timing condition based on a measurement time and/or a measurement number-of-times value. On the other hand, when the difference is out of the above range, the measurement result is not presented until the target measurement value satisfies the presentation timing condition based on a measurement time and/or a measurement number-of-times value.
In the first embodiment, the functions of the setting of the presentation timing condition, the storing of measurement data, the prediction correct/incorrect determination, and the determination based on the presentation timing condition are executed by the smartphone 102. Alternatively, the body weight scale 101 may be configured to execute a part of the functions.
In the first embodiment, only the body weight is measured as the health-related information. Alternatively, instead of or in addition to the body weight, a biological impedance for measuring a body fat may be measured. As the health-related information, another biological information such as blood pressure, heart rate, or blood-sugar level, and physical activity-related information such as the number of steps can also be applied and handled by similar information processing. The health-related information measurement device 101 may be constructed as a wearable device for measuring the health management information such as the number of steps or blood pressure. A measurement value may be a maximum or minimum value among values measured for a given time period, e.g., one day, or an average of the measured values.
In a case where a pedometer is used as the health-related information measurement device, the pedometer counts up the number of steps every time the user walks. Then, a total number of steps for a given time period, e.g., from 00:00 in the morning to 12:00 at night, is used as a measurement value on a day-to-day basis. In this case, a measurement timing may be set to 12:00 at night which id an ending time of the given time period. The given time period may be a part of one day, or may be several days. Alternatively, the given time period may be started at a timing when the pedometer accepts a start instruction input from the user, and ended at a timing when the pedometer subsequently accepts a termination instruction input from the user. Although it is important for health promotion or the like to continuously walk every day by a given number or more of steps, a user unnecessarily gets satisfaction from a measurement value measured by the pedometer on the day when he/she occasionally walked by a relatively large number of steps, and thereby will neglect walking, from the next day, in some cases. On the other hand, there are also many cases where a user is largely discouraged by a small number of steps measured by the pedometer on the day when he/she occasionally walked by a relatively small number of steps, and stops the measurement after that, finally leading to abandonment of an effort to improve his/her health state. The system 100 according to the first embodiment makes it possible to allow the user to continuously perform living activities for health promotion or the like, without reacting nervously to a measurement value of each day.
As shown in
The health-related information measurement device 101 and the user-side device 102 are implemented by the functional blocks illustrated in
A flowchart of a body weight measurement operation as a health-related information measurement operation by the body weight scale 101 and an information processing operation by the smartphone 102 is shown in
As shown in
A flow of information processing for presenting a measurement result in the third embodiment is shown in
The user-side device 102 waits for an input of a measurement result display request by the user (S620), and, upon accepting the measurement result display request, transmits the measurement result display request to the server 103 (S644). In response to receiving the measurement result display request, the server 103 determines, in measurement data stored in the storage part 1004, measurement data satisfying the presentation timing condition (S645), and transmits, to the user-side device 102, a measurement result based on the measurement data satisfying the presentation timing condition (S646). This determination and measurement result forming processing is the same as the processing to be executed by the user-side device 102 in the first and second embodiments. The user-side device 102 displays the received measurement result on the display part (S622).
In the third embodiment, the measurement result forming processing may be executed by the user-side device 102.
A fourth embodiment of the present invention is different from the first to third embodiments in that a body weight scale as a health-related information measurement device 101 executes the entire measurement data presentation processing, as shown in
Although the present invention has been described by way of the above embodiments in order to express the present invention, it should be noted that the present invention is not limited to such embodiments in any way. It is obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention may be implemented in various forms or configurations without departing from the spirit and scope thereof as set forth in appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2017/033557 | Sep 2017 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2018/034446 | 9/18/2018 | WO | 00 |
