JP2020135799A - Watching system, watching method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To flexibly change the content of a message while reducing the trouble of an operator when creating a message to a user to be watched over. A monitoring system includes a user terminal having an output means for outputting a message to a user to be monitored, and a center device communicably connected to the user terminal. The center device has a storage means, an input means, a partial change means, and a transmission means. The storage means stores a message template including a variable phrase area to which classification information is assigned, and a plurality of word groups having a plurality of words for each of the classification information. The input means receives an operation input of an operator who selects a word group used for composing the message from the plurality of word groups. The partial changing means changes at least the variable phrase area of the message template to any phrase included in the phrase group selected corresponding to the classification information of the variable phrase area to create the message. .. The transmission means transmits the created message to the user terminal. [Selection diagram] FIG. 4

Description

The present invention relates to a watching system, a watching method, and a program for notifying a user to be watched by a center operator of a message.

In recent years, by installing a device (for example, an interactive robot) that has a voice input / output function, especially in the home of an elderly person living alone, and receiving and answering voice through the device, a "sense of connection" and "feeling of being watched over" A dialogue system has been proposed to foster.

In that system, for example, for a user whose wake-up time is roughly fixed, the above-mentioned "sense of connection" and "watched over" are made by having the device utter a greeting such as "Good morning." "Feeling" can be cultivated.

In relation to such a technique, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique of transmitting a predetermined message to a user (mainly an elderly person living alone) according to a predetermined schedule information as a part of a safety confirmation system.

JP-A-2010-141445

However, in the technique of Patent Document 1, since the content of the message is standard, it gives a mechanical impression to the user who receives it every day, and it becomes difficult to foster a "sense of connection" and "a feeling of being watched over". It ends up.

On the other hand, creating a new message for each transmission to each user is a great effort for the operator.

In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is a monitoring system capable of flexibly changing the content of a message while reducing the operator's labor when creating a message to a user to be monitored. To provide monitoring methods and programs.

In order to achieve the above object, the monitoring system according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a user terminal having an output means for outputting a message to a user to be monitored, and a center device communicably connected to the user terminal.
The center device has a storage means, an input means, a partial change means, and a transmission means. The storage means stores a message template including a variable phrase area to which classification information is assigned, and a plurality of word groups having a plurality of words for each of the classification information. The input means receives an operation input of an operator who selects a word group to be used for creating the message from the plurality of word groups. The partial changing means creates the message by changing at least the variable phrase area of the message template to any phrase included in the phrase group selected corresponding to the classification information of the variable phrase area. .. The transmission means transmits the created message to the user terminal.

In the monitoring system, the partial changing means may change the variable word area from the selected word group to a randomly selected word.

As a result, the operator does not have to select a phrase, which further reduces the operator's labor.

The monitoring system according to another embodiment of the present invention includes a user terminal having an output means for outputting a message including a seasonal greeting to the user to be monitored by voice, and a center device communicably connected to the user terminal. Have.
The center device has a storage means, an input means, a partial change means, and a transmission means. The storage means includes a greeting phrase area to which seasonal information is added, a message template associated with the greeting time to the user, and a plurality of greetings consisting of a plurality of greeting phrases related to seasonal greetings for each of the seasonal information. Memorize words and phrases. The input means receives an operation input of an operator who selects a greeting phrase group used for creating the message from the plurality of greeting phrase groups. The partial changing means changes at least the greeting phrase area of the message template to any greeting phrase included in the greeting phrase group selected corresponding to the seasonal information of the greeting phrase area, and changes the message. create. The transmission means transmits the created message to the user terminal at the greeting time.

The partial changing means may change the greeting phrase area from the selected greeting phrase group to a randomly selected greeting phrase group.

The method for creating a message according to another embodiment of the present invention
A message template including a variable phrase area to which classification information is assigned and a plurality of word groups having a plurality of words for each of the above classification information are stored.
Accepts the operation input of the operator who selects the phrase group used to create a message to the user to be watched from the above multiple phrase groups.
The message is created by changing at least the word area of the message template to one of the words included in the word group selected corresponding to the classification information of the variable word area.
Send the above created message to the above user terminal and
It includes outputting a message from the user terminal to the user.

The program according to another embodiment of the present invention is connected to a center device communicably connected to a user terminal having an output means for outputting a message to a user to be watched over.
A message template including a variable phrase area to which classification information is assigned, and a step of storing a plurality of word groups having a plurality of words for each of the above classification information.
A step of accepting an operation input of an operator who selects a word group to be used for creating a message to a user to be watched from the above multiple word groups, and
A step of creating the above message by changing at least the variable word area of the message template to one of the words included in the word group selected corresponding to the classification information of the variable word area.
The step of sending the created message to the user terminal is executed.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to flexibly change the content of the message while reducing the time and effort of the operator when creating the message to the user to be watched over. However, the effect does not limit the present invention.

It is a figure which showed the structure of the monitoring system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which showed the hardware configuration of the server apparatus which the above-mentioned monitoring system has. It is a figure which showed the example of the schedule information which the said server apparatus stores. It is a figure which showed the example of the word group stored in the said server apparatus. It is a flowchart which showed the flow of the word group setting process in a message by the said server device. It is a figure which showed the example of the word group setting screen displayed by the said server device. It is a figure which showed the example of the word group setting screen displayed by the said server device. It is a figure which showed the example of the word group setting screen displayed by the said server device. It is a figure which showed the example of the word group setting screen displayed by the said server device. It is a flowchart which showed the flow of the message creation process by the said server device.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[System configuration]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a monitoring system according to the present embodiment.

As shown in the figure, the monitoring system includes a center device including a server device 100 installed in the management center, and a user terminal 200 that is network-connected to the server device 100 so as to be able to communicate with the server device 100.

The user terminal 200 is installed at the home of a user (for example, an elderly person) to be watched over in this system, and at least a means for receiving a message transmitted from the server device 100 via a network and notified to the user, and the message is given to the user. It has an output means for notifying.

As the output means, the speaker S as a device for outputting voice is preferable in consideration of fostering a feeling of connection with the user and that it is difficult for the elderly to operate complicated machines. Alternatively, a display device using a liquid crystal panel may be used so that the user whose hearing is deteriorated due to aging can visually recognize the message.

The user terminal 200 may have at least the above-mentioned components, but may be an interactive robot that imitates a small doll with an appearance that allows the user to recall interactions with a person and have a familiar appearance.

Further, when the message is transmitted to the user by voice, the user terminal 200 may be appropriately vibrated according to the utterance, or the eyes and mouth may be brightly displayed by a built-in light emitting means (LED or the like).

It is assumed that the user terminal 200 has a function of transmitting a message transmitted from the server device 100 to the user by hearing or visual observation, but conversely, the voice spoken by the user to the user terminal 200 is collected by the microphone M. It may have a function of converting into a character string by voice recognition technology and transmitting it to the server device 100.

The server device 100 is a device used by an operator who resides in the management center and exchanges messages with the user, and functions as a message creation device for creating a message to the user to be watched over.

The server device 100 has at least a flag setting means 110, a partial changing means 120, and a transmitting means 130. It also has control means for controlling those means. Details will be described later, but these are realized by software stored in well-known hardware or storage means as appropriate.

Further, the storage means 140 is connected to the server device 100. The storage means 140 stores schedule information S indicating a message notification schedule to the user, a message template M having a variable word area, and a plurality of word groups W having a plurality of words that can be inserted into the variable word area. ing. Further, an input means 150 for receiving an operator's input by, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, another pointing device, a touch panel, or the like is also connected to the server device 100, and the center device is connected by the server device 100, the storage means 140, and the input means 150. Is configured.

The flag setting means 110 sets a flag indicating whether or not to use the word group W for composing a message for each word group W.

The partial change means 120 changes the variable word area of the message template M to a word selected from the word group W set by the flag to create a message.

The transmission means 130 transmits a message to the user terminal 200 according to the schedule information S.

The input means 150 accepts an operation input of an operator who selects a word group W to be used for creating a message from a plurality of word groups W to the user.

[Hardware configuration of server device]
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of the server device 100. As shown in the figure, the server device 100 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, an input / output interface 15, and a bus 14 that connects them to each other. To be equipped.

The CPU 11 appropriately accesses the RAM 13 and the like as necessary, and controls the entire block of the server device 100 in an integrated manner while performing various arithmetic processes. The ROM 12 is a non-volatile memory in which firmware such as an OS, a program, and various parameters to be executed by the CPU 11 is fixedly stored. The RAM 13 is used as a work area of the CPU 11, and temporarily holds an OS, various applications being executed, and various data being processed.

Further, the CPU 11 functions as the flag setting means 110 and the partial change means 120.

A display unit 16, an operation reception unit 17, a storage unit 18, a communication unit 19, and the like are connected to the input / output interface 15.

The display unit 16 is a display device using, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), an OLED (Organic ElectroLuminescence Display), a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), or the like.

The operation reception unit 17 is, for example, a pointing device such as a mouse, a keyboard, a touch panel, or other input device. The operation reception unit 17 functions as the input means 150.

The storage unit 18 is, for example, a non-volatile memory such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a flash memory (SSD; Solid State Drive), or another solid-state memory. In addition to the OS, the storage unit 18 stores schedule information, various flags, parameters, and software that realizes each means of the server device 100. The storage unit 18 functions as the storage means 140.

Further, in the present embodiment, as described above, the storage unit 18 stores data such as schedule information S and word group W, and applications and other programs and databases for dialogue with the user terminal 200 including message generation. ing.

The communication unit 19 is various modules for wireless communication such as NIC (Network Interface Card) for Ethernet (registered trademark) and wireless LAN, and is responsible for communication processing with the user terminal 200. The communication unit 19 functions as the transmission means 130.

The hardware configuration of the user terminal 200 is basically the same as the hardware configuration of the server device 100, but the user terminal 200 has a microphone M and a speaker S on the front surface as described above.

[Schedule information]
Next, the details of the schedule information S stored in the storage means 140 (storage unit 18) will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of schedule information S of user A.

As shown in FIG. 6A, the schedule information S includes the user name of the user who is scheduled to notify the message, the terminal ID of the user terminal 200 of the user, the scheduled notification time of the message, the scheduled notification day of the week, and the scheduled notification message. It has data for each item.

In the figure (a), the message is shown as a message name (notification after waking up, notification during the day, etc.) that identifies the message. The message includes daily greetings, seasonal greetings, events on specific days of the week (medication, etc.), seasonal events (New Year, etc.), and messages related to trivia.

The message stored as the schedule information S is not the completed message but the above message template M. As a specific example of the message template M, the message template M for notification after waking up is shown in FIG. 3B.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the message template M has a plurality of variable word regions R. Of the variable word area R, "today's date" and "today's day of the week" are appropriately replaced with the date and day of the week taken in from the timekeeping means of the server device 100, but they are replaced in the other variable word area R. Classification information (“random @ morning greeting”, “random @ seasonal chat”) is given to classify, and the word group W corresponding to the classification information is randomly selected and replaced.

[Phrase group]
Next, the details of the word group W stored in the storage means 140 (storage unit 18) will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a specific example of the phrase group W.

Figure (a) shows a winter normal message, figure (b) shows a winter exception message, and figure (c) shows a group of words and phrases in a summer normal message.

Each word group W includes a plurality of words (greetings and notifications) for each classification information of "random @ morning greeting" and "random @ seasonal chat". In the example of the figure, the morning greeting and the seasonal chat are included in a group of words, but they may be stored separately. In that case, classification information is added such as a morning greeting of a winter normal message and a seasonal chat of a winter exception message according to the above phrase group name.

[Operation of watching system]
Next, the operation of the monitoring system configured as described above will be described. The operation is executed by the cooperation between the hardware such as the CPU 11 and the communication unit 19 of the server device 100 and the software stored in the storage unit 18. In the following description, for convenience, the CPU 11 of the server device 100 is the main operating body.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of word group setting (selection) processing in the monitoring system. 6 to 9 are diagrams showing an example of a word group setting screen displayed by the server device 100 in the word group setting process.

As shown in FIG. 6, the word group setting screen has a user name input field 51, a word group list display button 52, a word group list 53, a word group detail display button 54, a flag change button 55, a setting end button 56, and a cancel button. Has 57.

As shown in FIG. 5, first, the CPU 11 of the server device 100 receives the input of the user name of the user to be notified of the message from the user name input field 51 by the operation reception unit 17, and the word group list display button 52 is displayed. Accept the pressing operation (step 101). The user name input field 51 may be directly input by the operator, or may be such that one of the user names is selected after displaying the user name list by pull-down or a separate window, for example.

Subsequently, the CPU 11 reads the word group W corresponding to the input user name from the storage means 140 and displays the word group list 53 as shown in FIG. 6 (step 102).

Subsequently, the CPU 11 receives the operation of pressing the word group detail display button 54 by the operation reception unit 17 (step 103).

In response to the operation of pressing the phrase group detail display button 54, the CPU 11 displays the phrase group detail display screen as shown in FIG. 8 (step 104). The word group details display screen includes a user name display field 61, a flag status display field 62, a flag change button 63, a word group name display field 64, a variable word area selection box 65, a variable word edit box 66, a setting end button 67, and the like. It has a cancel button 68.

When the editing input of the phrase of the phrase group W is received via the operation reception unit 17 on the phrase group detail display screen, the CPU 11 changes the phrase of the phrase group W according to the input (step 105). ..

Further, when the flag change button 63 is pressed via the operation reception unit 17 on the phrase group detail display screen, the CPU 11 changes the flag corresponding to the flag state display field 62 to another flag, and the flag state. The display of the display field 62 is changed (step 106).

When any of the word group fields on the word group list 53 is selected by, for example, right-clicking the mouse, instead of the word group selection button 54 on the word group setting screen of FIG. 6, FIG. The pop-up menu 58 is displayed as shown in 7.

The pop-up menu 58 has a menu for displaying the details of the phrase group and changing the flag, and their functions are the same as those of the phrase group detail display button 54 and the flag change button 55. When only the flag is changed without editing the phrase of the phrase group W, the pop-up menu 58 is used.

Then, when the CPU 11 receives the pressing operation of the setting end button 67 (step 107), as shown in FIG. 9, the CPU 11 exits the phrase group detail display screen and transitions to the phrase group setting screen, and displays the phrase group list 53 as described above. Update according to the flag change operation (step 108).

8 and 9 show an example in which the operator wants to utter a winter exception message to that effect on a warm day despite winter, and has effectively changed the winter exception message flag. ing. As can be seen by comparing FIG. 6 and FIG. 9, the above flag change operation changes the setting of the winter normal message flag, which was previously enabled, to invalid, and instead enables the winter exception message flag. The setting has been changed to. At that time, as shown in FIG. 8, the phrase of the phrase group W is edited in order to add the phrase of "morning greeting".

The CPU 11 executes the above processing each time a setting (selection) operation is input to any of the word groups.

Next, a message creation process using the set word group will be described. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of the message creation process.

As shown in the figure, the CPU 11 first refers to the schedule information S and determines whether or not there is a notification schedule of a message that matches the current day of the week and the current time (step 111).

If there is a notification schedule that matches the current day of the week and the current time, the corresponding message template M (for example, notification after waking up) is read from the storage unit 18 (step 112).

Subsequently, the CPU 11 identifies a word group W (for example, a normal winter message) flagged as “valid” for the read message template M (step 113).

Subsequently, the CPU 11 randomly selects a phrase from the specified phrase group W (step 114), and changes the variable phrase area of the read message template M to the randomly selected phrase (step 114). 115). This completes the message composition.

Then, the CPU 11 transmits the created message to the user terminal 200 by the communication unit 19 (step 116). The message is output as voice on the user terminal 200.

The CPU 11 executes the above processing every time the day of the week / time set by the schedule information S arrives.

[Summary]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, the monitoring system creates a message using the message template M and the word group W for each classification information, so that the operator when creating a message to the user The content of the message can be changed flexibly while reducing the time and effort, and it is possible to prevent a decrease in "sense of connection" and "feeling of being watched over". In addition, since it is easy to change the message in the case of an unseasonable, cheerful and irregular situation, there is a discrepancy between the content of the message and the actual situation, giving the impression that "the machine is just talking". It can be easily prevented from being given to the user, and it becomes easy to continue to foster a "sense of connection" and "feeling of being watched over".

[Modification example]
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

In the above-described embodiment, a flag is set for the necessity (valid / invalid) of the use of each word group W, but for example, a message can be created by using a word group list menu, a check box for each word group, a radio button, or the like. The phrase group W to be used may be selected.

In the above-described embodiment, the necessity (valid / invalid) of its use is set for each word group W, but for example, the information for grouping the "winter normal message" and the "winter exception message" shown in FIG. 4 is provided. If any of the words in the group is changed from invalid to valid, the setting may be changed so that the other words are automatically disabled from valid. As a result, it is possible to prevent the user from being notified of words and phrases that are uncomfortable when notified at the same time.

Further, an example in which each user is individually specified on the phrase group setting screen shown in FIG. 6 has been described. However, for example, users residing in a neighboring area may be grouped together and the phrase group may be set for each group. good. For example, including useful information for the residents of the area in the "winter exception message" can contribute to fostering the above-mentioned "sense of connection".

In the above-described embodiment, the season (greeting of the weather, etc.) is given as an example as the classification information of the word group W. However, as the classification information, for example, a group of words according to the seasons such as the moon, events according to the time such as New Year, Bon Festival, Christmas, Golden Week, disaster / emergency, weather, temperature, etc. W may be prepared. When the weather or temperature is used as the classification information, the server device 100 automatically acquires the weather or temperature of the day from the weather forecast information on the network, and automatically obtains the word group W according to the weather or temperature of the day. You may choose.

Further, when the user terminal 200 is an interactive robot, the character (personality) of the robot may be used as the classification information (the utterance method and the utterance content are different for each character).

Among the inventions described in the claims of the present application, the invention described as "watching method" is such that at least one device such as a computer automatically performs each step by information processing by software. , It is not something that humans do using devices such as computers. That is, the "watching method" is an information processing method by computer software, not a method in which a human operates a calculation tool called a computer.

11 ... CPU
18 ... Storage unit 19 ... Communication unit 100 ... Server device 110 ... Flag setting means 120 ... Partial change means 130 ... Transmission means 140 ... Storage means 150 ... Input means 200 ... User terminal S ... Notification schedule information M ... Message template W ... Word group R ... Variable word area

Claims (6)

A monitoring system including a user terminal having an output means for outputting a message to a user to be monitored and a center device communicatively connected to the user terminal.
The center device is
A storage means for storing a message template including a variable word area to which classification information is assigned and a plurality of word groups having a plurality of words for each of the classification information.
An input means that accepts an operation input of an operator who selects a word group to be used for composing the message from the plurality of word groups.
A partially changing means for creating the message by changing at least the variable word area of the message template to any word included in the word group selected corresponding to the classification information of the variable word area, and the above. A monitoring system having a transmission means for transmitting the created message to the user terminal. The monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the partial changing means changes the variable word area from the selected word group to a randomly selected word. A monitoring system including a user terminal having an output means for outputting a message including a seasonal greeting to a user to be monitored and a center device communicatively connected to the user terminal.
The center device is
A message template including a greeting phrase area to which seasonal information is assigned and associated with a greeting time to the user, and a plurality of greeting phrase groups consisting of a plurality of greeting phrases related to seasonal greetings are stored for each of the seasonal information. Memories,
An input means that accepts an operation input of an operator that selects a greeting phrase group to be used for creating the message from the plurality of greeting phrase groups.
A partial change means for creating the message by changing at least the greeting phrase area of the message template to any greeting phrase included in the greeting phrase group selected corresponding to the seasonal information of the greeting phrase area. A monitoring system having a transmission means for transmitting the created message to the user terminal at the greeting time. The monitoring system according to claim 3, wherein the partial changing means changes the greeting phrase area from the selected greeting phrase group to a randomly selected greeting phrase group. A message template including a variable phrase area to which classification information is assigned and a plurality of word groups having a plurality of words for each of the classification information are stored.
It accepts the operation input of the operator who selects the word group to be used for creating a message to the user to be watched from the plurality of word groups.
The message is created by changing at least the variable word area of the message template to any word included in the word group selected corresponding to the classification information of the variable word area.
Send the created message to the user terminal and
A monitoring method for outputting a message from the user terminal to the user. To a center device that is communicably connected to a user terminal that has an output means that outputs a message to the user to be watched over.
A step of storing a message template including a variable phrase area to which classification information is assigned, and a plurality of word groups having a plurality of words for each of the classification information, and
A step of accepting an operation input of an operator who selects a word group to be used for creating a message to the user from the plurality of word groups,
A step of creating the message by changing at least the variable word area of the message template to any word included in the word group selected corresponding to the classification information of the variable word area.
A program that executes the steps of sending the created message to the user terminal.

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