Communication apparatus and communication method

• US 20050001727A1
• Filed: 06/08/2004
• Published: 01/06/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Makino, Kenichi, Takai, Motoyuki, Inoue, Makoto, Inoue, Akiko, Sako, Yoichiro, Terauchi, Toshiro, Miyajima, Yasushi, Shirai, Katsuya
• Granted Patent: US 7,199,708 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/573.100
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0242 adapted to measure environmental factors, e.g. temperature, pollution
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0002 Remote monitoring of patients using telemetry, e.g. transmission of vital signals via a communication network A61B5/07 takes precedence; transmission systems for measured values G08C; transmission H04B; transmission of digital information H04L; wireless communication networks H04W
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/021 Measuring pressure in heart or blood vessels A61B5/0205 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02438 with portable devices, e.g. worn by the patient
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/369 Electroencephalography [EEG] devices for psychotechnics A61B5/16
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 2001/085 Partner search devices
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0211 Combination with medical sensor, e.g. for measuring heart rate, temperature
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0453 worn on the body to detect health condition by physiological monitoring, e.g. electrocardiogram, temperature, breathing detecting, measuring or recording for diagnostic purposes A61B5/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/724 User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72421 with automatic activation of emergency service functions, e.g. upon sensing an alarm
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/12 including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 128/903 Radio telemetry

Abstract

By providing bio-information and/or environment information between a pair of users, it becomes possible for the users to understand the situation or the feeling of each other more deeply and earlier. A communication system for exchanging the situations and the feelings of both the users is provided without performing optional communication operations, such as a telephone call and an e-mail. The condition or the situation on the transmitter side is to be judged and to be notified to the receiver side by inputting bio-information such as breathing, pulse-beats and heartbeats or environment information such as weather, date and hour, ambient temperature, or alternatively, by comparing, synchronizing and/or relating the bio-information and/or the environment information at present with respect to the bio-information and/or the environment information in the past. With respect to the situation of the receiver side, it is also notified similarly to the transmitter side.

Claims

1. A communication apparatus comprising:

a bio-information sensor for measuring bio-information obtained from a human body;

an environment information sensor for measuring environment information; and

communication means for comparing at least one information in said bio-information and information in said environment information with bio-information or environment information that was accumulated as past utilized data and for transmitting, to a transmission receiver, transmission data that are related to the past utilized data in a case when the informations coincide with each other and for transmitting newly produced transmission data in a case when the informations do not coincide with each other.

2. The communication apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising means for recording bio-information and environment information periodically and for classifying and accumulating bio-information and environment information by time, wherein when the present bio-information and environment information of a user depart from said accumulated informations at a predetermined time, a notification is sent to an emergency dial place.

3. The communication apparatus according to claim 2, wherein it is judged whether there is a periodical communication by analyzing a past communication history and when a situation occurs where a user cannot communicate in a case when there is a periodical communication, a communication is done automatically to a periodical communication place.

4. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bio-information detected by said bio-information sensor is at least one of information showing heartbeats, pulse-beats, breathing, blood pressure, a blood oxygen saturation, electrocardiograms, brain waves, sweating of skin, galvanic skin response, body movement, a magnetoencephalography, an electro-myography, body surface temperature, diameter size of a pupil, micro-vibration, and biochemical reaction.

5. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the environment information detected by said environment information sensor is at least one of natural information relating to date and hour, lunar age, ambient temperature, humidity, weather, atmospheric pressure, and the ebb and flow of tide and also of the ambient environment information relating to ambient noise, room temperature, and a smell.

6. A control method comprising:

a detecting step for detecting at least one information in bio-information and environment information;

an information comparing and analyzing step for comparing a detected result detected in said detecting step and past accumulated information;

a transmission data producing step for producing transmission data according to result of said information comparing and analyzing step; and

a transmission step for transmitting said produced transmission data to a transmission receiver.

7. The control method according to claim 6, wherein the information for comparing in said information comparing and analyzing step is information of a user at a predetermined time;

and in a case when it is determined that the information departs from a condition of the predetermined time, transmission data are produced for notifying an emergency dial place.

8. The control method according to claim 7, wherein it is judged whether there is a periodical communication by analyzing a past communication history and when it is judged that a situation occurs where a user cannot communicate even though there is a periodical communication, transmission data for communicating with a periodical communication place are produced.

9. The control method according to claim 6, wherein the bio-information detected by said detecting step is at least one of information showing heartbeats, pulse-beats, breathing, blood pressure, a blood oxygen saturation, electrocardiograms, brain waves, sweating of skin, galvanic skin response, body movement, a magnetoencephalography, an electro-myography, body surface temperature, diameter size of a pupil, micro-vibration and biochemical reaction.

10. The control method according to claim 6, wherein the environment information detected by said detecting step is at least one of natural information relating to date and hour, lunar age, ambient temperature, humidity, weather, atmospheric pressure and the ebb and flow of tide and also of the ambient environment information relating to ambient noise, room temperature, and a smell.