Wakefulness maintaining apparatus and method of maintaining wakefulness
First Claim
1. A wakefulness maintaining apparatus, comprising:
- an event detecting part for detecting an event related to a drowsiness of a person, wherein the event includes at least one of an action, an appearance, and a biologic signal of the person, and a movement of a vehicle driven by the person;
a drowsiness level determining part for determining a drowsiness level of a person that changes in accordance with a strength of a drowsiness;
a threshold setting part for setting a first threshold value to divide the drowsiness level into a first level range and a second level range, wherein the first level range is equal to or lower than the first threshold value and the second level range is higher than the first threshold value;
a level range determining part for determining the level range of the drowsiness level determined by the drowsiness level determining part;
an event determining part for determining whether the event detecting part detects the event; and
a stimulus supplying part for supplying a stimulus having an awaking effect to the person when the level range determining part determines that the drowsiness level is in the second level range and the event determining part determines that the event detecting part detects the event.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A wakefulness maintaining apparatus includes an event detecting part, a drowsiness level determining part, a threshold setting part, and a stimulus supplying part. The event detecting part detects an event related to a drowsiness of a person. The drowsiness level determining part determines a drowsiness level that changes in accordance with a strength of the drowsiness. The threshold setting part sets a threshold value to divide the drowsiness level into a first level range and a second level range in such a manner that the first level range is equal to or lower than the threshold value and the second level range is higher than the threshold value. The stimulus supplying part supplies a stimulus having an awaking effect to the person when the drowsiness level is in the second level range and the event is detected.
-
Citations
18 Claims
-
1. A wakefulness maintaining apparatus, comprising:
-
an event detecting part for detecting an event related to a drowsiness of a person, wherein the event includes at least one of an action, an appearance, and a biologic signal of the person, and a movement of a vehicle driven by the person; a drowsiness level determining part for determining a drowsiness level of a person that changes in accordance with a strength of a drowsiness; a threshold setting part for setting a first threshold value to divide the drowsiness level into a first level range and a second level range, wherein the first level range is equal to or lower than the first threshold value and the second level range is higher than the first threshold value; a level range determining part for determining the level range of the drowsiness level determined by the drowsiness level determining part; an event determining part for determining whether the event detecting part detects the event; and a stimulus supplying part for supplying a stimulus having an awaking effect to the person when the level range determining part determines that the drowsiness level is in the second level range and the event determining part determines that the event detecting part detects the event. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A wakefulness maintaining apparatus, comprising:
-
a drowsiness level determining part for determining a drowsiness level of a person that changes in accordance with a strength of the drowsiness; and a stimulus supplying part for supplying a stimulus having an awaking effect to the person when the drowsiness level is higher than a predetermined value, wherein; the stimulus supplying part supplies no stimulus for a predetermined period since a last stimulus is supplied; the predetermined period is set to an increasing trend period when the drowsiness level is on an increasing trend and is set to a decreasing trend period when the drowsiness level is on a decreasing trend; and the increasing trend period is shorter than the decreasing trend period. - View Dependent Claims (10)
-
-
11. A method of maintaining a wakefulness of a person, comprising:
-
detecting an event related to a drowsiness, wherein the event includes at least one of an action, an appearance, and a biologic signal of the person, and a movement of a vehicle driven by the person; determining a drowsiness level that changes in accordance with a strength of the drowsiness; setting a first threshold value to divide the drowsiness level into a first level range and a second level range, wherein the first level range is equal to or lower than the first threshold value and the second level range is higher than the first threshold value; determining a level range of the drowsiness level; and generating a stimulus having an awaking effect when the drowsiness level is in the second level range and the event is detected. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
Specification