WO2006135990A1

WO2006135990A1 - Wellness system

Info

Publication number: WO2006135990A1
Application number: PCT/BE2006/000028
Authority: WO
Inventors: Philippe Haumann; Philippe Lange
Original assignee: Philippe Haumann; Philippe Lange
Priority date: 2005-03-31
Filing date: 2006-03-31
Publication date: 2006-12-28
Also published as: BE1016577A3

Abstract

The invention concerns a wellness system for relaxation, stress management or, generally, for the improvement of wellness of living beings including when they are awake or asleep. Said system comprises peripherals (6, 7 or 8) whereto the body and/or the senses of living beings are sensitive. The system and its peripherals can be switched on, switched off and controlled by preprogrammed sequences contained in a device for activating processes (3) and/or commands encoded in the audio signal emitted by an audio player (9). The audio player (9) may itself be equipped with a start-up or stand-by clock or, by default, started by the timer (1). A control knob (2) enables the timer (1) or the system operation to be manually controlled.

Description

Wellness system

Field of the invention

The invention relates to a system for providing wellbeing. This system consists of a set of modular devices including, for example, a light source.

State of the art

There are different systems designed to bring well-being or eliminate discomfort, both of which have repercussions on the physical or psychic level of living beings. If we take the example of the autumnal depression, there are glasses or helmets equipped with an intense light source which serves to fill the deficit of light which the human beings undergo during the seasons where the duration of the days is too short and The fact is that some people suffer from it at the psychic level to the point of having to use artificial light to find a certain balance. Other lighting systems have been developed to provide a relaxing atmosphere. Some also offer solutions to improve bedtime and sunrise. It can be seen that all these inventions, finds or products are aimed and limited in general to a particular point of malaise, but do not integrate a global perception of well-being and fulfill their functions according to immutable programs planned during their manufacture or with complicated settings, poor ergonomics and whose real efficiency may be questioned when these devices are not regulated by people competent in the field. Summary of the invention

The invention therefore aims to remedy this deficiency by proposing an integrated and modular system in an object which contains, on the one hand, generally unspecified peripherals to which the organism and / or the senses of living beings are sensitive, for example, an artificial light source and, on the other hand, a dynamic device for controlling these peripherals controlled by programs that can be modified and personalized without being fixed to those integrated during the manufacture of the system. Since these control programs can be communicated to the invention according to various means such as different physical media or remote communication means (radio, wired or wireless networks, etc.), it is possible for them to be developed by specialists. to ensure its effectiveness. In addition, where appropriate, the invention may be provided with a start-up mechanism or automatic standby. The invention generally aims to improve the welfare of living beings (humans, animals and plants) including effective intervention in relaxation or stress management. Another of its functions consists in waking or lulling living beings by respecting certain cycles of the organism which makes the subject benefit from a more restful sleep and a more stimulating and less aggressive synchronous awakening vis-à- vis of his organism. The invention can also create an atmosphere and an atmosphere that respects the physiological demands and needs of living beings and thus improves the functioning of their organism, for example, growth, in the case of plants. As peripherals, one or more light sources, one or more acoustic sources, one or more perfume diffusers, one or more air humidifiers, one or more heating systems can be used separately or, advantageously, jointly and synchronously. , one or more infrared ray emitters, one or more mechanisms using the sense of touch and / or taste (illustrative and non-exhaustive list).

The connection between the peripherals and the control system may be performed by cables or by means of wireless communication.

The dynamic control programs can be realized so as to simultaneously and synchronously control several copies of the invention. In this case, the embodiment of the invention that receives the control program will be declared as the master system of the configuration and the other systems will obey the orders that the master system sends them. The connection between the systems can be made by cables or wirelessly (energy waves of the radio frequency, infrared, etc. type).

A particular embodiment of the invention consists of a lamp equipped with a light source formed by one or more monochromatic LEDs or better still, polychromatic controlled by a device that drives them in their intensity, spectrometry, frequency modulation, modulation cycle and rhythm. A particular embodiment of this form of the invention consists in controlling the activation of the control device of the light source by an actuating device which acts as an alarm clock or an automatic standby. In addition to being able to create an atmosphere of relaxation or well-being, this particular form of the invention can also be used for waking and falling asleep. The light source or sources may advantageously have a spectrum similar to that of daylight.

Another particular embodiment of the invention consists of a lamp equipped with a light source whose spectrum is similar to that of daylight (generally called "solar spectrum lamp") managed by a device that controls it in its intensity. , spectrometry, frequency modulation, modulation cycle and rhythm. A particular embodiment of this other form of the invention consists in controlling the activation of the control device of the light source by an actuating device which acts as an alarm clock or an automatic standby. In addition to being able to create an atmosphere of relaxation or well-being, this form of the invention can also be used for waking and falling asleep.

A particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention consists in controlling the actuation device with a signal or a source of information encoded in sounds whose frequency is preferably in the spectrum of the audible, the music or the silence. Said sounds, music or silence can be read by any audio player that can reproduce sounds recorded on a medium or broadcast by electromagnetic waves or cable. In the present invention, therefore, it is necessary to interpret the term "audio player" in the broadest sense. It includes, for example, radio receivers, network communication devices, recorders, portable players as well as CD, DVD and other physical and immaterial media (illustrative and non-exhaustive list). Said sounds, music or silence can be provided in the form of computer data, encrypted or encoded according to any techniques. These communication, encryption and encoding techniques are not critics for the invention as long as they do not modify the audio information they process. The audio player used can itself have a start-up function and / or automatic standby at a certain time or be started by an alarm function (1) which would then be integrated into the lamp. Examples of audio sources that obviously come to mind are those of high fidelity soundtracks or portable music players.

A particular use of the invention would be to control the control device of the light source by a portable liquid music player (Liquid Music). The system then simply uses the electrical signal from the audio output (headphones, speakers) of the device that emits music (or silence) in which the control signal is encoded. These controls, synchronized with the music, are used by the system to manage its peripherals and create the desired wellness effects. In this particular use, the object benefiting from the invention will be equipped with outputs (not shown in the figure) for possibly connecting loudspeakers to broadcast music emitted by the sound source. Some of these audio players have an alarm function that can be exploited and therefore avoid the invention of an alarm function. With regard to the operation in wake-up mode, the device will act as follows: It will start to slowly turn on the light source so as to simulate an awakening by the sunrise. It will do the same at the level of other devices that it must control (sounds, fragrance diffusers, etc.). The duration of the wakeup phase is generally half an hour but may be adjusted according to the user either manually or via a self-learning function of the wake up time. She will be able to even be modulated according to user status information from sensors connected to the invention by cables or a wireless link.

If the user does not signal his awakening to the object of the invention, the latter will activate waking phases more and more stimulating to ensure with more certainty the awakening of the user.

An advantageous form of exploitation of the object of the invention makes it possible to ensure the alarm function of its user without any sound emission.

Brief description of the figure

Features and details of the invention will appear during the following description of the attached figure which shows the block diagram of a particular embodiment of the invention.

The form of the invention shown comprises: - a timer (1) whose function is to turn on or turn off the system automatically or to activate specific sequences that will be implemented by the activation device processes (3); - A control button (2) that allows you to set the system, turn it on or off manually, activate a chosen system process or, finally, change the duration of a process in progress; The process activation device (3) contains pre-established programs (set of processes) for performing the wake up functions, falling asleep or performing wellness programs such as light baths; The timer (1) initiates process commands to the process activation device (3) which controls the control sequences of the effects to be performed by the various system peripherals (6), (7) or (8); The effects commands sent by the process activation device (3) are processed by the peripheral adaptation device (4) which, as its name indicates, suitably adjusts the control commands. effects requested to control the peripherals (6), (7) or (8) of which the system is equipped;

The appropriate effects commands (control commands) are transmitted to the distributor (5), which will send the control command to the device concerned. The distributor (5) also performs another function, namely that of standardizing the device connections (bus system); Peripherals (6), (7) or (8) are devices to which the organism and / or the senses of living beings are sensitive. They can include one or more sensors or simply be sensors. The information collected by the sensors is sent to the process activation device (3) or the peripheral adaptation member (4) in order to adapt the effects that the peripherals produce compared to the other peripherals, to the environment, at the state of the system user or any event that needs to adapt the behavior of the system and its devices. A second way to control the system presented here is to do it via commands that have been encoded in sound (various sounds, music, silence). The encoding method used in the context of the invention ensures that this signal is little or not heard although its frequency is in the audible spectrum of the ear of man. The audio player (9) reproduces an audio stream whose extractor (10) transmits, at its output, only the control signal. The latter is then decoded by the decoder (11) which sends the commands to the activator processes (3) which supports them.

In this way of controlling the system, the start-up and management of the audio player (9) in reading mode can be performed by the timer

(1) or by the audio player (9) itself if it is equipped with its own alarm system (like many hi-fi channels at the moment).

Description of a particular embodiment

A concrete use of the embodiment of the invention described above may be to awaken a person in a natural way using the alarm function of his audio player (9). The user sets the time of his awakening and saves, in the audio player, the chosen time diminished, if necessary, the time necessary for its awakening by this method (the average duration is half an hour). He also chooses the musical program (CD, DVD or reading list for a portable player) that will accompany his wake up smoothly. It can then lie down and fall asleep with the advantageous possibility of being able to use the sleep function of the invention or its audio player which is not detailed in this example. At the set time, that is, in this case half an hour before the time of its rising, the audio player (9) starts in playback mode which thus sends, to the invention, the music program chosen by the user. The commands encoded in the music played are exploited by the invention which will then execute the control commands. An example of the various awakening processes may be to broadcast the music with a volume gradually increasing while gradually also lighting the device (6) having a solar spectrum light source. After half an hour (scheduled wake-up time), if the user is not awake, that is, if the user has not signaled his alarm to the system by an action on the control button (2), the system will react, for example, by varying the intensity of the light source according to a certain rhythm or by increasing the volume of the music played or by emitting a scent or a stimulating odor by means of the peripheral (7), etc. In an extreme example, if the user is waiting too long to wake up, the system could, for example, play a thundering cock song, emit a mist of cold water to the pillow or use other "energetic" or radicals' provided that it is equipped with the appropriate peripherals.

At the moment the user is fully awake, he will take care to signal it to the system by pressing the control button (2). This action will have two effects key. On the one hand, the system will stop the processes implemented to ensure the requested wake-up function and, on the other hand, the system will use this information to ensure its self-learning in order to be able to adapt to the functioning of the organization. its user whose, for example, the average duration of his awakening. It will also be possible for the user to signal the system to ignore a disturbed survey for one reason or another so that the system does not use the collected data for its self-learning in order to avoid distorting it. .

A particularly advantageous application of the invention can be exploited if the audio player which is linked to the system is provided with an audio recording function (for example a "liquid" music player / recorder). Indeed, the invention provides for recording all the parameters of a system - including and especially those of self-learning - in the form of an audio sequence that can be stored by the audio recorder-player. using its registration function. Conversely, the invention provides that if this type of audio sequence is read by an audio player and sent to a system, the latter will reset all its parameters to those that have been stored in said audio sequence produced during the phase described above. . Of course, access to these functions for saving (saving) the parameters and reinstalling (reading) them from a system is protected in order to respect the privacy of the users. Amongst other things, there is a procedure that allows you to erase the custom parameters of a system by resetting them to factory default or preprogrammed parameters. In some cases, for example for systems installed in places of hotels, for example), saving system settings will automatically reset the system to factory default or preprogrammed settings. Conversely, for private systems, it will not be possible to impose the change of the system parameters by reading an audio sequence other than that of its owner without an identification procedure. This protection is provided to prevent the accidental erasure of a user's settings.

Claims

A welfare system comprising - at least one extractor (10) and a decoder (11) connected to a process activator (3) provided with a control button (2). The process activator (3) is connected to a distributor (5) via and a peripheral adapter (4);

at least one device (6), (7) or (8) whose effects are perceptible by the organism and / or the senses of living beings, characterized in that it can be switched on, stopped and controlled by a signal encoded in sounds, music or silence reproduced by an audio player (9) and that said control signal contained in said sounds, music or silence transmitted by the audio player (9) is obtained by its extraction of the transmitted stream by the audio player (9) by means of the extraction device (10) to be subsequently decoded by the decoder device (11) to be finally used by the process activation device (3). This system of well-being is also characterized by the fact that the signal of the encoded commands is not or very little understood even if its frequency is in the audible spectrum of the human ear.

2. Well-being system according to claim 1 characterized in that it dynamically animates different peripherals (β), (7) and / or (8) according to the commands encoded in the audio stream of the audio player (9). ) and / or according to programs pre - recorded contents in the process activation device (3).

3. Well-being system according to claims 1 to 2 characterized in that the sounds, music or silence that contain the encoded control signal can be provided on a physical medium or broadcast by electromagnetic waves or cable and in form computer data, encrypted or encoded according to any techniques that do not modify the audio information they process.

4. A well-being system according to claim 1 to 3, characterized in that the audio player (9) can be chosen from any device for reading and restoring the sounds, music or silence provided in the form of computer data, encrypted or encoded by any techniques that do not alter the audio information they process.

5. Well-being system according to claims 1 to 4, characterized in that several systems can be wired or wireless network and are controlled synchronously by one of the systems of said network which then becomes the master system of the network .

6. A welfare system according to claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the control signal encoded in the audio signal can contain commands capable of distinctly driving networked systems via the master system of the network.

7. A welfare system according to claims 1 to 6 characterized in that the peripherals (6), (7) and / or (8) can be sensors or comprising sensors for sending a signal to the process activation device (3) and the device adaptation member (4) to adapt the effects that said peripherals produce relative to the other peripherals, to the environment, the state of the user or any event that requires an adaptation of the behavior of the system and its peripherals.

8. Well-being system according to claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the device (6), (7) or (8) dynamically activated according to a particular process can be chosen from traditional artificial light sources (halogen lamps at low or high temperature, incandescent lamps, cold-light lamps, fluorescent tubes).

9. A welfare system according to claims 1 to 7 characterized in that the device (6), (7) or (8) dynamically activated according to a particular process can be selected from light sources composed of one or more Monochrome LEDs of one or more colors.

10. A welfare system according to claims 1 to 7 characterized in that the device (6), (7) or (8) dynamically activated according to a particular process can be selected from light sources composed of one or more Polychromatic LEDs.

11. A welfare system according to claims 1 to 7 characterized in that the device (6), (7) or (8) dynamically activated according to a particular process can be selected from light sources composed of one or more lamps emitting artificial light to "solar spectrum".

12. A welfare system according to claims 1 to 7 characterized in that the device (6), (7) or (8) dynamically activated according to a particular process can be selected from sources of sound, music or devices of percussion.

13. Well-being system according to claims 1 to 4 characterized in that the device (6), (7) or (8) activated dynamically according to a particular process can be chosen from gas diffusers, perfumes or odors.

14. Well-being system according to claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the device (6), (7) or (8) dynamically activated according to a particular process can be chosen from the odor absorbers.

15. Well-being system according to claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the device (6), (7) or (8) dynamically activated according to a particular process can be chosen from air humidifiers.

16. Well-being system according to claims 1 to 7 characterized in that the device (6), (7) or (8) dynamically activated according to a particular process can be selected from heating systems.

17. Well-being system according to claims 1 to 7 characterized in that the device (6), (7) or (8) dynamically activated according to a particular process can be selected from air blower systems.

18. Well-being system according to claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the device (6), (7) or (8) dynamically activated according to a particular process can be chosen from infrared sources.

19. Well-being system according to claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the device (6), (7) or (8) dynamically activated according to a particular process can be chosen from ultraviolet ray sources.

20. Well-being system according to claims 1 to 7 characterized in that the device (β), (7) or (8) dynamically activated according to a particular process can be selected from devices that can emit diffusions, projections, jets or mists of liquids.

21. Well-being system according to claims 1 to 7 characterized in that the device (β), (7) or (8) dynamically activated according to a particular process can be selected from mechanisms using the sense of touch and or taste.

22. Well-being system according to claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the control button (2) can extend or decrease the duration of the current process or control the system manually.

23. Well-being system according to claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the timer (1) is capable of switching on the playback mode of the audio player (9).

24. Well-being system according to claims 1 to 7, characterized in that certain functions, including that of the alarm clock, benefit from a self-learning method in order to adapt automatically to their user but also to improve their effects.

25. Well-being system according to claims 1 to 7, characterized in that it is possible to save or save the customized parameters of a system and to be able to restore them in this system or in another, these functions being protected by security procedures to respect the privacy of users and avoid accidental erasure of these custom settings.

26. Well-being system according to claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the system can be triggered or stopped automatically by the timer (1) at a time previously imposed by the user or immediately with the help of the button. command (2).

Well-being system according to claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the encoded commands in the audio stream of the audio player (9) consist of pre-programs which can be recorded in the process activation device (3). ) and used on command or autonomously by the latter.