JP7635013B2 - Audio Output System - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an audio output system equipped with an audio output unit that outputs audio.

In such an audio output system, when an event occurs that requires audio data to be output, the audio data corresponding to the event is output to the audio output unit, and the audio output unit outputs the audio of the audio data, thereby communicating the content of the event that occurred to the user (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2020-155956 A

When the audio output unit outputs audio, the audio output state, such as the volume and speed of the audio output, is set in advance, and the audio output is performed in the set audio output state. However, audio output by the audio output unit may occur at a timing not intended by the user, such as when an event occurs. Therefore, simply outputting audio from the audio output unit may result in the user missing the audio output, and the content of the event not being conveyed to the user.

In view of this situation, the main objective of the present invention is to provide an audio output system that can appropriately convey event content to users.

A first characteristic configuration of the present invention is a voice output unit that outputs voice,
a control unit that performs audio output control to operate the audio output unit so as to output audio corresponding to an event that requires the audio output unit to output audio data;
a confirmation operation determination unit that determines whether or not a confirmation operation for confirming the content of the audio output in the audio output control has been performed after the audio output control has been performed;
The device is provided with an audio output state change setting unit which, when the confirmation operation determination unit determines that a confirmation operation has been performed, changes and sets the audio output state of the audio output unit in subsequent audio output control.

When the control unit performs audio output control and audio output corresponding to an event is performed, if the user misses the audio output, a confirmation operation is performed to confirm the content of the audio output in the audio output control. Therefore, according to this configuration, when the confirmation operation determination unit determines that the confirmation operation has been performed, the audio output state change setting unit can change and set the audio output state of the audio output unit in the audio output control after the confirmation operation has been performed, for example, by increasing the volume of the audio output after the confirmation operation has been performed or slowing down the speed of the audio output after the confirmation operation has been performed. As a result, in the audio output control after the confirmation operation has been performed, the audio output is easier for the user to hear, and the user is less likely to miss the audio output, making it possible to properly convey the content of the event to the user.

The second characteristic feature of the present invention is that the audio output state change setting unit is configured to change and set the audio output state to an increased volume when the confirmation operation determination unit determines that a confirmation operation has been performed.

According to this configuration, the volume of the audio output is increased in the audio output control after the confirmation operation is performed, making it easier for the user to hear the audio output and appropriately reducing the risk of missing the audio output.

The third characteristic feature of the present invention is that the audio output state change setting unit is configured to change the audio output state to slow down the audio output speed if the confirmation action determination unit determines that a confirmation action has been performed again even if the audio output volume has been increased.

Even if the volume of the audio output is increased in the audio output control after the confirmation action has been performed, if the user misses it, the user will have to perform the confirmation action again. Therefore, with this configuration, even if the volume of the audio output is changed and set to increase, if the confirmation action determination unit determines that the confirmation action has been performed again, the audio output state change setting unit changes and sets the audio output state to slow down the speed of the audio output. As a result, first the volume of the audio output is changed and set to increase, and then the speed of the audio output is changed and set to slow down, so that different items in the audio output state are changed sequentially, appropriately preventing the user from missing something, and the event content can be more reliably conveyed to the user.

The fourth characteristic feature of the present invention is that the audio output state change setting unit is configured to change and set the number of audio outputs to an increased value as the audio output state when the confirmation operation determination unit determines that a confirmation operation has been performed.

According to this configuration, the number of audio outputs is increased in the audio output control after the confirmation operation is performed, making it easier for the user to hear the audio output and appropriately reducing the risk of missing the audio output.

In a fifth characteristic configuration of the present invention, the control unit, in the audio output control, performs a main notification for notifying the user of event contents and a prior notification for notifying the user in advance that the main notification will be performed;
The audio output state change setting unit is configured to change and set the audio output state in advance notification in subsequent audio output control when the confirmation operation determination unit determines that a confirmation operation has been performed.

According to this configuration, the control unit issues not only a main notification but also a pre-notification in the audio output control, so that the pre-notification makes it easier for the user to recognize that a main notification will be issued later, and makes it easier for the user to hear the contents of the main notification. Furthermore, when the confirmation operation determination unit determines that a confirmation operation has been performed, the audio output state change setting unit can change the audio output state for the pre-notification in the audio output control after the confirmation operation has been performed, for example, by lengthening the time for the pre-notification or changing the contents of the audio output in the pre-notification. This makes it easier for the user to hear the pre-notification and can more reliably hear the subsequent main notification, so that the event contents can be properly conveyed to the user.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall schematic configuration of an audio output system. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an alarm device. 1 is a flowchart showing the operation of the audio output system. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a state of audio output by audio output control in the third embodiment;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a voice output system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
This voice output system communicates various types of information, such as weather information and disaster prevention information, to users by outputting the voice data corresponding to the event when an event occurs that requires the output of voice data such as disaster prevention information and weather information.

First Embodiment
As shown in FIG. 1, this audio output system 100 is configured using an alarm device 1 installed in a facility such as a user's home, and as shown in FIG. 2, the alarm device 1 is equipped with an audio output unit 18 to notify the user in the facility such as the home of the content of an event.

As shown in FIG. 1, the audio output system 100 includes, in addition to an alarm device 1, a terminal device 2 such as a smartphone that allows a user to perform various settings and operations, a server device 3 that performs various controls and communications, and an external device 4 that notifies users of the occurrence of events, etc. Each of the alarm device 1, the terminal device 2, and the external device 4 is configured to be able to freely communicate various information with the server device 3 via an information and communications network 5 such as the Internet.

As shown in FIG. 2, the alarm device 1 is disposed on the ceiling 12 or a wall on the ceiling 12 side, with the indoor space between the floor 11 and the ceiling 12 as the detection area 13. The alarm device 1 includes a monitoring sensor unit 14, a human detection unit 15, a temperature and humidity sensor unit 16, a display unit 17, an audio output unit 18, a device-side control unit 19, a device-side memory unit 20, a device-side communication unit 21, etc.

The device-side memory unit 20 stores various information for activating the alarm device 1, and the device-side control unit 19 controls the operating state of the alarm device 1 using the various information stored in the device-side memory unit 20. The device-side control unit 19 is configured to be able to transmit and receive various information to and from the server device 3 by wired or wireless communication via the device-side communication unit 21.

The monitoring sensor unit 14 is equipped with various sensors, such as a gas leak monitoring sensor, a CO (carbon monoxide) monitoring sensor, and a fire monitoring sensor, and the device-side control unit 19 monitors for gas leaks, abnormal CO concentrations, and the occurrence of a fire, etc., based on the detection information from these sensors.

For example, when the concentration of the target gas detected by the gas leak monitoring sensor exceeds a set value, the device-side control unit 19 determines that there is a gas leak and issues a gas leak alarm by displaying on the display unit 17 or outputting a voice by the voice output unit 18. When the CO concentration detected by the CO monitoring sensor exceeds a set value, the device-side control unit 19 determines that there is an abnormal CO concentration and issues an alarm by displaying on the display unit 17 or outputting a voice by the voice output unit 18. When the fire monitoring sensor detects smoke or heat caused by a fire, the device-side control unit 19 determines that there is a fire and issues a fire alarm by displaying on the display unit 17 or outputting a voice by the voice output unit 18.

The temperature and humidity sensor unit 16 detects the temperature and humidity of an indoor space, such as a kitchen, that includes the detection area 13. The display unit 17 has lamps and LEDs and is configured as a display device capable of displaying text information, etc. The audio output unit 18 is configured, for example, as a speaker, and is configured to be able to output various types of audio data.

As shown in FIG. 1, the server device 3 is equipped with a server-side control unit 41, a server-side memory unit 42, a server-side communication unit 43, etc. Various information is stored in the server-side memory unit 42, and the server-side control unit 41 controls the operating state of the server device 3 using the various information stored in the server-side memory unit 42. The server-side control unit 41 is configured to be capable of transmitting and receiving various information to and from the alarm device 1 and the external device 4 by wired communication or wireless communication via the server-side communication unit 43.

The external device 4 is configured to notify the server device 3 of the occurrence of an external event, such as disaster prevention information or weather information. For example, in the case of disaster prevention information, the external device 4 notifies the server device 3 of disaster prevention information such as "earthquake occurred", assuming that the event occurred when an earthquake occurred. In addition, in the case of weather information, the external device 4 notifies the server device 3 of the updated weather forecast (for example, "Today's weather is sunny"), assuming that the event occurred when the weather forecast was updated.

When the server device 3 receives a notification from the external device 4 that an event has occurred, the server-side control unit 41 retrieves the audio data corresponding to the event from the server-side storage unit 42 and transmits the retrieved audio data to the alarm device 1. As a result, in the alarm device 1, the device-side control unit 19 outputs the audio data transmitted from the server device 3 through the audio output unit 18, thereby communicating the content of the event to the user.

For example, when an earthquake occurs, the external device 4 notifies the server device 3 that an earthquake has occurred, and the server-side control unit 41 obtains voice data corresponding to the occurrence of the earthquake (voice data such as "earthquake has occurred") from the server-side memory unit 42 and transmits the voice data to the warning device 1. In the warning device 1, the device-side control unit 19 outputs the voice data such as "earthquake has occurred" transmitted from the server device 3 through the voice output unit 18, thereby notifying the user that an earthquake has occurred.

In addition, when the weather forecast is updated, the external device 4 notifies the server device 3 that the weather forecast has been updated, and the server-side control unit 41 obtains voice data corresponding to the updated weather forecast from the server-side memory unit 42 (voice data such as "Today's weather is sunny") and transmits the voice data to the alarm device 1. In the alarm device 1, the device-side control unit 19 outputs the voice data such as "Today's weather is sunny" transmitted from the server device 3 through the voice output unit 18, thereby communicating the updated weather forecast to the user.

In this way, in the audio output system 100, when an event occurs externally, the server-side control unit 41, the device-side control unit 19, and other control units communicate information corresponding to the event in the following order: external device 4 → server device 3 → warning device 1, and audio output control is performed such that audio data corresponding to the event is output from the audio output unit 18. For example, the weather information is not limited to a weather forecast, and it is also possible to output a voice message saying "approaching rain clouds" when rain clouds approach, or a voice message saying "weather warning issued" when a weather warning is issued.

Event content in audio output control is not limited to disaster prevention information or weather information. For example, when news is updated, audio data corresponding to the news can be output, or when traffic information is updated, audio data corresponding to the traffic information can be output. Various types of event content can be applied.

In this audio output system 100, not only when an event occurs outside the facility, but also when an event occurs inside the facility, a control unit such as the device-side control unit 19 performs audio output control to output audio data corresponding to the event from the audio output unit 18. Since the audio output system 100 uses an alarm device 1 that monitors monitored events such as gas leaks, abnormal CO concentrations, and fires, when the alarm device 1 detects a monitored event such as a gas leak, abnormal CO concentrations, or fire, an event is deemed to have occurred, and audio data corresponding to the monitored event is output by the audio output unit 18.

2, when the device-side control unit 19 detects the occurrence of a gas leak based on the detection information of the monitoring sensor unit 14, it determines that an event has occurred, acquires voice data corresponding to the gas leak, such as "gas leak occurred", from the device-side memory unit 20, and outputs the voice data corresponding to the gas leak, such as "gas leak occurred", as voice at the voice output unit 18. In addition, when the device-side control unit 19 detects an abnormality in CO concentration or the occurrence of a fire, it acquires voice data corresponding to the abnormality from the device-side memory unit 20, and outputs the acquired voice data as voice at the voice output unit 18.

The alarm device 1 is equipped with not only the monitoring sensor unit 14, but also a temperature and humidity sensor unit 16 that detects the temperature and humidity of the indoor space including the detection area 13. Based on the detection information of the temperature and humidity sensor unit 16, the device-side control unit 19 determines whether the temperature and humidity of the indoor space has risen and there is a possibility of heat stroke or the like occurring, and whether the humidity of the indoor space has dropped and become dry, and whether the temperature and humidity environment of the indoor space is in an abnormal state.

When the device-side control unit 19 determines that the temperature and humidity environment in the indoor space is in an abnormal state, it acquires voice data corresponding to the temperature and humidity environment being in an abnormal state from the device-side memory unit 20, and outputs the acquired voice data by voice at the voice output unit 18. At this time, the voice data corresponding to the temperature and humidity environment being in an abnormal state can be voice data such as "Caution: Heatstroke" when there is a possibility of heatstroke or the like occurring, and voice data such as "Caution: Dryness" when the state is dry.

For example, voice data of a standard phrase such as "Today is garbage day" can be stored in the server-side memory unit 42 or the device-side memory unit 20, and the date and time for outputting the voice data of the standard phrase can be set. This allows a control unit such as the server-side control unit 41 or the device-side control unit 19 to perform voice output control at the set date and time to output the voice data of the standard phrase such as "Today is garbage day" from the voice output unit 18, assuming that an event has occurred.

The occurrence of an event is a prerequisite for the audio output system 100 to perform audio output control, but the date, time, and time period during which audio output control can be executed can also be set appropriately by the user operating the terminal device 2.

Events may not occur at the timing intended by the user, and it may be difficult for the audio output system 100 to convey the content of the event to the user simply by controlling the audio output in response to the occurrence of the event. Therefore, the audio output system 100 is configured to first confirm that a person is present in the detection area 13, and then control the audio output in response to the occurrence of the event.

The audio output system 100 is equipped with a human presence detection unit 15 (corresponding to an object detection device) capable of detecting whether or not a person is present in the detection area 13 in order to confirm whether or not a person is present in the detection area 13.

In this way, in the audio output system 100, when an event occurs and the human detection unit 15 detects the presence of a person in the detection area 13, the server-side control unit 41, the device-side control unit 19, and other control units perform audio output control to output audio data corresponding to the event from the audio output unit 18. Furthermore, when an event occurs, audio output control is only performed the first time that the human detection unit 15 confirms that a person is in the detection area 13, and thereafter, even if the human detection unit 15 confirms that a person is in the detection area 13, audio output control is not performed.

The human presence detection unit 15 detects whether or not a person is present in a detection area 13, such as a kitchen. The human presence detection unit 15 includes an infrared light projection unit 31 that projects infrared rays toward the detection area 13, an infrared detection unit 32 that detects infrared rays incident from the direction of the detection area 13, and an apparatus-side control unit 19 that determines whether or not a person is present in the detection area 13 based on the detection information from the infrared detection unit 32.

The infrared projection unit 31 is equipped with a light-emitting element capable of projecting infrared rays, and an optical lens capable of adjusting the irradiation range and irradiation angle of the infrared rays projected from the light-emitting element. The infrared detection unit 32 is equipped with a photoelectric conversion element that is sensitive to infrared rays and can output an electrical signal according to the intensity of the received infrared rays. The device-side control unit 19 compares the detection value output from the infrared detection unit 32 with a threshold value to determine whether or not a person is present in the detection area 13.

When there is no object such as a person in the detection area 13, the infrared light projected from the infrared light projector 31 is reflected by the floor 11 around the detection area 13 and is detected by the infrared light detector 32. Therefore, the detection value of the infrared light detected by the infrared light detector 32 is approximately constant. On the other hand, when there is an object such as a person in the detection area 13, the infrared light projected from the infrared light projector 31 is reflected by the object such as a person in the detection area 13 and is detected by the infrared light detector 32. Therefore, the intensity of the infrared light detected by the infrared light detector 32 increases, and the detection value of the infrared light detected by the infrared light detector 32 also increases. Therefore, the device-side control unit 19 captures how the detection value of the infrared light detected by the infrared light detector 32 is changing, and when the detection value of the infrared light detected by the infrared light detector 32 becomes larger than the threshold value, it determines that a person is present in the detection area 13.

Incidentally, the infrared detection unit 32 repeatedly performs a detection operation for the presence or absence of a person based on the detection value of the infrared detection unit 32 at a set period (e.g., 1 second), and when it detects the presence of a person a set number of times (e.g., 3 times) in succession, it determines that a person is present and outputs the determined value to the server device 3, etc. Also, when the infrared detection unit 32 does not detect the presence of a person for a set period of time (e.g., 1 minute) in succession, it determines that a person is not present and outputs the determined value to the server device 3, etc.

When the audio output system 100 controls the audio output, the audio output state, such as the volume and speed of the audio output, is set in advance, and audio is output in the set audio output state. However, since the user may miss the audio output, measures have been taken to prevent this.

When the audio output system 100 performs audio output control to output an audio corresponding to an event, if the user misses the audio output, a confirmation operation is performed to confirm the content of the audio output in the audio output control. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, in the audio output system 100, the server-side control unit 41 is provided with a confirmation operation determination unit 61 that determines whether or not a confirmation operation has been performed, and an audio output state change setting unit 62 that can change and set the audio output state.

The confirmation operation determination unit 61 determines whether or not a confirmation operation for confirming the contents of the audio output in the audio output control has been performed before a set time (e.g., about 5 minutes) has elapsed since the audio output control was performed. Regarding the confirmation operation, for example, the user operates the terminal device 2 to perform an operation of viewing a history screen showing the contents of the audio output obtained from the server device 3, and therefore the operation of viewing this history screen is regarded as the confirmation operation.

When viewing the history screen, a request to view the history screen is generated from the terminal device 2, and based on that request, the server-side control unit 41 reads out the history information stored in the server-side memory unit 42 and transmits it to the terminal device 2. The terminal device 2 then displays the transmitted history information on the display unit, allowing the user to view the history screen.

When controlling the audio output, if an event occurs outside, the server-side control unit 41, upon receiving a notification of the event occurrence from the external device 4, knows the content of what event occurred and what audio data was output as audio. Also, if an event occurs inside the facility, the device-side control unit 19 knows the content of what event occurred and what audio data was output as audio, and communicates information about that content to the server device 3. Therefore, the server-side control unit 41 knows the content of what event occurred and what audio data was output as audio for both events that occurred outside and events that occurred inside the facility.

The confirmation operation determination unit 61 does not simply count the number of times the history screen is viewed, but tallys up the number of times the history screen is viewed separately for each content, such as event details and audio data, based on information known by the server-side control unit 41. The confirmation operation determination unit 61 does not determine that a confirmation operation has been performed even if the number of times the history screen is viewed consecutively for different content exceeds a set number (for example, twice), but determines that a confirmation operation has been performed if the number of times the history screen is viewed consecutively for the same content exceeds the set number.

For example, when the weather forecast is updated, audio data corresponding to the updated weather forecast is output as audio. When the history screen is viewed at this time, the number of times the content of the event that the weather forecast was updated is viewed is counted up. The next time an event other than the weather forecast occurs, audio data corresponding to that event content is output as audio, and even if the history screen is viewed again, the content of the event content is different, so the confirmation operation determination unit 61 does not determine that a confirmation operation has been performed.

In contrast, when the next event of the same content, that is, the weather forecast being updated, occurs, audio data corresponding to the updated weather forecast is output as audio, and then the history screen is viewed again. The number of times the history screen for the same content of the event content, that is, the weather forecast being updated, is viewed consecutively exceeds the set number, and the confirmation operation determination unit 61 determines that a confirmation operation has been performed.

When the confirmation operation determination unit 61 determines that a confirmation operation has been performed, the audio output state change setting unit 62 changes and sets the audio output state of the audio output unit 18 in the audio output control thereafter. As an initial state for the audio output state is set in advance and stored in the server-side storage unit 42, the audio output state change setting unit 62 updates the initial state stored in the server-side storage unit 42 to the changed state that has been changed and stores the updated changed state in the server-side storage unit 42.

Here, the same audio output state is not set for all event contents as the initial state, but different audio output states are set as the initial state depending on the event content. For example, for the volume of audio output, a high volume (e.g., 70 dB) is set as the initial state for event contents such as gas leaks and abnormal CO concentrations, a medium volume (e.g., 66 dB) is set as the initial state for event contents requiring emergencies such as earthquakes and evacuation orders, and a low volume (e.g., 63 dB) is set as the initial state for other event contents.

The audio output state change setting unit 62 is configured to first change and set the audio output state to an increased volume of the audio output, and if the confirmation operation determination unit 61 determines that a confirmation operation has been performed again even after the audio output volume has been changed and set to an increased volume, the audio output state is changed and set to a slower speed of the audio output. In this way, by first changing and setting the audio output volume to an increased volume and then changing and setting the audio output speed to a slower speed, different items in the audio output state are changed sequentially, appropriately preventing the user from missing something.

The operation of the audio output system 100 will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
When an event occurs and the human presence detection unit 15 detects the presence of a person in the detection area 13, the audio output system 100 determines whether or not there is a setting to change the audio output state (if Yes in step #1, if Yes in step #2, step #3).

If there is no change setting for the audio output state, audio output control is performed with the preset initial state as the audio output state (if No in step #3, step #4). Conversely, if there is a change setting for the audio output state, audio output control is performed with the changed state as the audio output state (if Yes in step #3, step #5).

The audio output state is stored in the server-side storage unit 42 whether it is an initial state where no change has been made to the audio output state or a changed state where a change has been made to the audio output state. Therefore, when controlling the audio output, the server-side control unit 41 reads out the initial state or changed state stored in the server-side storage unit 42, associates it with the audio data and transmits it to the alarm device 1, and the device-side control unit 19 sets the initial state or changed state associated with the audio data as the audio output state and outputs audio from the audio output unit 18.

The audio output system 100 prohibits the execution of audio output control when the human presence detection unit 15 does not detect the presence of a person in the detection area 13 (if No in step #2, step #6).

The confirmation operation determination unit 61 determines whether or not a confirmation operation has been performed before a set time (e.g., about 5 minutes) has elapsed after performing audio output control (step #7). When the confirmation operation determination unit 61 determines that a confirmation operation has been performed, if the volume of the audio output has not been changed, the audio output state change setting unit 62 changes the volume of the audio output to the increased side by a set amount as the audio output state (if Yes in step #7, if No in step #8, step #9). At this time, the audio output state change setting unit 62 stores in the server-side storage unit 42 the changed state in which the volume of the audio output has been changed to the increased side by a set amount for the audio output state.

When the confirmation operation determination unit 61 determines that a confirmation operation has been performed, if the volume of the audio output has been changed, the audio output state change setting unit 62 changes the audio output state to slow down the speed of the audio output by the set speed (if Yes in step #7, if Yes in step #8, step #10). At this time, the audio output state change setting unit 62 has already changed the volume of the audio output to increase by the set amount, so stores in the server-side storage unit 42 the changed state in which the volume of the audio output has been increased by the set amount and the speed of the audio output has been slowed down by the set speed.

In this way, when an event occurs, the audio output system 100 can use the human presence detection unit 15 to confirm that a person is present in the detection area 13, and then use control units such as the server-side control unit 41 and the device-side control unit 19 to execute audio output control to output audio data corresponding to the content of the event.

However, there are various types of event content, and some event content should be output as audio by the audio output unit 18 regardless of whether or not a person is present in the detection area 13. Therefore, for all event content, it is not necessary to uniformly output audio only after confirming that a person is present in the detection area 13, and this may actually cause inconvenience.

Therefore, the system is set in advance to classify events into those that should be output as audio only after it is confirmed that a person is in the detection area 13, and those that should be output as audio regardless of whether a person is in the detection area 13. For example, disaster prevention information, weather warnings, and other highly urgent information that needs to be communicated to the user quickly can be set as information that should be output as audio regardless of whether a person is in the detection area 13, and weather forecasts and other less urgent information that needs to be communicated to the user can be set as information that should be output as audio only after it is confirmed that a person is in the detection area 13.

In addition, since different initial states are set for the audio output state depending on the event content, the event content for which the audio output state is to be changed can be set in advance by the audio output state change setting unit 62. For example, for event content such as a gas leak or an abnormal CO concentration, a loud volume (e.g., 70 dB) is set as the initial setting, so that the audio output state change setting unit 62 is prohibited from changing the audio output state for the event content of a gas leak, an abnormal CO concentration, or a fire, and the audio output state change setting unit 62 can be set to change the audio output state for other event contents.

Second Embodiment
The second embodiment is another embodiment regarding the audio output state changed and set by the audio output state change setting unit 62. The following description will focus on the audio output state changed and set by the audio output state change setting unit 62 in the second embodiment, but other configurations are similar to those in the first embodiment, so that the same reference numerals are used to denote the same components and the description thereof will be omitted.

In the first embodiment, when the confirmation operation determination unit 61 determines that a confirmation operation has been performed, the audio output state change setting unit 62 first changes the audio output state to an increased volume, and when the confirmation operation determination unit 61 determines again that a confirmation operation has been performed even after the audio output volume has been increased, the audio output state is changed to a slower audio output speed.

In contrast, in this second embodiment, when the confirmation operation determination unit 61 determines that a confirmation operation has been performed, the audio output state change setting unit 62 changes and sets the number of audio outputs to the increased side by a set number of times (e.g., two times) as the audio output state. For example, if an event occurs at the timing of an earthquake and audio output control is performed to convey disaster prevention information such as "earthquake has occurred" to the user, the audio output state change setting unit 62 changes and sets the audio output state so that the audio data such as "earthquake has occurred" is increased by a set number of times (e.g., two times).

Third Embodiment
Like the second embodiment, the third embodiment is also another embodiment regarding the audio output state changed and set by the audio output state change setting unit 62. The following description will focus on the audio output state changed and set by the audio output state change setting unit 62 in the third embodiment, but since the other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted by using the same reference numerals, etc.

In the first embodiment, when an event occurs, the server-side control unit 41, the device-side control unit 19, and other control units perform audio output control to output audio data corresponding to the event from the audio output unit 18. In the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the server-side control unit 41, the device-side control unit 19, and other control units perform audio output control to output a main notification that notifies the user of the event content and a pre-notification that notifies the user in advance that the main notification will be made. When audio output control is executed to output audio from the audio output unit 18, a person in the detection area 13 will hear the pre-notification and then the main notification, so that the pre-notification makes it easier for the person to recognize that a main notification will be made later and makes it easier for the person to hear the content of the main notification.

The advance notification can be, for example, a title call or jingle sound indicating the contents of the event, and the main notification can be, for example, a statement indicating the contents of the event (e.g., "An earthquake has occurred" or "Today's weather is sunny"),

In this third embodiment, when the confirmation operation determination unit 61 determines that a confirmation operation has been performed, the audio output state change setting unit 62 changes and sets the audio output state in advance notification in subsequent audio output control. The audio output state change setting unit 62 can change and set the audio output state in advance notification by various methods, such as slowing down the speed of audio output in advance notification, lengthening the time of advance notification by a set time, or increasing the number of advance notifications by a set number.

[Another embodiment]
Other embodiments of the present invention will be described below. Note that the configurations of the embodiments described below are not limited to being applied alone, but may also be applied in combination with the configurations of other embodiments.

(1) In the first embodiment, when the audio output state change setting unit 62 changes and sets the audio output state, first, the volume of the audio output is increased, and then the speed of the audio output is slowed down. However, the priority order of which of multiple items such as volume and speed is given priority in the audio output state, and the number of times the change setting is repeated, can be changed as appropriate.

For example, the volume of the audio output can be increased a set number of times (e.g., twice) and then the speed of the audio output can be slowed down, or the speed of the audio output can be slowed down first and then the volume of the audio output can be increased.

(2) In the above embodiment, the audio output system 100 is configured using an alarm device 1, but it is not limited to the alarm device 1, and any device that includes an audio output device having an audio output unit 18 may be used, and the type of device used can be changed as appropriate.

(3) In the above embodiment, a server device 3 is provided, but the server device 3 can be omitted, for example, by providing the device-side control unit 19 or the like with various functions of the server-side control unit 41.

(4) In the above embodiment, the confirmation action is viewing the history screen, but various actions can be applied as long as the action is for the user to confirm the event contents.

18 Audio output unit 19 Device side control unit (control unit)
41 Server side control unit (control unit)
61: confirmation operation determination unit 62: audio output state change setting unit 100: audio output system

Claims (5)

an audio output unit that outputs audio;
a control unit that performs audio output control to operate the audio output unit so as to output audio corresponding to an event that requires the audio output unit to output audio data;
a confirmation operation determination unit that determines whether or not a confirmation operation for confirming the content of the audio output in the audio output control has been performed after the audio output control has been performed;
and an audio output state change setting unit which, when it is determined by the confirmation operation determination unit that the confirmation operation has been performed , changes and sets the audio output state of the audio output unit in the subsequent audio output control to at least one of increasing the volume of the audio output, slowing down the speed of the audio output, or increasing the number of times the audio is output ,
The confirmation operation determination unit is an audio output system that tallyes the number of times a confirmation operation is performed to confirm the content of the audio output in the audio output control after the audio output control is performed, separated by content of the event content, and determines that a confirmation operation has been performed if the number of times the confirmation operation is performed for the same content reaches or exceeds a set number . The audio output system according to claim 1, wherein the audio output state change setting unit is configured to change and set the volume of the audio output to an increased level as the audio output state when the confirmation operation determination unit determines that a confirmation operation has been performed. The audio output system according to claim 2, wherein the audio output state change setting unit is configured to change the audio output state to slow down the speed of the audio output when the confirmation action determination unit determines that a confirmation action has been performed again even if the volume of the audio output has been increased. The audio output system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the audio output state change setting unit is configured to change and set the number of audio outputs to an increased value as the audio output state when the confirmation operation determination unit determines that a confirmation operation has been performed. The control unit, in the audio output control, performs a main notification for notifying the user of an event content and a prior notification for notifying the user in advance that the main notification will be performed;
The audio output system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the audio output state change setting unit is configured to change and set the audio output state in advance notification in subsequent audio output control when the confirmation operation determination unit determines that a confirmation operation has been performed.

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