An information processing system includes: a state determiner that determines a state of an animal using a captured image of the animal; a feeling determiner that determines a feeling of the animal corresponding to the state of the animal determined by the state determiner, on the basis of a notification wording DB indicating a relationship between the state and the feeling of the animal; and a notification processor that notifies user terminal 4 of a wording indicating the feeling of the animal determined by the feeling determiner.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is entitled to claim the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-070551, filed on Apr. 2, 2019, the disclosure of which including the specification, drawings and abstract is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to an information processing apparatus and an information processing method.

BACKGROUND ART

Recently, a mechanism for deepening the relationship between an owner and a pet has been provided. Patent Literature (hereinafter, referred to as “PTL”) 1 discloses a mechanism in which the state of a pet, such as a behavior, feeling, and health of the pet is determined using data detected by a sensor apparatus worn by the pet, an utterance of the pet corresponding to the determined state of the pet is obtained from an utterance DataBase (DB), and the utterance is transmitted to a specific user on an interactive SNS.

CITATION LIST

Patent Literature

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Technical Problem

However, the mechanism for which pets are to wear the sensor apparatus is stressful for the pets. In addition, this mechanism is expensive for the owner because the number of sensor apparatuses increases as the number of pets increases.

Non-limiting examples of the present disclosure contribute to providing a technique for determining the state of a pet without any sensor apparatus worn by the pet.

Solution to Problem

An information processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes: a state determiner that determines a state of an animal using a captured image of the animal; an feeling determiner that determines an feeling of the animal corresponding to the state of the animal determined by the state determiner, the feeling determiner determining the feeling of the animal on a basis of information indicating a relationship between the state and the feeling of the animal; and a notification processor that notifies a terminal of a wording indicating the feeling of the animal determined by the feeling determiner.

Note that these generic or specific aspects may be achieved by a system, an apparatus, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, or a recoding medium, and also by any combination of the system, the apparatus, the method, the integrated circuit, the computer program, and the recoding medium.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

According to one example of the present disclosure, it is possible to determine the state of the pet without any sensor apparatus worn by the pet.

Additional benefits and advantages of one example of the present disclosure will become apparent from the specification and drawings. The benefits and/or advantages may be individually obtained by the various embodiments and features of the specification and drawings, which need not all be provided in order to obtain one or more of such benefits and/or advantages.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings. However, any unnecessarily detailed description may be omitted. For example, any detailed description of well-known matters and redundant descriptions on substantially the same configurations may be omitted. This is to avoid the unnecessary redundancy of the following description and to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

It is to be noted that the accompanying drawings and the following description are provided to enable those skilled in the art to fully understand this disclosure, and are not intended to limit the claimed subject.

FIG. 1illustrates an exemplary configuration of an information processing system according to Embodiment 1.

As illustrated inFIG. 1, information processing system1includes monitoring apparatus2, server apparatus3, and user terminal4. Monitoring apparatus2, server apparatus3, and user terminal4can transmit and receive data to and from one another through network6. Network6may at least partially be wired and/or wireless, or Wide Area Network (WAN) and/or Local Area Network (LAN). Network6may at least partially be the Internet.

Monitoring apparatus2is installed in house H, for example, and monitors pet P. Monitoring apparatus2includes a visible light camera and a microphone. Monitoring apparatus2captures an image of the figure of pet P with the visible light camera and generates image data. Monitoring apparatus2picks up a sound produced by pet P by the microphone and generates audio data. Monitoring apparatus2transmits the image data and the audio data to server apparatus3through network6. Monitoring apparatus2may be called a pet camera.

Server apparatus3determines the feeling of pet P on the basis of the image data and audio data received from monitoring apparatus2and generates information indicating the feeling of pet P (hereinafter referred to as “feeling information”). Server apparatus3specifies the notification wording corresponding to the feeling information of pet P. Server apparatus3transmits the image data and the notification wording to user terminal4of user U, who is the owner of pet P.

User terminal4displays the image data and the notification wording received from server apparatus3. It is thus possible for user U to know the situation and feeling of pet P in house H. This will be described in detail below.

<Configuration of Monitoring Apparatus>

FIG. 2illustrates an exemplary configuration of monitoring apparatus2.

Controller21controls monitoring apparatus2. Controller21may be composed of a Central Processing Unit (CPU).

Storage22stores therein a program for operation of controller21. Storage22also stores therein data for calculation processing by controller21, data for control of each section by controller21, or the like. Storage22may be composed of a storage apparatus such as a Random Access Memory (RAM), a Read Only Memory (ROM), a flash memory, and a Hard Disk Drive (HDD).

Operation section23is composed of a button or the like that can receive a user operation. Operation section23outputs a signal corresponding to the user operation to controller21.

Pan motor24is a motor that drives imaging section30in the pan direction on the basis of the control of controller21. Tilt motor25is a motor that drives imaging section30in the tilt direction on the basis of the control of controller21.

Audio input/output controller27, microphone28, and speaker29perform audio input/output from or to the outside.

Imaging section30includes a lens and an imaging element. The imaging element is an image sensor such as a Charged Coupled Device (CCD), a Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS), or the like. Imaging section30has a mechanism allowing movement in the pan direction and the tilt direction. Pan motor24and tilt motor25allows imaging section30to move in the pan direction and the tilt direction, respectively.

Video memory controller31temporarily buffers (stores) in video memory32the signal of a sound (audio data) collected by microphone28together with the image data output from imaging section30.

Wireless LAN communicator33is wirelessly connected to a router (not illustrated) using a wireless communication system such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark), for example. Wireless LAN communicator33reads the image data (including the audio data) stored in video memory32via video memory controller31. Wireless LAN communicator33transmits the read image data to server apparatus3via the router.

Power supply34supplies necessary power to each section of monitoring apparatus2. An external memory such as a USB memory or an SD card (registered trademark) is attached to and detached from external memory I/F section35. When the pet is detected by infrared sensor26, controller21may cause imaging section30to start capturing an image and may store, in the external memory, the image data of imaging section30stored in video memory32.

<Configuration of Server Apparatus>

FIG. 3illustrates an exemplary configuration of server apparatus3.

Controller41controls server apparatus3. Controller41may be composed of a CPU.

Storage42stores therein a program for operation of controller41. Storage42also stores therein data for calculation processing by controller41, data for control of each section by controller41, or the like. Storage42may be composed of a storage apparatus such as a RAM, a ROM, a flash memory, and an HDD.

<Configuration of User Terminal>

FIG. 4illustrates an exemplary configuration of user terminal4.

Controller51controls user terminal4. Controller51may be composed of a CPU.

Storage52stores therein a program for operation of controller51. Storage52also stores therein data for calculation processing by controller51, data for control of each section by controller51, or the like. Storage52may be composed of a storage apparatus such as a RAM, a ROM, a flash memory, and an HDD.

Touch panel53is an apparatus that includes a display apparatus for displaying an image and a transparent plate-like input apparatus for receiving a user operation on a screen of the display apparatus. Touch panel53displays the image captured by monitoring apparatus2. Touch panel53receives, for example, a tap operation, drag operation, or long press operation performed by a user, and outputs a signal corresponding to the received operation to controller51.

Mobile phone communicator54is wirelessly connected to network6using wireless communication systems such as the third generation mobile communication system (3G), fourth generation mobile communication system (4G), and/or fifth generation mobile communication system (5G), for example. Mobile phone communicator54transmits/receives data to/from other electronic equipment via network6.

Audio input/output controller55, microphone56, and speaker57perform audio input/output from or to the outside.

Wireless LAN communicator58is wirelessly connected to a router (not illustrated) using a wireless communication system such as Wi-Fi, for example. Wireless LAN communicator58transmits/receives data to/from other electronic equipment via the router.

USB communicator59transmits/receives data to/from equipment, memory, or the like having a USB standard interface.

Secondary battery60supplies necessary power to each section of user terminal4. Secondary battery60is a rechargeable battery such as a nickel metal hydride battery, a lithium ion battery, a lead battery, or the like.

<Functions of Server Apparatus>

FIG. 5illustrates exemplary functions of server apparatus3.

Server apparatus3includes data receiver101, state determiner102, feeling determiner103, notification processor104, and notification wording DB105.

Data receiver101from monitoring apparatus2receives the image data and the audio data, which are one examples of sensor data. As described above, the image data may include the figure of a pet. The audio data may include a sound produced by the pet.

State determiner102determines the state of the pet on the basis of the image data and the audio data received by data receiver101.

State determiner102analyzes the image data to determine a posture classification, which is one example of the state of the pet. Determination examples of the posture classification of the pet are described as follows:When the image data includes the figure of the pet lying on his/her side, state determiner102determines that the posture classification of the pet is “lying on side”;When the image data includes the figure of the pet standing on four legs, state determiner102determines that the posture classification of the pet is “standing on four legs”;When the image data includes the figure of the pet standing on two legs, state determiner102determines that the posture classification of the pet is “standing on two legs”;When the image data includes the figure of the pet turning his/her face upward, state determiner102determines that the posture classification of the pet is “turning face upward”;When the image data includes the figure of the pet standing leaning forward, state determiner102determines that the posture classification of the pet is “leaning forward”;When the image data includes the figure of the pet lying down with his/her head lifted, state determiner102determines that the posture classification of the pet is “lying down (with head lifted)”; andWhen the image data includes the figure of the pet lying down with his/her head lowered, state determiner102determines that the posture classification of the pet is “lying down (with head lowered).”

State determiner102analyzes the image data to determine a facial expression of the pet, which is one example of the state of the pet. Determination examples of the facial expression of the pet are described as follows:When the image data includes the face of the pet glaring, state determiner102determines that the facial expression of the pet is “glaring”;When the image data includes the face of the pet opening his/her eyes wide, state determiner102determines that the facial expression of the pet is “opening eyes wide”; andWhen the image data includes the face of the pet staring, state determiner102determines that the facial expression of the pet is “staring.”

State determiner102may perform the above determination using a deep neural network (DNN) that has deeply learned from a large amount of image data including the figures of pets.

State determiner102analyzes the audio data to determine the cry (produced sound) of the pet, which is one example of the state of the pet. Determination examples of the cry of the pet are described as follows:When the pet is a dog, state determiner102analyzes the audio data to determine which of “bow-wow,” “grrr,” “awooo,” “yap yap,” “zzzz,” “gggg,” “growf,” “wrrr,” and “kmmm” the cry of the pet is; andWhen the pet is a cat, state determiner102analyzes the audio data to determine which of “meow,” “hsss,” “prrr,” and “kkkk” the cry of the pet is.

The audio data used for the analysis by state determiner102may be an audio signal including information about time and amplitude as illustrated inFIG. 6A. Alternatively, the audio data may be a spectrogram including information about time, frequency, and strength of a signal component as illustrated inFIG. 6B. State determiner102may also treat the spectrogram as the image data. This allows state determiner102to determine the audio data using the DNN as in the case of the image data including the figure of the pet.

State determiner102generates state information of the pet that is a combination of determination results of the posture classification, facial expression, cry, and the like described above. For example, state determiner102generates the state information that is a combination of the posture classification of “leaning forward/standing on two legs,” the facial expression of “glaring,” and the cry of “growf.”

Note that the audio data may also include, in addition to the cry of the pet, an environmental sound such as a chime sound. State determiner102may also analyze the audio data to determine the environmental sound. In this case, state determiner102may also generate the state information that is a combination further including the determined environmental sound.

In addition, the analysis based on the image data and/or the audio data are not limited to the above examples. For example, state determiner102may also analyze the location of the pet (toilet, feeding area, or the like) on the basis of the image data and/or the audio data.

As illustrated inFIG. 7, notification wording DB105manages association between the feeling information and the combinations of the posture classifications, facial expressions, cries of the pet, and environmental sounds. Notification wording DB105also manages association between notification wordings and the feeling information. Note thatFIG. 7is one example, and notification wording DB105may also manage the association between the feeling information and at least one of the posture classification, facial expression, cry, and environmental sound illustrated inFIG. 7.

Feeling determiner103determines the feeling information of the pet on the basis of the state information of the pet generated by state determiner102. For example, feeling determiner103determines the feeling information of the pet on the basis of the state information of the pet using notification wording DB105illustrated inFIG. 7.

For example, when the state information is the combination of the posture classification of “lying down (with head lifted)” and the cry of “awooo,” feeling determiner103determines, with reference to row200bof notification wording DB105, that the feeling information is “lonely.” In addition, feeling determiner103identifies the wording, “I hope you will come home soon,” associated with the feeling classification of “lonely” with reference to row200bof notification wording DB105.

For example, when the state information is the combination of the posture classification of “standing on four legs,” the facial expression of “opening eyes wide,” the cry of “wrrr,” and the environmental sound of “chime sound,” feeling determiner103determines, with reference to row200cof notification wording DB105, that the feeling information is “cautious.” Furthermore, feeling determiner103specifies the wording, “I'm wondering if somebody's here,” associated with the feeling information of “cautious” with reference to row200cof notification wording DB105.

Feeling determiner103may also determine the feeling information of the pet using the DNN which, when a combination of pieces of state information of the pet is input, outputs the feeling information corresponding to the input.

Notification processor104notifies user terminal4of the wording specified by feeling determiner103, when a notification condition is satisfied. Notification processor104may notify of the image data together with the wording indicating the feeling of the pet.

The notification condition may be at least one of the following (A1) to (A4).

(A1) The notification is carried out when a time equal to or longer than a predetermined time has elapsed since the last notification. It is thus possible to notify user terminal4of the wording at an appropriate frequency.

(A2) The notification is carried out when the wording to be notified at the present time is different from the wording notified last time. It is thus possible to prevent continuous notifications of the same wording. It is also possible to notify of the wording when the feeling of the pet changes greatly.

(A3) The notification is carried out when an appropriate figure of the pet is included in the image data. It is thus possible to display the appropriate image data on user terminal4. Note that, whether or not the appropriate figure of the pet is included may be determined on the basis of whether or not the image data includes the images of the eyes, nose, and/or mouth of the pet.

(A4) The notification is carried out when user terminal4is located outside the house where monitoring apparatus2is installed. It is thus possible to prevent notification of a wording when the user stays inside the house. Note that, whether user terminal4is located inside or outside the house may be determined on the basis of position information of user terminal4, or may be determined on the basis of whether or not user terminal4and monitoring apparatus2are connected to the same LAN.

Note that, notification processor104may also generate the image data in which the wording is superimposed on the image including the figure of the pet, and notify user terminal4of the image data.

Notification processor104may also notify a server apparatus (not illustrated) of an SNS that the user uses. The server apparatus of the SNS transfers the notified wording to the SNS application in user terminal4. It is thus possible for the user to receive the notification of the wording of the pet using the SNS application in user terminal4. Note that the wordings may be displayed chronologically (that is, timeline display) on the screen of the SNS application.

<Operation of Server Apparatus>

Next, an exemplary operation of server apparatus3will be described with reference to the flowchart illustrated inFIG. 8.

Data receiver101receives the image data and the audio data from monitoring apparatus2(S101).

State determiner102determines whether or not the figure of the pet is included in the image data received in S101(S102). When the image data includes the figure of the pet (S102: YES), server apparatus3carries out the processing of5104.

When the image data does not include the figure of the pet (S102: NO), state determiner102determines whether or not the audio data received in S101includes the cry of the pet (S103). When the audio data does not include the cry of the pet (S103: NO), server apparatus3ends the processing (END). When the audio data includes the cry of the pet (S103: YES), server apparatus3carries out the processing of S104.

State determiner102generates the state information and the feeling information of the pet on the basis of the image data and/or the audio data (S104).

Feeling determiner103specifies, with reference to notification wording DB105, the wording corresponding to the feeling information generated in S104(S105).

Notification processor104determines whether or not the notification condition is satisfied (S106). When the notification condition is not satisfied (S106: NO), server apparatus3ends the processing (END).

When the notification condition is satisfied (S106: YES), notification processor104notifies user terminal4of the wording specified in S105(S107). Server apparatus3then ends the processing (END).

Next, modifications of the above-described embodiment will be described. Note that the modifications described below may also be implemented in combination with one another.

The image data may also be moving image data. In this case, notification processor104may superimpose the wording specified by feeling determiner103on the moving image data received by data receiver101and transmit it to user terminal4. The moving image data may be an image being captured by monitoring apparatus2in real time. Alternatively, the moving image data may also be an image captured and recorded in the past (that is, a recorded image) by monitoring apparatus2.

When the image data includes the figures of a plurality of pets, state determiner102and feeling determiner103may set, as a determination target, one of the pets which is designated by user terminal4.

When the image data includes the figures of a plurality of the pets, state determiner102and feeling determiner103may set, as the determination target, one of the pets which occupies the largest proportion of the image.

When the image data includes the figures of a plurality of pets, state determiner102and feeling determiner103may determine each of the pets as the determination target. In this case, at least one of the following (B1) and (B2) may be achieved.

(B1) Notification processor104may notify user terminal4of the wording of each of the pets. User terminal4may switch the wording to be displayed in accordance with an instruction by the user. In addition, when the user zooms in on a part of the image data, user terminal4may display the wording of the zoomed-in pet.

(B2) Notification processor104may transmit the set of the name and wording of each of the pets to user terminal4. User terminal4may also display the received set of the name and wording of each of the pets. For example, user terminal4may display the name and wording of the pet of the same set side by side. By way of another example, user terminal4may display the names and wordings of pets of different sets in different colors.

A description will be given of the functions of server apparatus3according to Embodiment 2 with reference toFIG. 9. Common descriptions among Embodiments 1 and 2 will be omitted in the description of Embodiment 2.

As illustrated inFIG. 9, server apparatus3according to Embodiment 2 further includes monitoring-apparatus controller106. Monitoring-apparatus controller106controls monitoring apparatus2on the basis of an instruction from user terminal4.

Next, processing example 1 of monitoring-apparatus controller106will be described with reference toFIG. 10. As illustrated inFIG. 10, user terminal4displays call button301together with the feeling information.

When user U presses call button301, user terminal4transmits to server apparatus3information indicating that call button301has been pressed (hereinafter referred to as “call information”). When monitoring-apparatus controller106of server apparatus3detects reception of the call information, monitoring-apparatus controller106transmits a call instruction to monitoring apparatus2. When monitoring apparatus2receives the call instruction, monitoring apparatus2outputs a sound corresponding to the received call instruction from speaker29.

It is thus possible for user U to call to pet P through monitoring apparatus2in response to the wording of pet P of which user terminal4is notified.

Note that the calling method is not limited to pressing call button301. For example, monitoring-apparatus controller106may also receive a voice uttered into user terminal4by user U and transfer the received voice to monitoring apparatus2. Then, monitoring apparatus2may output the transferred voice from speaker29.

Next, processing example2of monitoring-apparatus controller106will be described with reference toFIG. 11. As illustrated inFIG. 11, user terminal4displays home appliance operation button302together with the wording.

When user U presses home appliance operation button302, user terminal4transmits information indicating that home appliance operation button302has been pressed (hereinafter referred to as “home appliance operation information”) to server apparatus3. When monitoring-apparatus controller106of server apparatus3detects reception of the home appliance operation information, monitoring-apparatus controller106transmits a home appliance operation instruction to monitoring apparatus2. When monitoring apparatus2receives the home appliance operation instruction, monitoring apparatus2operates home appliance303in accordance with the received home appliance operation instruction.

It is thus possible for user U to operate home appliance303through monitoring apparatus2in response to the wording of pet P of which user terminal4is notified. For example, when user U is notified of the wording of the pet indicating that it is hot, user U performs the home appliance operation to turn on the air conditioner with user terminal4. Accordingly, the air conditioner in the house is turned on, so that pet P can spend time comfortably.

An exemplary configuration of an information processing system according to Embodiment 3 will be described with reference toFIG. 12. Common descriptions among Embodiments 1 and 3 will be omitted in the description of Embodiment 3.

As illustrated inFIG. 12, in the information processing system according to Embodiment 3, monitoring apparatus2includes state determiner102, and server apparatus3includes feeling determiner103, notification processor104, and notification wording DB105. In this case, state determiner102of monitoring apparatus2generates the state information of the pet and transmits the generated state information to server apparatus3. Then, feeling determiner103of server apparatus3generates the feeling information on the basis of the state information received from monitoring apparatus2.

According to the information processing system illustrated inFIG. 12, the processing of state determiner102is assigned separately to each monitoring apparatus2, so that it is possible to reduce the processing load of server apparatus3.

An exemplary configuration of an information processing system according to Embodiment 4 will be described with reference toFIG. 13. Common descriptions among Embodiments 1 and 4 will be omitted in the description of Embodiment 4.

As illustrated inFIG. 13, in the information processing system according to Embodiment 4, monitoring apparatus2includes state determiner102, feeling determiner103, notification processor104, and notification wording DB105. In this case, the information processing system does not have to include server apparatus3.

According to the information processing system illustrated inFIG. 13, Embodiment 1 can be realized without using server apparatus3.

An exemplary configuration of an information processing system according to Embodiment 5 will be described with reference toFIG. 14. Common descriptions among Embodiments 1 and 5 will be omitted in the description of Embodiment 5.

As illustrated inFIG. 14, in the information processing system according to Embodiment 5, monitoring apparatus2includes at least one of the below-described components in addition to imaging section30and microphone28. That is, monitoring apparatus2includes at least one of temperature sensor401that measures the temperature of the air, humidity sensor402that measures the humidity of the air, thermo-camera403that measures the body temperature of the pet, and depth camera404that is capable of measuring the distance to the pet. Imaging section30may also be a camera that is capable of capturing the image of the pet even in a dark place or at night (for example, a night vision camera or an infrared camera). Depth camera404may also be referred to as a Time-of-Flight (ToF) camera.

Monitoring apparatus2transmits, as sensor data, temperature data measured by temperature sensor401, humidity data measured by humidity sensor402, body temperature data of the pet measured by thermo-camera403, and distance data of the distance to the pet measured by depth camera404to server apparatus3in addition to the image data and the audio data.

State determiner102of server apparatus3generates the state information on the basis of at least one of the image data, audio data, temperature data, humidity data, and body temperature data received from monitoring apparatus2. Here, state determiner102analyzes, on the basis of the body temperature data, a vital sign of the pet that is one example of the state of the pet. For example, state determiner102analyzes the body temperature data to determine which of “rising,” “constant,” and “falling” the body temperature of the pet is. In this case, state determiner102generates the state information that is a combination of the posture classification, facial expression, cry, environmental sound, and vital sign. When a heart rate measurement sensor is attached to the pet, state determiner102may also analyze heart rate data received from the heart rate measurement sensor as an analysis of the vital sign of the pet. For example, state determiner102may determine which of “rising,” “constant,” or “falling” the heart rate of the pet is.

As illustrated inFIG. 15, notification wording DB105includes the vital sign as a combination item of state information in addition to the posture classification, facial expression, cry, and environmental sound.

Feeling determiner103determines the feeling information corresponding to the state information with reference to notification wording DB105. That is, feeling determiner103determines the feeling information corresponding to the combination of the posture classification, facial expression, cry, environmental sound, and vital sign.

Accordingly, the information processing system according to Embodiment 5 is capable of notifying user terminal4of more various notifications than the information processing system according to Embodiment 1.

A description will be given of Embodiment 6 with reference toFIG. 16. Common descriptions among Embodiments 1 and 6 will be omitted in the description of Embodiment 6.

As illustrated inFIG. 16, user terminal4transmits to server apparatus3the image data of the figure of the pet captured and the audio data of the cry of the pet picked up. Server apparatus3processes the image data and audio data received from user terminal4in the same manner as in the case where the image data and audio data are received from monitoring apparatus2as described above. Then, server apparatus3transmits the notification wording to user terminal4. User terminal4displays the wording received from server apparatus3such that the wording is superimposed on the pet being displayed on the screen.

It is thus possible for the user to know the feeling of the pet by pointing user terminal4toward the pet.

User terminal4may also include state determiner102, feeling determiner103, and notification wording DB105. That is, user terminal4may generate the feeling information within itself without transmitting the image data of the figure of the pet captured and the audio data of the cry of the pet picked up to server apparatus3. Then, user terminal4may superimpose and display the wording corresponding to the generated feeling information on the pet currently displayed on the screen.

SUMMARY OF DISCLOSURE

Information processing system1according to the present disclosure includes: state determiner102that determines the state of an animal using a captured image of the animal; feeling determiner103that determines, on the basis of notification wording DB105that indicates the relationship between the state and the feeling of the animal, the feeling of the animal corresponding to the state of the animal determined by state determiner102; and notification processor104that notifies user terminal4of the wording indicating the feeling of the animal determined by feeling determiner103. Accordingly, the captured image of the animal is transmitted to server apparatus3, and user terminal4is notified of the wording indicating the feeling of the animal. That is, it is possible to notify the user of the wording indicating the feeling of the animal without attaching any sensor apparatus to the animal.

State determiner102may determine, on the basis of the captured image of the animal, at least one of the posture and the facial expression of the animal as the state of the animal. With this configuration, the posture and facial expression of the animal are identified, so that it is possible to specify the feeling information corresponding to the identified classification, and notify the terminal of the wording corresponding to the specified feeling information.

State determiner102may also determine the state of the animal using the produced sound of the animal. In this case, the state determiner may determine, on the basis of the produced sound of the animal, the cry of the animal as the state of the animal.

Accordingly, the state of the animal is determined using the captured image of the animal and the produced sound of the animal, so that it is possible to notify of various wordings.

Notification processor104may notify of the wording of the present time when the wording to be notified at the present time is different from the wording notified last time. Accordingly, continuous notifications of the same wording are prevented, so that it is possible to notify of the wording at an appropriate frequency.

Notification processor104may notify of the captured image of the animal together with the wording. It is thus possible for the user to confirm the captured image of the animal and the wording together, so as to recognize the feeling of the animal more correctly.

Note that, the above-mentioned “pet” is one example of the animal. The embodiments described above are applicable to other animals than the pet, such as those kept at zoos or by livestock farmers.

In addition, all or part of the functions described above may be included in an information processing apparatus. The information processing apparatus may be any of monitoring apparatus2, server apparatus3, and user terminal4described above, or may also be an apparatus different from these.

Each functional block used for explaining the above-mentioned embodiments is realized as an LSI which is typically an integrated circuit. These functional blocks may be separately formed into individual chips, or may be formed into one chip to include all or some of these functional blocks. In this case, an appellation “LSI” is employed.

However, depending on the degree of integration, appellations such as IC, system LSI, super LSI, and ultra LSI may be employed.

In addition, the technique of circuit integration is not limited to the LSI, and it may be realized by a dedicated circuit or a general-purpose processor. A Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) that can be programmed after LSI fabrication or a reconfigurable processor that can reconfigure connections and settings of circuit cells inside the LSI may be used.

If future integrated circuit technology replaces LSIs as a result of the advancement of semiconductor technology or other derivative technology, the functional blocks could be integrated using the future integrated circuit technology. Biotechnology can also be applied.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present disclosure is useful for an information processing system.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

1Information processing system

31Video memory controller

54Mobile phone communicator