Breathing exerciser and breathing exercise program product capable of easily distinguishing breathing state

Abstract

A breathing exerciser includes: a display unit for displaying information for guiding an exercise pattern of breathing to a user; and a state switch which is capable of detecting an operation by the user and which is for accepting an operation according to a breathing state. By this, the breathing exerciser distinguishes during an exercise period during which the exercise pattern is guided, whether it is an exhalation state or an inhalation state, based on a signal from the state switch.

1 . A breathing exerciser comprising:
 a guide unit for guiding an exercise pattern of breathing to a user;   a detecting unit capable of detecting an input of an operation signal according to an operation by the user; and   a distinguishing unit for distinguishing during an exercise period during which the exercise pattern is guided, whether it is an exhalation state or an inhalation state, based on a signal from the detecting unit, wherein   the distinguishing unit distinguishes a state in which an input of a first operation signal is being detected in the sensing unit, as one of the exhalation state and the inhalation state of the user.   
   
   
       2 . The breathing exerciser according to  claim 1 , wherein the detecting unit includes an operation unit for accepting an operation by the user. 
   
   
       3 . The breathing exerciser according to  claim 1 , wherein the detecting unit includes an incline sensor capable of detecting a change in incline of a predetermined body part of the user from a reference position. 
   
   
       4 . The breathing exerciser according to  claim 1  further comprising:
 a calculating unit for calculating a breathing index representing a characteristic of a breathing state of the user, based on a result of the distinguishment by the distinguishing unit;   a comparing unit for comparing the calculated breathing index with a predetermined reference value associated with the exercise pattern; and   an alerting unit for alerting the user based on a result of the comparison by the comparing unit.   
   
   
       5 . A breathing exercise program product, a program product being for causing an arithmetic processing unit to perform a breathing exercise process in a control apparatus including an operation unit for accepting an operation by a user; an output unit for outputting sound or displaying an image; and the arithmetic processing unit, the breathing exercise program product causing to perform:
 a step of outputting a predetermined exercise pattern of breathing to the output unit;   a step of receiving an operation signal from the operation unit during an exercise period during which the exercise pattern is outputted; and   a step of distinguishing whether it is an exhalation state or an inhalation state, based on the received operation signal, wherein   in the distinguishing step, a state in which a first operation signal is being received from the operation unit in the step of receiving an operation signal is distinguished as one of the exhalation state and the inhalation state of the user.