Lifestyle collecting apparatus, user interface device, and lifestyle collecting method

1. A user interface device that provides a user interface according to a lifestyle of a user, said user interface device comprising:

an object information detecting unit configured to detect object information representing an object around the user;

a relevance degree calculating unit including a processor configured to calculate a relevance degree of the user to the object, using the object information;

an appearance information extracting unit configured to extract appearance information from the object information, and add the relevance degree to the extracted appearance information, the appearance information representing an appearance of the object;

a lifestyle database which stores the appearance information to which the relevance degree has been added;

a lifestyle determining unit configured to determine lifestyle information representing the lifestyle of the user, from the appearance information stored in the lifestyle database, based on the relevance degree; and

a user interface control unit configured to control the user interface based on the lifestyle information determined by said lifestyle determining unit,

wherein said object information detecting unit is configured to extract the object information representing, as the object, at least one of a piece of furniture, an electrical appliance, play equipment, housing-related material, and a pet animal that are present around the user,

wherein said appearance information extracting unit is configured to extract, as the appearance information, information indicating at least one of a color, a texture, a pattern, a shape, and a genre of the object,

wherein said lifestyle determining unit is configured to determine information indicating a material of the object, as the appearance information representing the lifestyle of the user,

wherein said user interface control unit is configured to select a material of a display object to be displayed on a display unit, based on the appearance information determined by said lifestyle determining unit, and

wherein the information indicating the material of the object includes at least one of the color, the pattern, and the texture of the object.

2. A user interface device that provides a user interface according to a lifestyle of a user, said user interface device comprising:

an object information detecting unit configured to detect object information representing an object around the user;

a relevance degree calculating unit including a processor configured to calculate a relevance degree of the user to the object, using the object information;

an appearance information extracting unit configured to extract appearance information from the object information, and add the relevance degree to the extracted appearance information, the appearance information representing an appearance of the object;

a lifestyle database which stores the appearance information to which the relevance degree has been added;

a lifestyle determining unit configured to determine lifestyle information representing the lifestyle of the user, from the appearance information stored in the lifestyle database, based on the relevance degree; and

a user interface control unit configured to control the user interface based on the lifestyle information determined by said lifestyle determining unit,

wherein said object information detecting unit is configured to extract the object information representing, as the object, at least one of a piece of furniture, an electrical appliance, play equipment, housing-related material, and a pet animal that are present around the user,

wherein said appearance information extracting unit is configured to extract, as the appearance information, information indicating at least one of a color, a texture, a pattern, a shape, and a genre of the object,

wherein said lifestyle determining unit is configured to determine information representing an atmosphere of the object, as the appearance information representing the lifestyle of the user,

wherein said user interface control unit is configured to control a sound effect or a BGM to be emitted from a sound output unit, according to the atmosphere of the object, and

wherein the atmosphere is at least one of Japanese style, Northern European style, Western style, Asian style, ethnic style, and modern style.

3. A lifestyle collecting apparatus that collects information for determining a lifestyle of a user, said apparatus comprising:

an object information detecting unit configured to detect object information representing an object around the user;

a relevance degree calculating unit configured to calculate a relevance degree of the user to the object, using the object information;

an appearance information extracting unit configured to extract appearance information from the object information, and add the relevance degree to the extracted appearance information, the appearance information representing an appearance of the object;

a lifestyle database which stores the appearance information to which the relevance degree has been added, as the information for determining the lifestyle of the user; and

a user information detecting unit configured to detect user information representing the user,

wherein said relevance degree calculating unit is configured to calculate the relevance degree of the user to the object represented by the object information, using the user information and the object information, the user being represented by the user information,

wherein the user information is image data representing the user,

wherein the object information is image data representing the object, and

wherein said relevance degree calculating unit is configured to calculate the relevance degree of the user to the object so that the relevance degree increases as a number of occurrences that the user touches the object is larger or a period for which the user touches the object is longer.

4. A lifestyle collecting apparatus that collects information for determining a lifestyle of a user, said apparatus comprising:

an object information detecting unit configured to detect object information representing an object around the user;

a relevance degree calculating unit configured to calculate a relevance degree of the user to the object, using the object information;

an appearance information extracting unit configured to extract appearance information from the object information, and add the relevance degree to the extracted appearance information, the appearance information representing an appearance of the object;

a lifestyle database which stores the appearance information to which the relevance degree has been added, as the information for determining the lifestyle of the user; and

a user information detecting unit configured to detect user information representing the user,

wherein said relevance degree calculating unit is configured to calculate the relevance degree of the user to the object represented by the object information, using the user information and the object information, the user being represented by the user information,

wherein the user information is sound data representing a voice uttered by the user,

wherein the object information is sound data indicating words representing the object, and

wherein said relevance degree calculating unit is configured to calculate the relevance degree of the user to the object so that the relevance degree increases as a number of occurrences that the user utters the words representing the object is larger.