Apparatus and method for determining immersion risk of mobile terminal user

1. An apparatus that determines an immersion risk of a mobile terminal user, the apparatus comprising:

an immersion determiner configured to

determine whether the user is immersed in a mobile terminal based on data of the user, and

calculate an immersion frequency based on a result of the determination;

an immersion risk determiner configured to

calculate a degree of the immersion risk based on the immersion frequency, and

determine whether the immersion risk is present based on the degree of the immersion risk; and

a remedy executor configured to, in response to determining that the immersion risk is present, shut off power of the mobile terminal,

wherein the remedy executor adjusts a length of an immersion determination cycle based on the immersion frequency.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the immersion risk determiner is further configured to:

calculate an immersion index indicating a possibility that the user becomes immersed in the mobile terminal; and

calculate the degree of the immersion risk based on the immersion frequency and/or the immersion index.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the immersion risk determiner is further configured to:

calculate an immersion index of a function being currently executed by the mobile terminal based on usage history data of the function, a reference value of the immersion index for the function, an age of the user, or any combination thereof; and

calculate the degree of the immersion risk based on the immersion frequency and/or the immersion index,

wherein the immersion index indicates a possibility that the user becomes immersed in the function.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the usage history data of the function comprises operating times of an operating system, a total use time of the function, a frequency of use of the function, or any combination thereof.

5. The apparatus according to claim 3 , further comprising:

a data collector configured to collect a face image of the user through a camera; and

a user identifier configured to identify the age of the user based on the face image.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the remedy comprises displaying a warning message, playing a warning sound, generating a vibration, terminating a function of the mobile terminal that is currently being used by the user, powering off the mobile terminal, communicating with another mobile terminal identified in advance, adjusting a cycle of the determination of whether the user is immersed in the mobile terminal, or any combination thereof.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the immersion determiner is further configured to:

repeatedly determine whether the user is immersed in the mobile terminal during a plurality of immersion determination cycles; and

classify immersion data collected during a cycle of the plurality of immersion determination cycles into a predetermined state based on a supervised machine learning method, to determine whether the user is immersed in the mobile terminal.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the immersion determiner is further configured to:

upon determining that the user is immersed in a function of the mobile terminal, increment the immersion frequency.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the immersion risk determiner is further configured to:

compare the degree of the immersion risk to a threshold, to determine whether the immersion risk is present.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the data comprises a speed of text input, a length of input text, a touch frequency, a degree of shaking of the mobile terminal, a degree of inclination of the mobile terminal, whether a headset is used, a sound volume, a current location, a time, weather, illuminance, or any combination thereof, and wherein the data is measured by one or more sensors mounted in the mobile terminal.

11. A method of determining an immersion risk of a mobile terminal user, the method comprising:

determining whether the user is immersed in a mobile terminal based on data of the user;

calculating an immersion frequency based on a result of the determination;

calculating a degree of immersion risk based on the immersion frequency;

determining whether the immersion risk is present based on the degree of the immersion risk;

in response to determining that the immersion risk is present, shutting off power of the mobile terminal; and

adjusting a length of an immersion determination cycle based on the immersion frequency.

12. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising:

calculating an immersion index indicating a possibility that the user becomes immersed in the mobile terminal; and

calculating the degree of the immersion risk based on the immersion frequency and/or the immersion index.

13. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising:

calculating an immersion index of a function being currently executed by the mobile terminal based on usage history data of the function, a reference value of the immersion index for the function, an age of the user, or any combination thereof; and

calculating the degree of the immersion risk based on the immersion frequency and/or the immersion index,

wherein the immersion index indicates a possibility that the user becomes immersed in the function.

14. The method according to claim 13 , wherein the usage history data of the function comprises operating times of an operating system, a total use time of the function, a frequency of execution of the function, or any combination thereof.

15. The method according to claim 13 , further comprising:

collecting a face image of the user through a camera; and

identifying the age of the user based on the face image.

16. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the remedy comprises displaying a warning message, playing a warning sound, generating a vibration, terminating a function of the mobile terminal that is currently being used by the user, powering off the mobile terminal, communicating with another mobile terminal identified in advance, adjusting a cycle of the determination of whether the user is immersed in the mobile terminal, or any combination thereof.

17. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising:

repeatedly determining whether the user is immersed in the mobile terminal during a plurality of immersion determination cycles; and

classifying immersion data collected during a cycle of the plurality of immersion determination cycles into a predetermined state based on a supervised machine learning method, to determine whether the user is immersed in the mobile terminal.

18. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising:

upon determining that the user is immersed in a function of the mobile terminal, incrementing the immersion frequency.

19. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising:

comparing the degree of the immersion risk to a predetermined threshold, to determine whether the immersion risk is present.

20. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the data comprises a speed of text input, a length of input text, a touch frequency, a degree of shaking of the mobile terminal, a degree of inclination of the mobile terminal, whether a headset is used, a sound volume, a current location, a time, weather, illuminance, or any combination thereof, and wherein the data is measured by one or more sensors mounted in the mobile terminal.