WO2013007884A1

WO2013007884A1 - Method of sharing information relating to personal hygiene

Info

Publication number: WO2013007884A1
Application number: PCT/FR2011/051664
Authority: WO
Inventors: Antoine VALTON; Roman PANTIN BASTERRECHEA
Original assignee: Lowe & Partners Slu
Priority date: 2011-07-12
Filing date: 2011-07-12
Publication date: 2013-01-17

Abstract

The invention relates to a method of sharing information relating to personal hygiene operations, in particular brushing of teeth, in a network (130) of participants (101, 102, 103), consisting in: - acquiring data sets relating to the brushing of teeth performed by participants (101, 102, 103) with the aid of data acquisition means (211) fitted to personal hygiene appliances (210) such as toothbrushes, - storing the data sets and transferring them, via a communications network (120), to a computer server (131) for managing a social network (130) whose participants (101, 102, 103) are members, - processing the data sets so as to deduce therefrom performance ratings for personal hygiene actions for said participants, and - comparing said performance ratings between the participants, and making the compared performance ratings accessible to the participants on the social network (130).

Description

TITLE

Method of sharing information relating to personal hygiene

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention relates to the collection and sharing of information relating to personal hygiene operations, including brushing teeth, especially for educational and motivational purposes, within a network of participants.

The invention may in particular be implemented in a network of participants of the online social network type.

STATE OF THE ART

Some personal hygiene operations, such as brushing teeth, may be activities whose regularity and quality are subject to the self-discipline of each.

Especially for the case of brushing teeth, it is also an activity that is sometimes reluctant, especially because the results of brushing, namely the maintenance of oral hygiene, are not visible in the short term , and are not very rewarding.

It can therefore occur a phenomenon of discouragement or weariness vis-à-vis this activity, which can result in a rapid degradation of hygiene and oral health.

There is therefore a need to motivate people to brush their teeth regularly, and more generally to practice any form of personal hygiene operation.

For this purpose, document US-B-6536068 already discloses a toothbrush equipped with sensors for acquiring data relating to the brushing of teeth at the time of brushing, and also comprising a memory for storing these data. . Thus, the user of the toothbrush can keep his data and then show them to a dentist. The latter may, after taking knowledge of the data, advise his patient in a specific way, for example to correct his brushing technique.

However, this solution has limited pedagogical value because it does not encourage someone to brush their teeth regularly and carefully, unless that person demonstrates significant self-discipline.

PRESENTATION OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, one of the aims of the invention is to reinvigorate the motivation of brushing teeth, and the care given to this activity.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fun character to brushing teeth.

For this purpose, the invention proposes according to a first aspect a method of sharing information relating to personal hygiene operations, in particular brushing teeth, in a network of participants, consisting of:

acquiring data sets relating to the brushing of the teeth carried out by participants using data acquisition means equipping personal hygiene apparatus such as toothbrushes,

storing the datasets and transferring them via a communications network to a social network management server whose participants are members,

processing the data sets to deduce performance of personal hygiene actions for said participants, and

compare said performances over time and / or between the participants, and make the comparative performances accessible to the participants on the social network.

Some preferred but non-limiting aspects of this method are the following: ^* Data sets are acquired during successive tooth brushing by the same participant, and / or during brushing of teeth of a plurality of participants.

^The method comprises a treatment of agglomeration of individual data sets transferred from a plurality of participating members of the social network and belonging to a particular group of members, and adding new participants to the group members by a mechanism invitation.

^The method comprises, prior to the step of data acquisition, a step of generating and storing a performance target value and a communication step of this target value to one or more participating members or groups of participating members as an invitation, and the performance comparison step includes a comparison to said goal value.

the method comprises, after the step of comparing performance with the objective, a step of notifying the participant (s) having reached the objective by sending a message and / or awarding a reward; generated by the social network server.

^* The social network includes a virtual currency system, and generated a bounty includes a transfer of an amount in virtual currency in a virtual wallet of a participant, or if any of a group of participants with a common virtual wallet.

^* The method includes a preliminary step of registering participants as members of the social network and generating and storing their respective profiles on the social network management server.

^* The step of acquiring data sets relating to tooth brushing is performed by brushing acquisition parameter measurements by sensors fitted to the participants of toothbrushes, said parameters including at least one of: a period of brushing, position, inclination, speed, acceleration of the toothbrush, a brightness in the brushing zone, a pressure exerted by the brush, a deformation of the brush, a concentration of microorganisms in the mouth during brushing.

^* The data are obtained from the processed measurements according to a treatment among the following group: compression, reduction, amplification, summation, integration, modulation, filtering and digitization of the signal.

According to a second aspect, a system for sharing information relating to brushing teeth, comprising:

a plurality of toothbrushes, each comprising:

· At least one sensor adapted to acquire measurements relating to the brushing of the teeth,

• a system for storing acquired measurements,

• a transfer of measurements interface,

a plurality of computer terminals of participants of a social network, adapted to be connected to the toothbrush measurement transfer interfaces, and

a management server of the social network, connected to the computer terminals by a communication network,

the system being characterized in that the computer terminals are adapted to digitize the measurements to obtain data sets, and to transfer said data sets to the management server of the social network, and that said server is adapted to process the sets of data. data to derive performance on brushing teeth, compare said performance over time and / or between participants, and make comparative performance accessible to participants on the social network.

Advantageously, said at least one toothbrush sensor is selected from the following group: strain gauge, accelerometer, inclinometer, light sensor, proximity sensor, gyroscope, pharmacological analyzer, magnetic field sensor.

The invention is also aimed at any new combination of the characteristics defined above and / or appearing in the description which follows. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Other features, objects and advantages of the present invention will appear on reading the detailed description which follows, with reference to the appended figures, given by way of non-limiting examples and in which:

- Figure 1 illustrates a computer system adapted to the implementation of the present invention.

- Figure 2 schematically shows the system used by a participant to acquire data relating to brushing teeth.

FIG. 3 illustrates the main steps of the method according to the invention.

- Figure 4 illustrates the display of the seizure of a team

- Figure 5 illustrates the display of individual and team performance.

- Figure 6 illustrates the display of comparative performance between participants.

- Figure 7 illustrates the display of the launch of a goal.

- Figure 8 illustrates the display of a challenge between teams.

FIG. 9 illustrates the display of the performances compared between teams.

FIG. 10 illustrates the display of a competition pitch between several participants or several teams.

- Figure 1 1 illustrates the display of the launch of a solidarity action

- Figure 12 illustrates the display of a congratulatory message.

- Figure 13 illustrates the display of virtual currency earnings.

- Figure 14 illustrates the display of a virtual shop.

- Figure 15 illustrates the display of a common purse.

- Figure 16 illustrates the posting of a referral form

- Figure 17 illustrates the display of a ludo-educational information.

- Figure 18 illustrates the display of information for parents. - Figure 19 illustrates the display of a promotional message.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Competition and other group activities have been found to provide stronger motivation than outcomes to maintain attendance at a program. Some athletes, for example, will be more motivated by a competition against an opponent or an entry in a group than by an individual training. These athletes will often practice with friends, compete, compare their performances with friends or engage in clubs. Competitions often bring together communities of people with a common interest. Athletes who engage in these communities find a spirit of camaraderie or emulation with the other participants. There is a similar type of behavior with network video games, for example chess, which allow participants to compete not against their computer but against other players.

From this observation, it has been imagined that comparing the performance of personal hygiene actions with those of friends or acquaintances, in particular by participating in challenges or competitions, could be a much more effective source of motivation. than the results of these actions.

This is why the invention proposes a system 100 in which a plurality of participants 101 -102-103 connects via a communication network 120 such as the Internet to a computer server 131 for managing a social network 130, so that compare performance of personal hygiene actions such as brushing teeth. The system 100 comprises means 210 for acquiring measurements relating to the brushing of teeth explained hereinafter.

With reference to FIG. 1, the database 132 and the display modes 133 of this social network 130 are administered through the same network 120 by the server 131, controlled by a manager 1 10 which will ensure, besides the traditional functions of administration of any social network, specific functions which will be described below.

The social network 130 may include features for profile management, searching for friends, connecting with these friends, sending messages, creating applications or groups and, in general, any social network feature such as Facebook. ® or Linkedln®. Other additional features, more specific to brushing, will be detailed below.

The database 132 may contain the information relating to the participants such as their name, address, email address, age, occupation, school, preferences, avatar, network of friends, groups, registration date, and in general any type of registration. information from social networks such as those mentioned above. This database may also contain information relating to brushing teeth, as detailed below.

The display modes 133 may include automatic editing software for calculating the formatting of the features of the social network 130 according to the useful information of the database 132. These automatic editing software can develop for example pages web as a profile page or messages like those exchanged by email or SMS. These automatic editing software can compute a simple graphical representation, such as a teething pattern over which colored areas are superimposed to indicate poorly brushed teeth. These programs can also calculate an animated graphic representation, such as a video, an avatar or a mascot, especially on the basis of toothbrush movement information, just as video games develop images from the sensors of the toothbrush. a joystick, a mouse or a video game joystick whose movements are detected by a sensor (this example is not the case of the Nintendo Wii ^® ™)

Referring to Figure 2, is shown in more detail the acquisition system 210 measures relating to brushing teeth. Each participant 101 -102-103 is provided with such a system 210, which can measure its brushing teeth.

Typically, this system incorporates a manual or electric toothbrush, vibration or rotary, provided with sensors 21 1.

These sensors 21 1 may be strain gauges mounted on a flexible portion of the toothbrush; a group of accelerometers, for example three piezoelectric accelerometers mounted in orthogonal directions; an inclinometer; a light sensor, for example a photosensitive cell; a proximity sensor, for example ultrasonics; a gyroscope; a terrestrial magnetic field sensor; a pharmacological analyzer; in general, any type of sensor for measuring the toothbrush movements, the position of the brush, the pressure exerted by the brush, the distance to the bottom of the mouth, the concentration of microorganisms or any type of size relative to oral hygiene. These sensors may also include user commands, for example a multi-position switch mounted on the toothbrush and allowing the user to define a hygiene program such as brushing the teeth, brushing the tongue, water jet, vibratory, rotary or manual mode, depending on the options that are fitted to the toothbrush. Depending on the desired arrangement, these sensors will produce electrical signals corresponding to the movements of the toothbrush and its mode of use.

This system 210 comprises a measurement acquisition subsystem 212, typically a microcontroller integrated in the toothbrush, connected to the sensors 21 1 and clocked by a clock making it possible to make an acquisition of each sensor at a suitable frequency. Alternatively, this subsystem 212 may include a programmable microprocessor or a specific integrated circuit such as an ASIC.

This system 210 also comprises a measurement storage subsystem 213, typically a flash type memory or EEPROM of adapted size, to store the measurements acquired by the microcontroller.

This system 210 also comprises a measurement transfer subsystem 220, typically a wired interface such as the standard USB, FireWire, etc., or a wireless interface such as standard WiFi, Bluetooth, etc., an interface infrared, or a remanent removable memory SIM, Flash or other, to ensure the transfer of the contents of the measurement storage system 213 to a computer system 230.

This system 210 also includes an individual computer system 230, typically a desktop computer, a laptop, a cell phone, a smartphone, a digital tablet, etc. on which the measurements of the movements can be transferred. In some embodiments, the computer system 230 may be integrated with the toothbrush. The toothbrush can for example directly integrate a communication system for automatic transfer to the social network 130. It can also integrate a suitable interface to replace at least partially the individual computer system 230. The computer system 230 can also be composite and have several modules interacting with each other such as a PC, a mobile phone or a specialized module for the bathroom. For example, the fixed base that conventionally allows charging the battery of the electric toothbrush can be equipped on the one hand with a Bluetooth communication module that allows it to receive the information transmitted by the toothbrush, also equipped with such a module, in use. This base can also be equipped with a PLC modem allowing it to simultaneously transmit this information to a computer via the home electrical network. This base can also receive in return information for display on a liquid crystal display. It can also be equipped with user-accessible keys for interaction. According to another example, a small portable housing with a display screen, integrated or fixed on the mirror of the bathroom, can be connected to the computer system 230 by wired or wireless connection to receive and display information.

These various elements 21 1 -212-213-220-230 are powered by suitable sources of electricity, such as batteries, batteries or sector, not shown. They can also integrate measurement processing functions such as compression, reduction, amplification, summation, integration, modulation, filtering or digitization of the signal.

Method of information sharing

A method for sharing information relating to personal hygiene operations such as brushing teeth will now be described in detail with reference to FIG.

In order to transfer the measurements of the brushing movements from its individual computer terminal 230 to the social network 130, the participant 101 starts the procedure 300.

In step 301, the participant 101 registers on the social network 130 by means of his personal computer system 230. This type of registration, which typically includes the entry of the participant's name and e-mail address, is classic on social networks.

In step 302, the participant 101 enters his profile, which is then stored by the server 131 of the social network 130, for example by being stored in the database 132. This profile entry, which typically comprises the age, preferences, school or address of the participant, is classic on social networks.

In step 303, the acquisition of the brushing measurements from the sensors 21 1 is carried out by means of the acquisition system 212. This acquisition is conventional in any digital system comprising sensors, for example a joystick controller. It may be accompanied by a signal processing step, for example a scanning step, to obtain exploitable digital data. In step 304, the storing of the brushing measurements is carried out thanks to the storage system 213. This storage is conventional in any computer system containing a storage memory, for example a USB key or an EEPROM or Flash memory.

In step 305, the brushing measurements are transferred to the individual computer system 230 through the transfer system 220. This transfer is conventional in any computer system composed of remote elements, for example the transfer of JPG files from a camera digital to a PC, a video game controller controller to the computer's CPU or an address book synchronization between a mobile phone and a PC.

In step 306, the brushing measurements are transferred from the individual computer system 230 to the social network 130 to feed the database 132. Preferably, the transferred measurements are linked to the profile of the participant 101 in the database 132 .

In step 307, the server 131 of the social network 130 processes the data to derive performance relative to the brushing. For example, it extracts data a brushing time, possibly correlated to the position of the brush in the mouth. It can also format or standardize this data in a single format, to compare this data with that of other participants or previous data from the same participant.

In addition, the server 131 of the social network can compare these performances with performances stored in the database 132, and make these compared performances available on the social network by developing a display 400 based on the display modes 133 and the data. 132. This display 400 is to develop for the participant 101 information representative of brushing performance, and likely to motivate the participant to brush his teeth regularly and correctly, applying the various sources of motivation described below. The performances can be of different natures: relative to the frequency of the brushing (how many times per day), to the perseverance (for how many days), to the duration (for how many minutes), to the homogeneity (all the teeth are they brushed), the quality of the movement (from the gum, correct pressure, circular movement), the brushing of the tongue, etc.

In step 308, the display 400 is accessed by the participant 101 from his personal computer system 230. This consultation enables him to interact with the social network 130 to maintain or increase his motivation directly or indirectly according to the different modes. of interaction described below. This interaction can be achieved through buttons to click, checkboxes, sliders to move, menus to open and select, or entries with the keyboard of the computer.

Some of these steps may be performed in a different order, for example step 303 may precede step 301.

Team building

With reference to FIG. 4, the method according to the invention may also comprise an agglomerating processing of individual data sets transferred from a plurality of participants members of the social network and belonging to a determined group of members. This makes it possible to consider said group of members as a team.

In fact, doing an activity in a group rather than individually is another source of motivation. It can also develop a sense of belonging to a community, even for a solitary activity, which is an additional source of motivation.

Therefore the method according to the invention can also include and adding new participants to the team, that is to the group of members whose data are agglomerated, by an invitation mechanism. FIG. 4 illustrates, in a particular embodiment of the display 400, the display 401 of a screen allowing a participant 101 to invite team members from the other participants 102-103.

In interaction, the field 401 1 makes it possible to create a new team, by entering a name, for example "college Victor Hugo". The graphs 4012 represent the participants 102-103, for example by displaying their photo and their name, resulting from the information of their profile recorded in the database 132. The check box 4013 allows the participant 101 to select among these participants 102- 103 whom he wishes to invite to his team. Button 4014 triggers the sending of invitation messages to selected participants. These messages can feed their "profile" page, or be sent via email or any other instant messaging system. Comparison of individual and team performances

Finding individual progress over the long term can be a source of motivation, as can seeing the progress of a team that is part of it.

For this purpose, the data sharing method makes it possible, by storing, throughout a given period of time, the transferred data sets or the performances obtained from these data, to form a representation of the evolution of these performances, typically in the form of a curve.

FIG. 5 illustrates, in a particular embodiment of the display 400, the display 402 of the weekly brushing performance of a participant 101 and his team. This display is broken down into a 4021 individual performance chart or a 4024 team's performance. This allows the participant or his team to compare their own performance over a given period of time.

In interaction, the button 4022 allows the participant 101 to send a pre-filled message with the graph 4021 or 4024. This message can be made available by the server 130 of the social network 130 on the "profile" page of other participants 102-103. Alternatively it can be sent to third parties in the form of email or SMS.

The button 4023 makes it possible to add a comment or an approval (for example of type "Like" on Facebook®) on the social network 130.

Alternatively, the participant or his team can compare his performances with those of other participants or other teams.

FIG. 6 illustrates, in a particular embodiment of the display 400, the display 403 of the performances compared between several participants 101 -102-103, performances represented respectively by a graph 4031 -4032-4033.

In interaction, the participant can choose, filter or configure the desired comparisons according to various categories: age, school class, college, city, region, date of performance, nature of the performance, or a combination of categories.

As a variant, the comparison can be made with non-participants, for example a scale established according to the brushing quality found on average in different countries or a performance objective to be achieved.

For this purpose, social network 130 also has a feature allowing a participant to submit a challenge to other participants or teams. To do this, the server of the social network proceeds, prior to the data acquisition step of the participants, to a step of generating and storing in the database 132, an objective or a value of performance objective.

Then the server 131 communicates this goal or goal value to one or more members or groups of participating members as an invitation, for example by email.

Once the members or groups of members have loaded their data, the server 131 compares the processed data with the goal or objective value and makes the results accessible on the social network. Launching a personal challenge or between participants

FIG. 7 illustrates, in a particular embodiment of the display 400, the display 407 of the launching of an individual objective by the manager 1 to the participant 101. This objective may alternatively be generated automatically by the server 131 of the social network

130.

In other embodiments, the participant can define his goals for himself or his team, and see how far he or she is moving towards those goals. It can for example be fixed to brush his teeth for 15 days, or not to forget more than three times in a single month, or to arrive at the head of his team, or beat every month his score of the previous month, or to beat the highest score ever recorded on the network.

He can then visualize his performances with regard to these objectives as he progresses; this visualization can be done for example in the form of a curve whose color changes when it is close to the objective, or of a bar which fills up progressively, or of a dashboard in which each counter represents a objectives, or the graphical representation of the gains detailed below.

FIG. 8 illustrates, in a particular embodiment of the display 400, the display 404 of a challenge of a team received by a participant 101 member of another team. To this end, a participant of the first team will have previously created this challenge through a suitable form or button "launch a challenge" not shown.

In interaction, the pressing of the buttons 4041 or 4042 by the participant 101 respectively causes the sending of a message of acceptance or decline of the challenge.

FIG. 9 illustrates, in a particular embodiment of the display 400, the display 405 of the performances compared between two teams, represented respectively by the graphs 4051 and 4052. FIG. 10 illustrates, in a particular embodiment of the display 400, the display 406 of a competition launch between teams by the manager 1 10. For this purpose, the manager can validate the launching of competitions generated automatically by the server 131 of the social network 130 on the basis of the information of the database 132. For example, as soon as the threshold of one hundred participants registered in a team is reached, the social network 130 can automatically generate a competition with another team having also crossed this threshold. Alternatively, a competition may be organized by a participant 101.

The parameters of a competition can be varied. In 406a,

406b and 406c, the teams are respectively cities, regions or colleges. The competition can also be divided into categories, for example by age group, gender (boy vs. girl), parents against children, classes, neighborhoods, countries, continents, or by nature of brushing, as indicated above, or Again according to time: comparison of the performance of one month compared to the previous one, or one year compared to the previous year.

In interaction, the participant 101 can validate his participation, invite other participants 102-103 or friends to participate, launch a discussion forum or propose to modify the parameters of the competition such as the start and end date or the categories.

Finally, the challenge can have an interdependent character: FIG. 11 illustrates, in a particular embodiment of the display 400, the display 408 of the launching of an integral action by the manager 1 10.

The action may also be sponsored by another member of the social network 130. The display may provide additional information relating to the action of Unicef or to that of the sponsor; invite the participant to make their own contribution or to share information with other participants or third parties. Alternatively, this launch is performed automatically by the server 131 of the social network 130 or by one of the participants. Gratification of the participants

Another source of motivation may come from material gains, special recognition, and so on.

The invention provides, for example in the event of a challenge between participants, that the server 131 of the social network generates a notification that it sends to the participant (s) having achieved the objective that they had imposed. This notification may take the form of a message generated by the server 131.

FIG. 12 illustrates, in a particular embodiment of the display 400, the display of a congratulatory message 413 of the manager 110 or a participant 101, sent to the participants 102-103. According to the variants, the message is sent by email 413a or SMS 413b. The message may also include an indication of the virtual currency won 4132 and solicitations to find more edutainment information 4133.

Alternatively, in the social network 130 may be provided a virtual currency manager, in which case the server 131 of the social network can also generate a bonus to participants who achieved their goal in the form of a transfer of virtual currency. Participants are then provided with a virtual wallet to store this money.

FIG. 13 illustrates, in a particular embodiment of the display 400, the display 409 of the virtual currency gains 4091 by a participant 101.

Preferably, these gains will be obtained according to the brushing performance performed, absolutely or relative to a scale, individually or in teams; the degree of completion of an objective; success in a competition; participation in a class action; animation of the social network such as soliciting new participants, launching challenges, organizing a competition or a solidarity action, creating a new team, solicit new members for a team, be active in duration or intensity. These gains may alternatively consist of real or virtual gifts; medals or diplomas, for example "beginner / amateur / expert brewer"; coupons on purchases; loyalty points in some stores; benefits related to a video game etc.

The virtual currency may, if necessary, be used in an online store generated by the server 131.

Figure 14 illustrates, in a particular embodiment of the display 400, the display 410 of the online store, which represents a virtual wallet 4101, items to buy 4102 and their price expressed in virtual currency 4103.

In interaction, the participant 101 can thus buy one of the physical, digital or virtual objects present in the shop by paying them with his virtual currency. Finally, if participants compete for a team challenge, each team may have a common virtual wallet.

FIG. 15 illustrates, in a particular embodiment of the display 400, the display 41 1 of the virtual purses 41 1 of the participants 101 -102-103.

In interaction, the check box 41 13 allows the participant 101 to select the participants 102-103 prospective to constitute a common wallet. Clicking button 4114 allows participant 101 to send an invitation message to these prospective participants.

Finally, with reference to FIGS. 16, 17, 18, and 19, the method of sharing information relating to brushing may be supplemented with advertising functionalities or with edutainmental aims.

FIG. 16 illustrates, in a particular embodiment of the display 400, the display of the recommendation form 412a of the social network 230 to prospective participants not yet registered in the social network 130. For interaction, the form 412 has a button 4122 which causes the opening of a list 4123 of electronic addresses to be entered by the participant 101. Activating the 4124 button causes an e-mail message to be sent to the prospective participants and credits the participant's virtual purse 101 of the amount 4121. Alternatively, the recommendation form 412b makes it possible to earn virtual currency to another participant 102-103.

FIG. 17 illustrates, in a particular embodiment of the display 400, the display 414 of a ludo-educational video 4141, teaching, for example, the right brushing movements.

In interaction, the participant 101 is invited to note this video by clicking on one of the stars 4142. By activating the buttons 4143 and 4144, he can also transfer this information by message to other participants 102-103 or signal his interest on the social network 130.

As a variant, the educational-educational information may be an educational video game, for example a quiz whose questions are related to dental hygiene: "At what age did Louis XIV lose his last tooth? ".

FIG. 18 illustrates, in a particular embodiment of the display 400, the display 415 of information for the parents. A particular tab 4151 allows a parent of the participant 101 to view, after activating the button 4152, the progress of his child. The parent can also access commercial promotions by activating the 4154 button or 4153 and 4155 educational information, such as tips and tricks to motivate their children.

FIG. 19 illustrates, in a particular embodiment of the display 400, the display 417 of a message 4171 which invites the participant 101 to subscribe a subscription which commits him to improve his brushing of teeth thanks to the regular replacement of his brush.

Alternatively, this display periodically informs the participant of the approach of the expiry date of his toothbrushing equipment. The alert can be sent as a note on the entry page the user's account and the section dedicated to his parents, by email, by message on cellphone, through a mobile phone application ...

The present invention is however not limited to the embodiments described above. For example, the sources of motivation can be combined with each other. The motivation "set goals" can be combined with the motivation to "compete".

Alternatively, the congratulatory messages to the participants can be addressed orally by an individual's mascot or avatar, generated by the server 131 of the social network 130, and customizable by the participant.

Another example, through this avatar, the user can throw challenges to the avatars of other participants. The challenges are about brushing and can lead to a "virtual duel" between the participants' respective avatars. The same mechanics is possible for challenges between teams.

A participant's friends may also receive a message when this participant signs up for a new brush delivery subscription service every 3 months. Simultaneously, the user receives a virtual currency credit, increased if his friends subscribe to this service with his recommendation.

In addition, additional sensors can be integrated beyond those for measuring only oral hygiene information. For example, the base of the toothbrush can be equipped with a flowmeter to measure whether the water flows from the tap during brushing.

Brushing information can be declared by the participant, interacting with the display, for example in response to the following questions: "Have you thought about turning off the water tap while brushing? "How much toothpaste did you put on the brush? "Have you had a mouthwash after brushing? ". The social network 130 may include specific editing means for the attention of the manager 10 or a particular participant 101, for example a sponsor of the social network 130. These specific editing means may be a compilation of the statistics of the user. use of the social network 130 by the participants 101-102-103. These statistics can be aggregated into various subsets: by geographical region, by age, by sex, by family structure, by performance, according to the nature of the brushing, by accumulated earnings, etc.

If the recipient is a sponsor, these statistics can be useful for organizing public relations events or for demonstrating the progress of oral hygiene brought about by the dynamics of this social network.

If the recipient is a dentist or health professional, these statistics may be useful for prevention or hygiene care.

Claims

1. A method of sharing information relating to personal hygiene operations, including brushing teeth, in a network of participants, comprising:

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the data sets are acquired during successive tooth brushing by the same participant, and / or during brushing teeth of a plurality of participants.

3. Method according to one of claims 1 and 2, comprising an agglomerating treatment of individual data sets transferred from a plurality of participants members of the social network and belonging to a determined group of members, and adding new participants in the group of members through an invitation mechanism.

4. Method according to one of the preceding claims, comprising, prior to the data acquisition step, a step of generating and storing a performance objective value and a step of communicating this objective value to one or more participating members or groups of participating members as an invitation, and wherein the comparing performance step includes comparing to said goal value.

5. Method according to claim 4, comprising, after the step of comparing the performance with the objective, a step of notifying the participant (s) having reached the objective by sending a message and / or attribution of a bonus generated by the server of the social network.

The method of claim 5, wherein the social network comprises a virtual money system, and wherein a generated bonus includes a transfer of a virtual money amount into a participant's virtual purse, or the case appropriate group of participants with a common virtual wallet.

7. Method according to one of claims 1 to 6, comprising a preliminary step of registering the participants as members of the social network and generating and storing their respective profiles on the management server of the social network.

8. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the step of acquiring data sets relating to the brushing of the teeth is carried out by acquisition of brushing parameter measurements by sensors equipping toothbrushes of participants, said parameters comprising at least one of: a brushing time, a position, an inclination, a speed, an acceleration of the toothbrush, a brightness in the brushing zone, a pressure exerted by the brush, a deformation of the brush brush, a concentration of microorganisms in the mouth when brushing.

The method of claim 8, wherein the data is obtained from the processed measures according to one of the following group: compression, reduction, amplification, summation, integration, modulation, filtering and digitizing of the signal.

10. A system for sharing information relating to brushing teeth, comprising:

a plurality of toothbrushes, each comprising:

at least one sensor adapted to acquire measurements relating to the brushing of the teeth,

o a system for storing acquired measurements,

o an interface for transferring measurements,

1 1. The system of claim 10, wherein said at least one toothbrush sensor is selected from the group of: strain gauge, accelerometer, inclinometer, light sensor, proximity sensor, gyroscope, pharmacological analyzer, magnetic field sensor.