Consumer electronics-based intelligent alert system for unattended elderly residents

In this paper, we propose an intelligent alert system that continuously monitors the living quarters of an unattended elderly resident and can automatically issue alerts to family members or helpers when it detects potential accident patterns or suspicious signs in the monitored person's body dynamics. The systems works with absolutely no disturbance to the elderly person's everyday life and no burden of carrying or wearing any portable devices on the body. The front-end of the proposed system consists of multiple closed circuit TV (CCTV) cameras, which are equipped with infrared LED lighting capability. The image processing software carries out the following functions: extraction of the elderly resident's body silhouette, estimation of the upper body posture, and detection of body motion dynamics. The preliminary results from simulations have shown that a number of accident patterns that are regarded as high risk and high occurrence can be detected with 100% accuracy. Such an intelligent system provides a novel and cost effective option for elderly people who desire to age with maximum independence and at the same time desire to free their adult children from worrying about their emergency hazards.