The project set-up

The final system should have the following set-up:

Low cost web-cameras will be installed in all the rooms of the home of an elderly or disabled person. In each room, there will be 1-4 cameras, depending on the room setting. The purpose of using multiple cameras is mainly to avoid occlusions of the person in the video sequences and also to allow 3D-based analysis algorithms. To avoid complicated wiring in the consumers flat it is possible to use wireless web-cams which are nowadays widely available.

All cameras of one home will be connected to a central computer, which will perform the processing of the image sequences and eventually perform the fall detection. Depending on the concrete hardware, it is possible that some parts of the preprocessing (like simple motion detection) will be done in the cameras themselves (since some cameras have this feature build in already).

The processing of video data and the fall detection will be done fully automatically, so that no privacy issues are challenged and the consumer doesn’t feel being watched. Even more, since the camera system should also be installed in private places such as the bathroom and bedroom as those represent the most likely places to fall.

In case of a detected fall an alert signal (e.g. an SMS) will be sent to a designated assistant or a call center. When receiving a fall alarm, the assistant can call the fallen person and ask them if they need instant help or if they can resolve the situation themselves (e.g. if it was a false alarm, if the fallen person is able to stand up by himself/herself or has assistance nearby, e.g. visiting family). A way of letting the user know that the system has “seen” them fall should also be considered, since the fallen person needs reassurance that help is on the way.
Additionally, a way of “clearing the system” should be considered e.g. for situations when the elderly have visitors, such as lively grand children who may throw themselves on the ground and activate the system unnecessarily.

Automatic fall detection

To detect a fall, the following steps will be made:

• During installation of the system, camera calibration has to be done.
• If there are multiple cameras in a room, matching is performed to create the proper relationships between the various camera inputs.
• Motion detection and background subtraction is performed to isolate the person from the background.
• Features are computed on the extracted person to perform posture analysis and to get information about the behavior.
• Specific behavioral patterns are significant for the detection of fall. These will be analyzed and a classification system decides whether a fall is observed and if an alarm should be sounded.

As the concrete algorithms are implemented, detailed information will be added to this page.