Falling Person Detection Using Multi-sensor Signal Processing

Falls are one of the most important problems for frail and elderly people living independently. Early detection of falls is vital to provide a safe and active lifestyle for elderly. In this paper, signals produced by sound and passive infrared (PIR) sensors are simultaneously analyzed to detect suddenly falling elderly people. A typical room in a supportive home can be equipped with sound and PIR sensors. Hidden Markov models are trained for regular and unusual activities of an elderly person and a pet for each sensor signal. Decisions of HMMs can be fused together to reach a final decision.