Safe@home System Detects Falls, Calls for Help
by Editors on Feb 3, 2014
Living independently in own home is a major concern for elderly people, since being alone can be risky if a fall happens or some other emergency strikes. Ever since the “I’ve fallen and can’t get up” days, geriatrics had the option of wearing a device through which to call for help, but it still required the user to remain conscious and had no built-in smarts besides the basic intercom feature. Researchers at Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation in Germany have been working with a social services foundation and a couple private companies to develop a new technological solution that can detect falls, hear cries for help, and automatically call emergency services when something is wrong.
The Safe@home system works thanks to special sensors attached to the ceilings of a person’s home, similar to smoke alarms. These have cameras and microphones that together work to detect falls and unexpected motion pauses. Once a fall is noticed, the system first sounds an audio prompt to check whether it might be a false alarm. If the person replies that everything is OK, it goes back to monitoring, but if not, the system can call, send text messages, and email relatives, first responders, and neighbors.