Automatic spatial attribute and travel pattern generation for simulating living spaces for elderly individuals living alone

Abstract

Simulators that generate records of virtual sensors are necessary for verifying and testing smart-home systems. However, their users usually need to build home models and body models of residents manually. They also have to define resident activity schedules and movement routes manually. This study proposes a framework for building a virtual database and using it to make diverse home and body models, activity schedules, and travel patterns for multiple simulation tools. We show that this framework is feasible by making two generators and two interfaces as a demonstration. The spatial attribute generator generates indoor spatial data on studio apartments by following basic design principles and rules for designing homes for elderly individuals. The travel pattern generator generates travel patterns of elderly individuals with dementia on the basis of a realistic-path model. Two interfaces are used to convert the generated spatial data into the home models of a simulator and convert travel patterns into the records of virtual sensors.