Abstract
To provide accurate activity recognition within a smart environment, visible spectrum cameras can be used as data capture devices in solution applications. Privacy, however, is a significant concern with regards to monitoring in a smart environment, particularly with visible spectrum cameras. Their use, therefore, may not be ideal. The need for accurate activity recognition is still required and so an unobtrusive approach is addressed in this research highlighting the use of a thermopile infrared sensor as the sole means of data collection. Image frames of the monitored scene are acquired from a thermopile infrared sensor that only highlights sources of heat, for example, a person. The recorded frames feature no discernable characteristics of people; hence privacy concerns can successfully be alleviated. To demonstrate how thermopile infrared sensors can be used for this task, an experiment was conducted to capture almost 600 thermal frames of a person performing four single component activities. The person’s position within a room, along with the action being performed, is used to appropriately predict the activity. The results demonstrated that high accuracy levels, 91.47%, for activity recognition can be obtained using only thermopile infrared sensors.
Highlights
It has been predicted that the world’s population will reach as high as 8.6 billion by 2030 [1]
For each pair of frames from the two thermal sensors processed, a prediction was made for the action, the object the person was near, and the single component activity being performed
Where S1 and S2 are the frames from the ceiling and side sensor, respectively, F is the feature vector, A is the predicted action, O is the nearest object and Activities of daily living (ADL) is the inferred activity
Summary
It has been predicted that the world’s population will reach as high as 8.6 billion by 2030 [1]. It is predicted that the number of people requiring 24/7 monitoring and care, whether due to a disability or an age-related issue, will increase. The analysis of the completion of such activities can benefit the monitoring of the health and wellbeing of residents through the detection of medical issues and lifestyle changes in addition to age-related diseases [5]. Monitoring the actions and ADL of a person in their own home provides the ability to understand their routine, which subsequently allows a better understanding of what aid is most beneficial to the person. This understanding can help facilitate the delivery of care essential for allowing a person to remain at home
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