Research and Development

Bathroom monitoring systems

In 2011, there were 17,000 deaths in bathrooms in Japan ^*1, which is more than 3 times as many as deaths in traffic accidents (5,000) ^*2. Due to the way Japanese people take a bath, there were many drowning deaths. If a person faints or falls into a bathtub, this person must be rescued right away. We also need to protect the privacy during monitoring.
The system uses an Infra-Red (IR) laser and a laser beam splitter (FG element) to illuminate the entire bathroom with 1500 to 2000 IR beams. A camera with a solid state sensor such as a CCD camera on the corner of ceiling collects the positions of the beams. The system only collects the information of the light spots, not the image of the person to protect the privacy of the person. The system compares the positions of the light spots to estimate and analyze motion vectors so that it can detect falls and report to family members or caretakers.

*1: Research results of Tokyo health longevity medical center,
　http://www.tmghig.jp/J_TMIG/release/pdf/20121221_takahashi.pdf
*2: Statistics by Metropolitan Police Department,
　http://www.e-stat.go.jp/SG1/estat/List.do?lid=000001118016