A Multi-Agent Care System to Support Independent Living

This paper presents a context-aware, multi-agent system called “Confidence” that helps elderly people remain independent longer by detecting falls and unusual movement, which may indicate a health problem. The system combines state-of-the-art sensor technologies and four groups of agents providing a reliable, robust, flexible monitoring system. It can call for help in case of an emergency, and issue warnings if unusual behavior is detected. The first group gathers data from the location and inertial sensors and suppresses noise. The second group reconstructs the position and activity of a person and detects the context. The third group assesses the person's condition in the environment and reacts to critical situations such as falls. The fourth group detects unusual behavior as an indicator of a potential health problem. The system was successfully tested on a scenario consisting of events that were difficult to recognize as falls, as well as in a scenario consisting of normal days and days when the perso...

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