Quantitative confirmation of residents’ everyday life behavior by acceleration measurement of facilities in a house

In aged society, decreasing of worker population is one of the most important problems. Especially the farming population has been decreasing in recent years. On the other hand, the elderly people’s families live away from them, because they cannot expect a reasonable profit from farming. In addition, it is hard to find other jobs in a rural area. Thus, the isolated farmers need somebody’s help to take care of themselves. For example, the families can confirm their everyday lives by a remote system with monitor cameras. However, it can violate the residents’ privacy. The appropriate system should have a confirmation function without violating the privacy. In this study, facilities in a house can be thought as sensors of everyday life in place of cameras. The acceleration measurement was held for quantification of the residents’ behavior in a house. The residents in the subject house are 62-year aged husband, 58-year aged wife and 91-year aged father. The accelerometers have been fixed on the refrigerator and the door in the house. Approximately one-year lengths, acceleration of the facilities were recorded through 2013 and 2014. The fluctuation of acceleration of the refrigerator can indicate the resident’s using in a day. It showed that the residents lived well-regulated lives. The refrigerator will be able to indicate the feature of their everyday life. On the other hand, the fluctuation of acceleration of the door can indicate the resident’s movements inside out. The door movements depend on the seasons. The number of the door movements in each season is different. They kept the door open through the daylight in summer, but they close the door after going in winter. These results reveal that the acceleration measurement of facilities in a house can become the quantitative confirmation method of residents’ everyday life stability.