Real-Time Prediction of Resident ADL Using Edge-Based Time-Series Ambient Sound Recognition

Sensors (Basel). 2024 Oct 4;24(19):6435. doi: 10.3390/s24196435.

Abstract

To create an effective Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) system that supports the daily activities of patients or the elderly, it is crucial to accurately detect and differentiate user actions to determine the necessary assistance. Traditional intrusive methods, such as wearable or object-attached devices, can interfere with the natural behavior of patients and may lead to resistance. Furthermore, non-intrusive systems that rely on video or sound data processed by servers or the cloud can generate excessive data traffic and raise concerns about the security of personal information. In this study, we developed an edge-based real-time system for detecting Activities of Daily Living (ADL) using ambient noise. Additionally, we introduced an online post-processing method to enhance classification performance and extract activity events from noisy sound in resource-constrained environments. The system, tested with data collected in a living space, achieved high accuracy in classifying ADL-related behaviors in continuous events and successfully generated user activity logs from time-series sound data, enabling further analyses such as ADL assessments. Future work will focus on enhancing detection accuracy and expanding the range of detectable behaviors by integrating the activity logs generated in this study with additional data sources beyond sound.

Keywords: ambient assisted living; edge AI; human activity recognition; internet of medical things; sound classification.

MeSH terms

  • Activities of Daily Living*
  • Aged
  • Algorithms
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Sound*