We developed a restroom danger detection system (RDDS) for detecting dangerous situations and protecting the elderly. Restrooms are particularly dangerous places for elderly persons. Our RDDS detects danger in real time by using image processing and sends an alert to a family member, hospital staff, etc. It comprises four processes: person detection, center of gravity detection, ellipse detection, and danger decision. The human detection process calculates the difference between an image of the empty restroom and one of the restroom when it is occupied (to which a brightness correction has been applied). The difference image is binarized and used for detecting the presence of a person. If a person is detected, the person’s center of gravity and ellipse are detected in the binarized image after it is denoised. The obtained information is used for detecting a dangerous situation. If the dangerous situation continues for 60 seconds, an alert is sent. Testing showed that our system can detect a dangerous situation within 1.5 seconds. This RDDS is one step toward the development of a comprehensive elderly person protection system.

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