Research on an assist system for sustaining the variety of activities of the aged people in house considering QOL

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We developed a monitoring system that watches the activities of the aged and a virtual reality system that can analyze the movements of the aged staying home for the purpose of extending the scope of activity of the aged. As for the monitoring system, we developed a recognition method that can make out human figures from input images though the brightness of a natural light and switching on and off of ceiling lights change the lightness of a room. Our movement analysis unit that takes advantage of virtual reality made it possible to analyze the effect of the dimension, such as height and depth, of furniture over the work posture of the aged and the locus of each part of their bodies in their daily life activities. In connection with this study, we also developed a movement simulation method that uses a human body link model. In this method, the upper body of a human being is represented by a link model having eight joints. In consideration of the physical characteristics of the aged, we set resistance to and constraints on the bending of each joint. We then specified the positions of fingers at the starting and ending points of movements and formulated the problem of finding the bending angle of each joint as a non-linear problem. Thanks to the use of a simulation model, now it is possible to make a simulation and an analysis of movements of the aged at any time and place.