System and Method to Monitor a Person in a Residence

• US 20110090085A1
• Filed: 10/15/2009
• Published: 04/21/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/15/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Pratt, James, Van Vleck, Paul, Belz, Steven
• Granted Patent: US 8,390,462 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/573.1
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0423 detecting deviation from an expected pattern of behaviour or schedule
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0476 Cameras to detect unsafe condition, e.g. video cameras
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0492 Sensor dual technology, i.e. two or more technologies collaborate to extract unsafe condition, e.g. video tracking and RFID tracking
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44218 Detecting physical presence or behaviour of the user, e.g. using sensors to detect if the user is leaving the room or changes his face expression during a TV program methods or arrangements for recognising human body or animal bodies or body parts G06V40/10; methods or arrangements for acquiring or recognising human faces, facial parts, facial sketches, facial expressions G06V40/16; methods or arrangements for recognising movements or behaviour G06V40/20; arrangements for identifying users in broadcast systems H04H60/45

Abstract

Systems and methods to monitor a person in a residence are provided. A particular method includes receiving data at a monitoring service from a set-top box (STB) device. The data includes a location in a residence of a person being monitored. The location may be obtained from a location system in the residence. The data also includes an associated time stamp for the location. The method includes analyzing the data based on a profile of the person to determine whether one or more alert conditions are satisfied. The method also includes providing a notification when one or more of the alert conditions are satisfied.

Claims

1. A system for monitoring a person in a residence, the system comprising:

a location system in a residence, wherein the location system includes a first component coupled to the person to be monitored and a plurality of second components located in the residence that interact with the first component; and

a set-top box (STB) device to receive an output from the location system;

wherein the output indicates a location of the person in the residence;

wherein data including the location of the person in the residence and a time stamp of the output are sent from the STB device to a monitoring service; and

wherein the monitoring service analyzes the data received from the STB device and sends a notification when one or more alert conditions are satisfied.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising one or more video cameras coupled to the STB device, wherein signals sent to the STB device at a request of a third party allow for adjustment of at least one of the one or more video cameras when one or more of the alert conditions are satisfied.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein a warning is sent to the STB device to be provided to the person before a video camera coupled to the STB device is activated.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the video camera is not activated when a satisfactory response to the warning is received.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more alert conditions are satisfied when the data indicates that the person has not moved during a threshold period of time.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more alert conditions are satisfied when the data indicates that the person has left the residence.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising a biosensor that senses biological data regarding the person and sends the biological data to the STB device.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the biosensor senses at least one of a temperature, a pulse, a heart rhythm, blood chemistry, and a blood pressure of the person.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the STB device establishes a video conference with a health care representative when the one or more alert conditions are satisfied.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the first component of the location system comprises a radio frequency identification (RFID) emitter and the second components of the location system comprise RFID detectors.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the first component of the location system comprises a radio frequency identification (RFID) detector and the second components of the location system comprise RFID emitters.

12. A method comprising:

receiving data at a monitoring service from a set-top box (STB) device, wherein the data includes a location in a residence of a person being monitored and an associated time stamp;

analyzing the data based on a profile of the person to determine whether one or more alert conditions are satisfied; and

providing a notification when one or more of the alert conditions are satisfied.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein providing the notification comprises sending a first notification to the STB device, wherein the first notification includes a prompt requesting input from the person.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising sending a second notification to a third party when no input is received from the person within a response time period.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising sending a second notification to a third party when an unsatisfactory input is received from the person.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein providing the notification comprises sending identification information for the person and information descriptive of the one or more alert conditions that are satisfied to at least one third party.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the data includes information from a biosensor coupled to the person, and wherein the information from the biosensor is used to determine whether the one or more alert conditions are satisfied.

18. A set-top box device, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory accessible to the at least one processor, the at least one memory comprising;

instructions executable by the at least one processor to receive input from a location system in a residence, wherein the location system is operable to identify a location in the residence of a person being monitored;

instructions executable by the at least one processor to analyze the input to determine the location of the person and to determine whether the location has changed from previously received input; and

instructions executable by the at least one processor to send location data and a time stamp to a monitoring service.

19. The set-top box device of claim 18, further comprising:

instructions executable by the at least one processor to receive from the monitoring service a prompt when one or more alert conditions are satisfied; and

instructions executable by the at least one processor to present the prompt at an output device coupled to the STB device.

20. The set-top box device of claim 19, further comprising instructions executable by the at least one processor to receive a response from the person to the prompt and to send the response to the monitoring service.