抄録
This paper describes an application of an electromagnetic field sensor for behavioral monitoring. This study focuses on determining the usage statistics of home appliances by using an electromagnetic sensor as a detection device. The usage detection of home appliances is performed by measuring the electromagnetic field that can be observed in the area near an appliance. Since the sensor does not require precise positioning and any wiring, it can be easily installed in ordinary houses by end-users. For evaluating the practicability of the sensor unit, several simple tests were carried out (assessment of sensor output voltage against the distance between the sensor unit and the target appliance, installation test by end-users). Five healthy volunteers (age: 48.0 ± 11.7) participated in this experiment. Based on the output voltage when all appliances were switched off, the signal to noise ratio (SNR) was evaluated. The result revealed that the SNR was more than 20 dB in most cases when the target appliance was in use. The results also indicated that the proposed sensor unit can be installed by end-users in a short time (around 6 s per unit), and the sensor would be useful for gathering usage statistics of home appliances.
