[0001] The present invention relates to a method for sending an electronic notification
to a recipient, a system adapted to carry out the method for sending an electronic
notification to the recipient, and a use of information for generating and/or selecting
an electronic notification based on actual information.
[0002] The number of people in need of care or surveillance and/or living alone is currently
growing considerably and, according to forecasts, will continue to do so in the future.
Accidents in the home and deteriorating health conditions therefore represent a considerable
risk to health and life.
[0003] Personal emergency response systems are known which can be utilized by persons living
alone. The personal emergency response systems usually alert appropriate persons in
case an emergency has been determined. However, most of the systems rely on a specific
sensor or a pushbutton transmitter carried by the person living alone so that the
specific sensor requires careful installation as well as a test for the sensor in
pre-determined time intervals and/or the pushbutton transmitter must be carried at
all times by the person living alone and in addition the person living alone must
be able to push the pushbutton in case of an emergency. Thus, the specific sensor
system and/or the pushbutton transmitter have the drawback that the system is not
flexible, is not easy to use and/or a malfunctioning cannot easily be recognized.
[0004] It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for sending an electronic
notification to a recipient, a system being adapted to carry out the method for sending
an electronic notification to a recipient, and use of information for generating and/or
selecting an electronic notification to a recipient, which is flexible to use, easy
to handle and/ or overcomes at least one of the above mentioned drawbacks.
[0005] The gist of the present invention is to categorize information about a person living
in a household into different categories and to obtain at least information of one
of the different categories. The information of each of the categories can be weighted.
The weighting of the information can be carried out by weighting the information within
the category (weighting within the category) and/or by weighting the information with
regard to information of at least one other category (weighting outside the category).
It is possible to put information into relation to each other and to obtain an assumed
status of the person and/or the household. Different categories can be considered.
Especially, the categories can be chosen as information of different sources which
are not related or not strictly related to one another. In case different sources
are considered the assumed status of the person is more reliable and accurate. All
information can be weighted in a score or point system so that the information corresponds
to a number of points, which can be integrated or accumulated. The sum can indicate
a status of the person. Malfunctioning can be substantially excluded by obtaining
information from different categories and the method, the system and/or the use can
be made more flexible and/or more easy to handle.
[0006] It is possible that the status of the person can be more specifically analyzed and/or
evaluated. In case of a serious problem a recipient can be informed about the assumed
status of the person. The notification can indicate a specific health problem, for
example the notification can indicate whether activities of the person have not taken
place as usual (e.g.: medication has not been taken, garbage can was not emptied,
person is still in bed), whether the state of health has deteriorated or improved,
and/or whether the person has left the household (which is of importance in case of
the medical disorder dementia). The notification may also indicate whether the assumed
status may lead to a problem for the person's health, the household or for other people.
Having considered at least two of the different categories a security status for the
person, the family of the person, a company taking care of the person and/or neighbors
can be obtained.
[0007] The invention provides a method for sending an electronic notification to a recipient.
The notification relates to an assumed status of a person living in the household.
According to the method, the notification is generated or selected based on actual
information referring to at least one category relating to at least pre-determined
time interval. For each of the actual information within the time interval an actual
value of the information can be compared with a nominal value of the information.
The difference between the actual value of the information and the nominal value of
the information is then weighted to obtain weighted actual information. The weighted
information of actual information of at least one category or a plurality - and in
some kind variety - of different categories can be put into relation to obtain the
assumed status of the person. The categories can be selected from the following group:
a) information about consumption of at least power, water and/or gas in the household,
b) a value of at least one sensor located in the household and/or carried by the person,
c) information about health data of the person, d) information obtained by at least
a smart device located in the household and e) information about interaction of the
person with regard to an interactive device. According to the invention the information
about the person and/or the household can be classified or categorized into categories.
[0008] In accordance with the description, the term "electronic notification" encompasses
inter alia a text message, a voice message and/or a signal which can be understood
by the recipient and the recipient can act accordingly in response to the assumed
status of the person.
[0009] In accordance with the description, the term "recipient" encompasses inter alia a
natural person, a company, an organization or a device related to those terms. The
recipient can be stored in a table indicating a real name and/or a nick name together
with a telephone number, e-mail address, or token for his device (i.e. smartphone)
or the like which is used to send the notification to.
[0010] In accordance with the description, the term "assumed status of a person" encompasses
inter alia an evaluation about the person's doing or behavior and allows a first approach
to analyze whether the person is in a healthy/"good" condition or in an unhealthy/"bad"
condition, wherein in case the person is assumed to be in an unhealthy/bad condition,
the unhealthy/bad condition can be evaluated to be of minor, major or critical severity.
The obtained assumed status of the person may also be related to the status of the
household. For example, a person suffering from dementia may forget to turn off the
water or to forget to empty a garbage can so that the household may become deteriorated.
[0011] In accordance with the description, the term "person" encompasses inter alia an elderly
person, a person of "bad" mental and/or "bad" physical health (suffering from a medical
disorder or a disease or being bound to the bed) or a person that would like to receive
information about its status or take part in a care program. Especially, the person
can be a person that lives alone.
[0012] In accordance with the description, the term "household" encompasses inter alia a
house, a flat, and a number of rooms, including one room. The household can be a room
or apartment in a care home or a retirement home.
[0013] The term "generating the notification" in accordance with the description encompasses
inter alia a generation in its broadest sense. However, the term encompasses inter
alia as well the selection or use of already present or stored parts or fragments
of a notification. Especially, the term generating can mean that an already present
notification is selected and personalized. The term generating can address the issue
that the notification has a personal appearance and the name of the recipient is mentioned
and addressed in the notification.
[0014] The term "selecting the notification" in accordance with the description encompasses
inter alia a selection of already present or stored notifications or a selection of
already present or stored fragments of a notification that can be selected to send
the notification to the recipient.
[0015] The term "actual information" is an information that can be changed or is changed
by a person by actions of the person and/or actions within the household. The actual
information is related to the person's doing within the household. The kind of information
is specified and explained later with regard to the categories which are considered
to obtain the assumed status of the person.
[0016] The term "plurality" in accordance with the description encompasses inter alia a
number of 2, 3, 4 or more.
[0017] The term "predetermined time interval" in accordance with the description inter alia
encompasses a time interval in which the information for evaluating the assumed status
of the person household is obtained. Preferably, the information is retrieved at the
beginning of the time interval. Thus, a retrieving of the information can start at
the beginning of the time interval. Preferably, the time interval can have a time
length of several minutes. The time interval can have a length of 60, 45, 30, 20,
15, 10 or 5 minutes. In accordance with the invention it was for the first time considered
to use a time interval in which the information of the different categories is evaluated
once to obtain the status of the person. A continuous evaluation can be obtained in
which there is no need for a continuous retrieving or handling of data. Instead, time
intervals can be selected which are of relevance for the person in question. Some
medical disorders or mental or physical diseases may allow a time interval which is
bigger than other disorders or diseases which require a time interval which is smaller.
[0018] The term "actual value of the information" in accordance with the description encompasses
inter alia the value of information which has been obtained within the predetermined
time interval. With regard to the information and the categories the actual value
of the information can be a nominal or Boolean formatted information so that the actual
value may correspond to "yes" or "no", which may be represented by "1" or "0". The
actual value of the information may also be a number or a quantity or amount in ordinal
or metric format which depends on the information and/or the category which will be
explained later with regard to the categories.
[0019] The term "nominal value of the information" in accordance with the description encompasses
inter alia a value that the information should have within the considered time interval.
The nominal value of the information can be a binary information, an amount or number,
or a range of values. The nominal value can be given by at least one threshold. The
nominal value can be obtained by information collected in the past, predicted, fuzzy
logic, a learning system or information given by the person. Especially, the nominal
value of the information can be represented in a table or as a function, wherein the
nominal value can depend on the specific day of the week or the time of the day.
[0020] The term "weighted" in accordance with the description encompasses inter alia the
use of a score or point system in which the difference of the actual value and the
nominal value corresponds to points. The amount of points indicates the amount of
difference, therefore, a small difference between the actual value and the nominal
value corresponds to a small number of points, whereas a big difference between the
nominal value and the actual value of the information corresponds to a big number
of points. The "weighting" of the information can be represented by a table which
may differ for each of the information and/or categories. The weighting can be performed
by a one or more dimensional function. The function can be based on an absolute difference
between the actual value of the information and the nominal value of the information.
Additionally, it is possible that the function can be based on a relative difference
between the actual value of the information and the nominal value of the information.
The function can use an average of the actual value of the information obtained within
a time interval.
[0021] The term "put into relation" in accordance with the description encompasses inter
alia consideration of all the information retrieved within the predetermined time
interval. Preferably, the information considered within the predetermined time interval
is summed up after each of the information has obtained a score of points which corresponds
to the difference between the nominal value and the actual value of the information.
It may be possible that the information for each of the categories is summed up and
it is decided whether the sum for each of the categories is above a threshold for
the respective category. In case that the sum is above a threshold for a pre-determined
number of categories an importance or severity level is reached. It may be possible
that the information of each of the categories is summed up and these sums are summed
up for considering the importance or severity level.
[0022] The term "consumption of at least power, water and/or gas in the household" in accordance
with the description encompasses inter alia the information about the respective consumption
which can be retrieved by a smart meter or a reading head, which is already present
in the household for purposes of payment of power, water and/or gas consumption.
[0023] The term "sensor located in the household and/or carried by the person" in accordance
with the description encompasses inter alia at least one sensor which can provide
at least one of the following: motion detection of the person, person's temperature,
the temperature in the household and the humidity in the household.
[0024] The term "health data of the person" in accordance with the description encompasses
inter alia information about mental or physical health of the person. Especially in
case the person suffers from a medical disorder, for example dementia, the health
data may contribute by a big number of points to the assumed status of the person
since this kind of medical disorder may require that even small deviations of the
activities of the person have to be looked for by medical service or even person's
relatives.
[0025] The term "smart device" in accordance with the description inter alia encompasses
at least a device having a transmission system to transmit a signal. Preferably, the
signal indicates whether the device has been used. More preferably, the smart device
and/or the signal can be reset after the information/signal was received as actual
value of the respective information. The smart device can be a box for drugs or medication
or a garbage can.
[0026] The term "interaction of the person with regard to an interactive device" in accordance
with the description encompasses inter alia any interaction that has taken place with
regard to the interactive device. Preferably, the interactive device receives a message
(an audio signal, an audio message, a text message, a video message) for the person
and the person can answer the message. Answering the message can take place via a
plurality of possibilities: by pressing at least one button or touch screen, by sending
a text message, and/or by sending a voice message. Preferably, the interaction of
the person with the interactive device can also be considered when the person starts
the communication with interactive device, so that the person sends a message and
the person receives a response to the message sent. According to the invention it
has been found for the first time that a use of an interactive device is information
itself which is worth to be considered in view of the health of the person.
[0027] For each of the categories it is preferred that for the latest time interval the
difference is detected between the actual value and the nominal value. The difference
for the latest time interval can be transferred into points in accordance with a score
or point system. For each of the categories the points are summed up for the latest
time interval.
[0028] To obtain a reliable assumed status of the person multiple sources are preferred
for each category. Thus, not only a single information per category is preferably
considered but a number of information for each category. A preferred embodiment considers
in the consumption category (a)) the consumption of water and power, in the category
referring to the sensors (b)) the motion or movement of the person as well as the
temperature and the humidity are considered, and in the interaction or environment
category (e)) the interaction or activities with a specific application, with general
mobile application, and active notifications are considered.
In a preferred embodiment the recipient is selected from the following group: at least
one person living in the household, at least one mobile nursing service, at least
one senior citizens' home assistance service, at least one relative of the person,
at least one emergency medical service, at least one neighbor and/or at least one
person appointed by the person or at least one court. The members of the group can
be notified in accordance with the assumed status of the person or the assumed status
of the household. The recipient can be selected from a subgroup of a group of members
selected from the person which lives alone in the household.
[0029] In a preferred embodiment, the notification is sent to one recipient at a time or
multiple recipients at a time and in case that the recipient does not acknowledge
or answer the notification within a pre-determined timespan, the notification or a
modified notification is sent to a further recipient or a group of recipients. In
this way, it is possible to ensure that the notification does not remain undetected
or unanswered, as a chain of recipients can be processed to whom the notification
or a modified notification is sent. Preferably, a list of recipients can be used or
stored. The notification/modified notification can be sent to all the recipients in
the list using the order of the recipients in the list. Therefore, it is possible
that the person is the recipient of a first notification indicating a status of the
person. For example, the person can be asked whether the person feels fine. The person
can then acknowledge the notification or forward the notification to a further recipient.
If the recipient does not acknowledge or answer the notification, the notification
or modified notification will be automatically forwarded to the next recipient in
the list. Further, it may be possible that not only one recipient in the list is notified
at a specific time but a number of recipients. Preferably, in case that a notification
is send to a number of recipients at one time, the recipients will be informed in
the notification that further a notification was send to a number of recipients, and
preferably, the recipients may be informed about the names of the further recipients.
[0030] The term "modified" notification in accordance with the description encompasses inter
alia that the notification about the status itself may be unchanged but the name of
the respective recipient is amended. Further, the term "modified" encompasses inter
alia the possibility that the assumed status in the notification is mentioned or the
assumed status is omitted, so that in the latter case the notification may read: "...
please inform yourself about the state of health of person X by visiting person X
...", whereas in the former case the notification may read: "... person X suffering
from dementia has left the household ...".
[0031] In a preferred embodiment, an importance or severity level is selected for the notification
based on the weighted information put into relation, the importance or severity level
is used to select the recipient and/or a pre-determined timespan in which the notification
or a modified notification is sent to a further recipient. By using an importance
or severity level the method can become even more flexible because the adequate recipients
and/or the time span for sending a (modified) notification to a further recipient
can be correspondingly selected. The importance or severity level can be determined
in accordance with the following table.
| Ho ca av usehold tegories ailable |
Minor Level |
Major Level |
Critical Level |
| 3 Categorie s |
1 category above threshold and 2 categories below threshold |
2 categories above threshold and 1 category below threshold |
3 categories above threshold and 0 categories below threshold |
| 2 Categorie s |
1 category above threshold and 1 categories below threshold |
2 categories above threshold and 0 categories below threshold |
N/A |
| 1 Category |
N/A |
1 category above threshold |
N/A |
[0032] In a preferred embodiment, the notification is sent in case that not all information
of the categories could be retrieved within the at least one time interval. This can
be used as an emergency notification in case that retrieving the information within
the time interval is not possible.
[0033] In a preferred embodiment, the notification is generated and/or selected based on
actual information of the plurality of different categories relating to a plurality
of time intervals. By using a plurality of time intervals it becomes possible to equalize
the information and to observe a bigger time span in the person's activity/doing.
Preferably, the last four time intervals can be used, in case that the time interval
is in the range of 5 minutes to 30 minutes, preferably in the range of 7 minutes to
27 minutes, preferably in the range of 10 minutes to 25 minutes, preferably in the
range of 10 minutes to 20 minutes, so that the information which is considered to
obtain the assumed status of the person is about 1 hour.
[0034] The consumption of water, power and or gas is measured within the time interval and
an actual value for the consumption obtained. The measured consumption for the time
interval is compared with a nominal value for this respective time interval and the
difference evaluated. Therefore, it is determined whether or not a normal activity
of the person is present and/or the person is actively consuming water, power and
or gas on the basis of a current consumption profile. The measuring device can, in
particular, be an electricity meter, a water meter and/or a gas meter or a combination
of the latter. These meters can output consumption values with a sufficiently good
time resolution, for example at least with a minute resolution, from which consumption
value curves over time and within the time interval can be derived. A measured consumption
value describes an actual information with regard to the consumption during the measurement,
i.e. the time interval. The nominal consumption values can be represented by a reference
profile, described by reference data, which can be available in a storage device.
The reference profile covers all time durations usable in the method. As profile data,
these represent consumption profiles at least for water and electricity/power. The
reference profile describes the normal activity of the person in the household.
[0035] By deriving the difference of nominal value and actual value it is possible to determine
whether and, in particular, to what extent there are deviations from normal activity.
With regard to the power consumption the difference between the actual value and the
nominal value is calculated. Further, the relative difference is calculated by a multiplying
the difference by 100 and division by the actual value.
[0036] A score or point system can be used which ranges from 0 to 100 and transforms the
difference into points.
[0037] In a preferred embodiment, the at least one sensor is a sensor for a) detecting a
motion or movement in the household, b) detecting the location of the person, c) determining
a temperature in the household and/or d) determining a humidity in the household.
By the at least one sensor an activity of the person is determined. The motion detection
and the temperature and the humidity sensor can be used together to obtain a reliable
information about the activity of the person.
[0038] In a preferred embodiment, the health data of the person refers to a disease, a handicap
and/or an impairment of health of the person.
[0039] In a preferred embodiment, the smart device is a) a box or container comprising at
least one drug for the person, b) a garbage can, c) a device for determining the lung
function and/or d) a device for determining the heart function. Smart devices can
be used which can be incorporated in daily live of the person. This is a further approach
to increase reliability and further improve in taking care of the person in the household.
The smart device may be an invention itself.
[0040] In a preferred embodiment, the interactive device is a telephone, a smart phone,
a tablet, a laptop, a computer, a tablet computer or the like. This offers the possibility
to use an interactive device which is already present in the person's household and
can also be used to run a program on the interactive device (an application) which
carries out the method. Especially, the interactive device runs a program for carrying
out the method and the interactive device can send the notifications.
[0041] In a preferred embodiment the method can be carried out on an electronic device having
a processor and memory. The electronic device is in a most preferred embodiment located
in the household of the person. This provides the possibility that the data obtained
during the method cannot be fetched easily by a third party. Further, no hardware
having a high performance level which is centrally located is necessary for carrying
out the method. It is the contribution of the invention that simple hardware can be
used. Especially, an electronic device already present in the household can be used,
for example a smart phone. As smart phones have a high performance level the method
can be carried out by a smart phone of the person. Further, a smart phone provides
the possibility that an algorithm carrying put the method can be maintained easily
by updates or patches which can be retrieved by the telephone or network communication.
In addition, the smart phone is already adapted to send messages so that carrying
out the method on an smart phone is simple. Moreover, a smart phone offers the possibility
to track a person in case that the person has left the household and tracking seems
to be necessary in case the person suffers for example from dementia.
[0042] In a most preferred embodiment, the method can be carried out or performed by an
application on a smart phone. The application on the smart phone of the person can
be a different application than the application on a smart phone of a recipient. The
application of the smart phone of the person can fetch or retrieve the information
in the household, whereas this is not necessary for the application on the smart phone
of the recipient. The application of the smart phone of the recipient can be reduced
to an algorithm which detects the notification and further detects whether the notification
is acknowledged and in case it is not acknowledged within the pre-determined time
span, the notification or a modified notification is forwarded to the next recipient
in the list or chain.
[0043] The invention also provides a system comprising a processing device for generating
and/or selecting an electronic notification and sending the notification, the processing
device comprising a processor and being adapted to carry out the method.
[0044] Further, the invention provides a use of information for generating and/or selecting
a notification based on actual information, the actual information being assigned
to a plurality of different categories relating to at least a pre-determined time
interval, wherein the electronic notification can be sent to a recipient, the notification
relating to an assumed status of a person living in a household, wherein for each
actual information within the time interval: i) an actual value of the information
is compared with a nominal value of the information, ii) the difference between the
actual value of the information and the nominal value of the information is weighted
to obtain weighted actual information, and iii) the weighted information of the actual
information of the plurality of different categories is put into relation to obtain
the assumed status of the person. The categories are selected from the following group:
a) information about consumption of at least power, water and/or gas in the household,
b) a value of at least one sensor located in the household and/or carried by the person,
c) information about health data of the person, d) information obtained by at least
a smart device located in the household and e) information about interaction of the
person with regard to an interactive device.
[0045] In a preferred embodiment, information is used which is processed in the household
of the person. Preferably, an application on a smart phone of the person is used.
[0046] Further advantages and details of the present invention result from the following
figures describing examples with regard to the invention.
- Fig. 1
- shows a flow chart in which a method for sending an electronic notification is incorporated;
and
- Fig. 2
- shows an example of sending a notification to recipients.
[0047] Fig. 1 shows a flow chart with regard to a method for sending an electronic notification
to a recipient, wherein the notification relates to an assumed status of a person
living in a household. The steps of the flow chart are in general continuously repeated
after a pre-determined time interval. The time interval used in the shown embodiment
is 15 minutes (S1) but can be shifted to other time intervals ranging from 1 to 30
minutes.
[0048] First a query is started to find out information of the night switch of the household
(S2) and determine whether a night switch is activated, i.e. the current time between
night switch interval is determined and whether the night switch is active (S3). In
the affirmative case, no further query is not carried out and no information is retrieved
(S4).
[0049] In case the night switch is not active, a query is started to call current absence
information of the person in the household (S5). If the result of the query (S6) is
affirmative, i.e. the person of the household is absent, the query of data or information
is aborted or terminated (S7). If the query results in a negative answer to the absence
of the person in the household, information is retrieved (S8), whether there are already
current notifications sent to recipients. In the affirmative, no further query or
retrieving of data is necessary and the procedure is terminated or aborted (S9).
[0050] If no notification is actually sent with regard to the status of the person in the
household, information is retrieved. (S10). The information refers to a plurality
of different categories relating to at least a pre-determined time interval (S11).
The categories considered in the example of Fig. 1 are consumption of water and power/energy
of the person living in the household, a value of at least one sensor located in the
household and/or carried by the person which refers to the movement of the person
and the temperature and humidity in the household (S13). Further, information with
regard to the category "interaction of the person with regard to an interactive device"
is obtained (S14).
[0051] For each of the actual information of the categories the following steps are carried
out within a time interval of 15 minutes:
- i) an actual value of the information is compared with a nominal value of the information,
- ii) the difference between the actual value of the information and the nominal value
of the information is weighted to obtain weighted actual information.
[0052] For each of the categories, points are determined indicating the difference between
the actual value of the information and the nominal value of the information. The
points of the information within one category are summed up and it is determined whether
the sum of points for each of the categories is above a threshold (S15, S16, S17).
Further, the weighted information of the actual information of the plurality of different
categories is put into relation to obtain the assumed status of the person or the
household (S18), wherein it is determined for example how many of the categories have
a sum which exceeds the threshold.
[0053] In dependency of the sum of each category, a notification is sent to a recipient
(S19). In case no category has a sum, which is above the threshold, no notification
will be sent.
[0054] Fig. 2 shows an example of sending a notification to recipients. One recipient, in
the example beginning with the person living in the household is sent a notification.
In case the person acknowledges the notification, no further notification is sent
to another recipient. However, if the notification is not acknowledged, preferably
in a pre-determined time span, the notification or a modified notification is sent
to further recipient. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 2 a care provider may be the
last recipient in the chain of recipients in case the other recipients have not acknowledged
the notification.
1. Method for sending an electronic notification to a recipient, the notification relating
to an assumed status of a person living in a household, wherein the method comprises:
generating and/or selecting the notification based on actual information referring
to at least one category or a plurality of different categories relating to at least
a pre-determined time interval,
wherein, within the time interval
i) an actual value of the information is compared with a nominal value of the information,
ii) the difference between the actual value of the information and the nominal value
of the information is weighted to obtain weighted actual information, and
iii) the weighted information of the actual information of the at least one category
or the plurality of different categories is put into relation to obtain the assumed
status of the person or the household,
wherein the at least one category is selected from the following group:
a) information about consumption of at least power, water and/or gas in the household,
b) a value of at least one sensor located in the household and/or carried by the person,
c) information about health data of the person,
d) information obtained by at least a smart device located in the household and
e) information about interaction of the person with regard to an interactive device.
2. Method according to claim 1, wherein the recipient is selected from the following
group: at least one person living in the household, at least one mobile nursing service,
at least one senior citizens' home assistance service, at least one relative of the
at least one person living in the household, at least one emergency medical service,
at least one neighbor and/or at least one person appointed by the person and/or at
least one court.
3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the notification is sent to one or multiple
recipients at a time and in case that the recipient does not acknowledge or answer
the notification within a pre-determined timespan, the notification or a modified
notification is sent to a further recipient or recipient group.
4. Method according to anyone of claims 1 to 3, wherein an importance or severity level
is selected for the notification based on the weighted information put into relation,
the importance o severity value is used to select the recipient and/or a pre-determined
timespan in which the notification or a modified notification is sent to a further
recipient.
5. Method according to anyone of claims 1 to 4, wherein the notification is sent in case
that not all information of the categories could be retrieved within the at least
one time interval.
6. Method according to anyone of claims 1 to 5, wherein the notification is generated
and/or selected based on actual information of the plurality of different categories
relating to a plurality of time intervals.
7. Method according to anyone of claims 1 to 6, wherein the at least one sensor is a
sensor for a) detecting a motion or movement in the household, b) detecting the location
of the person, c) determining a temperature in the household and/or d) determining
a humidity in the household.
8. Method according to anyone of claims 1 to 7, wherein the difference between the actual
value of the information and the nominal value of the information is weighted by a
transformation into points based on a pre-determined function.
9. Method according to anyone of claims 1 to 8, wherein the health data of the person
refers to a disease, a disorder, a handicap and/or an impairment of health of the
person.
10. Method according to anyone of claims 1 to 9, wherein the smart device is a) a box
or container comprising at least one drug for the person, b) a garbage can, c) a device
for determining the lung function and/or d) a device for determining the heart function.
11. Method according to anyone of claims 1 to 10, wherein the interactive device is a
telephone, a smart phone, a tablet, a laptop, a computer, a tablet computer or the
like.
12. System comprising a processing device for generating and/or selecting an electronic
notification and sending the notification, the processing device comprising a processor
and being adapted to carry out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.
13. Use of information for generating and/or selecting a notification based on actual
information, the actual information being assigned to at least one category or a plurality
of different categories relating to at least a pre-determined time interval, wherein
the electronic notification is sent to a recipient, the notification relating to an
assumed status of a person living in a household or a household in which a person
lives alone,
wherein for each actual information within the time interval
i) an actual value of the information is compared with a nominal value of the information,
ii) the difference between the actual value of the information and the nominal value
of the information is weighted to obtain weighted actual information, and
iii) the weighted information of the actual information of the at least one category
or the plurality of different categories is put into relation to obtain the assumed
status of the person,
wherein the at least one category is selected from the following group:
a) information about consumption of at least power, water and/or gas in the household,
b) a value of at least one sensor located in the household and/or carried by the person,
c) information about health data of the person,
d) information obtained by at least a smart device located in the household and
e) information about interaction of the person with regard to an interactive device.