Different from traditional RGB cameras for security monitoring, ToF cameras use time-of-flight technology. The so-called time-of-flight means that the sensor emits modulated near-infrared light, which reflects after encountering an object. The sensor calculates the time difference or phase between light emission and reflection. The difference is to convert the distance of the object to be photographed, and present the three-dimensional outline of the object as a topographic map with different colors representing different distances, presenting a virtual image instead of an RGB color image. Through this technology, the outline of the ward can be obtained, and the behavior of the ward can be analyzed without infringing on the sensitive parts of the body. It can be seen that the ToF camera protects the privacy and security from the imaging technology.
From this point of view, ToF cameras can perform remote and real-time privacy monitoring, which is especially suitable for the monitoring of the elderly at home, nursing homes, and the monitoring of patients in wards. In addition, the ToF camera directly outputs depth information, which is convenient for secondary development. It can be used with a skeleton extraction algorithm to detect abnormal conditions at the first time and issue an alarm remotely, which can improve the current lack of privacy protection monitoring methods.
