MU researchers are studying their falls and developing a sensor system to put in seniors' homes that could alert emergency response. One of the researchers knows first hand how scary an undetected fall can be.

"This really hits me on a very personal level because my mother-in-law fell three times before she finally passed away. The first time she fell happened in the middle of the night. She fell down, broke her shoulder and laid on the kitchen floor for the rest of the night because she could not wake up her husband," said the study director, Marjorie Skubic.

Researchers hope the cameras would prevent situations like this in a non-invasive way.

"What we are trying to do is recognize these activities in a way that would preserve the privacy of the individuals. And so what we're doing is, we're capturing a segmented human frame as the person moves around the environment and creating a silhouette of that image," said Skubic.

Researchers say cameras could be hung from ceilings or around elders' homes.

"The ultimate goal is to be able to have an inexpensive sensor to be able to deploy or to have available for people to use in their own homes or other senior housing settings to be able to get people's help without having to wear anything," said Aging in Place director, Marilyn Rantz.

The sensors will prevent false alarms by detecting how fast the person falls. Researchers say they will test the sensors in apartments at Tiger Place, a community living facility for seniors within the year. They hope to see them used in seniors' homes within three to five years.