A monitoring system, comprising a floor covering having installed therein or thereunder a sheet-type pressure sensor; a sensor control unit connected to said sheet-type pressure sensor, including an analog-to-digital converter for converting analog signals provided by said pressure sensor into a digital raw signal, the digital raw signal being the digital signal delivered by the analog-to-digital converter, prior to any signal shaping, processing or data extraction in the digital domain, a microcontroller connected to said analog-to-digital converter for receiving said digital raw signal, said microcontroller being configured to carry out data extraction by signal processing of said digital raw signal, wherein said signal processing of said digital raw signal comprises detection of activation events, including at least one of suspected falls, activity starts, activity ends, suspected entries and suspected exits, in said digital raw signal in accordance with detection criteria, said microcontroller further being configured to generate a digital processed signal having a lower digital bandwidth than said digital raw signal, said digital processed signal carrying data extracted during the processing of said digital raw signal; a communications module connected to or integrated within said microcontroller so as to receive said digital processed signal, said communications module being configured to establish data communication with one or more database servers and to transmit said extracted data to said one or more database servers; wherein said sheet-type pressure sensor comprises a ferroelectret polymer film, the ferroelectret polymer film designating a cellular polymer film structure exhibiting piezoelectric properties, the ferroelectret polymer film sandwiched between a first electrode layer and a second electrode layer. a floor covering having installed therein or thereunder a sheet-type pressure sensor; a sensor control unit connected to said sheet-type pressure sensor, including an analog-to-digital converter for converting analog signals provided by said pressure sensor into a digital raw signal, the digital raw signal being the digital signal delivered by the analog-to-digital converter, prior to any signal shaping, processing or data extraction in the digital domain, a microcontroller connected to said analog-to-digital converter for receiving said digital raw signal, said microcontroller being configured to carry out data extraction by signal processing of said digital raw signal, wherein said signal processing of said digital raw signal comprises detection of activation events, including at least one of suspected falls, activity starts, activity ends, suspected entries and suspected exits, in said digital raw signal in accordance with detection criteria, said microcontroller further being configured to generate a digital processed signal having a lower digital bandwidth than said digital raw signal, said digital processed signal carrying data extracted during the processing of said digital raw signal; a communications module connected to or integrated within said microcontroller so as to receive said digital processed signal, said communications module being configured to establish data communication with one or more database servers and to transmit said extracted data to said one or more database servers; wherein said sheet-type pressure sensor comprises a ferroelectret polymer film, the ferroelectret polymer film designating a cellular polymer film structure exhibiting piezoelectric properties, the ferroelectret polymer film sandwiched between a first electrode layer and a second electrode layer. <EOS>