With Sensify, Ivani intends to transform (almost) all our home automation devices into motion detectors. A feat that could be found on our doorsteps in the coming months, and even in the light bulbs and thermostats already installed in our homes.
Since the start of the 2020s, DIYers have found a new hobby: designing their ideal connected home. Light bulbs, electrical outlets, thermostats, vacuum cleaners, lawn mowers… Today, almost everything can be controlled remotely and programmed to measure.
The ultimate luxury consists of automating the switching on and off of certain devices according to our needs, but also our comings and goings in the house, or even in certain rooms. Motion sensors are the most obvious tools to achieve this, but they unfortunately require the purchase of additional gadgets. All of this weighs heavily on our wallet, on the environment, on the management of a connected home, and sometimes even on the proper functioning of its network.
Fortunately, there is a solution that could simplify all of this, with a simple software update.
A technology that is almost magic?
In any case, this is what Ivani, an American company, promises with its Sensify wireless network detection (WNS) technology. This uses the disturbances caused on a radio frequency by the passage near an object, such as a human being, to detect movement. And who can benefit from it? Any device connected via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or protocols such as Thread or Zigbee.
To go further
Home automation: understand everything about protocols for the connected home
To define the presence of a moving object, Sensify needs at least three more or less close devices in the same room. The advantage of this constraint is that it allows relatively precise detection zones to be configured, depending on the positioning of the devices, and quite quickly. Which is not always the case with a camera (especially when it changes position) or an infrared detector.
YouTube link Subscribe to Frandroid
This content is blocked because you have not accepted cookies and other trackers. This content is provided by YouTube.
To be able to view it, you must accept the use carried out by YouTube with your data which may be used for the following purposes: allowing you to view and share content with social media, promoting the development and improvement of products from Humanoid and its partners, display personalized advertisements to you in relation to your profile and activity, define a personalized advertising profile, measure the performance of advertisements and content on this site and measure the audience of this site (find out more more)
By clicking on “I accept all”, you consent to the aforementioned purposes for all cookies and other trackers placed by Humanoid and its partners.
-You can withdraw your consent at any time. For more information, we invite you to read our Cookies Policy.
I accept everything
Manage my choices
Moreover, according to Ivani, its technology is “ equivalent or superior » to some of the systems we currently use, whether PIR detectors or surveillance cameras. On the other hand, Justin McKinney, co-founder of the company, explains to The Verge that Sensify is not as precise as a millimeter wave sensor, capable of detecting fine movements like human breathing: “ The lights will likely turn off if you are standing still, even if you are in the room ».
A feature introduced in the coming months or years
But the great advantage of Sensify is that it is already adaptable to many devices that are already on the market or have been on the market for several years. Still according to Ivani, a simple firmware update of any connected object will be enough to transform it into a motion detector. Better yet, devices of different brands and generations will be able (in the best of all worlds) to work together to create detection zones.
This new feature could arrive in our homes very soon, with Ivani currently working “ with some of the biggest names in the connected home industry set to roll out the technology very soon “, says McKinney. To date, the relevant manufacturers are mainly considering how to introduce this technology into their product range.
To go further
This Google Home update will change everything for home automation
Devices compatible with the Zigbee protocol would be among the first to benefit. This is good news, since it is used by quite a large number of products, including those from Signify, which markets Philips Hue lighting. However, Sensify is not yet intended to be an integral part of the protocol itself. We can therefore expect that not everyone will start doing it right away, even if it will be an essential marketing argument for brands.
It remains to be seen whether the results will really live up to the promises.
