The Company Cognitive Systems has just released their newest product, called “Aura”, which acts as a camera-free home security system by detecting ripples in WiFi signals that indicate movement.
In its most basic form, Aura is a base station and companion unit that you put on two opposite ends of your house. It then detects any form of movement in the house and alerts you via a smartphone app. The downside of this is that it can’t tell you what’s making the movement, unless it’s a person whose phone is already registered within the device. It can detect movement even through walls and tell whether you left the house by detecting whether your phone is with you or not, and if it’s the latter, it will automatically turn on and arm itself. Once movement is detected, Aura will either alert your smartphone or set of an alarm.
Source: CBC News
Aura is programmed to be able to tell the differences in movements caused by humans, pets, or the wind blowing a curtain. Human movement within an area affect the wireless spectrum much more dramatically than other sources of movement.
Aura is a pretty neat tool, especially for those who dislike the idea of installing security cameras in your house. “There’s no sense of privacy invasion,” says Hugh Hind, CEO of Cognitive Systems. Aura doesn’t record or even see what’s going on in your house, it just detects whether something suspicious is moving around.
Source: CBC News
Aura’s movement detection comes from a new kind of microchip within it, which can detect a wide range of frequencies, from 80 MHz to 4 Ghz. This microchip could also potentially be useful for other gadgets, and this chip might even outdo the security system it powers.
Aura has just been released and shipped to its customers, so we’ll see just how effective it really is once the user reviews roll in, but it’s an extremely promising security device that might just change the surveillance and security game.
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