Tech company Xandem Home that is based in Utah has developed a new way of securing homes without the use of surveillance cameras. Its device uses tomographic motion detectors that utilize radio waves to monitor what is happening inside the households.
The society has seen a lot of heist movies that feature a bunch of laser sensors requiring thieves to come up with acrobatic stunts to get through those crisscross laser beams. It may be a bit fancy to secure homes, but a company known as Xandem does not see it that way.
Instead of lasers, Xandem Home uses a tomographic motion detection system that emits radio waves to detect any moving object inside homes. The radio waves create an invisible sensing web to track motion in or around households.
The Xandem TMD project all started from a research made by Joey Wilson and Neal Patwari from the University of Utah. Later on, the project was funded by the National Science Foundation and is now on crowd-funding site Indiegogo to raise money for the device's mass production.
By using a bunch of Xandem nodes, it will enable homeowners to create an invisible sensing web to track someone or something that moves around the house. However, a 135 sq. meters (1,500 sq. ft) home may require 10 to 15 nodes to cover ground or two Xandem Home kits to outfit homes with two floors.
The TMD technology uses algorithms to detect when and if someone or something interrupts the links or the invisible web between the nodes. Provided that the disruptor is below 30 pounds, the system can tell whether it is a cat or a big guard dog inside the house that disrupts it.
The Xandem TMD mobile app enables the homeowners to watch the intruder as it moves from room to room. But before the intruder does this, the system's gateway alarm will sound and hopefully scare the intruder away.
Each node requires its own plug. It can be set up in areas difficult to reach as the technology works through furniture and walls. A 10-node security kit has a price tag of $475 available at Indiegogo and is expected to ship out in August 2016.
