Turn The WiFi Devices You Already Own Into a Motion Sensor Array
Feeling safe and knowing that your assets are always protected helps you sleep better at night, so home security is an important topic. Surveillance systems are a great way to protect your house, but generally they are pretty expensive, so a lot of people skip on using them in order to save some money. The good news is that Ekin Labs has come up with a free solution that will help you safeguard your valuables.
At a Consumer Electronic Show (CES), the Ekin Labs stall stood out with an interesting piece of software designed to use the hardware that already exists in your household and create an array of motion sensors. Basically, all you need is a wireless router (which most people already have) and at least two devices capable of establishing a wireless connection to the router (smartphones, tablets, laptops, etc.). The software named Hi WiFi will calculate the position of the devices in relation to the location of the router and assess any fluctuation of the wireless connection. According to the security company, a human that passes through the array has a specific signature that the software can detect.
At the moment, Hi WiFi is in its beta stage, but the guys at Ekin Labs say that the software will remain free even after it's completed (at least for a limited amount of time). What's cool is that the alerts generated by the application can be customized so you can, for example, choose to notify yourself, a neighbor or the police. Furthermore, the project developers state that fake positives will not be an issue as the system will not mistake your pet running around the house for a human entering the premises.
Of course, such an application comes with a few strings attached. For starters, you need at least two devices that have the Hi WiFi application installed in order to set up the system. This means that you will need two other WiFi capable gadgets, excepting the ones that you carry with you when you leave. Furthermore, the positioning of the devices will be key in protecting your home. This means that before you leave the house you will need to make sure that the gadgets are at their designated locations and that nothing has changed in the landscape of your home.
