Thanks to the newest smart camera systems and their powerful analytics applications, IDC says the video surveillance camera market will grow to $44 billion by 2025. But regardless of how many cool features those devices integrate, many privacy-conscious consumers are more comfortable with them standing guard outside, rather than peering in.
Wi-Fi sensing offers a compelling alternative for keeping an eye on the kids after school, caring for elderly relatives remotely, and collecting biometric measurements with a bit of anonymity. By processing signals from the myriad Wi-Fi devices transmitting and receiving all around you, Wi-Fi sensing detects environmental changes. Depending on the application, those changes might include motion when there shouldn’t be any, triggering a security alert. Or if there is no movement when grandma should be stirring, a notification might get pushed to her care provider.
The technology behind Wi-Fi sensing is relatively new, and there aren’t any standards governing its implementation. As a result, gaps in today’s infrastructure limit the range of what Wi-Fi sensing can do, leaving a lot of untapped value waiting for industry consensus. Current approaches to Wi-Fi sensing like Cognitive System’s 2017-era Aura and Linksys’ Aware platform proved the technology works. But the best is clearly yet to come.
KEY POINTS
- Wi-Fi sensing builds upon the mechanisms already used in wireless networks to detect environmental changes.
- Possible use cases of Wi-Fi sensing include motion/presence detection, security, elder care, home automation, and gesture recognition.
- Work is underway to standardize Wi-Fi sensing, which will pave the way for increased functionality, interoperability, and reliability.
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