WhatsNew2Day – Latest News And Breaking Headlines
From baby monitors to smart doorbells, many of us now have a variety of smart monitors dotted around our homes.
But a new device has been released that promises to eliminate the need for multiple monitors.
The device, called Earzz, is designed to listen for specific sounds in your home, from a crying baby to running water.
When it detects one of these sounds, the ping pong ball-sized device notifies you on your smartphone, tablet, or watch.
And while you might worry that such a device would be a privacy disaster, its designers say Earzz only identifies sound anomalies, not speech.
The device, called Earzz, is designed to listen for specific sounds in your home, from a crying baby to running water.
When it detects one of these sounds, the ping pong ball-sized device notifies you on your smartphone, tablet or watch
The device is the brainchild of Prad Thiruvenkatanathan, who discovered that he had a total of nine monitors throughout his home.
‘I noticed that there were many monitors that could listen to one sound, but none that could listen to a variety of sounds. Especially the sounds I wanted,” she explained.
‘I had nine different monitors in my house, including a baby monitor, a smart doorbell, a pet monitor for the cat, and even a glass break monitor for security.
“Each served a single purpose, was expensive and, in the case of the baby monitor, had a limited lifespan before becoming useless.
“And that’s when the idea came: what if we could have a solution that could do it all?”
While several smart home systems already exist, Earzz differs in that it detects anomalies in sound rather than speech.
The tiny device can be placed in any room in the house and is configured via an accompanying smartphone app.
There, users can select exactly which sounds they would like to hear.
In the hallway, this could include a knock on the door or a dog barking, while in the kitchen it could be the beeping of the microwave or running water.
Users can select exactly which sounds they would like to hear. In the hallway, this could include a knock on the door or a dog barking, while in the kitchen it could be the beeping of the microwave or running water.
Other options include coughing, sirens, alarms, and chimes.
Once you’ve selected your options, your device will start listening to your chosen sounds and send instant notifications to your smartphone when it detects one.
Each device has a range of three meters (9.8 feet) and a battery life of eight hours when not plugged into the mains, according to its developer.
With any “listening” smart monitor, there are bound to be privacy concerns.
However, Earzz claims that “your conversations are still yours,” thanks to patent-pending AI technology.
“Earzz only identifies sound anomalies, not speech, and the audio is removed after processing,” he explained in a statement.
“The brand also uses a secure cloud infrastructure to ensure privacy, security, and scalability.”
Earzz is on sale in the UK from today and is priced at £7.99 a month (billed annually), which includes your subscription and your first device. Additional devices are priced at £79.99.