From baby monitors to smart doorbells, many of us now have a range of smart monitors littered throughout our homes.
But a new device has launched that promises to eliminate the need for multiple monitors.
The device, called Earzz, is designed to listen out 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 alerts you on your smartphone, tablet or watch.
And while you might worry that such a device would be a privacy disaster, its designers reassure that Earzz only identifies sound anomalies, and not speech.
The device, called Earzz, is designed to listen out 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 alerts you on your smartphone, tablet or watch
The device is the brainchild of Prad Thiruvenkatanathan, who found he had a grand total of nine monitors throughout his home.
‘I noticed there were plenty of monitors that could listen for one sound, but none that could listen for a variety of sounds. Especially the sounds I wanted,’ he explained.
‘I had nine different monitors in my home including a baby monitor, a smart doorbell, a pet monitor for the cat, and even a glass break monitor for security.
‘Each was single-purpose, expensive, and – in the case of the baby monitor – had a limited life span before becoming useless.
‘And that is when the idea struck: what if we could have one solution that could do it all?’
While various smart home systems already exist, Earzz differs in that it listens out for anomalies in sound instead of speech.
The tiny device can be placed in any room around the home, and is configured via an accompanying smartphone app.
There, users can select exactly which sounds they’d like to listen out for.
In the hallway, this might include a knock at the door or a dog barking, while in the kitchen this might be the microwave beeping or water running.
Users can select exactly which sounds they’d like to listen out for. In the hallway, this might include a knock at the door or a dog barking, while in the kitchen this might be the microwave beeping or water running
Other options include coughing, sirens, alarms and buzzers.
Once you’ve selected your options, your device will begin listening for your chosen sounds, sending instant notifications to your smartphone when it detects one.
Each device has a range of 9.8ft (three metres), and a battery life of eight hours when not plugged into the mains, according to its developer.
With any smart monitor that ‘listens’, there will undoubtedly be concerns for privacy.
However, Earzz claims that ‘your conversations remain yours’, thanks to patent-pending AI technology.
‘Earzz only identifies sound anomalies, not speech, and the audio is deleted after it has been processed,’ it explained in a statement.
‘The brand also uses secure cloud infrastructure to ensure privacy, security, and scalability.’
Earzz is on sale in the UK from today, and is priced at £7.99/month (billed annually), which includes your subscription and your first device. Additional devices are priced at £79.99.
