To help me understand how the home security system Aura is fundamentally unlike other models, Taj Manku proposes a thought experiment. Manku, the cofounder of Aura’s parent enterprise, Cognitive Systems, asks me to imagine a pair of glasses that reveal the full electromagnetic spectrum. If I put them on, I’d see a mesh of radio waves—the invisible conduits of our hyperconnected society. Then, Manku continues, picture a person, cutting through them. “It’s a visualization of the world we live in,” Manku says, “from a very different perspective.” Aura, which was unveiled at this year’s CES, is intended to sidestep many of the privacy and technical concerns about camera- and audio-based security systems. Rather than light, Aura “sees” radio waves. Disturbances trigger the alarm but, because patterns of interference are not created equal, it is also able to distinguish friend from foe from ceiling fan. This summer, another emerging name in contemporary home security, Scout Alarm, will reveal its own spin on Aura—releasing a product that will combine Aura’s detection method with Scout Alarm’s sleekly designed hardware and customizable functionality via smartphone app. Peace of mind at your fingertips? Imagine that.
Aura’s Digital Age Security
Surpassing outdated audio and motion-sensing models, the new device picks up on patterns in radio waves to detect disturbances.
By Will Fenstermaker April 11, 2017
Related Stories
Svenskt Tenn’s Summer Picnic With Margherita Missoni
There’s Still Much to Learn From Jack Lenor Larsen
Apparatus Makes a Cinematic Entry Into London
Designer of the Day: Caleb Ferris
Designer of the Day: Gustavo Barroso
Surface Takes It to the Roof for Kouros Maghsoudi’s...
A Spirited Cocktail to Celebrate Sophie Lou...
At Mexico Design Fair, the Promise of Something New
Designer of the Day: Tatjana von Stein
Lindsey Adelman Is Getting Even More Experimental
Next Article