Drones and smart homes are the two things with private security applications on show at the Gadget Show Live this weekend. ADT, Yale (showing a keyless ‘smart lock’) and Polish firm Fibaro are each showing ‘smart home’ technology that lets you control door entry, property security, heating and lighting and other household devices – even radio or music to wake up to – through your smartphone or tablet.
Pictured is the ADT stand before the four-day show’s opening at 11am on Thursday, March 31. The home security and monitoring firm released to coincide with the event some predictions. Tiny, hidden cameras soon to be commonplace around homes; and residential streets could even stop burglaries before they happen, by using face recognition software to spot known criminals and sound the alarm. Also foreseen is an ‘automated Neighbourhood Watch’, where the new generation of intelligent alarms installed in homes will communicate with each other, collecting details of the behaviour of a suspicious stranger on the street or alerting others to danger. Even if an intruder takes off with your valuables, low-flying overhead drones launched from your roof could follow the criminals as they get away. By 2025 burglars could also find themselves being sprayed by indelible chemical markers as they break into properties, according to the study by future trends researchers Futurizon.
Gail Hunter, a spokesperson for ADT, said: “People today feel more uneasy in their own homes than ever before. Technology is already evolving to help give homeowners peace of mind and more control of their home security, and over the next few decades this will continue to advance.”
ADT is about to launch its smart home product ADT Smart Home offering monitoring of properties, family members, pets and personal possessions remotely from wherever the user is, from a smartphone, tablet or PC. And that can even operate lights and electrical devices.
The system, which allows homeowners to view live footage from inside their homes, switch lights, alarms and motion sensors on and off and sends alerts to owners when security devices have been set off, also provides round-the-clock ADT monitoring and maintenance through UK-based centres which can investigate alarms and call the police.
ADT’s report suggests that in less than ten years’ physical doors and window locks will be replaced with electronic entry, including biometric access. Video doorbells linking to smart phones to allow owners to talk to visitors and let them in, could become mainstream. Smart “polymers” on fences could trigger alarms by detecting pressure from anyone trying to climb over, while smart water pistols in gardens could mark any intruders with chemical markers, enabling police to later identify the culprits. The study also predicts that by 2025 most homes will have security drones fitted to rooftops, which home security contract companies will be able to control once an alarm in triggered.
The low-flying drones will be able to follow the criminals, take video as evidence and even spray chemical identifiers onto burglars or escape vehicles.
Show details
Gadget Show Live runs from Thursday, March 31 to April 3, 2016 at the NEC, Birmingham. Friday and Sunday tickets are available at www.gadgetshowlive.net.
