The Mega Sensor

A researcher has developed a mega sensor that combines different sensors that monitors all kinds of activities.

21:30 11 May 2017

Gierad Laput, a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University, has put together a mega sensor that can track sound, motion, pressure, humidity, light intensity, temperature, and electromagnetic interference, among others. His goal is to make homes smarter without using a bunch of sensor-laden, Internet-connected appliances.

 

Laput, who is currently studying computer-human interaction, built the gadget as part of a project he calls Synthetic sensors. It could one day become the only sensor you’ll ever need to automate all different tasks inside the house including keeping an eye on an elderly family member.

 

The sensor is being shown off this week in Denver at the CHI computer-human interaction conference. In the initial tests, the device proved to be very accurate. Over a week of training and testing, 38 sensors in five different locations were 96per cent accurate on average.

 

Laput and his team are now stress-testing the 100 units they have manufactured, which they say cost about $100 apiece to make. However, Laput says that the cost can be brought down to about $30 if they were manufactured in high volume.