Wozart, the Smart Home tech company based in Hyderabad, India (whom we featured back in 2018), have unveiled their latest product designed to work with Apple HomeKit. The Sense Pro multi-sensor is designed to work much like an occupancy sensor, in addition to including a variety of other functions.
The Sense Pro uses a combination of methods (dubbed TrueOccupancy) including thermal imaging, and built-in AI, to determine if people are in a given room, as well as whether a person has entered or exited the room, with the sensor designed to sit above the entrance to a room. Thermal imaging relies on the heat given off by occupants in the room, rather than motion, which means you can be sitting motionless and still be detected as being in the room.
The Sense Pro goes more than a little further, however, with additional sensors for temperature, humidity, and ambient light. As if that wasn’t enough, the Sense Pro even includes an IR Blaster to control devices that traditionally use an infrared remote control, much like we’ve seen with the Aqara M2, G3, and P3.
The device itself seems to be battery-powered, but with an internal battery, rechargeable via a micro USB port (yep, no USB-C…). This would be necessary it seems, as according to our enquiries, the device uses 2.4GHz WiFi to connect to your network.
We’ve been informed by a representative of the company that the Sense Pro is designed to work with the three major smart home platforms – Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, and Google Home which is already the case with the company’s other offerings. There’s no word on a price at this time, or whether it’ll be available outside of the Indian Subcontinent, but it should be released in December of this year.
Wozart isn’t the only company looking at advancements in motion and occupancy sensors, however, with Aqara having revealed their mmWave radar occupancy sensor earlier this year at their annual product event. Likewise, fellow Chinese smart home tech company LifeSmart is working on a similar device using the same technology that will make for true occupancy detection.