Smartphone Saves Dogs' Lives

A smart camera has alerted a family that their house was on fire allowing them to save their two dogs.

22:35 04 May 2017

Christophe Deschamps and his whole family were watching a basketball game when he was alerted by his smartphone that their house was on fire. The family’s thoughts immediately turned to their two Bernese Mountain Dogs locked in the garage.

 

"It was more important for us to save the dogs than the house," says Christophe. "My wife was crying and panicking, thinking the dogs could die."

 

The dogs’ lucky escape was made possible by an indoor security camera created by Netatmo. One of the first smart home cameras that feature face recognition technology, its designed to send alerts when it hears an alarm and automatically starts recording. It is also capable of distinguishing between people it knows and strangers. Netatmo said that its smart cameras have led to the successful prosecution of burglars.

 

Due to the benefits it offers, the connected home security market is expanding fast. Francesco Radicati, a technology specialist at consultancy Ovum, said: "We put the connected home security market at 95.4 million unit sales in 2016,"

 

"Service providers, such as Qivicon, AT&T Digital Life, and Vivint Smart Home, are selling device multi-packs including multiple sensors, and these are proving very popular.

 

"We estimate the market will grow to 744 million devices sold in 2021."