Suggestion for development

  • 23 March 2021
  • 3 replies
  • 75 views

This may be way off the mark and totally impractical but bearing in mind that Sonos speakers now have built in microphones that listen for Alexa or Google etc.. would it be possible for Sonos to listen for sounds in the house that are unexpected or do not belong there?  ie use the speaker as an intruder alarm, listening for breaking glass or noises when the occupants have left the house?  Admittedly its not an area that Sonos are currently interested in but could some cleaver programming make this possible thereby increasing the use of the expensive speakers.  It could even be developed to be used as a baby monitor.  The list goes on and I can hear people saying about their human rights being infringed but there would have to be the ability to switch this on and off through the app.


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I’m one of those privacy freaks who buys One SL’s so I don’t have microphones in my home (but my Arc does, so take that for what it’s worth). 

I think the baby monitor idea is really wonderful thinking. Lots of people put their little ones to sleep with music, or ambient sounds. Making that return channel useful seems like a huge win.

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Alexa Guard can already do some of this.

I myself use one of these to remotely monitor the smoke alarms in my vacation property: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Y7OMI0U

Alexa Guard can already do some of this.

I myself use one of these to remotely monitor the smoke alarms in my vacation property: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Y7OMI0U

 

But this only listens for smoke alarms, not any noise at all while you are out.  I think there would be some problems with listening for any noise, or a noise that isn’t clearly identified as noises to raise an alarm since a dog barking, trash pickup, neighbors music, thunder, etc, would be common triggers.  I can see baby noises being specific, but baby monitors are pretty common and easy to get.  If you’re wanting an an intruder alarm, it would be better to have motion detectors/cameras as well as door and window sensors to accomplish this.

I get that it would be nice if a Sonos speaker was more of an all-in-one-device, but I seriously doubt it has the memory and processing power to accurately identify good and bad noises, what warrants an alert, as well as whatever future plans Sonos may have for their devices.  Plus, if you wanted to be alerted, you likely would need a subscription service, as cloud based security systems typically require, so why not get audio and video for your money.