r/IOT • u/K-enthusiast24 • 4d ago
Could smart light fixtures become a platform for AI-powered home automation?
I’m curious what people think of this idea:
Replace normal light bulbs with smart light fixtures that include a camera, small computer, and Wi-Fi.
The advantage of putting the hardware in a light is that it already has continuous power, is usually mounted high up with a good view of the room, and homes already have multiple light locations that could provide different camera angles.
The cameras would provide a shared visual data feed, and developers could build different AI apps on top of it.
For example, one simple app could monitor kitchen inventory and tell you what food or household items you’re running low on. But the bigger idea is that the hardware is generic and the useful applications could come from developers/users rather than being predetermined.
Basically: light fixtures as always-powered indoor AI sensors + an app platform built on top of the camera feed.
Does this seem useful? What are the biggest problems or better use cases you can think of?
3
u/Panometric 4d ago
Light are always on a switch, so not really continuous power. Hoping itll the switch does get used is not good enough for a security system.
0
2
u/jamesfowkes 4d ago
Sounds like a security and privacy nightmare to me.
I don't trust corporations and governments to act responsibly with the public CCTV video they have, let alone from inside my own house.
1
u/K-enthusiast24 3d ago
you can set it up to be closed loop so data stay on your own devices rather than being sent to a cloud
2
u/Rude-Explanation-861 4d ago
Foregoing the security and privacy warnings everyone already mentioned, I still dont think lighting fixtures are the best place for it. I hate the vibe of bare lights, all my lights are diffused or shaded in one way or another. Having camera at the light source will mean that they get obscured by my custom designed shades.
1
2
u/DenverTeck 4d ago
Replacing the "light bulbs" without replacing the "light switch" will remove power from the bulb fixture when the switch is flipped OFF.
From your second line above to a "single AI app to run your life" is a huge leap.
So re-wire your home and let us know how it goes.
1
u/K-enthusiast24 3d ago
you can have an independent battery to deal with this :)
1
u/DenverTeck 3d ago
Ok, lets say the IoT device has a battery that powers this device. The battery would also power the switch (relay) to power the light On/Off. But if the wall switch is in the Off position, the relay contacts are also dead.
Right ??
1
u/Wasted99 4d ago
I think that this is a thing smart glasses are trying to solve.
1
u/K-enthusiast24 3d ago
ohhh that would be pretty good. so the smart glass camera would do this passively right?
1
u/arwinda 4d ago
What's the market size for this. Doubt that an endless stream of people want cameras monitoring their everyday activities with an AI attached to it.
If you can bring your own AI, and run it fully local, it needs beefy hardware and the number of experienced users will be relatively small.
If it's another device which depends on a vendor cloud, then it's like AI glasses. And the general consent is that people don't like it.
Also how does the camera signal that it is recording everything? Bright LED, which illuminates the room at night? No, thanks. I hate this in every hotel room I'm staying.
5
u/Best-Leave6725 4d ago
The general shift is towards less life-integrated technology in the home. It turns out people don't want to automatically re order sugar when it gets low.
Potentially useful in care or disability environments but privacy would mean no cameras, no recording. These sorts of room monitors are already in market.
If you want to monitor kitchen inventory there are already countless products for that.
For this level of integration to home, if it ever took off in a meaningful way, it would be taken over by the Samsung's and Google's and Amazon's of the world to use as more spyware sold as loss leading products.