Your robo vac's next trick? Scanning the perimeter
LG says its Hom-Bot robot vacuum cleaner may have scared off a burglar in the city of Holon in Israel. A man named Kobi Ozer was apparently working at his office when he got a SmartThinQ app alert to his phone – his connected vacuum cleaner was sending him pics of an intruder in his home.
Not all robot vacs would be able to act as a roving, pic-snapping security guard. LG’s Hom-Bot series, which we haven’t tested for our buying guide yet, has extra features like Home View, which lets you remotely view your home from a floor’s-eye-view and Home-Guard which is what appears to have been triggered here.
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The Home-Guard feature sends five images to the owner’s SmartThinQ app when its built-in sensors, designed to help it avoid furniture, detect unusual activity.
When we asked an ex-burglar about smart security systems, it seems that any kind of camera or sensor triggered lights will stop burglars in their tracks and put them off your house.
Oh and if you’re wondering what happened, Mr. Ozer called both his neighbour and the police and it’s believed the burglar fled with nothing upon encountering the little Hom-Bot flashing its light and taking photos. If LG’s CLOi bot had been at home, it could have offered him a beer to go.
