LinknLink Adds an IR Blaster to Its eMotion mmWave Presence Sensor to Build the eMotion Ultra
All-in-one presence detection and control gadget is crowdfunding now, but backers of the company's earlier campaign urge caution.
Internet of Things (IoT) specialist LinknLink has opened orders on a crowdfunding campaign for its next-generation millimeter wave (mmWave) person-sensing radar, now featuring an integrated infrared remote control capabilities: the eMotion Ultra.
"The eMotion Ultra presence sensors provide substantial improvements in practicality, accuracy, and applicability over traditional PIR [Passive Infrared] motion detection technology," LinknLink's Bo Yao says of the company's latest smart home sensor design, "as well as enhancements with add-on features for an integrated smart home experience."
Regular readers may remember LinknLink from its launch of the eMotion Max last year, a compact 2×2 60Ghz mmWave radar designed for privacy-preserving presence sensing in smart homes, offices, and more. The eMotion Ultra, like its Max predecessor, is based on the same sensing technology and delivers the same core functionality of person detection and motion tracking — but now comes with a selection of additional inputs and outputs too.
First among these is an infrared transmitter, designed to beam signals as widely as possible — allowing a single eMotion Ultra to not only detect the presence and activity of people in a room but automatically control manual devices as a result, such as turning an air conditioner or a TV off after people leave a room. This sits alongside new sensing capabilities, again designed to replace dedicated devices: an ambient brightness sensor is also integrated, with the promise of "an external temperature and humidity sensor cable" to follow "in the near future" to expand its capabilities still further.
As with the company's previous products, LinknLink promises simple integration into existing smart home systems — including automatic discovery in Home Assistant and support for voice control using Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri, and Google Home. The company has also put support for the cross-vendor Matter standard on its roadmap, to be delivered as Matter-over-Wi-Fi in an as-yet undated firmware update, while promising somewhat nebulous benefits from a cloud platform it calls "AI Space."
LinknLink has opened crowdfunding for the eMotion Ultra on Kickstarter, with rewards starting at AU$69 (around $56) for "early bird" backers looking for a single eMotion Ultra unit; all hardware is expected to ship in March this year, the company says. Those looking to back the project, though, are advised to read through the comments from the eMotion Max campaign where backers have complained of poor detection performance, an inability to operate properly without an active internet connection, and excessive noise, even after the recent release of a firmware update.
