There's nothing cooler than walking into a room and having the lights automatically turn on, and that's something you'll be doing soon if your home is full of WiZ smart light bulbs.
WiZ has announced that a new software feature, coming later this month, will allow most WiZ bulbs bought in the last year to use Wi-Fi distortion-sensing technology to recognize when you're in a room. Only two bulbs will be needed for it to work, and when it does, it promises to be pretty special.
Distorted thinking
WiZ is pretty excited, too, because the technology — dubbed SpaceSense — sounds surprisingly simple. "Wi-Fi signals are slightly disturbed when people move around in a room, like a ripple in a swimming pool," a press release says. "By measuring the small deviations in signal strength caused by those disturbances, the WiZ lights can determine if there is an object moving in the room."
Danny Lousberg, Head of Software Product Management of WiZ, says that this new technology will allow people to get motion-sensing lights without dealing with complicated sensor systems. "For many users the need for extra hardware to enable motion detection in their system felt complex, expensive and cumbersome. Now, for the first time ever, SpaceSense takes those hurdles away, opening up automations and other smart lighting advanced benefits to everyone."
WiZ says that the new SpaceSense magic will come to bulbs as part of a new software update that is set to land later this month, so there shouldn't be too long to wait. Unfortunately, while WiZ is part of parent company Signify just like Philips Hue, the two aren't compatible with each other. Both will work with future Matter tech, though.
Apple is set to add its own Matter support with a future iOS update, with the latest iOS 16.1 beta already getting things set up for go-time later this year.
