Smart lamps that work with the Zigbee protocol, such as those from Philips Hue, will soon support the useful new Ambient Sending function. This allows the lamps themselves to automatically detect movements, without the need for special sensors in the room.
The Connectivity Standards Alliance is an organization that includes hundreds of manufacturers of smart home devices. The organization not only manages the Matter protocol but also Zigbee, another wireless protocol for smart devices. The Philips Hue bridge, among others, has been using Zigbee for years. The CSA has now announced a new feature of Zigbee: Ambient Sensing.
The function makes it possible to automatically recognize the presence of people with the lamps, without having to purchase additional hardware, such as special sensors. “Ambient Sensing with Zigbee transforms new and legacy devices into advanced presence sensing systems via an over-the-air update,” CSA said.
No sensors required
The function enables, among other things, automatic lighting control and security of your smart home, the organization says. Few technical details are known yet. You may be able to set up multiple detection zones in a room, provided there are enough smart lights in the room.
Normally, special motion sensors or a combination of Bluetooth and WiFi are used for presence detection. But you won’t need sensors in every room if you have enough Zigbee lamps.
Philips Hue lamps will also soon be able to technically offer the Ambient Sensing function. It is not yet known whether and when Philips Hue will add the Zigbee function. You would need at least three Hue lights in a room for it to work. Hue sister brand WiZ already offers a similar function based on WiFi.
The CSA has not yet said when Ambient Sensing will become available. After the function becomes part of the Zigbee protocol, smart lamp manufacturers can add it themselves via software updates.
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Source: www.bright.nl
