A researcher from the University of Carnegie Mellon (Pennsylvania) named Gerad Laput introduced a universal device capable of tracking various events in a room and making it possible to turn an ordinary house into an "intelligent" one without changing household devices or equipping existing devices with individual sensors.

According to N + 1, the device, called Synthetic Sensor, is a small board in a transparent case, on which a controller and several sensors are installed, including a microphone, an accelerometer, temperature sensors, color, illumination, magnetic field strength, Wi-Fi and Atmospheric pressure. To power the device, use an adapter with a USB socket.

After switching on, the gadget begins to track events occurring in the room and transmit data about them to a PC with the software installed on it, which uses machine learning and recognizes events based on the readings of the Synthetic Sensor.

Judging by the demonstration video, the program can determine whether a person is in the room and what kind of events are happening around.

For example, software based on data from sensors can detect whether water is flowing from the tap, if gas is turned on, whether the blender or other device is running. Similarly, the program works in a workshop with tools or in the office. Deeper work with the data of sensors also allows to determine the operating time of devices, the flow of water or paper towels for wiping hands.

As the creator believes, in the long term, data from several sensors processed by the program can be used to control an "intelligent" house or to determine a typical user's day schedule.