Noonlight, a personal safety app, seeks to expand its platform by becoming smart home-compatible, and integrating with Amazon, Google Home, Apple and more devices.
The first integration is with security system company Canary, live as of last week. If the camera detects an anomaly, such as someone who has fallen down, the camera sends the user a push notification on their mobile device. If the notification goes unanswered, the camera will call for help, CNN reports. Nick Droege, founder of Noonlight, explains, "You shouldn't have to press a button to get help if you're having a seizure." Joseph Jerome, policy counsel at the Center for Democracy and Technology's Privacy and Data Project, raises critical questions as to how such devices will handle privacy, "It will be important to ensure this sort of proactive health monitoring is not used against individuals," he said.
Looking a little further into the future, Droege sees a day when all of your smart gadgets keep an eye on you. A Nest cam might see you grabbing your chest as your Apple Watch detects an erratic heartbeat. Google Home hears you gasping for breath and summon help. Automakers figured this out years ago with features like OnStar, which can summon help when you've run off the road. But so far no one's brought such tech into the house in an equally big way. Even Alexa doesn't support calls to 911.