Not even the most high-tech security systems can keep watch over everything in your home. And most also lack the ability to automatically alert you when someone tries to steal something as small as an expensive bottle of wine from your private collection.
However a new device called the Ninja Sphere, an all-white object that could almost pass for a modern piece of sculpture, is designed to handle just such a situation.
With features like LED lights and built-in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, the gadget lets you keep tabs on the things — and pets — in your home. Place a Bluetooth tag on your cat and the Ninja Sphere will track its travels. It can also alert you when smaller valuable objects, such as a jewelry box or computer, are being moved.
See also: Apple Aims to Control Your Home
The gadget also helps you manage your home, alerting you if you leave the heater or lights on.
In order to make all this possible, the Ninja Sphere uses a process called trilateration. It consists of three or more signals that overlap to pinpoint the location of certain objects. Algorithms within the gadget measure the space of your home, even detecting furniture, as well as where the Sphere sits in relation to everything else.
"Though not highlighted very much in the Kickstarter, the Ninja Sphere commonly keeps track of things via any off the shelf Bluetooth LE tags (Stick 'n Find, TileApp, Gecko, Chipolo) or general Bluetooth devices," CEO Daniel Friedman explained to Mashable in an email.
When a user notices something sketchy, they can choose what to do next. For example, if they already have cameras set up around their home, they can tell the Ninja Sphere to take a snapshot.
"Users will be able to create reactions to the various events that happen within the Ninja Sphere," wrote Friedman.
The device is also open source, which means that users can configure it to work with additional devices. Ninja Sphere will initially work with an app, but the team hopes to make that necessary only for the device's initial setup.
At the time of this writing, the team's Kickstarter campaign had raised $259,080 Australian dollars, blowing past its initial goal of $115,000 Australian dollars.
Those who pledge $199 Australian dollars or more, roughly $182 American dollars, will receive the Ninja Sphere, which is scheduled to start shipping worldwide in June 2014. The campaign ends January 11.
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Image: Ninja Sphere