In the corporate world, where big giants like Google, Microsoft are breaking the barriers of fixed industry services, Amazon may to launch new security product that will patrol neighbourhoods according to a recent patent filing.
The company may provide a subscription service for worried homeowners with photos or recording capabilities.
Amazon will probably offer different tiers and pricing that would provide drones visit weekly, daily, or even hourly, the patent suggests.
Subscribers could either use the drone to keep an eye on the general problems, or identify specific objects such as an expensive car to monitor.
Drones with Night Vision, Infrared Sensors
After taking surveillance snaps, the images are analysed—either internally, by a computer at a hub, or by a human.
Then, in suspicious cases—an alert, such as a phone call, email or text message, would be sent to the subscriber, or to a private security firm, or the police or fire service.
Additionally, the drones could even be fitted with night-vision, infrared, and thermal cameras for enhanced surveillance.
The patent reads: ‘In the example described above, surveillance data was registered, which includes the identification of an object of interest, such as a car in a driveway. As the surveillance data is compared, a machine vision algorithm may determine a state change of the car in the driveway.’
‘Various examples of the state changes of the car in the driveway include whether the car is present, the location of the car in the driveway, whether the lights of the car are illuminated, or whether a window of the car is intact or broken.’
Noise and Chemical sensors
Likewise, Amazon may consider other sensors including chemical sensors, to find fires or leaks, and noise detectors that can tell if an impostor is present.
Every year, Amazon files hundreds of patents, with little indication as to which projects they will actually see to final execution.
In recent years, Amazon has been testing out its delivery service—aka Prime Air, in Cambridge and even delivered its first parcel in 2016.
