- The Connectivity Standards Alliance advanced an update to the Zigbee protocol
- Update will allow Zigbee devices like Hue lights to function as occupancy sensors
- We don’t yet have a timeline for when the feature might roll out.
Your Philips Hue lights could soon become a lot smarter thanks to a free firmware update that would allow them to do double duty as occupancy sensors. It involves an upgrade to the Zigbee wireless protocol and could allow your light bulbs and lamps to detect your presence without the need for additional hardware.
When you connect your lights, switches, and other smart devices to a Philips Hue Bridge, a mesh network is created using the Zigbee protocol. This allows all devices to communicate with the Bridge and each other, and receive over-the-air (OTA) firmware updates to fix bugs and add new features.
This week, the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), the organization behind Zigbee, announced a new feature called Ambient Sensing that will allow Zigbee devices like Hue lights to detect if you’re home without any additional hardware. It will be available for new and old devices and will be rolled out via an OTA update.
In a short video, the CSA explained that Ambient Sensing will “unlock new user experiences, such as autonomous lighting control and home security, while enjoying the privacy of operating 100% locally without adding occupancy sensors in every room.”
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When will it arrive?
As TechCrawlr’s Mike Robinson explains, it’s still early days for Ambient Sensing. The CSA hasn’t offered a timeline for when it will roll out, and Signify (the company behind Philips Hue) hasn’t given any indication as to whether it will be available for Hue bulbs and lamps. However, it seems like a natural addition to the Hue system and could even replace the Philips Hue smart indoor motion sensor.
Fabian from Hueblog.com (a reliable source of early information on Philips Hue) claims to have inside information on the subject, including some details of the requirements for Ambient Sensing.
“According to the information I have, the Philips Hue function requires at least three light sources in a room, which must be located at a certain distance and in an appropriate shape,” says Fabián. “Of course, a permanent power supply to the light sources is essential. It should also be possible to adjust the intensity of the motion detection.”
Signify already has some interesting plans for next year, including an AI assistant that will create custom lighting scenes using voice commands, but this seems like a more practical and potentially useful feature. I’ll be on the lookout for more news and will keep you posted as soon as I know more.
