Ring, the Amazon-owned home security business, introduced a flying camera called Ring Always Home Cam during Amazon’s invitation-only online hardware event.
The $250 drone is small and light, with a high-definition camera, and it can automatically fly on preset paths to specific spots in your home, streaming video to your smartphone of what it sees along the way. Users can set up paths for the drone via a smartphone app, or if the drone detects motion in a part of your home it can fly on its own to that spot and take video of what’s going on. Set for release next year, the drone is meant for indoor use only, and it can be set to work with the Ring Alarm system so that it will fly a preset route if the alarm is triggered.
The Ring Always Home Cam is a new way to look after the home and provide multiple viewpoints with one device. This autonomous indoor security camera flies your chosen, personalized paths so that you can easily check in on your home for peace of mind—like whether someone left a window open or forgot to turn the stove off.
The Ring Always Home Cam also easily integrates with Ring Alarm—our home security system—charting a new path forward not just for how people use security cameras, but also for the benefits of a home alarm system. When Ring Alarm is triggered while in Away Mode, the Always Home Cam will automatically fly a set path to see what’s happening. You can easily stream video while the camera is in-flight via the Ring App, making sure that you’re in the know when it comes to everything happening at home.
But bringing this device to life was no small feat. We knew we had to invent a completely new type of device that was able to move freely throughout the home to give more viewpoint flexibility. To do this, we needed to bring together best-in-class hardware and software technologies to create something no one else had done before and build on a foundation of privacy while moving safely throughout the home.
Designed with Privacy First: Developing a New Age in Whole-Home Security
Privacy and security are foundational to Ring, and underpin every product, feature, and service we develop. We think about privacy holistically—from product features and design, to how a customer ultimately uses that product in their everyday life—and Always Home Cam is no exception.
Always Home Cam was built with privacy top of mind both in the physical design and the way it is used. The device rests in the base and the camera is physically blocked when docked. The camera will only start recording when the device leaves the base and starts flying via one of the preset paths.
We even designed Always Home Cam to hum at a certain volume, so it’s clear the camera is in motion and is recording. This is privacy you can hear.
The set-up process for the Always Home Cam is also key to this foundation of privacy. When you go through the setup process and set your preferred flight paths, you are ensuring that the Always Home Cam will only fly where you want it to go. It cannot be manually controlled, ensuring that it will only record and see what is important to you.
Safety was also a primary consideration when designing the Always Home Cam. Obstacle avoidance technology allows it to avoid unexpected objects as it moves on the pre-set paths, and its small size, lightweight design and shrouded propellers enable it to move safely throughout the home.
The Future of Whole-Home Security is Here
Over the years, cameras have proven to be beneficial and a critical part of any home security system. We want to make it easy for our customers to be in control of their home security while maintaining privacy. Always Home Cam uses unique technologies to do that in a way that has never been done before and is affordable and easy-to-use for our customers.
As with other devices at this stage of development, Ring Always Home Cam has not been authorized as required by the rules of the Federal Communications Commission. Ring Always Home Cam is not, and may not be, offered for sale or lease or sold or leased, until authorization is obtained.