Techstars company Notion launches intelligent home sensor system with wild success

by Emerson Dameron
September 23, 2014

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A Boulder startup is offering to bring the internet of things to where you live, with a depth of 'home intelligence' that was hard to imagine in the days of the clunky old burglar alarm.

Notion, a Techstars Boulder company, promises 'a home that is not just smart, but intelligent' and the ability to 'be home, even when you're not.' Developed by Ryan Margoles and Brett Jurgens of Loop Labs, Notion is a system of stylish but inconspicuous sensors connected to a main hub. This little network can monitor all sorts of activity in a home or business and dispatch alerts to users or their friends when something goes awry.

Its sensors include:

  • An accelerometer that knows when a door is open
  • An ambient light sensor that can help save electricity
  • A gyroscope that detects open windows and doors
  • A temperature sensor that lets you know if your house is hot or cold
  • A piezoelectric transducer that measures natural frequencies to pull off some of Notion's more 'wow'-inducing tasks, such as alerting users to empty propane tanks
  • A proximity sensor that protects safes and cabinets
  • Water leak probes that immediately detect broken pipes or rain damage

“With Notion,” said the company's Kickstarter page, “you can know things like how full a propane tank is, when your child returns from school, the second there is a water leak, if a gun safe has been accessed, and much more.”

Within 24 hours, Notion passed its $50,000 Kickstarter goal with help from nearly 300 backers. Its success indicates that home and business owners are ready to embrace sophisticated surveillance tech that was impossible a few years ago.

The system includes apps for iOS and Android, and plans to integrate with Apple HomeKit and IFTTT.



“The internet of things space is early in its development,” said Techstars founder David Cohen in a statement. “User experience has to be a bigger focus for companies if they want to compete. Many existing products send messages for everything they detect. They aren't actually smart. We have a company in Techstars right now, called Notion, that's solving these problems with some really innovative hardware and software solutions. I can't wait to get their product!”

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