Living with intelligent devices is a dream we have had for centuries. Michelangelo, Jules Verne, and many other great thinkers had this vision, but their vision preceded the technology of their time. With Moore’s law and all the technology we have created, isn’t it time for this dream to come true?

The intelligent home is slowly emerging after many false starts – albeit not the clever Jetson’s fridge but we have automatic thermostats to learn our home preferences and control heating and cooling.

I’ve had my automatic lawnmower for more than 10 years. While I’m a happy user, the technology is not yet common.

In our industry, guard responsibilities have remained more or less the same because technology cannot match the human brain’s abilities.

But advancements in camera and software technology is enhancing guard efficiency as they can be guided by video on smartphones or tablets and cameras that actually send alerts pro-actively.

This is just the beginning. Smarter resolution: IP-cameras are not restricted to the low image quality obtained by analog cameras. With HDTV-compliant cameras, you get dramatically more video detail than with an analog camera, just like you have in your living room.

But today we’ve moved slightly away from the more-pixels-is-better concept, and instead have concentrated on delivering better image usability in all lighting scenarios and environments.

Thanks to better processing power and in-camera software, IP-cameras are hitting the market with increasingly better WDR and light sensitivity (i.e. Lightfinder) with precise iris control.