(KUTV) The point of a security system is to keep crooks away, but despite the latest technology no system seems to be 100% foolproof. However, one Utah entrepreneur disagrees.
"You won't find apps or Angry Birds here. Check out five ambitious companies pursuing big, bold ideas.
The Idea: The typical motion detector with infrared sensors has weaknesses: It must be cleaned, it’s sensitive to temperature changes and dust, and it doesn’t work if obstructed or deployed in large open spaces. Salt Lake City-based Xandem has developed a new kind of technology that not only solves these problems but also has a superhero-like power: It can “see” through walls to sense movement. Co-founders Joey Wilson and Neal Patwari have won a number of innovation awards in the state of Utah that have largely funded the company since its inception four years ago. Xandem launched its first product in April with help from Salt Lake City angel investor Ryan Smith.
Mind-blowing factor: Intruders can’t beat this system: There is no place to hide from these small, card-size nodes because they can be embedded in walls, beams, and furniture. The technology could be used in households and commercial buildings, but the company also claims that it’s sensitive enough to protect government buildings that require the highest level of security."
Award-winning Tech startup Xandem has been causing quite a stir with its motion sensor system that ‘sees through walls’. The US-based company produces plastic nodes the size of credit cards that can be embedded in walls or even furniture – meaning you end up with an invisible security system.
“The demand came for a completely invisible means to detect presence,” says Nathan Williams, director of Redwood. “The project required that even with a very high specification of smart home, very little technology should be on show due to the interior design implications.
“After much research, the Xandem solution stood out as being able to meet all of our requirements. We purchased a development kit which worked very well and so specified the solution for the project.”
Taking a new approach to perimeter security, Utah-based Xandem Technology is showcasing its intrusion detection technology this week at ASIS 2012 in Philadelphia.
The company, which was founded in late 2010 and has six employees, has developed a unique sensing technology that they’ve dubbed "Tomographic Motion Detection" or TMD for short. According to Dr. Joey Wilson, the company’s founder and CEO, the technology works similar to that of CT scan used in the medical field.
SALT LAKE CITY—Xandem is a startup company based here that’s attracted some mainstream media attention and technical awards, as well as interest among some security integrators who think the company’s motion sensor system may solve some common security problems.
Xandem makes playing-card-sized plastic nodes that can be embedded in walls, beams or furniture. The nodes form a mesh connection of sensors that can detect motion “through” walls, furniture and other obstacles.
Company founder and CEO Joey Wilson told Security Systems News that the "wireless mesh is not just to communicate, it’s actually to sense."
(CNNMoney) -- Imagine a real-life version of Harry Potter's magical Marauder's Map, which showed the location of everyone prowling throughout Hogwarts castle. That's what startup Xandem is building: a new kind of all-seeing motion-detection system that's poised to shake up the security market.
Xandem founder Joey Wilson shows off the company's motion-detecting sensor nodes.
There are many different ways to track motion, but most commercial systems rely on optical beams that require uninterrupted sight lines. Heat-sensing infrared systems don't have that weakness, but they're prone to false alarms and can be blocked by anything that insulates body heat.
With a fast-moving presentation and demonstration of wireless sensor technology that “looks” through walls, Joey Wilson of Xandem took the title of “Innovation Idol” at a Leonardo After Hours event in Salt Lake City event on December 7, 2011. An audience of 175 cast their votes for one of four innovative research and development projects in a speed pitch contest, and awarded Xandem with the first place prize.
SALT LAKE CITY -- Joey Wilson's Ph.D. project started a few years ago, a crude experimental network of transmitter-receivers. They tracked people inside by analyzing disturbances of the radio waves. Still, it was an entirely new kind of motion detector - one that could detect burglars through walls, which gave the project immense potential.
Now, the first commercial product is ready to be plugged in. Wilson's company, Xandem, even has its first customer - a penthouse owner in Dubai.
"Yeah, we're ready to generate revenue. Do I think we've solved the problems that we want to solve? Not even close. We're at the tip of the iceberg on what this technology can do," said Wilson. He says his product has big advantages over the infra-red detectors on the market now, which are prone to false alarms because they are sensitive to heat. Read the full story here.
Xandem was recently mentioned as an example of the University of Utah's ability to commercialize new technologies.
"The technologies driving the new businesses are developed by students working under faculty guidance. Case in point: Joey Wilson, who graduated with a doctorate in electrical engineering last year, is now the CEO of Xandem—a company he started in 2009 while attending U of U. The radio-wave technology he developed allows the company's customers to see through walls.
While Wilson and a professor came up with the ideas and developed the technology, the intellectual-property rights remain with the university, which receives a check for as long as the technology is used. D'Ambrosio says that more than 80 universities have sent representatives to the university this year to study ways of replicating its intellectual-property-rights revenue stream."
Xandem is a winner of the 2011 Utah Innovation Awards for its next-generation motion sensing technology. From the press release:
SALT LAKE CITY - Eight innovations were announced as winners in the ninth annual Utah Innovation Awards program, presented by Stoel Rives LLP and the Utah Technology Council. This statewide program, the first of its kind, is designed to recognize innovations and the Utah companies that created them. The program is sponsored by Stage 12, Utah Business Magazine, and Webb Audio Visual Communication. Winners were announced during a special Awards Luncheon today at the Little America Hotel.
Xandem was recently mentioned as an example of the University of Utah's ability to commercialize new technologies.
