Announced without imagery at CES, the Arlo Touchless Doorbell nears release. At least that’s what the tea leaves seem to suggest…. as the battery-powered Arlo doorbell renders I dug up seems to align with the press pitch:
Leveraging precise Proximity Sensing Technology to gauge a visitor’s distance, the Arlo Touchless Video Doorbell zeros in on a visitor’s approach. Once detected, the guest hears an audible chime and sees a visible light, signaling the doorbell has been “pressed” and the homeowner has been alerted – all before they come into physical contact with the device.
As the photo above depicts (click to zoom), instead of solely detecting motion via video analysis, an additional, dedicated motion sensor is embedded — a simpler approach that could conceivably respond more quickly and locally to detect body-based motion in a timely fashion. While touching a doorbell button now seems to be relatively low risk during the COVID pandemic, companies such as Arlo began their R&D on these approaches many months ago. And perhaps with an armful of packages, touchless alerts may still serve some practical value. Plus other benefits may be sussed out — could Arlo quickly dismiss non-human motion?
Unfortunately, given Arlo’s existing battery doorbell and the space at large, it seems unlikely the Arlo Touchless Doorbell will provide native Apple HomeKit support. No details yet on pricing or timing, but I suspect we’re getting real close…