withing baby

“Need to keep an eye on your little one napping, while you enjoy diner with your friends in the living room?” asks electronics maker Withings. “Want to have him under your benevolent eye when you are on a business trip? Simply place the Withings Home in his bedroom. You can even launch a nightlight or lullaby remotely, even when you are away.”

There is no shortage of home surveillance and baby monitors — but Withings says its Home device combines facial-recognition powered video monitoring with environmental sensing to let you “achieve peace of mind knowing your living environment is safe, secure, and healthy.”

And it will make you a diary.

The 5-megapixel HD video camera has 135-degree wide-angle view, as well as night vision with a mechanical infrared switch. It’s ready to detect people, motion, and noise — and even recognize when your baby is crying.

The Home will also, like many modern monitors, send images and data to your phone with its own dedicated app. But the software is also set to work as something of a diary for you: “Each time Home detects a noteworthy event, it takes a photo and a 5 second video,’ the company says. “They are then uploaded and stored for 2 days, forming a Home Diary over time. Scroll through the diary to understand what happened in your home. See a photo or clip you would like to keep? Simply download it, free of charge.” (Longer term storage costs extra.) “Happiness feeds off of the fleeting moments of joy we share everyday,” the company adds. “Home seizes these special moments and creates a Diary on the fly. Scroll through the Timeline, go back in time and replay short video clips of all memorable events.”

Also, “contrary to common belief,” the company adds, “our indoor environment is two to five times more toxic than our outdoor environment.” Therefore the Home’s environmental sensors measure temperature, humidity and levels of Volatile Organic Compound1 (VOC) inside your home, “a strategic element of indoor air quality. VOCs are potentially harmful airborne organic chemicals originating. The chemicals are used to manufacture and maintain building materials, interior furnishing, cleaning products and personal care products. Short term exposure to high levels of VOC can cause some diseases such as headaches, irritation and asthma. Indoor VOC levels are typically 10 times higher than outdoor levels. Combined these compounds have both short and long-term detrimental effects on human and animal health. By alerting users to unhealthy changes in temperature, humidity or air quality, Home will give them the key data to help them build a healthier environment.”

The Home will sell for $219.

Susan Moss is an owner/partner in BabyNames.com and is a freelance bookkeeper in Chicago, Illinois.