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When you think of most smart speakers like the Amazon Echo and the Sonos One, you’d assume they were designed for use for when you’re actually home. You want to ask Alexa about the weather and jam to 90s R&B. The Mitipi Kevin is an entirely different kind of smart speaker, because it’s designed for use for when you’re not home. What?

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUfLbt1XvpM]

Developed by a Swiss company called Mitipi, Kevin is meant as a burglary prevention system. Just as you can set lighting schedules and such with smart home switches and bulbs, the Mitipi Kevin fills the auditory void left when you’re not at home.

The idea, as you can likely surmise, is to trick would-be thieves into thinking that someone is home so that they’ll just move on to the next target. Maybe not so great for your neighbors, but pretty good for you?

The advantage that this smart speaker has over simply leaving your TV or radio on, for example, is that it’s meant to simulate the “real” sounds that would be going on if you were home. It play the sound of a shower running in the morning or random chatter in the afternoon. Mitipi says Kevin will have “weeks of content” so Harry and Marv won’t know it’s looping.

You simply place the Mitipi Kevin, a name they likely borrowed from Home Alone, near the entrance to your home. In addition to the smart speaker component, Kevin also has a series of LEDs on the back that point in different directions. This is designed to simulate movement. Between all the lights and sound, someone has to be home, right?

Kevin isn’t available just yet. Mitipi plans on launching a Kickstarter campaign in a few weeks with the asking price probably will be in the $200 to $250 range.

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