Futuristic Neighborhood will Alert Paranoid Homeowners to ‘Every Rustling Noise’ and Give Detailed Reports On Neighbors’ Every Move
A nosy neighbor like Mrs. Kravitz, insisting the blonde woman across the street is a witch, may finally gain some control over her surroundings with the innovation of new, smart neighborhoods. ICU Community, based in Mountain View, California, is the driving force of smart security systems intended to embed into an entire neighborhood with the help of a humanoid AI robot. The humanoid, innocently named “Betsy”, would be placed to live by itself in a vacant, unfurnished home near the entrance of a gated zone, playing the role of guard and police, ready to respond to any emergency. Not to mention gazing darkly out of the window.
Every neighbor would be able to monitor every other neighbor at a glance of a smartphone, tablet, TV, or laptop. Should a neighbor feel uneasy in any way, a red flag could be reported where Betsy would deploy and investigate the home in question. If the neighbor was determined to be threatening to the community, Betsy had the option to “contain” the person or persons until police arrived with the grasp of her steeled hand, equipped with strong pound per square inch force, rendering the person in question “secured” and “useless”.
“We have cameras placed everywhere you can possibly conceive of, inside and outside every home, every crevice,” said Jimmy Cather, President of ICU with a faint smile. “We’re ensuring our specialized neighborhoods, named ‘Gated Haven’, will be safe in an untrusting world.”
I asked Mr. Cather to elaborate on Betsy, the authoritarian robot. “Does she really integrate into the neighborhood, or is she just creepy living alone in an unlit house with no furniture, standing there watching every move from afar with information zapped into her head every nanosecond via WiFi. You know, recording every tone in every home, even every breath?”
Mr. Cather conceded that Betsy took some getting used to. “She can be seen striding around in a polished, liquid, unemotional way, sort of like Terminator II: Judgment Day. But once you get to know her piercing stare and her ‘to the point’ questioning, you’ll know she’s just doing her job for the sake of maintaining safety. People give up their rights for safety all the time. Our prototype model with volunteers went pretty well. Only one ran away in tears and absolute fear. We will be traveling town to town to give presentations, introducing people to this new prospect, so look for us.”
The first “Gated Haven” will open in March, 2026, in Fresno, California. Homes start as low as $700,000.
