Smart Home Shocker: My Cats Are Out To Get Me

Two weeks after hooking up my home with SmartThings, I've learned things about my kitties I cant unlearn.

ReadWriteHome is an ongoing series exploring the implications of living in connected homes.

When I'm at work, my catsGamera and Gojiralove to defy me. I know this because my smart home tells me so.

People have all sorts of reasons for connecting their homes. Some people want to monitor the nanny, or keep an eye on things for security or safety reasons. Others just want to see what their pets do when they're not around. I happen to fall into the latter camp.

So when SmartThings asked if I wanted to check out one of its DIY smart home kits, I jumped at the chance. Two weeks into the experiment, it's turned up some disturbing evidence.

In 2012, SmartThings tore through its $250,000 Kickstarter goal by raising $1.2 million. Then it attracted another $15 million from other investors. In other words, the company managed to put out a smart home system that people really seemed to want.

I can see why. Its devicesa hub and a collection of sensors and other gadgetsare sleek and attractive, and pretty simple to set up. Connecting each device to the network requires nothing more than pulling out a paper tab (similar to those battery pull tabs you sometimes find in watches and other gadgets) and firing up the SmartThings mobile app. I had everything hooked up in less than 15 minutes.

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Smart Home Shocker: My Cats Are Out To Get Me