Gadgetory

Jeanne Wang can keep an eye on his dog and kids even when he's not at home but he didn't have to pay for a pricey home security system with extra cameras and hardware instead he turned a used iPad into a security camera and monitors the activity on his iPhone with a free app called presence which Wayne developed at his company people power so what we're doing is we're breathing new life into these old devices and making them useful so that you can kind of have your eyes and ears at home even when you're away users must download the present app onto two devices one serves as a camera and the other monitors the action you need a constant Wi-Fi connection and power source but as long as the camera is working the phone does not need to be in pristine condition let me check in on my kids people are using their for kid tracking pet cams elderly camps if you have an elderly relative you're worried about and you don't get to see them all the time Wayne got the idea after his mother's home was burglarized and he realized a nice security system would run him around $1,800 and a monthly service charge the app also allows for two-way audio and video communication Sally how you doing the app can also detect motion like walking through a door the camera will record a five-second video clip of the action and then send that clip directly to your email schools have even reached out to people power to use the setup for added security there's actually this one school district in particular who has voted to go out and ask the parents to donate their old iPhones and so on to set up these campus-wide security systems to improve the safety of our kids people power is working to expand the apps capabilities so can control more things around your home like a radio controlled thermostat and specialized electric plugs to control energy consumption in San Francisco I'm Kara Tsuboi cnet.com for CBS News you