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A crowdfunding campaign sparks the question: How many sensors do you need to do remote monitoring effectively?

A remote monitoring business, People Power, launched an Indiegogo campaign this week to promote its Presence Pro Care sensor tech aimed at caregivers.

A remote monitoring business, People Power, launched an Indiegogo campaign this week to gain traction for its Presence Pro Care sensor tech. The caregiver division is new for People Power, a six year old business which started out as a home security software company. It uses video alerts to let people know if they’ve had a security breach.

Its pitch focuses on caregivers seeking to keep an eye on loved ones from a distance through its multisensor approach. It offers sensors in packs of 2-22 spanning motion detection, touch and entry sensors.

It also offers pill dispensing sensors, water sensors, temperature sensors, and an emergency button. Currently, interested users can only pre-order the sensors in packages, although it plans to make individual sensors available from its online store once it begins shipping in May 2016.

The company’s approach raises a question that probably is not asked enough in the world of the Internet of Things: At what point do you have so many sensors that it ceases to be efficient and it becomes overkill? What’s the sweet spot for remote monitoring?

The company tries to make the point that its sensors are more affordable than having healthcare professionals checking in on seniors.

Depending on how sensitive the sensors are, I could envision alert fatigue setting in rapidly. The caregiving market is split mainly between two approaches: making professional caregivers available in a way that’s efficient and economical through caregiver service startups such as Honor, CareLinx and HomeTeam. There is also remote monitoring service providers for seniors through companies such as Alarm.com, formerly known as BeClose. A report from Parkes Associates last year  showed that 41 percent of caregivers rely on some form of digital device, including sensors.