Chinese IoT firm Aqara has released a Matter-compatible sensor to bring spatial intelligence to smart homes without sacrificing the privacy typically compromised by cameras.

Rather than simply detecting motion or presence, the FP400 spatial multi-sensor helps homes better understand occupancy, movement and context for more granular and personalised automations and insight. It is designed to redefine how smart homes perceive and interact with living spaces by combining high-precision spatial sensing with AI-powered environmental understanding.

Powered by a 60GHz mm-wave radar, it delivers multi-person sensing, precise real-time tracking and occupant counting for up to ten people simultaneously. Combined with Aqara’s AI spatial learning software, it can provide a smarter and more reliable foundation for spatial intelligence.

One FP400 can cover a space up to 10 by 8m with a 120-degree field of view. Users can also define up to eight zones for accurate, localised automation. This enables automation to respond not only to whether someone is present, but also to exactly where people are within a space and how they move through it. For example, the ambient lights can turn on and off based on someone’s movement from the couch to the dining room table, all with one device.

Its intelligent AI sensing algorithm improves reliability by reducing false triggers caused by environmental factors such as pets, airflow and robotic vacuums. A built-in ambient light sensor helps trigger smart home scenes based on human activity and lighting conditions.

It provides native support for Thread and Zigbee connectivity. As a Matter-enabled device, it ensures seamless, future-proof interoperability across major smart home ecosystems, including Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, Home Assistant, Homey and SmartThings. And it can be added and configured in the Aqara Home app without an Aqara hub by using an existing third-party Thread border router.

The FP400 (www.aqara.com/eu/product/spatial-multi-sensor-fp400/) can be installed on the ceiling, the wall or in the corner, while AI-assisted mapping automatically detects room boundaries and entrances to ease setup.

There are two versions, one for residential smart home automation and the other for assisted living and specialised elder care.