ESPectre

Roadmap

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Where ESPectre is going: from a single sensor to several sensors working together.

Roadmap · Project direction

From a single sensing node to a coordinated local platform.

ESPectre is growing into a platform with more integrations, new sensing features, and sensors that work together. Everything keeps working locally, and new features ship only once the hardware supports them and tests prove they work.

Local by default Motion, not media Built to embed
Released v3.0.0
A shared foundation for product integration

Make sensing reliable and easy to build into products.

Version 3.0.0 is the stable base for ESPectre as a reusable platform. One sensing core serves every firmware type, so product teams can add local motion sensing without maintaining a separate version for each integration.

Shared architecture
One sensing core and runtime shared by every firmware type.
Runtime contracts
Runtime behavior and the device protocol, fixed for the whole v3 line.
Supported frontends
ESPHome, Native, and Matter.
Release
Firmware images and the SDK, tested together as one platform.

Put private sensing inside real products.

The v3 line brings ESPectre closer to real products, with more integrations, SDK support, and new sensing features.

  1. v3.1.0Expand Matter support and validate it across more controllers.
  2. v3.2.0Bring ESPectre to Arduino projects through a supported SDK runtime.
  3. v3.3.0Bring ESPectre into Apple Home with a dedicated HomeKit frontend.
  4. v3.4.0Recognize stationary presence, even when no movement is visible.
  5. v3.5.0Explore gesture control and breathing-related micro-motion.
Planned · 2027 v4.0.0

Accelerate sensing and let nearby nodes work as one system.

v4 lets nearby sensors work together, speeds up sensing with hardware acceleration, and adds an optional relay you can host yourself, for access from outside your home. Devices and browsers connect to the relay over secure WebSockets; local Direct HTTP stays the default and keeps working without it.

  • Sensors find each other, share the traffic, and keep working when one goes offline.
  • Hardware acceleration processes more CSI and runs more detectors at once, while leaving room for networking.
  • Manage rooms and devices, see live and past state, and set up alerts.
  • Choose local only, your own relay, or the hosted relay.espectre.dev; raw CSI never leaves the device.
  • The relay launches only after pairing, per-device credentials, access revocation, user isolation, rate limits, reliable reconnects, and a security review are in place.
Subject to hardware availability v5.0.0

Build on Wi-Fi hardware designed for sensing.

v5 starts when affordable chips support IEEE 802.11bf or similar sensing measurements. Measurements made on purpose could be more repeatable, help sensors work together, and enable better presence and motion detection. Read more in the future of Wi-Fi sensing.

  • Select and test the first supported chip, driver, and measurement API.
  • Add support for the new measurements and retest every detector on new datasets.
  • Measure calibration, false alarms, presence, and multi-sensor results from scratch.
  • Let existing products switch through the same SDK and protocol, with a documented upgrade path from ESP32 CSI.
RESEARCH TRACKS

Research areas under evaluation.

Research is not a release promise. The tracks are listed in the order they depend on each other; each may become a feature, stay an experiment, or be dropped if tests show it doesn't work.

01

HE20 and HT40 sensing profiles

Adapt both CSI formats to the detectors, compare their benefits and costs, and adopt one if it proves better.

02

Higher CSI rate

Find the highest packet rate that stays stable without too much loss, delay, CPU, memory, or network load.

03

Longer and multi-scale windows

Look at longer stretches of time to catch very small, slow movements, without slowing down normal detection.

04

Stationary presence

Test whether a room with a still person can be told apart from an empty room.

05

Breathing-related motion

Explore the tiny movements of breathing (not for medical use), once presence and longer windows work.

06

Brief gestures

Record gesture data once the higher packet rate captures fast enough movements.