Butlr lauches Heatic 2+ sensor, the latest thermal occupancy sensor with multi-year battery life

Burlingame, Calif. – December 11, 2024 – Butlr, a leader in physical AI (PAI) technology, today announced the , a wireless and anonymous AI sensor featuring a multi-year battery life, scalability, and real-time ultra precise insights into how people interact in their environments. Data from Butlr sensors is used to transform buildings into adaptive, data-driven spaces that enhance the human experience while improving operational efficiency. 

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With a strong foothold in the workplace and senior care communities, Butlr is expanding into campuses for work and higher education, as well as retail stores with the launch of the Heatic 2+ sensor.

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The Butlr Heatic 2+ sensor doesn’t require cables and needs minimal maintenance. Since the sensors are intelligent, easy to install and feature a multi-year battery life, they become part of the building environment by always being present yet rarely noticed. Ensuring privacy, the Heatic 2+ provides always on data by sensing everyone yet seeing no one.  

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Additional features of the Heatic 2+ sensor include:

• Advanced AI: Uses body heat detection combined with advanced AI to understand presence, movement and occupancy without capturing identities.
• New form factor: Tthe thin, sleek wireless sensor blends into any environment. Available in black or white, its magnetic back allows for flexible and easy attachment to steel surfaces. 
• Multi-year battery life requires no cables.
• Privacy: By processing low resolution non-RGB thermal data, the sensor eliminates privacy concerns at the hardware level.
• Enterprise-grade Security: Data is encrypted in transit (TLS 1.2) and at rest (AES256), SAML Authentication via OAuth.
• API-first data platform for accurate real-time and historical occupancy insights. Data streams to the Butlr dashboard or API and can easily integrate with other data sources to solve the most critical challenges in the built environment.
• Certified: FCC approved, certified in US, CA, EU, Japan, Singapore, Australia, India, South Korea, UAE, and Thailand.

Transforming the Built Environment: Workplaces, Campuses and Retail

As workplace customers expanded their use of Butlr to better understand how offices are used by staff and visitors, it created an opportunity for the company to further develop its sensors to accommodate the needs of academic, healthcare and corporate campuses.

According to, colleges and universities typically spend around $1.10 per square foot on electricity and 18 cents per square foot on natural gas. This translates to an average energy cost of approximately $100,000 per year for a 50,000-square-foot building. With Butlr, a campus gains insight into occupancy, foot traffic and energy consumption resulting in more efficient allocation of power.

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In retail stores, the customer experience is critical to building relationships and driving sales. Using Butlr, retailers can more efficiently manage traffic, allocate staff, balance heating/cooling, and present products and services in ways that are most engaging to customers.

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“We have tremendous success in offices and senior care communities and are grateful to the many customers that saw the value of our sensors and data insights. Now it’s time to expand our reach to fully support enterprise and higher ed campuses and retailers that want to maximize their investments in the built environment while practicing sustainability and energy efficiency,” said Honghao Deng, CEO and co-founder, Butlr. “Our next generation sensors meet these needs because they are based on extensive customer feedback and the growing demand for deeper insights into the built environment.”

About Butlr

Butlr is an MIT Media Lab spinout that fuses artificial intelligence with body heat sensing technology to build patented sensors and an anonymous people-sensing platform. Using thermal insights, Butlr workplace sensor technology understands subtle movements in a space, accurately discerns activity, occupancy, indoor location, and body posture yet is purposely designed to be incapable of capturing personally identifiable information. Butlr spatial insights are used by some of the world’s largest companies in hospitality, senior living, health care, commercial real estate, retail, and public transportation to inform decisions regarding space occupancy and utilization, user experiences, patient safety, compliance, staffing, and ensuring buildings are operating with high efficiency and sustainability. These customers include Verizon, Netflix, Carrier, Microsoft, and CBRE. For more information, visit www.butlr.com

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