A new burglar deterrent device from Opto-Electronic Design, FakeTV, uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and optics to produce exactly the same sort of light a television does. The idea is that when a burglar sees the light from an operating television shining through the curtains, he probably thinks that somebody is home and that he should move on to an easier mark.

FakeTV was invented by author, engineer, and inventor Blaine Readler. Blaine worked with the optics-experts at Opto-Electronic Design, Inc to measure exactly what sort of light real television programming produces and then programmed a computer to control super-bright LED's to produce exactly the sort of light produced by all of the programmes.

FakeTV is about the size of coffee cup, and costs under $40. A built-in light sensor and timer turns FakeTV on at each dusk to run for either four or seven hours. It consumes about one percent of the power of an operating television. Most important, viewed from outside the home, FakeTV is essentially indistinguishable from the real thing.

FakeTV on white background

FakeTV in use indoors