Smart home company Wyze is experimenting with a pay-what-you-want business model for its smart security cameras. The company said it would provide the feature for free as initially promised, after it had to disable it due to an abrupt end to its licensing deal with fellow Seattle-based company xnor.ai.

Ai-Powered person detection uses machine learning models to train an algorithm to distinguish between the movement of an inanimate object and that of a human being. It’s now a staple in the smart security camera market, but it remains rather resource-intensive to provide and expensive as a result.

Apple’s free person detection is too expensive to be free now that it’s in the cloud. They’re going to try voluntary payments from their customers.

Wyze says it’s going to try a pay-what-you-want model in the hopes it can use customer generosity to offset the bill. The xnor.ai contract expired at the end of the year.

‘person detection is meeting our high expectations, and it’s only going to keep improving over time,’ says the good news. The testing is going to improve over time.

‘we are going to keep our promise to you. But we are also going to ask for your help,’ Wyze writes.

It sounds risky, and Wyze admits that the plan may not pan out. Wyze says it’s unlikely the plan will pan out.

You can select $ 0 and use it for free. You can make monthly contributions in whatever amount you think it’s worth. We may reevaluate this method in a few months.