Inventor database
Verified
Marie Van Brittan Brown
Patented the first home video security system
At a glance
- Inventor
- Marie Van Brittan Brown
- Life
- 1922–1999
- Birthplace
- Jamaica, Queens, New York
- Country
- United States
- Region
- United States
- Era
- 1950–2000
- Fields
- Technology & Computing, Everyday Life
- Evidence
- Verified
- Records
- 1 in this archive
What they did
A nurse working nights in Queens, Brown — with her husband Albert — patented a system of peepholes, a sliding camera, a bedroom monitor, two-way audio and an alarm button.
Historical context
Police response in her neighbourhood was slow and unreliable, and she was often home alone at odd hours. She designed for her own safety.
The legacy
Every consumer video doorbell and home CCTV system follows the architecture described in her 1969 patent.
The evidence
US Patent 3,482,037 — Home security system utilizing television surveillance