Marie Vane Brittan Brown’s home security system, the predecessor of today’s closed-circuit television (CCTV) security system created over 50 years ago, left quite an extraordinary impact on the security system industry – businesses all around the world look to her invention for inspiration. In fact, her home security system made waves as it was referenced in at least 32 future patent applications. Unfortunately, despite her success and crucial contribution to the tech industry, Marie sadly stopped receiving media coverage after successfully patenting her product in 1969. Report has it that the home security systems are projected to become a $4.8 Billion business (with estimates of it tripling by 2024!).
The iconic Black inventor who blazed the trail for home security systems, Marie Van Brittan Brown had it a little rougher than most. Alongside her husband Albert Brown, an electronics technician, invented the first ever CCTV security system in 1966. The nature of their jobs meant their work hours rarely, if ever, overlapped – leaving Marie to fend for herself in the evenings when it came to safety. Her neighborhood wasn’t exactly the safest place either and Marie quickly took matters into her own hands. Sparks flew as Marie and her hubby created the very first home security system! This invention included four peepholes, a sliding camera, TV monitors, and microphones galore all linked together to give Marie a better view of who’s at her door without even having to answer it!
Initially, Marie and her husband Albert had trouble convincing homebuilders to invest in their invention due to the costly implementation costs. With some witty inspiration, Marie unveiled her plan– she would install it in her own home first and let the results speak for themselves. Unfortunately, Marie realized that while this gave her peace-of-mind knowledge of any suspected intruders, it did nothing to improve the slow response of police officers or emergency responders. Her determination inspired Marie to invent another device that could quickly alert authorities with just the tap of a button– rendering Edward D. Phiney and Thomas J. Reardon mere footnotes as Marie was now embarked on something ground-breaking.
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Evidently, Marie Vane Brittan Brown’s invention was the foundation of other video security systems that are still around today – something recognized by the New York Times and awarded by the National Scientists Committee. CCTV surveillance has become a common feature of public areas today and it all began with one amazing invention by Marie Vane Brittan Brown; a closed-circuit television security system that was truly ahead of its time. Thanks to Brown’s Big Brother-like device, we now have access to video monitoring, remote door locks for the ultimate in convenience, alarm systems that give an instant alert to both the police and security providers, and two-way voice communication that provides additional reassurance in knowing that help is never far away. Not just restricted to residential homes anymore, businesses have also embraced this incredible invention as the leading protection for their premises.
Marie Vane Brittan Brown, the pioneering inventor of CCTV security systems, has truly changed the playing field for home and small business security. Her initial invention was both revolutionary and incredibly simple; by combining CCTV cameras with remote-controlled door locks, push buttons and two-way voice communication, her foresight created the precursor for modern digital CCTV surveillance in public areas. The widespread adoption of her system has made CCTV and remote locks the global standard in home security.
After Brown’s home security invention was recognized by the National Science Committee, she entered an elite group of African-American scientists and inventors. She singlehandedly revolutionized home security as we know it today; Every security system has a version of her original invention, including security brands such as ADT, Ring, and others. Without Brown’s innovation, people’s homes wouldn’t be as safe as they are now.
If Marie Van Brittan Brown had been able to obtain commercial opportunities for her first of its kind CCTV invention, she would have gone down in history as one of the wealthiest in the Black community! However, it was not until the introduction of VCR technology in the 1970s that this innovation took off. The introduction of Digital Video Recorders (DVR) in the 1990s and Hard Disk Drives (HDD) from early 2000s meant that these systems could be more commonly used for security purposes. Although, Marie never obtained commercial opportunities off her inventions for this life changing investment in surveillance technology but she gained recognition for it.
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