Samsung’s Galaxy Upcycling program that was introduced all the way back in 2017 is about to reach consumers in a whole different way. The program, which was created as a way to prolong the life of old Galaxy devices by repurposing them, will soon expand with a new update called Galaxy Upcycling at Home.

At CES 2021 Samsung revealed that it will be updating the software of older Galaxy phones later this year, and this will allow owners to repurpose them as new IoT devices. In an example shown by the company in the recent Upcycling presentation video for CES 2021, the company turns an old Galaxy phone into an IoT baby monitor. The repurposed phone picks up and monitors the audio, then it sends a notification whenever it senses a baby crying.

Up until now the Upcycling program hasn’t been fully available to the general public. It was more of a testing platform for the company to exemplify how old tech could be repurposed. Back in 2017 Samsung demonstrated the concept by turning a bunch of old Galaxy S5 units into a Bitcoin mining rig, and last year Samsung demonstrated a medical eye scanner that was powered by an older Galaxy phone.

The Upcycling at Home update will bring the program to the forefront like never before, as it will empower consumers with the necessary tools for repurposing their smartphone into IoT devices depending on their needs. And because most Galaxy phones benefit from the Knox security suite, these IoT home devices resulted from the Upcycling at Home program will be highly secure without requiring anything extra.