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I mean, what exactly do you need innovated? I have a bunch of these cheap cameras (firewalled to only be accessible via LAN of course) that are nearly 6 years o

I mean, what exactly do you need innovated? I have a bunch of these cheap cameras (firewalled to only be accessible via LAN of course) that are nearly 6 years old now. They stream 2K video reliably, my DVR records for me, they have excellent quality night-vision via infrared, and I can access them via VPN. What's to improve here?

habibur 2y ago
Smart camera. Attach a microphone and speaker with the camera. Any movement at odd times and you get a WhatsApp video call on your cell phone. You can watch the other person and can talk to him, "Hay! what are you doing at my home?" I was wondering if that's already available or not.
- mv4 2y ago
  Yes this is already available. Most major camera lines now offer 2-way audio (siren, voice) to do exactly that.
mv4 2y ago
I don't. I am happy with 2k video in most cases, and good picture quality in low light conditions (accurate color is nice also). 2-way audio can be useful but not a deal breaker. What I meant when I said there's very little real innovation is exactly that - the fundamentals are good enough (and have been for a few years), and the bulk of product innovation is in how to make cameras smart with AI - which only makes them slower. I like my cameras dumb and fast.
ssl-3 2y ago
Better on-device identification of objects and motion would be useful. I care more about a person standing on my porch than I do the neighbor's cat. Better local integration would also be useful. (Axis cameras have supported writing (and recycling) video on a local SMB share for a very long time, with nothing special required on the back end -- but they're not consumer products). Improved image quality would also be useful. There always seems to be a certain softness and definite lack of fluidity in consumer cameras that has been solved in things like cheap smartphones and GoPros for a over a decade. Tight integration with local home automation systems like Home Assistant would be great, so I can observe and control all of the things from a central point using my pocket supercomputer. But otherwise: If all one wants from a camera is for it to take OK-ish pictures and send them down the pipe, then that's a reasonably-solved problem.
- mv4 2y ago
  Other than Home Assistant, do you feel integrating with Apple Home and/or SmartThings ecosystem would be valuable?
  - ssl-3 2y ago
    I guess that depends on who's asking, and what kind of response they want. At home, I don't use Apple Home or SmartThings. It is unlikely that I ever will. I own an iPad that I use every day and my phone is a Samsung, but I already have already adopted enough ecosystems with Google Home, Alexa, and Home Assistant, and I'm working on minimizing or eliminating two of those because they're clown-based. But I am a geek that likes to tinker with electronics and software. I recognize that I am an outlier. But I will cheerfully pay extra for stuff that Just Works with Home Assistant without using the clown, and that would probably apply to cameras as well.
    - mv4 2y ago
      It sounds like the space is already fragmented (with multiple ecosystems competing for your devices and attention). We will look into Home Assistant compatibility.
- _glass 2y ago
  This is really one of the use cases of TinyML. On-device ML to detect motion, etc. As microcontrollers are getting more powerful, more and more is possible. Just look at https://www.tensorflow.org/lite/microcontrollers https://www.tensorflow.org/lite/microcontrollers

habibur 2y ago

Smart camera. Attach a microphone and speaker with the camera. Any movement at odd times and you get a WhatsApp video call on your cell phone. You can watch the other person and can talk to him, "Hay! what are you doing at my home?" I was wondering if that's already available or not.

mv4 2y ago
Yes this is already available. Most major camera lines now offer 2-way audio (siren, voice) to do exactly that.

mv4 2y ago

I don't. I am happy with 2k video in most cases, and good picture quality in low light conditions (accurate color is nice also). 2-way audio can be useful but not a deal breaker. What I meant when I said there's very little real innovation is exactly that - the fundamentals are good enough (and have been for a few years), and the bulk of product innovation is in how to make cameras smart with AI - which only makes them slower. I like my cameras dumb and fast.

ssl-3 2y ago

Better on-device identification of objects and motion would be useful. I care more about a person standing on my porch than I do the neighbor's cat. Better local integration would also be useful. (Axis cameras have supported writing (and recycling) video on a local SMB share for a very long time, with nothing special required on the back end -- but they're not consumer products). Improved image quality would also be useful. There always seems to be a certain softness and definite lack of fluidity in consumer cameras that has been solved in things like cheap smartphones and GoPros for a over a decade. Tight integration with local home automation systems like Home Assistant would be great, so I can observe and control all of the things from a central point using my pocket supercomputer. But otherwise: If all one wants from a camera is for it to take OK-ish pictures and send them down the pipe, then that's a reasonably-solved problem.

mv4 2y ago
Other than Home Assistant, do you feel integrating with Apple Home and/or SmartThings ecosystem would be valuable?
- ssl-3 2y ago
  I guess that depends on who's asking, and what kind of response they want. At home, I don't use Apple Home or SmartThings. It is unlikely that I ever will. I own an iPad that I use every day and my phone is a Samsung, but I already have already adopted enough ecosystems with Google Home, Alexa, and Home Assistant, and I'm working on minimizing or eliminating two of those because they're clown-based. But I am a geek that likes to tinker with electronics and software. I recognize that I am an outlier. But I will cheerfully pay extra for stuff that Just Works with Home Assistant without using the clown, and that would probably apply to cameras as well.
  - mv4 2y ago
    It sounds like the space is already fragmented (with multiple ecosystems competing for your devices and attention). We will look into Home Assistant compatibility.
_glass 2y ago
This is really one of the use cases of TinyML. On-device ML to detect motion, etc. As microcontrollers are getting more powerful, more and more is possible. Just look at https://www.tensorflow.org/lite/microcontrollers https://www.tensorflow.org/lite/microcontrollers