Show HN: Turn your phone into a privacy-first, AI smart security camera | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: Turn your phone into a privacy-first, AI smart security camera

ai-cam.app

10 pointsanh_n6 comments

There are some similar apps which can turn your phone into a security camera (e.g. Alfred, Presence). AiCam is different because it runs all machine learning algorithm offline on-device. It does not store or send video to a remote server (actually we do not have a server). Only if you (optionally) turn on iCloud sync you can save videos directly to your private iCloud account for remote accessing. Some of its features are:

- On-device ML to detect human, animal, vehicle and recognize unfamiliar face.

- Integration with Shortcuts app for home automation and sending webhook request on event detected.

- With privacy-first in mind, it does not collect any data, it has no ads, no tracking tool integrated. Video is processed offline on-device.

The premium version with all features unlocked can be bought for a one-time fee. There is also a free version (no ads) with limited features but can use forever (no time limit).

My teammate did post asking for beta users some time ago (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26123763). We received a lot of value feedbacks. Now the iOS app is passed beta phase and is available on App Store. Android is still in beta though. We did also redesign our website completely to provide more helpful information. Feedback is always welcome. Specially I love to know which features you would like this app to have?

This is a cool idea! I see a second life for my old phone.

Just wondering... No server sound great, but is it? ML is get more accurate with a larger dataset. What can you realistically expect on a (limited) phone and no server?

A server has more compute power but only needed if the problem to solve requires such power. In my last company I developed a visual search system (similar to Google Image Search) and for that use cases a powerful server is required. But for the problems this app try to solve like human detection or facial recognition, a mobile device is very capable of. In the last 2-3 years the new phones also has integrated AI chip, which make the task easier.

Nice idea, but now the camera becomes stupidly expensive. How do you have twenty of these things around your house?

Also, the battery is great as a UPS, but what kind of mounts do you have for them that are reliable long term for keeping the camera powered 24x7?

And how do you have any of these cameras mounted outside? Do you have waterproof housings?

I think there are use cases that requires a specialized hardware. Such as the one you mentioned: outdoor, no power, multiple cams. And there are use cases that using a phone is more appropriate. Like when you have an unused phone lying around. Or when you are often on the go and want a security camera to carry with easily.

I am personally using an expensive Nest IQ cam (cost around 300 USD) and some cheap IP camera in parallel with this AiCam app. For me the physical security camera are good to install outside my house or where I do not care if the video footage may be leaked or hacked.

But I have some use cases which I did not find any security camera suited for it, it also the reason why I developed this app:

- I want to monitor my sleeping room, but I trust no security camera brands.

- I want to integrate the camera into my home automation system and use event like person, animal detected to trigger some workflows.

- I want to detect more complex events like unfamiliar faces, fire, baby crying and not just simple motion or sound to avoid false alarms. This is the main point why a phone is more suitable, because most smartphones have required compute power to do all the AI work offline.

- Also a mobile phone have some additional advantages like you mentioned (integrated battery as UPS), cellular network as a backup to send alert when power or internet is down.

All in all it depends on what features are you expected from a security camera.

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