I have always liked the parts in the movies where a surveillance camera picks out a face in a crowd and identifies it. Lots of home surveillance cameras can recognize faces but now there is a camera that can also tell you who is lurking around the house.
Netatmo’s home security camera, Welcome (I don’t know who the security cam is welcoming), comes along with face recognition technology. The design, good or bad, is a matter of personal taste, but it’s definitely better than the common white or black WiFi cams with an obvious lens sticking out of them. Videos are saved on a local SD card, which eliminates any cloud storage fees but leaves any recordings vulnerable to theft. The compulsory power line narrows the options on where you can place the camera, a rechargeable battery might have been an option.
The HD camera has a 130 degree view field and an integrated infrared LED for night view.
You can teach the camera to recognize friends and family, over time. It will scan faces from different angles, sometimes asking for verification until it has enough information for a reliable recognition. The camera can then send you the names of the people it recognizes to your smartphone but it can also alert you if there is a stranger around.
With the free app, available for iOS and Android, you can watch a livestream from the camera, previous recordings or customize individual privacy settings for family members.
The camera has some nice features, but there are definitely things that could be improved or optimized. Some reviewers have mentioned there is a 10-12 second delay in the livestream, which poses a problem for a security camera. A practical accessory that can be purchased extra, in the near future, are the waterproof motion detectors, actually they sense vibrations. The Tags, as they are called, have a 100 m (330 ft) reach and a two year battery lifespan, giving a broad range of possibilities on where they can be used.
The Welcome can be purchased for $199 on the company’s Homepage.
