YC-Funded HighlightCam Makes It Easy To Remotely Watch Babies, Pets And Burglars(techcrunch.com)
techcrunch.com
YC-Funded HighlightCam Makes It Easy To Remotely Watch Babies, Pets And Burglars
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/28/yc-funded-highlightcam-makes-it-easy-to-remotely-watch-babies-pets-and-burglars/
15 comments
Hmm, can someone tell me why I should pay for this vs.
~$50 webcam + < $9/mo for electricity (quote for a plug-in wall pc is $5/mo for electricity) that comes with motion detection capture? Here, I have full access to the video and analyze it if needed after 2 weeks or years?
apt-get install motion
Of course, their target market is people who don't want to do any hacking - and there are a ton of those people, so something simple and convenient might do well.
Edit
From their comments above, it looks like it's a little bit more complicated than just capture on motion detect. I think they need a killer demo, as they really need to point out how they're better.
There's also the ultra complicated open source solution zoneminder.
HighlightCam works when there's continuous motion. Even at a busy party, the algorithm would pick out when people talked in front of the camera or some guy fell off a table. Think of it as smart time-lapse, rather than just a collection of motion-heavy segments.
Oh yeah, and we also take audio into account.
Oh yeah, and we also take audio into account.
Is there an example of the busy party scenario? It is difficult to see what you mean from the video on the home page or the video on the about page.
Edit
Actually, our Justin.tv page demonstrates what processing of high-motion videos looks like (source vids are 5mins long):
http://www.highlightcam.com/justin.tv/
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The About page video is 60 minutes long, with motion for maybe 30 minutes. The highlight video is 50 seconds of the most interesting motion.
http://highlightcam.com/about/
The threshold adjusts automatically, so you'd get just under a minute for both one rabbit twitching its ears, or 30 rabbits getting a bundle of carrots.
Yeah, we should really find a good non-confidential party demo :> Maybe we'll film a party this weekend?
Actually, our Justin.tv page demonstrates what processing of high-motion videos looks like (source vids are 5mins long):
http://www.highlightcam.com/justin.tv/
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The About page video is 60 minutes long, with motion for maybe 30 minutes. The highlight video is 50 seconds of the most interesting motion.
http://highlightcam.com/about/
The threshold adjusts automatically, so you'd get just under a minute for both one rabbit twitching its ears, or 30 rabbits getting a bundle of carrots.
Yeah, we should really find a good non-confidential party demo :> Maybe we'll film a party this weekend?
Got it. I imagine it is rather difficult to put together a demo for this kind of thing without trying one's patience. Definitely having a video of motion vs. interesting/highlighted motion would be convincing to both tech and non-tech individuals.
Yes, if this is your first TC article have a party to celebrate that.
Yes, if this is your first TC article have a party to celebrate that.
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Congrats guys! Looking forward to a great partnership.
Congrats on the launch!
Feature requests:
1. You should have a more complex timeline control or at least annotate the video with the time you're currently looking at. I need to know when the highlights are happening (when did my baby cry, is my baby crying at some regular interval, etc.)
2. There should be some visual cue showing the switch from one continuous segment to the next. You could potentially incorporate this as part of the fix for 1..
(My apologies if these already exist; I didn't see them in the demo video.)
Feature requests:
1. You should have a more complex timeline control or at least annotate the video with the time you're currently looking at. I need to know when the highlights are happening (when did my baby cry, is my baby crying at some regular interval, etc.)
2. There should be some visual cue showing the switch from one continuous segment to the next. You could potentially incorporate this as part of the fix for 1..
(My apologies if these already exist; I didn't see them in the demo video.)
Good jobs! I am glad finally someone make this! And I hope your service booming!
The point is to show only the important changes in the surveillance video. And it is right to target market for babies, pets and burglars watch.
I asked my friends 3 years ago when I saw a Panasonic internet surveillance cam (though the price of cam then was around $200) and they though it would be great to have this type of service to watch kids and pets at home when they are at work. And I thought the whole video has to be trimmed to only interesting part. And I thought that can be a good way to team it with my uncle's surveillance camera manufacturing business. They are good in hardware but they need some killer apps to expand demand for surveillance camera in consumer market.
But one of my friend said that people already did that. I just can't find it cheap enough for consumers. So I decided to work on other products.
I get a lesson from Anateus: I need to trust my own instinct more than advices from peers.
The point is to show only the important changes in the surveillance video. And it is right to target market for babies, pets and burglars watch.
I asked my friends 3 years ago when I saw a Panasonic internet surveillance cam (though the price of cam then was around $200) and they though it would be great to have this type of service to watch kids and pets at home when they are at work. And I thought the whole video has to be trimmed to only interesting part. And I thought that can be a good way to team it with my uncle's surveillance camera manufacturing business. They are good in hardware but they need some killer apps to expand demand for surveillance camera in consumer market.
But one of my friend said that people already did that. I just can't find it cheap enough for consumers. So I decided to work on other products.
I get a lesson from Anateus: I need to trust my own instinct more than advices from peers.
Maybe it is too early in your startup for this but I saw an MIT Media Lab effort that could highlight the person or car that took an unusual route. Being able to pick out novel action (rather than any action) would be a huge value add to the existing solutions.
Demo: put a camera on a donation plate and pick out the non-stereotypical motion of someone removing rather than adding to it.
Demo: put a camera on a donation plate and pick out the non-stereotypical motion of someone removing rather than adding to it.
[deleted]
you need a better demo
It will be really interesting to see how the partnership with justin.tv develops, could be a partial answer to their high s/n ratio.
Cool...now, if only there was a way to scold my dogs for chewing furniture from a distance! :)
Grats guys, you had my vote on YCPTD, btw!
congrats! amazing that there's so much less negativity on TC comments recently...
Congrats guys. Good article by TC.
Hells yes. Kittens!
Grats guys! Really love your product =P
Or I could just use Ustream: http://www.ustream.tv/channel-popup/lulu-tv