Whether it’s for the security of monitoring and recording the exterior of a property, or for keeping an eye on a newborn child, video monitoring solutions have become an important tool for many of us. Nest, purchased by Google in early 2014, has been at the forefront of the industry for the last few years with internet-connected and controlled cameras for both internal and external use. The cameras connect via wifi and allow remote monitoring from anywhere via a phone or tablet. It can be a great reassurance to know you have video surveillance around your home at all times, but not many people would have the time to review those hours upon hours of footage.
Now Nest has a solution on their mobile app with a new feature called Sightline. It uses algorithms to analyze the recorded footage and highlight any footage that it detects as being unusual or important. In practice this means that you can fast-forward through hours of security footage, only watching the key moments in real-time. The Sightline app isn’t just detecting motion, but can also differentiate between the types of motion. So, for example, it can identify and highlight the movement of a person but ignore falling leaves. It also takes sounds into account as part of the analysis process. The new app functionality looks well designed, could save hours of effort and could highlight an important event that you may otherwise have missed.
These new features are available without a Nest Aware subscription, but the functionality is limited. Rather than seeing the full footage you receive a notification, details of the duration of the activity, and a still image of the activity. The base subscription price for one camera is $10 per month for a 10-day video history, but the subscription then enables full video review functionality in timelapse form. The price rises to $30 per month for a 30-day video history, and $5 per month extra for each additional camera. You can also filter the footage for different locations or zones. If you already own a Nest Cam or Dropcam, the new functionality is immediately available in the Nest app.