Lighthouse home security camera uses AI to ID people and pets

Lighthouse

Security cameras are getting more and more advanced these days, they might put a few security companies out of business. Take Lighthouse, for instance. The device, backed by an accelerator created byAndroid co-founder Andy Rubin, can figure out who's at home or who entered the house, and whether it's a human or the family dog/cat. When The Vergetook it for a spin, the Lighthouse team showed how it responds to your questions and voice commands. Say, you want to know if anybody took the dog for a walk. You can just ask the camera, and it will send the latest video it took of your dog to its accompanying iOS and Android app. 

The Lighthouse setup is composed of an RGB camera that captures 1080p videos and has night vision, a speaker, a microphone, a siren and a 3D sensor. It needs the last one, because unlike Netatmo Welcome that uses facial recognition, this one relies on 3D-sensing technology. When you first set it up, you'll need to manually identify the shapes it sees around the house. If it detects a family member, you'll have to tell the machine that it's your partner, roommate, child or pet. That way, it can recognize them the next time they enter the house. 

Over time, the camera also learns when to expect every family member to be around. If it detects an unknown presence at an unexpected time, it'll send you a notification, and you can watch what's going on through its app. It's unclear how accurately it can identify each family member, but the company said it trained its system to be good at recognizing shapes and patterns by feeding it over a million samples. Lighthouse plans to introduce facial recognition before it officially becomes available, though. 

When it comes to your privacy, the company said its system can protect your data with bank-level encryption. You're the only one who can access your info, and the system deletes whatever your camera records within 30 days. The camera is now available for pre-order bundled with the company's "Intelligence AI Service," starting at $399 for one device and a year of access to the AI. Lighthouse expects to start shipping in September 2017.