Test my CCTV security app

[CyraxHB]

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping some of you on the forum can help me out by testing an android app I built.

Some background - over the last few months I built a security app that can analyse the images most CCTV systems generate when they detect movement, and notify you if either a person of vehicle is detected. It relies on the FTP upload functionality that most dvr systems come with.

Most CCTV systems are reactive so I thought it would be nice for people to be able to turn their "dumb" systems into more advanced proactive crime prevention tools, without having to invest in a new smart camera. I initially built this just for myself because I was getting annoyed by my system sending hundreds of false notifications a day. They tend to pick up all movement including moving bushes etc. The app will screen all those images and only notify you if something notable has been detected.

I've found it useful so thought I could offer it for free and recoup my costs through ads. The fixed costs are quite low but there is a variable cost component so I realised I'd need to make it a subscription service for it to be viable.

But for this testing purpose there is a 7 day no obligation free trial. So I'm hoping a few people are willing to test it out and let me know if there are any major issues. Primarily around crashes or just general failures or usability problems. I don't know enough people with CCTV cameras so its only really been tested with a few phone types and Samsung and Hikvision dvr systems.

The process will need the tester to do the following:

1. Create an account which will activate the free trial
2. Under settings you'll find FTP login credentials created. You would use these to log your dvr into our FTP server allowing it to upload movement detected images there. Currently they will automatically be processed in under 2 minutes. This will speed up if paying users end up signing up.
3. If a person or vehicle is detected there will be an in-app notification (this can be turned off in settings) and the image will show up in the app. Additional functionality like gender and age predictions, plus license plate detection also work but are currently disabled for this round of testing.
4. Successful detections are currently retained for 48 hours, images with no detections are automatically deleted.

The app is called Home Guardian and can be found on the play store at the link below.

Home Guardian - Apps on Google Play

Add an additional layer of security to your CCTV system with Artificial Intelligence driven image recognition. It makes use of advanced Artificial Intelligence and Image Recognition techniques to analyse the images recorded by your compatible CCTV security camera. Simply set up your CCTV system...

play.google.com

Feel free to message me privately with your thoughts or just leave a comment in the thread. Also if you have any suggestions on improvements or ideas if you like the concept.

Note: for this to work you will need a relatively recent android phone and a CCTV system that has the FTP upload functionality.

thanks a lot

 

[netstrider]

I'd be interested. I could potentially test your app on a variety of systems. I've been in the industry for nearly a decade now.

Would be interesting to see how it works. I'd even be willing to write a review on my blog.

 

[CyraxHB]

It requires FTP - is it reviewing still images or video? Sorry, I'm not familiar with the FTP environment in security video.

For now it scans the still images, but many DVR's do support uploading a short video when motion is detected. Depending on demand I might enable processing videos to. Processing costs increase though.

The solution just needs the client to be able to send it images to process. FTP seems to still be the standard on most CCTV systems which is why the first version is centered around that. Future releases will allow clients to upload to a specific dropbox or google drive location too.

 

[CyraxHB]

I'd be interested. I could potentially test your app on a variety of systems. I've been in the industry for nearly a decade now.

Would be interesting to see how it works. I'd even be willing to write a review on my blog.

Thanks, that would be great. Feel free to message me if you have any questions or suggestions.

 

[CyraxHB]

Does FTP only work off motion detection then? And after that the machine vision kicks in?

It depends on the DVR. Some can be set up to upload images / videos at set intervals or off motion. The app only keeps the images if it detects a person or vehicle so there would be many wasted uploads if just streaming images.

On my side there is cost to process these so the commercial plans have caps per month.

 

[CyraxHB]

I'd love to test this. What DVR do you use? It's time to replace mine.

At home I use a Samsung SDH-B73043. It does the job.