I received a tweet a few weeks ago asking me for my opinion on a new home security camera. The device is simply called Hive.
It is an all-in-one battery powered camera with built-in motion detection. Operating off of two AA batteries and communicating using a local WiFi connection, the Hive camera is extremely simple. What makes Hive different from other WiFi home security cameras is the Hive alarm notification, which uses crowd sourcing instead of a professional monitoring service.
In the event your Hive camera detects motion, while armed, it will send a message out to a group of your chosen friends, family, and neighbours. This group (your “Hive”) is then able to look in on your camera’s video feed and decide how to respond. The camera costs $99, and there is a $5 monthly service fee.
Would it work?
There are several challenges I cannot see the Hive camera overcoming. Let us imagine I have a new Hive camera. I set it up and call all my friends and family to ask them if they are willing to monitor and respond to my camera alarms. At best, half of them agree.
The next day I decide to take a vacation; I arm my camera and leave for the week. That night, at 1:00 a.m. in Toronto, someone breaks into my home and activates the camera. The message is distributed to my Hive, who all happen to all be sleeping since they are all in the same time zone. Fortunately I am vacationing in California, where it is only 10:00 p.m., so I get the alert. I see the burglar and immediately dial 911, which results in me reaching the local California emergency line, which is unable to help me.
I hang up and start calling my friends; one of them finally picks up. I tell him about the burglar, and he immediately grabs his baseball bat and heads straight to my house where he meets an untimely death at the hands of a professional criminal.
This is perhaps a bit of an extreme case, but I think it illustrates the various liabilities involved with such a system. These are simply the logistical issues. On a technical front, one motion activated device is far from adequate alarm coverage. WiFi is also unreliable and, in most residences, is not battery backed up.
I can appreciate the appeal of such a simple and cost-effective device. I can even think of a few good uses for it like securing a rental room, but monitoring the camera still seems challenging. Crowd sourcing will continue to achieve many great things, but alarm monitoring will not likely be one of them.
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