We had a chance to play around with Avaak's new multi-camera wireless video system, the Vue, and we've got to say -- it's kind of neat. The technology -- originally funded by
DARPA and developed by the company for the military -- uses a mesh network (dubbed FrameMesh) to allow up to 50 cameras to communicate with a single base station. The premise is simple, you connect the included base to your router, then switch on as many of the cameras as you like; each one feeds its signal back home, then straight to your account on the company's servers where you can monitor the videos remotely. Once the video hits the page (the cameras stay off until you're actually watching something), you can record, or share them via Facebook, Flickr, etc. The cameras themselves are tiny things, and each one perches on a magnetized base where they can be adjusted to almost any position. The basic kit will run you $299, which includes the base station and two cameras, and each additional camera is $99. Not the lowest point of entry, but if you're into seriously monitoring some things, this is an insanely simple way to do it -- and we can't wait to see what installation artists get up to with these guys. Check out some hands-on pics in the gallery, then enjoy a brief video demo after the break.
posted Mar 2nd 2009 10:27AM
think twice before saying "it wasn't me."
cool! too bad the cameras are 2d
...What?
i think you missed the point.
I would love to work for DARPA, those crazy internet inventing guru's...
If you worked for DARPA, you'd be a fed handing out grants and awards to universities and research insititutes. You probably would not be a scientist or an engineer, and you probably would spend your day in a plain cubicle filling in forms on an old PC running a locked down copy of XP.
The good news... every holiday you can think of, and some you never heard of, would be your paid day off.
MeanSpyvie pretty much hit the nail right on the head
I dont get how these little eyes are powered
how are they powered?
electricity
That's my question, where is the power cord? If it's battery powered, how long does the batteries last? I guess it could be powered by some AA batteries or a 9-Volt, and remain in power-off mode until it's in use. But even standby modes use some power. If it is powered by batteries, how long will it transmit or remain in standby? I'm guess that batteries will make motion detection an unlikely feature, due to the power drain.
And Bob, your an idiot. Asking about the power source is a very good, and completely unanswered, question.
I looked it up, they are powered by CR123 photo batteries. There is no mention of how long you can watch the video, or how long it will stay in stand-by. At $2 to $6 per battery, I hope they last quite awhile!
Disclaimer: Actual use of this product requires a bajillion button-cell batteries. (Spare batteries not included.)
This would be worth it if it gave you the option of routing video to your own server or desktop rather than through their website. What's to stop them from watching your house for you without you ever knowing about it?
I like the idea, but I'm not willing to pipe all the video feeds through their servers.
xactly. Why do I have to send my video to their web site? It would be nice as an *option*, but I would prefer to keep that video private.
Is the mesh encrypted?
Agree, I'd be all over this except that it has to send video to a WEB site. They use a camera battery that is Li-ion for power and is supposed to last a year - they DO encrypt but no mention of how that is done. Oh, they also expect $20 a year to access their WEB site. Were it not for the external site I'd be really interested but after having read up on it my interest is cooling fast!
These are CMOS cams too but do not have any sort of IRDA capability from what I can tell - they might be IRDA sensitive though who knows.
http://vuezone.com/products/technical-details
Anybody else notice the similarity to Engadget's logo?
At least the idea of having small half-globes of metal and attaching a small camera with a magnet so you can point it anywhere is clever, if they were really DARPA material it would have a clever 2 pole patten that always makes contact though so it could be fed power.
I think the disadvantage is obvious too, anybody can steal it in a sec, including your pets or you can bump into it when inebriated and lose it etcetera, and then those sneaky bastards that run the website will be monitoring someone else by accident, poor guys.
no audio?
There is an eerie connection between engadget and this device.
logo?
I must say that it is mighty impressive but at the same time, pointless.
Mighty impressive:
- stream 10 minutes of video a day, for a year, on a single CR123 battery
- mesh
- tiny magnetic mount
Pointless:
- 320x160 video at most. You can recognize something happened, but not what or by whom
- requires privacy-busting subscription
- non-rechargeable battery only allows 2.5 days of full-time operation