" The Home Security Advisor-(ULO)"

                                    The Home Security Advisor-(ULO)

What is Ulo? An owl Security Camera….

    

     Ulo is an interactive owl security camera. It is an interactive camera in the form of a cure owl-that has become an internet darling.  The cute, almost cuddly creation of Vivien Muller was launched in a Kickstarter program in 2015.

                            ULO Camera Video Summary

Local Control of the Owl Security Camera

     The Ulo is controlled locally by the capacitive touch button on the top of its “head”.  Tap once to turn the unit on or off…twice to put in “Alert” mode.  In Alert mode, the animated eyes are powered down and the camera monitors motion and sends GIF images to your e-mail or drop box.  A limited amount of data is stored in use accessible SD storage.

 The Ulo Camera App

     The app enables Apple Ios and Android users to customized and control camera functions on their mobile device.  It can also be customized and controlled via a web portal… so it is available for viewing wherever you have access to the internet.  You can:

·       Customize appearance

·       Change modes

·       Monitor live streaming video

·       Take snapshots and record video.

·       Receive e-mail activity alerts and snapshots

     Ulo can even be set up to perform functioins using the popular IFTTT platform.  IFTTT stands for “If This then That”.  So called recipes can be set up in which “This” the trigger, set up “That” a predefined resulting action.

     The device is IFTTT compatible and consequently can interact with other IFTTT devices on the platform.  Thus, if the camera detects motion…it can trigger other connected devices-such as turning on lights.  If motion is detected, Ulo can send an image to your e-mail. 

     Similar to geo-fencing with Alarm.com, it can also be set up to sense the presence of you cell phone and automatically switch to Alert mode when you leave the home.  (Ulo reviews indicate that customers are having a number of issues with these features in the field)

An Owl Security Camera with Voice Control and Facial Recognition.

     As the Kickstarter campaign achieved financial milestones, they added additional features and functionality to the Ulo project.

     This is something of a double-edged sword… as it typically also results in cost overruns and delays in bringing the product to market.  White the unit is preojected to respond to simple voice command and includes facial recognition, the effectiveness of these technologies in previous security cameras has not always been stellar.

     The development team has had to scale back expectations a number of times… and will likely have to do so with some of these advanced technologies.  These features have been found to put excessive power loads on the batteries-so will only be available when the Ulo is being powered by the USB connection.

     Similar technology has often proven to be problematic and less than reliable in other products… so it remains to be seen whether the Ulo development team can find the right combination.

Weatherproof Indoor/Outdoor Camera?

     Often times features promised for reaching “Stretch goals” in Kickstarter campaigns prove to be more costly or problematic than originally anticipated.  One of the relatively early milestones was the implementation of waterproofing the camera housing so that it could be used for outdoor applications.

     Ultimately, these plans had to be scrapped.  Likely because it could become too costly or further delay a timeline that has already become much longer than anticipated.