Gabe: Can the AI in the Lighthouse camera keep up with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa?
We're going to find out today.
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Gabe: Hey, everyone.
My name is Gabe at Security Baron.
Today we're reviewing the Lighthouse security camera.
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Gabe: To see a list of our favorite security cameras, google Security Baron Best Security
Cameras.
If you have any questions about today's video, leave us a comment below and we'll get back
to you.
The Lighthouse camera is one that you simply ask.
Unlike traditional security cameras, they employ something called computer vision and
voice search.
Let's check it out.
Light highlights some of the typical features you'd expect from a security camera like 1080p
high definition video and two-way audio.
What they really want the consumer to understand is the vast capacity of their artificial intelligence.
That means everything that you might be used to, like facial recognition and telling one
pet apart from another.
What's more impressive is the fact that you can speak to it with natural speech like,
"What did the kids do with the babysitter?"
and it'll bring up the clips of what actually happened when your kids were with the babysitter.
My initial thoughts on the Lighthouse camera is that it is an elegant design, if somewhat
massive.
We're looking at 8.5 inches tall and about 1.6 pounds.
It's definitely got a solid feel.
Just from the bottom up, you've got this rubberized bottom and a thick 3.4 inch round base.
It doesn't actually move around at all.
Wherever you put it, that's the direction it's going to be.
It's got this off-white color scheme with the black lens on the front.
Here, you have a 3D sensor.
What I like is this little purplish shade of light you get coming out of the front to
know that it's recording.
Below that is a speaker and it had a nice little Lighthouse insignia.
On the back, it's pretty minimal.
You just have a space for a power cord.
There's no SD slot.
There's no place to put in an extra speaker.
Everything you get is right here.
I like it, but it's definitely not discreet.
It's immediately identifiable as a camera.
People are going to see it in your house because it's pretty large.
Those are my thoughts on the Lighthouse camera.
Now that we have some of the highlights of the Lighthouse home security camera, let's
put it to the Security Baron Necessary Features Test.
The Security Baron necessary features are stellar video, two-way audio, night vision,
cloud and local storage, smart platform integration, artificial intelligence, value, and convenience.
The Security Baron necessary feature of video quality is somewhat met by the Lighthouse
security camera.
It does come with a sparkling 1080p high definition video, but is limited by the narrow 95 degree
field of view and the fact that it has no digital zoom.
If you compare it to some of the other cameras we've seen, like the Nest, which comes in
at 130 degrees, or the Canary, which has a 147 degree view, 95 degrees is pretty minimal.
When it comes to the Security Baron necessary feature of video quality, the Lighthouse does
not receive full marks.
The Security Baron necessary feature of two-way audio is really essential.
Here, the Lighthouse camera does have two-way audio.
When the artificial intelligence kicks in, it lets you know that your children are home.
You can speak directly to them right from the camera.
When it comes to the Security Baron necessary feature of two-way audio, the Lighthouse security
camera passes the test.
A Security Baron necessary feature is night vision.
Here, the Lighthouse has an adequate night vision, but it definitely leaves some room
for improvement.
With only four infrared LEDs, the full HD it promised doesn't really come through the
way it might in a daytime quality.
When it comes to the Security Baron necessary feature of night vision, we can't give the
Lighthouse full marks.
Here at Security Baron, a necessary feature is cloud and local storage.
The Lighthouse does not have a space for a micro SD slot or a USB power hard drive, so
there are no local storage options.
Out of the box, it includes 24 hours of cloud storage and, if you upgrade to a premium membership,
you get 30 days of cloud storage.
When it comes to the Security Baron necessary feature of cloud and local storage, we give
the Lighthouse home security camera half marks.
One of the most fun elements of the Security Baron necessary features is smart platform
integration.
While you can use your Apple iPhone to google the Lighthouse camera and even buy it on Amazon,
the company has opted to not go with any of the major smart platform integrations.
When it comes to the Security Baron necessary feature of smart platform integration, the
Lighthouse security camera gets zero marks.
A Security Baron necessary feature is artificial intelligence, and the Lighthouse security
camera comes chocked-full of AI.
From that facial recognition technology to the Alexa-like voice search, there's a lot
to love about the Lighthouse home security camera.
One of the founders, Alex Teichman, calls the Lighthouse an AI for physical spaces.
The company uses 3D sensors instead of just infrared light.
It actually shoots out a beam of light and gathers the bounce back to measure what's
happening in 3D space.
Additionally, the Lighthouse AI is capable of understanding natural speech patterns.
You could ask it things like, "What did my pet do today?"
"What time did the children get home?" and it works pretty well.
When it comes to the Security Baron necessary feature of artificial intelligence, we've
got to give the Lighthouse tremendous full marks.
A Security Baron necessary feature is value.
It is a rough ride with the Lighthouse home security camera.
Right out of the box, if you want to buy it retail, it starts around $300.
On top of the $300, many of the elements that make the Lighthouse what it is, especially
in terms of artificial intelligence, require you to buy the AI service.
The AI service is essentially the Lighthouse premium subscription plan.
It comes in at $10 a month or you can pay $200 outright from beginning and have a lifetime
subscription.
In terms of value, we cannot give the Lighthouse full marks just because of how expensive it
is out of the box and the fact that it almost requires you to get the $10 a month or one-time
fee AI service.
A Security Baron necessary feature is convenience.
The Lighthouse was awfully easy to set up.
I downloaded the app, plugged in the power cord, signed up for the AI service, and was
ready to go.
When it comes to the Security Baron necessary feature of convenience, got to give the Lighthouse
camera full marks.
As we all know, any home security camera is only as good as its app.
Let's jump into the Lighthouse camera mobile application.
When you open up the Lighthouse app, you'll see a live shot at the top of the screen.
Right below that, you'll see three buttons for siren, two-way talk, and turning the camera
on and off.
Now, this is the home screen, and there are a lot of options.
For example, you can see what was the last thing seen, or you can go into the pings,
or the daily activity, which allows you to see everything that took place on one day.
Of course, the Lighthouse thinks of itself as an artificial intelligence device that
also records videos sometimes.
Here are some examples of questions you can ask with the natural language technology that
they've built in.
The software allows you to say things like, "Did you see any dogs?"
"Have you seen my cat?" or "Did anyone new come in in the past 24 hours?"
These are just a few of the questions that you can do with the natural software technology.
Of course, if I click on this middle button, I can speak directly to whoever's in the room.
I also want to show you this really cool feature, the daily recap.
The daily recap, you can do the last 24 hours.
Of course, most of that is darkness and nothing really happening, but it's fun to have your
own little time-lapse scene every day.
There are also some prompts for questions.
Something like, "What happened last night?"
"Have you seen any new people?"
or "Did the cat come in between 3:00 and 6:00?"
etc., etc.
Moving forward, you can get a simple list of events and notifications.
As you see here, it's just me coming in over and over again.
I call myself the Baron Keeper.
I can also invite new people using the People tab to join the home.
They join the home, it'll start to recognize the face and they can have access to seeing
what's happening in the house.
If I click into Settings, you can set up a new camera or you can also go into the Privacy
Settings.
You can change from owner's home, owner's away, or turn the camera on and off.
If I don't want to be watched while I'm at home, I can simply have the camera turn off
whenever it recognizes that I'm home.
I can, of course, just turn that back on by clicking Camera On if I want to see something
that's happening in the room.
That's a look at the Lighthouse app with its strong focus on artificial intelligence.
As you can see, the Lighthouse home security camera has amazing visual clarity.
Definitely one of the better cameras that we've seen.
You can see everything that's going on when I spin this globe, but no digital zoom.
You see me pinching my fingers, tapping, no digital zoom and a really, really narrow field
of view of only 95 degrees.
Overall, amazing video quality, but really lacking when it comes to digital zoom and
field of view.
This is the night vision on the Lighthouse home security camera.
As you can see, the white of this table has washed out most of the shot.
I'm only about five feet away, but it's definitely not what you'd expect.
You wouldn't be able to see what's happening.
If I spin the globe, it's not so clear.
Maybe a lot of it's due to the four infrared lights on the camera.
I can get close so you can get a better idea.
Now, I'm only about two feet away from the camera and then you can see what's happening.
Overall, definitely it makes you feel a little bit disappointed, especially considering how
well it works in the daytime.
That's the night vision on the Lighthouse home security camera.
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Gabe: Let's provide an overview of how the Lighthouse home security camera performed
against the Security Baron Necessary Features Test.
Stellar video, half marks.
The Lighthouse security camera comes with 1080p high definition video, but it lacks
digital zoom and has a very minimal, 95 degree, field of view.
Two-way audio, full marks.
The Lighthouse security camera comes with two-way audio that sounds crystal clear.
Night vision, half marks.
It only has four LED infrared lights and it pales in comparison to its competitors.
Cloud and local storage, half marks.
It does have cloud storage up to one month, but no local storage options.
Smart platform integration, zero marks.
The Lighthouse does not support any smart home integration.
Artificial intelligence, full marks.
The Lighthouse is chock-full of artificial intelligence that's really interesting.
Every day we discover more and more things to do with it.
Value, zero marks.
It is novel, but very, very expensive.
Convenience, full marks because it's basically a plug-and-play camera.
What we want to find out today is whether or not the Lighthouse home security camera
is right for you and your home security needs.
If you want a camera that integrates with a smart platform, then this is not the camera
for you.
You'd be spending a lot of money for a camera that does not integrate with Amazon Alexa,
Apple HomeKit, or Google Assistant.
However, if you want a camera that has the most advanced artificial intelligence capabilities
on the market, then you definitely want to look at the Lighthouse home security camera.
That's our review of the Lighthouse home security camera.
If you appreciated this video, give us a like, and don't forget to hit subscribe.
As always, it's your boy, Gabe, at Security Baron.
Be secure.
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