Simplicam home monitoring video system debuts beta of face recognition feature

Face recognition has come to ArcSoft’s Simplicam home monitoring Wi-Fi video camera. Working in conjunction with the free Closeli app for iOS and Android, the Simplicam camera is rolling out face recognition in beta form, in addition to its existing face detection feature.

Here’s how it works: The Closeli app’s new face recognition manager lets users register and store up to 10 people, configure privacy settings for each person and customize notifications, such as alerts when a specific registered person or an unrecognized person is in the house.

To ease privacy concerns, users can choose to automatically delete footage if a specific person is recognized on the video or set alerts only if an unrecognized person is detected in the footage. The app can also be set to automatically save or delete footage based on who is home.

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Later this month, Simplicam will add Detection Zones to the mix, letting users further customize motion and face alerts based on specific areas of a room.  The Closeli app update also includes a feedback button that allows users to suggest features for future versions of the product directly from within the app.

Note that features such as face recognition, face detection, unrecognized people alerts, recording in the cloud and editing and sharing options are upgrades that come only with a paid subscription, available as an in-app purchase, that ranges in price from $49.99 per year ($4.99 per month) to $229.99 per year ($22.99 per month).

Closeli offers a number of free services, including Wi-Fi camera setup, 720p video quality, the ability to watch from anywhere, motion and sound detection and scheduling.

Users with trial versions or already signed up for Closeli Recording Services can access the beta feature for free by updating their Closeli app. While the Android version is currently posted in the Google Play Store, ArcSoft says that Apple is still reviewing the upgrade, which is expected to post sometime today.

➤ Simplicam and Closeli [iOS/Android]