Setting up home surveillance before was truly expensive and extensive, as you had to buy the right equipment, have a professional set it up for you, buy the software you’ll use for monitoring, etc. But due to the app revolution, everything is much simpler (and maybe more special) now. Perch is one of those apps and it lets you turn any of your old (or new too) existing gadgets into a whole home monitoring system.
Smartphones, tablets, cameras, laptops – all these are fair game when it comes to setting up your Perch DIY surveillance system. And they don’t have to be the same manufacturer or even platform, as long as they’re in good working condition. The best thing about it, aside from the fact that you will probably not spend a dime, is that it’s pretty easy to set up and run. And while it is free, it is not low-tech and basic, but in fact uses advanced technologies like Web RTC so that you can get “a real-time experience, with sub-second latency and no buffering.”
If you need to communicate with other people in the house, instead of an audio chat which sometimes has a slight delay, you can use embedded video messaging. You can even connect Perch to the rest of your smart house using other home automation systems like SmartThings. It uses vision and motion algorithms instead of the usual physical sensors so that it’s easier to create zones around your house and monitor what’s going on.
You can go to getperch.com so you can set your brand new home surveillance network. Having Android devices to go with the system is ideal, but if you don’t you can still use laptop or webcams that have a USB connector. There are video demos on the site to guide you step-by-step on how to set it up.
SOURCE: Perch
