Video surveillance isn't just for governments. With a simple webcam, you too can keep a close eye on what's happening in your home or office. Developerinabox's iSpy is an open-source application that lets you connect to a number of cameras and microphones, monitor them for movement and sound, and automatically start recording whenever something interesting is detected. Although iSpy is free to use, some of its features (such as remote viewing) cost money. The free features provide plenty of functionality, though.
When adding a new camera, iSpy lets you set up motion detection sensitivity and trigger zones. Getting started is easy: All you need is a webcam placed wherever you want it to be and a USB cable long enough to connect it to your computer. You can also use an IP camera connected to your network. iSpy connects to the camera and shows the current view. You can then define specific areas of the image iSpy should watch for movement, and set a threshold value for the amount of motion that would trigger automatic recording. If you want, you can also name the camera, configure the capture frame rate, and more. Then, just minimize the iSpy window and let it monitor the camera feed.
When you want to view the recordings, double-click the iSpy system tray icon, and up pops the window with a list of time-stamped thumbnails showing all of the clips the camera captured. Double-clicking a thumbnail plays the clip—it couldn't be simpler, really.
One area in which iSpy is lacking compared to competitor Vitamin D is search. Vitamin D has a custom search feature that lets you filter hundreds of captured clips down to a more manageable subset you can watch through. iSpy doesn't have this granularity, which means you may have to sit through quite a few clips until you find the one you're looking for. On the other hand, Vitamin D's free version doesn't let you connect multiple cameras, while iSpy lets you connect as many as you want. In fact, iSpy also lets you connect microphones for audio recording, and even import a map of your premises and specify where the cameras and microphones are physically located.
When adding a new camera, iSpy lets you set up motion detection sensitivity and trigger zones.
Some of iSpy's features, such as viewing your feed from any computer on the local network, require an online account with the service, which costs between $7.95 and $49.95 a month. Still, even without opening such an account, iSpy feels robust and provides lots of utility. If you have an extra webcam lying around and want to keep a closer watch on what's happening when you're away, you should definitely try iSpy out.
Note: The Download button on the Product Information page takes you to the vendor's site, where you can download the latest version of the software.
Endlessly tweaking his workflow for comfort and efficiency, Erez is a freelance writer on a mission to discover the simplest, coolest, and most effective software and websites to make tomorrow happen today.
More by Erez Zukerman
From PC World. Shop computer and accessories from Amazon here
Both Logitech's outdoor (shown here) and indoor cameras deliver exceptional video quality.The most impressive feature of the Logitech Alert video surveillance system is the quality of its cameras, both in terms of the resolution of their video (960 by 720 at 15 frames per second) and their physical construction (the cases are fabricated from zinc, not plastic). The downside is their cost--and the fact that you can’t deploy more than six cameras.
The software can show all six cameras, but five are limited to very small windows. Fortunately, you can switch the order.We encountered no problems in our evaluation, but you should note that powerline networking can be problematic in some environments: If your home or facility has poor-quality electrical wiring, or if your circuits must also support machines that draw high amounts of electrical current, for example, powerline networking might deliver poor performance or fail altogether. If that describes your situation, or if you just don’t like powerline networking, Logitech also offers the same outdoor and indoor cameras set up to run on Power over Ethernet. The outdoor PoE model costs $240, and the indoor model is priced at $190 (currently Logitech does not sell the indoor night-vision camera configured for PoE). In addition to buying the cameras themselves, you’ll need to deploy a PoE ethernet switch to support these models (such devices start at about $80 for a four-port Fast Ethernet switch).
The cameras have excellent night vision up to 65 feet. Don't try to save money by putting an indoor camera in a window pointed outside, however, because the LEDs will reflect off the glass.Although Logitech’s cameras each carry a very good wide-angle lens, we wish that the company also offered a pan/tilt model. And if the cameras were outfitted with a speaker output, you could build a two-way video intercom system around them.