Arlo is stepping up its home security game with the launch of Secure 5, a suite of AI-powered features designed to make its cameras and video doorbells better at recognizing what they see.
Arlo Secure 5 introduces the ability for Arlo devices to not just recognize people and vehicles but also to learn custom objects and specific changes around the home.
For example you could train the AI to alert you if a specific door or window is left open at a certain time, if your kids are hitting the snack cupboard when they’re not supposed to, or if a bike is secure in the yard.
That feature is only in beta for now, but the vehicle and person recognition smarts are fully fledged features of Secure 5, so hopefully they’ll live up to the billing.
While the San Jose brand’s cameras – such as the Arlo Essential 2K XL can already detect people, vehicles, packages, and animals, the new system can now identify exactly who is approaching and which vehicle is in view, thanks to advanced AI and machine learning.
Users will be able to build a private library of familiar faces and named vehicles, taking personalized security to a whole new level, and cutting down on those annoying alerts.
Arlo is keen to point out that all data processing, including facial recognition, happens in the cloud, ensuring images remain unique to each user’s account and are never shared with other users or central databases, and that video and data are encrypted.
However, this being Arlo, you are going to have to cough up for the new features – which is hardly surprising given even basic detection needs an Arlo Secure Subscription.
Secure 5 features will need users to be on at least an Arlo Secure Plus plan, which is $17.99 a month.
It will work with existing Arlo cameras and video doorbells, and there’s no need for an Arlo base station for it to work.
Arlo Secure 5 is available now for Arlo users in the US, Canada, and Asia-Pacific regions, with plans to expand to more countries soon.
