Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Camera keeps eye on pets while owner’s away
I’m always concerned when I have to leave my boys at home alone. I wonder what trouble they’ll get into when they get bored, especially if I’m gone all day for work.
Before you panic, my “boys” are two cats. They do fine at home on their own. At least, I’ve always assumed that was the case.
I’ve found a new product to help verify that theory. The Petcube Camera does a lot more than watch the kitties. It’s designed to allow me to speak to them and even play with them remotely.
The Petcube comes with the camera, a power adapter and a USB cord to connect the two. To use the camera, the Petcube app must be downloaded for iPhones from the Apple App Store or Google’s Play Store for Android phones. The app is free for both platforms.
The Petcube app offers a social media platform in which the user can see and control the camera. It also allows the user to share the camera’s live video feed and photos from the camera. The Petcube can be shared with family, friends or the general public. They must have the app and an account to see and control the camera. Users can be found by logging onto Facebook through the app, which then searches the Facebook friends for possible matches with the Petcube network.
Yes, others can control the camera remotely. They can view it, take photos and even use the laser light to play with the pets in the room.
The first step is to create an account within the app. This account allows the user not only to use the camera but also allows others to “follow” that user, much like they would on Instagram or Twitter. The app talks the user through setting up the camera with whatever wireless Internet signal is available. Once that is done, a quick tutorial talks the per-
son through using the app and camera.
The user chooses whether to share the camera with the public, and whether sound or the laser should be enabled. The app does allow the user to set a time limit for the length of time each remote user is allowed to view play with the camera.
The camera provides 720p resolution video, the lower level of “high definition.” It’s not terribly clear, but it’s adequate enough to see what is going on. It works fine with the proper light, but it is not equipped with infrared. Therefore, it’s not meant to be used with very low or no light.
The camera can be used to stream live video, or it can be used to take a photo.
Double tapping the screen takes the photo, which then can be saved to the phone or shared on the Petcube network. The lens on the camera is a very wide angle, so you can see a good bit of the room.
Now for the bad news — the sound feature. It’s supposed to let me hear what’s going on and speak to the cats for more of that interactive experience.
Unfortunately, I haven’t had much luck on the iPhone. I heard sound only once and never got the microphone to work.
Worse, it crashed the app — repeatedly.
Once that happened, the camera was frozen and could not be accessed until it finally reset itself. That took about 10 minutes.
The issue seemed to be with the iPhone app. I did not have that problem on the Android app.
In fact, the sound feature worked perfectly. I was able to hear what was going on in the room, and I was able to speak through the camera. I also was able to control the laser, although without the calibration tool, control was fairly rough.
The real question is, how well does it work?
I did try the camera out remotely several times. For the most part, it worked great, unless I tried to access the sound with my iPhone. Then the app crashed, as it did before.
Again, I didn’t have this problem when I conducted the same tests with the Android app.
I was able to use the new calibration tool on the iPhone, something that seems to be missing in the Android app. It made the laser move a bit more accurately to better reflect the movement of my finger on the screen.
Even with the calibration tool, the laser was a bit hard to control. Still, I was able to make the dot glide around on the floor.
After a few minutes, I was rewarded with the reaction I wanted.
My younger cat wandered to the spot, watched for a few minutes and began to play with the laser pointer. The older one didn’t seem too interested, but he’s never liked laser pointers.
If my younger “kid” can be believed, the camera and its laser were a big hit.
I was able to see the cats, talk to them through the app, and hear them play or respond to my voice. It’s not the greatest camera in the world, and it shouldn’t be used for security. But for what it’s advertised to do, it did it well, for the most part.
Again, I think the lack of sound on the iPhone is an app thing. Petcube needs to work on updating and fixing the app. It certainly would go a long way.
If nothing else, it’s keeping my boys entertained when I’m away from home.