Ulo is an owl-shaped security camera that communicates through eye expressions.
Surveillance cameras can be obvious eye sores to put around your house. If you wanted to monitor your home, you had to get over the aesthetics of security devices. Now, there’s a new way to keep an eye out, without putting a damper on your interior tastes.
The brainchild of French designer Vivien Muller, Ulo is changing the home surveillance game. While it may look like nothing more than a toy owl, this Internet-connected gadget is much more. Ulo is equipped with a two-way mirror beak housing a hidden camera and motion sensors, and is interactive with customizable LCD eyes.
Ulo comes to life when you tap it on the head, and can be controlled from your Android or iOS device, or web interface. A webpage and mobile app allows you to personalize eye color, shape and size to match any decor and taste. No logos or icons are displayed on the screens, but you instantly know what Ulo has in mind. Unlike any other surveillance camera, this owl unit communicates through eye expressions making it life-like. For example, if you want to take a picture, Ulo blinks. Its eyes also follow movements and squints when you’re watching its live-stream. Ulo’s eyes will even look tired when the battery is low, alerting you to charge it.
When you’re not at home, double tapping on Ulo’s forehead will activate its Alert Mode, which records any movement and sends an animated GIF to you via email. Plus, it can live-stream directly to your phone or webpage with 1080p HD video and audio. Ulo acts as the extra set of eyes to check what’s going on when you’re away. What’s more impressive is that it has infrared night vision and is waterproof, making Ulo an effective and versatile way of surveillance, inside and outside the house.
This adorable, high-tech owl features a Wi-Fi module, an orientation sensor, a Li-Po rechargeable battery, a mono microphone, and speaker. Ulo comes with adhesive neodymium magnets for easy attachment, as well as a micro-USB cable for recharging.
Want your own personal surveillance bird? Then fly over to Muller and his team’s Kickstarter page, where they’ve already reached over a million dollars in funding. The first batch of Ulos are expected to ship by November 2016.
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