Last year, we had over 2 million hours of protected cars with no break-ins or theft. Thieves did strike nearby vehicles and we have pictures of them looking into our protected cars. The Keep Car Alarm works.
Vehicle Defense Enhancements
Our goal is to: “Keep Thieves Away. Keep Your Car and Family Safe.” While we’ve made progress on “Keep Thieves Away”, there are three last enhancements we will roll out soon:
- Internal Battery Recharging changes: one time longer top-up, and an initial top-up for new customers
- Anchor Testing: pull out test to ensure proper anchoring. Add-on legs and two-sided tape to resolve.
- Camera Orientation: calibration through the mobile app to help you optimize camera position
User Experience Enhancements
As far as the second part of our goal, we have to make the experience better to truly “Keep Your Car and Family Safe”. You can’t be inundated with false notifications of Deterrent Events, because then if an Entry Event notification comes through, you won’t notice it. What we have heard from you is that there are just too many false Deterrent notifications. We attempted to reduce the false Deterrent pictures with computer vision/face detection but were not happy with the results over the last two months of testing.
Deterrent Events - Pictures Going Away
So we are making a major change and will stop taking pictures upon Deterrent Events. We will still chirp and flash the LED lights, and you can still set the radar sensitivity as high as you want.
Subscriptions Coming Soon
Within the next 30 days, we are going to start collecting payment for the service plan/Subscription through the mobile app. It will be $10/month and you get a 10% discount if you pay for the next 12 months upfront (so $120 - $12 = $108). Please let us know via this survey which one of those you prefer, or if your journey with us is coming to an end.
Firmware 2.0 Deployment Soon
Over the last year, we've collected feedback, changed core parts of the system to improve your experience, and will be rolling out the version 2.0 of our firmware shortly.
Informed by what we have seen in the field and what you've told us you wanted, we're excited about the 2.0 release. Sometimes, less is more. So with version 2.0, you will receive less notifications and pictures. You will only be notified if your vehicle is entered. Fob Range Adjustment, so you can determine when and how your device arms/disarms, will also be included. Fob Range Adjustment video below:
Please let us know if there are other features you would like to see. Next on our list:
- Internal Battery Top-ups & Video Unplug Test
- Anchor Assist Setup Guide
- Camera Orientation Assist Setup Guide
- Live Video Clips
- Initial Installation Overhaul (Including onetime internal battery charging)
- Dynamic mode changing (rather than going to low power after 2 days of no movement, we will do it based upon vehicle battery level)
- Phone as Fob (Added to the list after original post)
We are targeting Q4 to begin testing Trip Tracking & Safe Driving features to be rolled out next year.
More Information on Deter Changes
Our goal is to Deter anyone from entering your car, and according to the data we have collected over the last year, we are incredibly effective at doing this. What we must do is to: (1) Sound the 120dB sirens and (2) Flash red LEDs. These activities, in response to human motion, Deter entry (whether or not we notify you of the Deter, attempt to take a picture, or send you a picture - that is all secondary).
1. Camera Quality
The camera quality outside of the car is not great. We are de-warping a circular/fish-eye image and then enhancing at the edges, sometimes in challenging light conditions. Unfortunately, the results aren't what we want, and frankly, make it tough to run the images through our computer vision. Camera quality for video events inside of the car, however, is fantastic. Therefore, we intend to continue to take video upon Entry events, should they ever occur, and notify you immediately.
2. Important Information from 2023
We want to share some crucial information because removing notifications might seem counterproductive to ensure peace of mind. You should be able to make your Deter Radar Range as large as you want, meaning, it can chirp and flash lights when someone is 5 feet from your car, 1 foot, or 10 feet away - that is your choice. But someone 5 feet away isn't a true threat.
What we have found is that over time, the more protected your car is with a larger Deterrent range, the more notifications you get, and over time, you become desensitized to them, and then they lose their effectiveness.
We want your car to be as protected as possible - with a healthy radar range. But we want the notifications to still have utility. An Entry Event is something you need to act upon: the Radar + PIR (heat sensors) have indicated an animal or human is INSIDE your vehicle. You will always be notified of this. It's just with the Deters that we're trying to cut down on the notification overload.
We want your car to be as protected as possible - with a healthy radar range. But we want the notifications to still have utility. An Entry Event is something you need to act upon: the Radar + PIR (heat sensors) have indicated an animal or human is INSIDE your vehicle. You will always be notified of this. It's just with the Deters that we're trying to cut down on the notification overload.