VitaminD Video Analytics Examined
Published Feb 11, 2010 00:00 AM
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VitaminD's video analytics release offers a new market focus and business model for the video analytics market.
The two most important ways that VitaminD breaks from existing approaches are:
- Clearly and directly targeted to homeowners and small business users (see their use cases). The success stories they emphasize are very simple and practical: missing donuts, stolen pumpkins, overweight dogs, etc.)
- On-line sales using a freemium model (see their pricing). Anyone can download and use 1 channel for free or purchase 2 channels for $49 or unlimited cameras per PC for $199. No need for integrators or sales channel as the purchase can be done by PayPal or Credit Card instantly.
Technically, the software loads on existing MAC or Windows PCs, performing both video analytics and 'intelligent' recording (see specification sheet). As such, it becomes essentially a video analytics and a VMS solution. VitaminD says that 1.5 cameras can be analyzed per CPU core (while allowing the PC to be used for other purposes). VitaminD reports support of a few professional IP camera manufacturers (Axis, ACTi and IQinVision) as well as many consumer cameras and webcams.
We think this approach has promise. It avoids both the operational demands of professional requirements (e.g., perimeter protection for critical infrastructure) and the logistical demands of building a security sales channel (which can take years and millions of dollars).
No doubt they will have to sell a lot of licenses at these prices. However, given that they make it easy to obtain and try out, they should be able to reach a global market inexpensively.