The best part of my profession is that we can create whatever our heart desires. If it doesn’t exist, we can bring it into existence.
Our home is protected/monitored by both cameras (motion activated) and a central station. This camera notifies us via email whenever motion is detected along with data from the motion. This system works fantastically, but we came across a bit of a nuisance factor. Whenever we bring in the groceries or do something that involves walking in front of the camera multiple times, we’re left with dozens upon dozens of notifications.
My solution: to only activate the camera when our homes security system is turned on. There is no feature to do this out of the box, so I had to get creative. The best part of programming is the ability to logically figure things out and create functionality where none exists.
I did this by getting my monitoring company to notify my server whenever the system is armed or disarmed (securely), and send some information. The server takes this information in, analyzes the situation (for example: are we gone or home, are we secured?) and stores the knowledge in a secure file. Whenever the camera detects motion, instead of emailing us, it now sends the email to my server. The server grabs the email content with images/data and checks the status of the alarm. If it is armed, the motion is probably of interest to us and it is sent on its way. Otherwise, the server throws out the message and just places a log of the data in a file for later viewing if necessary.
This is an unofficial method to a problem that both companies have not solved (which is fully understood, since they’re unrelated). They both simply had some tools that I found a use for. One of the best parts of being an artist/programmer is the ability to solve problems where other people may go “someone should do that.”
It’s really a great profession.