Ford Is Making Something To Monitor Your Car Remotely With A Camera

Ford and ADT, the home security company, are working jointly on something called Canopy, that will eventually let you monitor your car remotely, something I'm told Ring does for homes.

The concept, as shown in the video below, is pretty straightforward, if also completely ridiculous, at least in the use-case in the video.

In the video, a potential thief scopes out items in the open truck bed of a carpenter, who, from afar, is able to watch the thief look in his truck's bed, eying power equipment to potentially steal. The carpenter is then able to press his screen and say, "Hey, get away from my truck," which is sent to a speaker on the truck. Some lights are also activated. Spooked, our potential thief walks away, and the carpenter grins, having averted a possible theft with Canopy.

There are a few things here. One, it's possible that the potential thief is not a thief at all, and merely wanted to inspect the carpenter's equipment. In that scenario, "Hey, get away from my truck," is a little rude, if also the young man is being a little rude trying to touch another man's equipment without permission. The other thing is that, if you don't want your equipment stolen, I would suggest securing it; someone please tell this carpenter about truck caps and vans.

The third thing is that small text during the scene says that the two-way talk feature, which the carpenter uses to yell at a perfect stranger, won't be available until after launch.

Here is some more information about Canopy via Ford:

Canopy's first smart vehicle security system accessory offering will make use of acoustic sensors for vans, onboard cameras, radar, LTE, and GPS. The initial product will have a camera that can be mounted in either a van's cargo area or on a pickup facing the bed. The platform will use AI technology to identify and report credible threats while reducing false alarm signals.

Customers will be connected to the system via the Canopy app to livestream video from the vehicle, get notified of suspicious activity, or review past events.

The system will trigger a smartphone alert of any indicators of potential criminal activity, such as breaking glass, metal cutting, or suspicious motion or sound near the vehicle.

Customers can warn potential thieves they are being monitored by speaking through the smartphone app, enabled by a two-way audio feature that will be available by next year.

The system's AI is designed to distinguish true threats from benign acts – such as a cat jumping into a pickup bed or construction sounds near a vehicle – before alerting the owner or ADT monitoring agents of potential theft.

The system will alert ADT monitoring professionals if it detects a person loitering around or breaching the vehicle.[2]

ADT monitoring agents can then contact customers, fleet managers, or police to take additional measures to help prevent theft. Credible threats will trigger additional responses, including audible alerts and programmable voice recordings and two-way audio in future updates.

The first-of-its-kind Canopy products will be sold through vehicle dealerships, major retailers, and online.

The video also shows a thief using a laptop computer to unlock a car and then presumably steal it, something Canopy apparently can't avoid, though possibly it will be caught on camera. Congratulations to Ford and ADT, and thanks for the laughs.