Ring, the smart security division of Amazon, announced a new artificial intelligence feature on Wednesday, named Video Descriptions. This feature leverages generative AI to provide text notifications based on motion activity to users with Ring video cameras and doorbells. The company aims to integrate more AI technologies across its devices and the app experience, indicating a significant investment in this area. Importantly, Ring confirmed that Video Descriptions will be operational on all existing doorbell and camera models.
Ring Unveils Its First AI Feature
In an official press release, Ring’s founder Jamie Siminoff detailed the innovative AI functionality. He noted that advancements in artificial intelligence have prompted the company to seek ways to enhance the user experience through this technology.
Siminoff described Video Descriptions as one of the “cornerstone pieces of our AI work,” aiming to help users differentiate between critical and routine activities both inside and outside their homes, eliminating the need to watch every recorded motion video.
The Video Descriptions feature employs AI models and computer vision to analyze video content and generate relevant text descriptions. These descriptions accompany the corresponding video footage in notifications, allowing users to quickly assess the nature of the captured motion before reviewing the video for further details.
The announcement detailed that the feature has been specifically designed to notify users about the primary subject responsible for a motion alert and the actions they are taking. Examples of potential notifications include “A person is walking up the steps with a black dog” and “Two people are peering into a white car in the driveway.” However, the company has chosen not to reveal the name of the AI model that powers this feature.
Siminoff emphasized that Video Descriptions will serve as a foundational element for future developments, with plans to introduce additional AI capabilities. Among the anticipated enhancements is a feature that aggregates multiple motion activities into a single notification and a custom anomaly alert system that will be triggered when an unusual event occurs on a user’s property.
Currently, Video Descriptions is in beta testing and available to Ring Home Premium subscribers in Canada and the United States. It is exclusively offered in English and can be activated via the Ring app. The feature is fully compatible with all existing models of Ring doorbells and cameras.
