Blink Cameras and Facial Recognition: A Guide to What's Available
As smart home security cameras become more intelligent, a common question arises: "Do my Blink cameras have facial recognition?" It's a desirable feature, promising to deliver alerts that distinguish between family members and unknown visitors.
This guide will clarify the current capabilities of Blink cameras, explain the difference between person detection and facial recognition, and help you understand how to get the most out of your system's smart features.
## Does Blink Offer Facial Recognition?
The short answer is no. Currently, Blink security cameras do not have a facial recognition feature. The system cannot identify specific individuals, learn their faces over time, or provide you with alerts like "John is at the door."
While this feature is not present, Blink does offer a related piece of smart technology called "Person Detection," which is important to understand.
## Person Detection vs. Facial Recognition
It's easy to confuse these two terms, but they describe very different technologies.
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Person Detection: This is a feature that Blink does offer on its newer cameras (like the Blink Outdoor 4, Indoor & Outdoor 3) with a Blink Subscription Plan. The camera's onboard computer vision can analyse a motion event and determine if the object that caused it has the general shape and movement of a human being.
- Benefit: This is extremely useful for reducing false alarms. Your camera will alert you about a person walking up your path but ignore notifications for swaying trees, passing cars, or pets in the garden. It answers the question, "Is someone there?"
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Facial Recognition: This is a much more advanced technology. It not only detects that a person is present but also analyses their unique facial features. It then compares this data to a library of known faces that you have created.
- Benefit: This technology can provide highly specific alerts, such as "Unfamiliar face detected" or "Jane has arrived home." It answers the question, "Who is there?"
Blink has focused its efforts on providing the core, high-value feature of Person Detection to make alerts more meaningful, without yet implementing the more complex and data-intensive facial recognition.
## How to Use Blink's Person Detection Feature
To take advantage of person detection, you need two things:
- A compatible Blink camera (Blink Outdoor 4, Indoor & Outdoor 3rd Gen, Video Doorbell).
- An active Blink Subscription Plan (either Basic or Plus).
Once these are in place, you can enable the feature in your camera's settings:
- Open the Blink app and navigate to the settings for the specific camera you want to configure.
- Go to "Motion Settings".
- Ensure "Motion Detection" is turned on.
- You will see an option for "Smart Notifications". Tap on this.
- Select "Person Detection" to receive alerts only when a person is detected. You can also choose to be notified for all other motion if you wish.
## The Future of Blink and Smart Features
The world of smart home technology is constantly evolving. While Blink does not offer facial recognition today, it's possible that future hardware releases or subscription tier updates could include more advanced AI features. The company's focus on computer vision for person detection shows they are working in this area.
For now, users who consider true facial recognition an essential feature may need to explore other security camera ecosystems that have built their platforms around this technology. However, for those looking for a simple, effective way to reduce unwanted motion alerts and be specifically notified about human presence, Blink's Person Detection feature is a powerful and valuable tool.