[TONY-T]

This is a really cool app for your smart phone that can record the interior or exterior of your car while driving. It uses your smart phones front and or rear cameras.

I have been using this app for a while now and it works really nicely during the day. More importantly it's very stealthy as I use the uber app at the same time. The uber app remains in the foreground and the DashCam app runs in the background recording the interior of my car. No need to switch between apps either when wanting to record or stop recording, there is a drop down banner that will let you stop / start the recording.

The apps only downfall is that recording at night time is abysmal. This isn't the apps fault, more your smart phones fault since they aren't really designed to film in the dark.

Well I think I may have found a solution to this. Maybe!

So this is the app. I think it maybe only for Android users. Iphone users could possible find a similar app in the app store.

So these are your typical interior dome light replacement leds. (most cars made after 2006 have this style of bulbs in the interior light domes. They run off the cars 12v system.

This is a infrared led light I found on ebay. It is 10w and runs at 4.5v. It should easily run off your cars 12v system.

This is the typical interior dome light. I have 2 sets of these in my car, 1 set at the front and 1 set at the rear.

My idea is to replace one of the light dome bulbs (or both) at the rear with the infrared led. (somehow rig it up)

With the infrared light being invisible, you could leave it on the entire time whilst driving at night. This (in theory) would allow your camera phone to clearly see the interior at night and record.

Now some may ask, can your smart phone camera film and see infrared? Well the answer is yes!

This is my smart phone filming a simple remote control infrared led which can't be seen by the naked eye.

The smart phone DashCam app is a free download. The infrared led is roughly $10 and comes in 10w or 20w. There are other brands too.

Imo if this works , it would be a extremely cheap and effective way of filming your interior at night time for Uber. My only concern is the brightness of the infrared led. I think 10w will be enough though.

thoughts??

 

[uberdoobie_uberdoobie]

Do you have signs in your car prominently displayed, informing riders they are being recorded by video? ... I think this may be a legal requirement?
I'm not sure, but it has implications I can foresee.... especially from female riders AND on your ratings....

 

[whyza]

This app will overheat and use most of the resources of your phone and might course it to crush.Did not try with uber app but it would be too risky to have problem in the middle of the trip.....

 

[whyza]

Dash camera recording audio and video while facing the front of the car is a safe option which will not get anyone into embarrassing position...

 

[uberdoobie_uberdoobie]

Dash camera recording audio and video while facing the front of the car is a safe option which will not get anyone into embarrassing position...

i think the original poster is talking about a 'rear' facing cam on the dash to record rider's and the cabin activity & conversation, presumably to use in disputes, damages,etc .... not a standard forward facing dashcam for traffic incidents...

 

[whyza]

i think the original poster is talking about a 'rear' facing cam on the dash to record rider's and the cabin activity & conversation, presumably to use in disputes, damages,etc .... not a standard forward facing dashcam for traffic incidents...

I know that,but if one want to record inside the car,only fair would be to display a sign about PAX being recorded, an otherways driver is open to a suspicion of being a perv...

 

[whyza]

...Of course,if the camera facing PAX is highly visible and have recording light on,that is fair,at least PAX would be aware...

 

[TONY-T]

Do you have signs in your car prominently displayed, informing riders they are being recorded by video? ... I think this may be a legal requirement?
I'm not sure, but it has implications I can foresee.... especially from female riders AND on your ratings....

I know that,but if one want to record inside the car,only fair would be to display a sign about PAX being recorded, an otherways driver is open to a suspicion of being a perv...

I'm well aware that you need to display a sign. I made this thread here back in May asking just that.. https://uberpeople.net/threads/recording-passengers-legal-in-sydney.78404/

You can get signs from bunnings..

 

[TONY-T]

This app will overheat and use most of the resources of your phone and might course it to crush.Did not try with uber app but it would be too risky to have problem in the middle of the trip.....

Ive tested it twice over a 12 hour period with both Uber and the dashcam app running at the same time. You need to have the power cable connected at all times as it drains the battery very quickly. Even when the power cable is connected it can still drain your battery. However when i turned the brightness down on the phone it began to slowly charge. It does heat up your phone slightly, but not by much. I'd say it would depend on the phone you are using..

 

[whyza]

Ive tested it twice over a 12 hour period with both Uber and the dashcam app running at the same time. You need to have the power cable connected at all times as it drains the battery very quickly. Even when the power cable is connected it can still drain your battery. However when i turned the brightness down on the phone it began to slowly charge. It does heat up your phone slightly, but not by much. I'd say it would depend on the phone you are using..

Downloaded the app today,probably you are right about different phones being differently affected,galaxy 4 just got hot and crushed,I was at home,no other apps were running in the background and the phone was connected to the charger .Not sure if I would use it on the road with uber app on...
Did you ever had any comment about the sign from a PAX??

 

[TONY-T]

Downloaded the app today,probably you are right about different phones being differently affected,galaxy 4 just got hot and crushed,I was at home,no other apps were running in the background and the phone was connected to the charger .Not sure if I would use it on the road with uber app on...
Did you ever had any comment about the sign from a PAX??

I've only used it twice, as 98% of my driving is at night, so the dash cam doesn't work. If I can get this infrared led rigged up in the interior light domes that all might change. I just hope that it's bright enough.

 

[whyza]

Let us know how you going with this...I've use infrared in the night photography,and the light is emitting a lot of heat.
I do drive mostly in daylight hours,not yet had any problem with a PAX,so the video camera facing a PAX not really needed,as the drunks are still sober at that time of the day

 

[Bill Collector]

What did you set your video resolution and length as? When I use along with Uber app, my phone really slows down. Otherwise it is a great app!

 

[TONY-T]

What did you set your video resolution and length as? When I use along with Uber app, my phone really slows down. Otherwise it is a great app!

Which phone are you using it on??

I'm using a Sony Xperia Z3 compact and have the resolution set at the highest possible (1080p at 30fps) with 20 min recording per clip. I also run the Uber app as well as wifi hotspot. It doesn't slow my phone down but it does drain the battery. I have to turn down the brightness in order to get the phone to charge and that's even with the cable connected. But it works! I was thinking of putting the resolution down to 720p at 30fps as there really is not much difference and the clarity is still the same. The front facing camera on my phone is 2.2 megapixel which is quite good compared to most other smart phones such as Iphones which for the most part have 1.3 megapixels. I think the newer ones have 2.0 megapixel.

I'm done with Iphones (apple products in general), they are so restrictive and overpriced crap. Android all the way! So much more you can do on these things.

 

[Bill Collector]

Which phone are you using it on??

Using Huawei Mate 2 phone with following specs:

 

[TONY-T]

Using Huawei Mate 2 phone with following specs:
View attachment 52874

My processor is much quicker, I'm guessing that's why my phone doesn't slow down. Though you have a 5 megapixel front facing camera!

 

[Bill Collector]

That must be it.. TONY-T Now I know what to look for when buying next phone! Thanks.

 

[ricdam]

You have PS4, cinema projector and other fancy things in your car, but don't want to spend 50 to 100 dollars in a proper dashcam?

Do the proper thing and later claim it back as a business expense.

 

[TONY-T]

You have PS4, cinema projector and other fancy things in your car, but don't want to spend 50 to 100 dollars in a proper dashcam?

Do the proper thing and later claim it back as a business expense.

I love gadgets and nerdy type projects like these. If I can't get it working then most likely I will buy a proper one.

In the meantime I'm having fun with it.

 

[RightTurnClyde]

Most smartphones have a IR filter contained in the lens assembly that blocks out most IR wavelengths. Generally, the others that have tried this end up removing the camera,taking out the filter, and then reinstalling the camera to get acceptable results in the dark.