A few weeks ago, I shared how you can host a third-party ONVIF-compatible camera within the Ubiquiti ecosystem (here). At that time, I mentioned that I was waiting to purchase an AI Port. I’ve completed that purchase, and today, I want to describe how impressive it is.
In simple terms, think of the AI Port as a way to add AI features to non-AI cameras, not only Ubiquiti’s non-AI lineup but also to enhance my Reolink cameras. The AI Port is a compact computer vision system powered via Power over Ethernet (PoE), which can supply power to connected cameras, provided that PoE does not already power the cameras. It’s essential to note that the cameras do not connect directly to the AI Port; instead, the AI Port connects to your network, usually through a PoE switch port. The unit also features an SD card reader and writer for local storage, although that’s not my intended use.
After installation, the camera(s) and the AI Port are paired via the management interface. Currently, only one ONVIF-compatible camera can be paired with the AI Port. However, future updates should allow pairing with up to three cameras, and this number rises to five for Ubiquiti cameras. The AI Port can be mounted in various ways, and I opted for the 19” rack 1U unit, which allows for the neat installation of up to six AI Ports.
The real magic happens once you pair a camera with the AI Port. It consumes the video feed and performs various recognitions, such as identifying vehicles, faces, people, animals, and even sounds like baby cries and sirens (if your camera has audio). I anticipate these recognition capabilities will improve and expand with future firmware updates from Ubiquiti and enhancements to the Protect application.
Speaking of which, the user interface (UI) is a significant upgrade compared to others I’ve used in different manufacturers’ NVR systems. Specifically, searching and retrieving events and detections is much more intuitive. Pinpointing the exact interest timeline can often be tricky, but the AI Port makes this easier. For confidentiality reasons, I won’t include screenshots, but last night, a group of deer visited the neighborhood, and the AI Port captured that event. I could see it immediately on my phone the next day in the timeline view. By pressing on the vignette, playback starts instantly, complete with optional overlays highlighting the detections, their types, and even the recognition confidence percentage. Sending the video to the cloud or via email is then straightforward.
A cool feature is specifying a threshold above which the UI displays events. I was impressed by the license plate recognition capability. When a face or license plate is recognized, you can associate it with meaningful information. Overall, I am delighted with the AI Port. It genuinely enhances existing non-AI cameras and integrates seamlessly into the Ubiquiti ecosystem. The Protect UI is exceptional. My next step is to wait for future updates, allowing me to pair two more of my Reolink cameras with the AI Port.