Meraki MV Camera with Camera Intelligence APIs - MQTT and REST

Integrate the edge-computing capabilities of Meraki Smart Cameras into third-party business solutions through MQTT and REST API endpoints.

Introduction

What if you could use the MV camera for more than just security? With APIs, the camera becomes a sensor, not just a tool for security.

By enabling APIs, we can have smart cameras that:

  • Learn and provide more insights over time
  • Better understand customer behavior patterns
  • Provide context or trigger action in other systems

API Breakdown

A number of camera APIs are available for you to use:

  1. Camera Intelligence REST APIs: These included API endpoints allow you to query analytics configured on Meraki dashboard for things like People Counting, Line Crossing and Area Occupancy . REST API

  2. MV Sense & MQTT: This allows for two key uses: ingestion of data via MQTT streams and using out Custom Computer Vision capabilities. Requires a paid license. MV Sense

  3. Live Link API: A REST API which returns a Dashboard and Vision Portal link for a specified camera. If a timestamp is supplied, it links to that time. API Docs

  4. Snapshot API: A REST API which generates a snapshot of the specified camera’s field of view at a specific timestamp (or live) and returns a link to that image. For second and third generation cameras, the image can either be in the configured resolution, or fullframe resolution depending on your use case. API Docs

Example Use Cases

MV Camera Intelligence is intentionally designed to be open-ended, allowing you to enhance or create an application which features the object detection or light level data from an MV Smart Camera. To start thinking about what you want to build, consider the following questions:

DATA: What information do I need (historical, current or real-time object detection data, or light level readings)? Ex: MV pointed at the opposite side of a cashier / Point-of-Sale (PoS) system detecting people.
LOGIC: What is the condition for analyzing the data? Ex: If the Point of Sale system is used with 0 people detected in the area across from the cashier counter.
ACTION: What do I want to do with this information? Ex: Live link to the specific time period of the event to watch if a store clerk is doing something they shouldn’t be!
EVIDENCE: What visual proof do I want to have along with this action (live link or snapshot API)? Ex: Send an alert to the store manager via text and email containing a snapshot or live link to video.*