Face recognition with Loxone

FaceStream.AI recognises the people at your Loxone Intercom or any other camera and and tells the Miniserver who is there. What follows is configured where everything else in a Loxone home is configured, in Loxone Config: a lighting scene for the family, a push message for a stranger, the door for the people you choose.

FaceStream.AI reports; the Miniserver decides.

How it fits together

1. Somebody rings at the Intercom. The Miniserver calls FaceStream.AI's trigger address.
2. FaceStream.AI looks at the Intercom's picture for a few seconds.
3. It sends the name to a virtual text input on the Miniserver, or Unknown, and, for the people you chose, a pulse to a virtual input.
4. Your configuration in Loxone Config does the rest.

Every step works on its own. Without step 1 the camera recognises continuously; without step 3 you only use the pulse; and any camera that delivers RTSP or MJPEG can take the Intercom's place.

What you need

The examples use 192.168.1.20 for FaceStream.AI, 192.168.1.10 for the Miniserver and 192.168.1.52 for the Intercom.

Step 1: The Intercom as a camera

The Intercom does not announce itself to the camera search, so its address is typed in.

1. In FaceStream.AI, Camera → Add camera → Enter an address instead.
2. Stream URL http://192.168.1.52/mjpg/video.mjpg, and in Username and Password the sign-in that protects the Intercom's picture.
3. When it recognises: On request only, the bell will start it in step 2.
4. Name the camera Intercom and Save cameras.

The Overview now shows the Intercom's picture. If it stays black, check the address and the sign-in in a browser: http://192.168.1.52/mjpg/video.mjpg asks for the same user and password.

Step 2: The bell starts the recognition

1. In FaceStream.AI, open the Intercom's Trigger dialog and copy the Trigger URL:

   http://192.168.1.20:8100/trigger?camera=intercom&token=…
   

   

2. In Loxone Config, add a Virtual Output with the address http://192.168.1.20:8100.

3. Below it, add a Virtual Output Command. As Command for ON, enter the rest of the trigger URL, starting with the slash: /trigger?camera=intercom&token=…. The HTTP method stays GET.

4. Connect the command to the Bell output of the Door Controller block your Intercom is assigned to.

5. Save the configuration to the Miniserver.

From now on, every ring starts a request: FaceStream.AI looks for five seconds, three times a second, and stops as soon as it has recognised somebody. The settings in the dialog change that for the Intercom.

To check the address without ringing, open it in a browser. It answers at once with {"status": "ok", …}; the recognition then runs in the background.

Step 3: Tell the Miniserver who is there

1. In Loxone Config, add a Virtual Text Input called VTI_FrontDoor and save to the Miniserver.

2. In FaceStream.AI, Notifications → Add connection → Loxone:

   Field	Value
   Miniserver address	192.168.1.10, the local address, not a CloudDNS or Remote Connect address
   Text input	VTI_FrontDoor, exactly as in Loxone Config
   User, Password	The Loxone user for FaceStream.AI
   Message	[[name]]

   

3. Test. The text input now says FaceStream test.

4. Add two rules, one for people it recognises, one for people it does not:

   Rule	Event	Cameras	Then
   Who is at the door	Visit starts	Intercom	the Loxone connection
   Someone we do not know	Face without a match	Intercom	the Loxone connection

5. Save connections and rules.

The second rule matters: at a camera on request, a stranger is not a Visit starts but a Face without a match, once the five seconds are up, see Recognition and requests. The text input then says Unknown. If nobody was in the picture at all, nothing is sent: the text keeps its old value, so reset it in Loxone Config if you show it somewhere.

Loxone can show a virtual text input in its app, so everybody in the house sees who is at the door, and the text can go into a push message from the Miniserver.

Step 4: React to particular people

For logic, the hallway light for the family, the door for the people you chose, a pulse on an ordinary virtual input is easier to work with in Loxone Config than a text.

1. In Loxone Config, add a Virtual Input called VI_FamilyAtTheDoor.

2. In FaceStream.AI, add a second Loxone connection with Text input VI_FamilyAtTheDoor and the Message Pulse. The field takes the name of any virtual input, and the Miniserver understands On, Off and Pulse for a digital one.

   

3. Add a rule Family at the door: event Visit starts, Who Selected people with the family ticked, the door cameras ticked, and Only when the liveness check passed. Then: the new connection.

   

4. In Loxone Config, connect VI_FamilyAtTheDoor to whatever should happen.

One connection sends to one input. For a second group, the cleaner on Tuesdays, say, add another virtual input, another connection and another rule; a rule can limit itself to certain days and times with Between and On.

If the pulse opens the door

The Miniserver opens it, not FaceStream.AI, so the Miniserver should only do so on a pulse that deserves it. The rule above already does two of the three things that matter: it reacts to Visit starts only, never to a suspected spoof, and only when the liveness check passed. The third is the bell itself: with On request only, the Intercom looks only when somebody rang, and the face answers a question instead of being the only key.

The liveness check stops a photo held up to the camera on the off chance. It does not stop somebody who prepared. Whether a face may be the only key to your door is your decision. Rules that open a door says more.

Loxone with the Free edition

The Free edition has no Loxone connection, but it can send UDP, and the Miniserver listens to UDP. The camera recognises continuously, because requests are part of Pro.

1. In Loxone Config, add a Virtual UDP Input with FaceStream.AI's address as the sender and a free port as the receiving port, for example 7000.
2. In FaceStream.AI, Add connection → UDP: Host 192.168.1.10, Port 7000, Message [[name]]. A rule on Visit starts sends it.
3. In Loxone Config's UDP monitor, the names arrive as they are recognised. Create a Virtual UDP Input Command from a name to get a pulse whenever that name arrives.

UDP is not acknowledged: whether the Miniserver received a message, FaceStream.AI cannot know, and Recent deliveries only says it was sent.

What FaceStream.AI sends

One HTTP request per message, over the local network:

GET http://192.168.1.10/dev/sps/io/VTI_FrontDoor/Amelia%20Hart
Authorization: Basic …

The value is encoded for the address, so names with spaces or accents arrive as they are written. Any placeholder works in the message, [[name]], [[source]] for the camera, [[known]], [[time]]; see Connections and rules. The Miniserver's answer is listed under Notifications → Recent deliveries.

The request uses plain HTTP with the user and password of the connection, which is why FaceStream.AI should have a Loxone user of its own and talk to the Miniserver only inside your network.

When it does not work

Loxone is a trademark of Loxone Electronics GmbH. FaceStream.AI talks to the Miniserver through its documented web interface and is not affiliated with, certified or endorsed by Loxone.