Dash - a new website to view and analyse dash cam videos

[Paul Iddon]

Very promising Ed

 

[edvision]

Hi everyone,

I wanted to let you all know that Dash is now live in public beta!! Thanks for your support and feedback along the way. The journey is far from over and we will keep working hard on making Dash even more awesome. See the instructions below on how to access Dash:

• Go to https://app.getdash.ai using your desktop or laptop devices.
• Follow the sign up instructions. You can securely create an account using your email address or your Google account.
• Upon registration a welcome email will be sent to you and you'll be prompted to upload your first driving video.
• As a welcome offer you can upload as many videos as you want! We support various file formats including MP4, AVI, MOV.
• Bonus: Click here to see an example video on Dash

Looking forward to hearing your feedback.

 

[Paul Iddon]

Ed, if we have been helping test, do we continue to use our current log in?

 

[edvision]

Ed, if we have been helping test, do we continue to use our current log in?

Hi Paul,

Yes you can use the same login details. Also you can now delete videos if you had initially uploaded some for testing purposes only.

Looking forward to further feedback from you!

 

[Leonauto]

I uploaded a video from Viofo A119 V3, everything works, the track shows, I liked it!

Spoiler

and I am sharing a link to the video here

EnVsion Dash

EnVsion Dash

app.getdash.ai

PS: one nuance was discovered: a video cut into the Registrator Viewer (with the preservation of Audio and GPS) does not show the track. But I haven’t checked all the options for trimming the video yet.

 

[jokiin]

PS: one nuance was discovered: a video cut into the Registrator Viewer (with the preservation of Audio and GPS) does not show the track. But I haven’t checked all the options for trimming the video yet.

it's not unusual for programs other than Registrator Viewer to have issues with the embedded data when the file has been saved as a fragment, Registrator Viewer knows how to handle the cropped files, other programs often have issues with these files though

 

[Nigel]

and I am sharing a link to the video here

EnVsion Dash

EnVsion Dash

app.getdash.ai

Would be nice if your link had the video title, description, date/time, city name, etc. displayed before clicking the link.
(That is for @edvision to add to the page title/metadata or whatever is used to display the link boxes on this website.)

Does seem a good way to present videos to insurance companies.

PS: one nuance was discovered: a video cut into the Registrator Viewer (with the preservation of Audio and GPS) does not show the track. But I haven’t checked all the options for trimming the video yet.

Could do with an upload app for phone+computer that only uploads the required section, so that we don't need to cut sections ourselves, or upload huge amounts of data...

 

[edvision]

Would be nice if your link had the video title, description, date/time, city name, etc. displayed before clicking the link.
(That is for @edvision to add to the page title/metadata or whatever is used to display the link boxes on this website.)

Does seem a good way to present videos to insurance companies.

Could do with an upload app for phone+computer that only uploads the required section, so that we don't need to cut sections ourselves, or upload huge amounts of data...

Awesome feedback @Nigel .

We are going to dynamically populate the title of the video page based on the information from the video. We were initially thinking of just displaying the title/name of the video and possibly description.
Maybe as part of the preview we can show description ?

Is there additional information you reckon we should show on the video page?

 

[Nigel]

Is there additional information you reckon we should show on the video page?

When the page comes up, on my current screen the speed graph is off the bottom, so I can't see current speed without scrolling. It would be nice if the big average speed, total distance and total duration figures in the top right were accompanied by current speed, current distance (from start) and current duration (from start) based on the play position within the video, just as the map pointer is showing the current position.

If I was an insurance person looking at the video, I am pretty sure I would want a download button for the video so that it can be archived to ensure future availability, this needs to include title, description etc., so maybe a txt/pdf file download, or clipboard copy too.

Of course it will be nice when you can show estimated speed and distance of all the other vehicles, but I guess that is for the future...

 

[Nigel]

Maybe as part of the preview we can show description ?

A frame grab might be nice too, just to give a preview of what we are about to watch, or not bother watching. Then people on this website could almost use it in the same way we use Youtube to allow others to see our videos.

The description in the preview could go on a tooltip so that it doesn't take too much space.

 

[edvision]

When the page comes up, on my current screen the speed graph is off the bottom, so I can't see current speed without scrolling. It would be nice if the big average speed, total distance and total duration figures in the top right were accompanied by current speed, current distance (from start) and current duration (from start) based on the play position within the video, just as the map pointer is showing the current position.

If I was an insurance person looking at the video, I am pretty sure I would want a download button for the video so that it can be archived to ensure future availability, this needs to include title, description etc., so maybe a txt/pdf file download, or clipboard copy too.

Of course it will be nice when you can show estimated speed and distance of all the other vehicles, but I guess that is for the future...

We are looking at designs for how to incorporate speed/distance into the video playback itself: what do you think of this sketch?




Speed and distance estimation of other vehicles is definitely more for the future... And something for Dash AI.

At the moment we are also discussing the mechanics around enabling the download of the original video. It absolutely makes sense for the owner of the video to be able to download their own video, but if they share the video publicly, should everyone be able to download it?

A frame grab might be nice too, just to give a preview of what we are about to watch, or not bother watching. Then people on this website could almost use it in the same way we use Youtube to allow others to see our videos.

The description in the preview could go on a tooltip so that it doesn't take too much space.

Yes we are looking at this too. May be a bit more tricky than just populating title and description, but maybe we can get this to work soon too .

 

[Nigel]

what do you think of this sketch?

Looks neat, however there is sometimes something you want to see at the edges of the image, while there is nothing you want to see on your bonnet or high up in the sky. I suggest you put a dashboard at the bottom, where you can use the full width for lots of info, such as the town/street name. Try and keep the numbers large enough for easy viewing on a decent phone screen. I like the style/colour you have chosen.

but if they share the video publicly, should everyone be able to download it?

With full screen view available, and screen capture apps, or even a standard feature on many devices, I could very easily save the video using just my phone. No reason not to make it easy by providing a button.

If someone is sharing a link with their insurance company, that doesn't make it public, it is only if someone chooses to share it publicly that it becomes public, and that is a choice they have knowingly made. Maybe look at the video sharing options on Youtube if you are not sure about that.

 

[edvision]

Looks neat, however there is sometimes something you want to see at the edges of the image, while there is nothing you want to see on your bonnet or high up in the sky. I suggest you put a dashboard at the bottom, where you can use the full width for lots of info, such as the town/street name. Try and keep the numbers large enough for easy viewing on a decent phone screen. I like the style/colour you have chosen.


With full screen view available, and screen capture apps, or even a standard feature on many devices, I could very easily save the video using just my phone. No reason not to make it easy by providing a button.

If someone is sharing a link with their insurance company, that doesn't make it public, it is only if someone chooses to share it publicly that it becomes public, and that is a choice they have knowingly made. Maybe look at the video sharing options on Youtube if you are not sure about that.

Noted @Nigel - will get back to you with updated designs where we place the speed and distance travelled at bottom or top of the screen. We may also try out different font-sizes, colours to see what works best.

Also got it about the difference between public and sharing a link with a third-party like insurance companies. At the moment we offer more the second use case then because it is up to the user to share the link with whomever they want. Public videos on the other end would be shown if we had something like a "public videos" page, a bit like the default home page for Youtube.

As a driver does recording and storing online at 2K vs 1080P resolution make a big difference and matter to you? I've only used 2K so far on my Viofo A199 V3 so haven't checked 1080p videos.

 

[edvision]

@Nigel we've updated the designs based on your feedback. See the images below:

In this case we are displaying live speed from the dash cam recording along with how far you are within the video in terms of distance travelled.



In this image you can switch off the speed/distance display so that you only focus on the video. We believe the ability to view this information should be optional, so we give users the choice on whether to show it or not with this little downward arrow.


Let me know what you guys think.

 

[Nigel]

@Nigel we've updated the designs based on your feedback. See the images below:

In this case we are displaying live speed from the dash cam recording along with how far you are within the video in terms of distance travelled.
View attachment 51447


In this image you can switch off the speed/distance display so that you only focus on the video. We believe the ability to view this information should be optional, so we give users the choice on whether to show it or not with this little downward arrow.
View attachment 51448

Let me know what you guys think.

You could maybe give a choice of top or bottom of screen somewhere. Whichever you choose, some dashcams will put their own data stamps in the other place, most are at the bottom, but not all.

Looks good, but I think I would use a bigger font, partly so that I can easily read it on the phone screen, but also because if I am watching a video, my eyes are not focused on reading small writing, they are focused on viewing the whole image. Also, opening the tab using the little arrow might be a bit fiddly on a phone screen. Also, it would be significantly easier to read if you put a dark text shadow behind the text, in the same way the tab has a shadow. Only necessary for the larger numbers, but it does help a lot.

Don't be afraid of putting more information up, there is plenty of space. For example, maybe you could display the outside temperature to indicate if the crash was maybe due to ice because the council didn't salt the road, and thus it is the councils fault! The camera doesn't record the outside temperature, but my phone managed to tell me what it was when I woke up this morning, and predict the day's maximum, you could do it.

As a driver does recording and storing online at 2K vs 1080P resolution make a big difference and matter to you? I've only used 2K so far on my Viofo A199 V3 so haven't checked 1080p videos.

I don't need to view the video from the website in 2K, but I do want to be able to zoom in and see the 2K detail if it was available in the original. Remembering that the average screen resolution is still less than 1080. For insurance purposes, a 720 resolution image will show what happened, you only need the 2K detail for a hit and run where you don't have a close image of the number plate. For police purposes, I think the standard rules for Operation Snap now require the original video to be uploaded, so you do need to store the original video, and that is what should come from the download button. For the courts, the original video may not be necessary, but having it would certainly be desirable.

2K video has 2x the detail of 1080, 4K video has 4x the detail of 1080. The result is that with 4K you can read a number plate at twice the distance of 1080, and 2K at about 50% further than 1080. The further away you read the plate, the less motion blur it suffers, so quite often, even if a plate gets close, you can only read it at distance using the higher resolution, when it gets close it is often too motion blurred.

4K can improve number plates even more than 2K, but it also makes faces recognisable, three Viofo cameras with 1080, 2K and 4K resolution:

Viofo A129 Pro Dual Dashcam - 4K Front + 1080 Rear

Viofo A129 Pro Dual Dashcam - 4K Front + 1080 Rear The dash camera we have been waiting for, a 4K version of our favorite A129 Duo that records real 4K at a decent bitrate, and works at night! There are a few people with early versions of this camera now, so here is a thread to post your videos...

dashcamtalk.com

 

[SawMaster]

Here in the US, traffic signals often appear in the top center of the vid, so maybe not the best location for a 'speed stamp'. Nice to be able to select those things at user-level but that's probably way too much time and effort to encode. If one location is all you get, the bottom is probably good for everyone with either top corner being worth considering. Great job Ed, this kind of in-depth effort has been wanting since Vadim and Registrator Viewer died.

Phil

 

[edvision]

You could maybe give a choice of top or bottom of screen somewhere. Whichever you choose, some dashcams will put their own data stamps in the other place, most are at the bottom, but not all.

Looks good, but I think I would use a bigger font, partly so that I can easily read it on the phone screen, but also because if I am watching a video, my eyes are not focused on reading small writing, they are focused on viewing the whole image. Also, opening the tab using the little arrow might be a bit fiddly on a phone screen. Also, it would be significantly easier to read if you put a dark text shadow behind the text, in the same way the tab has a shadow. Only necessary for the larger numbers, but it does help a lot.

Yes good point. We are going to explore whether we can provide an option in the settings of either the player or user settings (some feature we need to introduce) to choose where to place that information on either top or bottom of the screen. Our first implementation is likely to have this information at the top of the screen but we are going to look into making this more customisable.

Same for the downwards arrow. We will also explore other ways for the user to show/hide this information box. This is the updated design with increased font size.

Don't be afraid of putting more information up, there is plenty of space. For example, maybe you could display the outside temperature to indicate if the crash was maybe due to ice because the council didn't salt the road, and thus it is the councils fault! The camera doesn't record the outside temperature, but my phone managed to tell me what it was when I woke up this morning, and predict the day's maximum, you could do it.

Got it. That's a great idea! We have not yet explored getting information on weather, but I think it's good information to have with a given drive anyway.

I don't need to view the video from the website in 2K, but I do want to be able to zoom in and see the 2K detail if it was available in the original. Remembering that the average screen resolution is still less than 1080. For insurance purposes, a 720 resolution image will show what happened, you only need the 2K detail for a hit and run where you don't have a close image of the number plate. For police purposes, I think the standard rules for Operation Snap now require the original video to be uploaded, so you do need to store the original video, and that is what should come from the download button. For the courts, the original video may not be necessary, but having it would certainly be desirable.

2K video has 2x the detail of 1080, 4K video has 4x the detail of 1080. The result is that with 4K you can read a number plate at twice the distance of 1080, and 2K at about 50% further than 1080. The further away you read the plate, the less motion blur it suffers, so quite often, even if a plate gets close, you can only read it at distance using the higher resolution, when it gets close it is often too motion blurred.

4K can improve number plates even more than 2K, but it also makes faces recognisable, three Viofo cameras with 1080, 2K and 4K resolution:

Very useful information. We will stick to 1080P maximum quality for now as 2K seems like quite a bit of a stretch, and may also be too heavy bandwidth-wise. 4K video is another story: it'd better be some amazingly entertaining video for the quality-level ! The download button will download the original video - this makes sense to us too.

We are looking at having some initial zoom functionality soon. Hopefully in the next week or two! Will keep you updated .

Here in the US, traffic signals often appear in the top center of the vid, so maybe not the best location for a 'speed stamp'. Nice to be able to select those things at user-level but that's probably way too much time and effort to encode. If one location is all you get, the bottom is probably good for everyone with either top corner being worth considering.

Ohh I see @SawMaster . It's interesting how the layout of roads and signs vary from one country/continent to another. We are going to explore giving the option to place the "speed/distance" stamp at the bottom of the screen too. Could you also let me know what other major differences there are on US roads that we may need to watch out for?

Great job Ed, this kind of in-depth effort has been wanting since Vadim and Registrator Viewer died.

Thanks! Really encouraging to read this.
Also, very unfortunate for Vadim: would have been great to chat with him and learn from his amazing work on Registrator Viewer. I think I read on the forum that he died of a moto accident? (not sure it was him).

Stay safe everyone and speak soon.
Ed.

 

[Nigel]

We are looking at having some initial zoom functionality soon. Hopefully in the next week or two! Will keep you updated .

Keep it really simple to use, maybe a magnifying glass when you move your mouse over a numberplate. Although it needs to work on touch screens too. (Not sure how you implement that, just suggesting what would be good for the user.)

Could you also let me know what other major differences there are on US roads that we may need to watch out for?

No front number plates on a lot of vehicles is one, tiny unreadable writing on the rear plates is another!
And they drive on the wrong side of the road!
Also most accidents seem to be at red lights, and they tend to be at high speed, while in the UK we use roundabouts where accidents generally don't happen and if they do then they are minor scratches. This might make a difference to how you do your cleaverer features for their roads.

 

[DT MI]

And they drive on the wrong side of the road!

No, we drive on the 'right' side.

 

[Dashmellow]

No front number plates on a lot of vehicles is one, tiny unreadable writing on the rear plates is another!
And they drive on the wrong side of the road!
Also most accidents seem to be at red lights, and they tend to be at high speed, while in the UK we use roundabouts where accidents generally don't happen and if they do then they are minor scratches. This might make a difference to how you do your cleaverer features for their roads.

A majority of US States require both front and rear license plates (about 75%) and the small lettering on plates are ancillary to the larger identifying numbers and letters, usually state slogans and yearly registration stickers with expiration dates intended for close inspection by law enforcement officers when vehicles are stationary.

Most high speed accidents do not occur at traffic lights but on long straight interstate highways. While traffic accidents do occur fairly frequently at traffic lights and other types of four way intersections there are many factors involved in the frequency and type of motor vehicle accidents in a country as vast as the US. This includes whether they occur in urban, suburban or rural areas. Elevation, climate and weather conditions are also factors such as driving on mountain, desert, coastal or prairie highways as well as whether accidents occur during the day or at night. A major cause of high speed motor vehicle accidents in the US is suddenly encountering a wild animal such as bear, deer or elk on vast stretches of long rural highway at night.

Finally, there happen to be approximately 12,000 roundabouts and traffic circles currently in the US with many new ones under construction. They have become increasingly popular over the last several decades.

Additionally, as a large country that relies on major and minor interstate and intrastate highways and parkways we use cloverleaf interchanges and traffic diamonds which are more sophisticated than roundabouts and designed to safely handle higher volumes of vehicles at higher speeds.

Cloverleaf interchange


Traffic diamond


Of course, we feel the Brits are the ones driving on the wrong side of the road .....but most of us here on DCT generally don't feel the need to characterize it in those terms here on an international internet forum.

We've had this same discussion before Nigel, but for some agenda all your own you repeatedly promulgate myths and negative stereotypes about the US.

It really needs to stop.


Here's a selection of roundabouts local to my area.