Behold is a Copenhagen-based company creating technology that helps people notice the wildlife living right alongside them. The Behold Cam-1 was created to make following wildlife in your garden simple, engaging and fun. It is not just about recording animals, but about understanding surroundings, recognising patterns, and building a relationship with local wildlife.

The camera is AI-powered with footage capture initially triggered by a passive infrared sensor. It has built-in species recognition for over 2000 species across North America and Europe and the intelligent motion filtering eliminates false triggers such as moving foliage and humans. It sends encrypted recorded footage with ambient sound via WiFi to the cloud for deeper analysis (or stores clips using local storage until it has connectivity). Smart notifications are sent to the phone app where sightings are organised so the user sees animal habits and insights including identification of animals that return regularly. The footage can be easily shared from the app with friends and family or on social media. With user permission, anonymised sightings from Behold cameras will help build a powerful, open-source dataset of urban and suburban wildlife. This data will be a vital tool for researchers, conservation groups, and local policy-makers.

The design ambition was to create a modern, premium device that also fits within the outdoor environment - inspiration came from a blend of traditional cameras and contemporary technology products. The design has a simple geometry with a central circular area containing lens and sensors within a thin square body. The optics and hardware deliver 2k video at 60fps with a 60 degree field of view.

The overall size and weight were kept to a minimum for portability and to avoid being dominant in the garden environment, whilst retaining enough internal volume for a long-lasting 30 day rechargeable battery. Built for the outdoors, the camera is IP65 rated for water and dust protection and engineered for robustness from ABS plastic.

User research showed that the most compelling video footage is captured close to the ground at animal level and when the camera is regularly repositioned to track new animal behaviour. One of the main design challenges was building in this flexibility of placement and ease of movement. This was solved with the integration of a kick stand, which folds neatly into the body. As a stand it allows precise angle adjustment and also flips for overhead views or to allow it to be hung from a higher position. The kickstand enables Behold Cam-1 to be positioned and angled quickly and easily out of the box.  A magnetic bungee cord accessory is provided for positioning Behold Cam-1 on trees or posts, aided by a textured silicone pad on the rear of the camera for secure grip. A conical base accessory with an integrated balljoint enables Behold Cam-1 to be placed anywhere, angled freely, and moved effortlessly. The cone is designed to be filled with water or sand to act as weight to ensure the stability of the camera.

Throughout development, the design was refined through extensive prototyping and home testing using functional models to validate ergonomics, placement and wildlife behaviour. For example the body colour ‘Foxmute Red’ was carefully chosen as it stands out in garden environments but doesn’t shout for attention. Most garden mammals don’t perceive reds and oranges the way humans do so the design appears far more muted to animals than it does to humans.

This little clever camera helps people rediscover the natural world right in their backyard.

Behold Cam-1 has launched on Kickstarter