Motion Sensitivity picking up pets when set for People Only

I’m not holding my breath… Ring support didn’t even understand the “human only” concept. I had to send them the Ring documentation that explained that “human only” feature.

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Hi neighbors! Happy to help with any questions related to motion. @Forkster if you want to send over a screen shot of how you have your motion zones that may be the best next step. Keep in mind, as this help article states, where you set the slider will require some consideration of the purpose for which you’ve put up your Ring device. Also, keep in mind that all valid motion events will still be recorded by your Ring device (i.e. an animal walking through your motion zone), but setting it to ‘People Only’ will limit these instances.

Unfortunately, @DavidAugust I am unsure where you heard this information and am more than happy to review your recent ticket with support. I will certainly ensure proper coaching takes place as there is no ‘fix’ that needs to happen. The team appreciates all feedback as we are always working to improve how our devices detect motion. Thank you.

I heard this information from Ring Support. I have multiple Floodlight Cameras (front, back, Garage) and the “HUMANS ONLY” motion setting does NOT work on any of them (cats set it off and occasionally shadows of moving trees).

Ring has replaced one device 3 times with no change.

Ring has spent DAYS repeating the same support steps over and over again with no change (and wasting my time along the way).

I had to prove to Ring Support via Ring’s own documentation that the HUMAN ONLY setting should exclude pets; it was only then that they shared the additional information on the MOTION software change.

Ring Support (I have emails) shared that the Advanced Team / Architecture Team is trying to fix the problem (but gave no time commitement for the fix). Ring Support also shared that this problem spans multiple customers and they’ve included my devices (via tagging the case) in the open case being worked.

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Thank you for your feedback. Motion takes time to find the right zones and settings specific to your home. It is best to explore and play around with different zones to find the perfect setting for you. Keep in mind the field of view your device has can also play a role in this. Again, if you would like to share your motion zones please feel free to share here.

Jennifer, as I stated previously and as recorded in my account, Ring Support spent extensive time reviewing the device, the setup, the zones, recordings, etc… Ring Support confirmed that this is not a customer configuration issue and the problem was due to Ring’s own Software (something Ring was already aware of and working on).

I hope you are NOT trying to minimize the issue Ring is having with its motion feature. I would also hope that you are reaching out to the advanced team to get better educated on the issue and understand what Ring is doing to resolve the issue so that you can properly inform customers (suggesting customers go back to their zone setup is not helpfull when Ring is aware of the issue across customers — doing so degrades customers’ trust in the Ring product).

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@Forkster wrote:

My Ring security camera has the motion sensitivity set for people only. Now it’s picking up EVERYTHING from cat size and up.

Anyone know why it’s not observing the “PEOPLE ONLY” setting? It gets really annoying when my cat sets off the motion alarm for the 30th time in 2 hours.

Just curious: Did your camera’s motion sensatvity seem to increase recently on it’s own? I have indoor/outdoor POE stick up cams and they just started triggering video with very minor motion that never used to trigger them.

Thanks.

Mark

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Yup. That’s why I’m asking Ring. Jennifer came in and gave the same info I already have, but no fixes.

Something changed. Suddenly, it’s picking up ALL movement regardless of the setting (Motion Settings / Motion Sensitivity). The right side is all motion, left side says People Only. I have mine on people only yet it picks up all animal movement.

It’s frustrating with all the false alerts I get. I rely on this camera (you know, what Security Camera’s are supposed to do) to let me know if something as large as a person comes into view.

I suspect that the algorithms used to delineate between animals and people, take into account the zone sizes and setup, and then coupled camera angels are all correlated are very hard to get right.

Too bad there is no “false alarm” setting so the camera can learn when it should notify me, and adjusts its setting accordingly based on my feedback. Maybe it’s something that could be incorporated into the system?

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@Jennifer_Ring - as requested.

ringzones.jpg

Yep, the doorbell pro sensitivity increased…but it’s also wired so it may have fallen into the issues Ring is having with motion on all wired devices…I figure they are pushing software updates and breaking more stuff… at some point the news is gonna get wind of the issue and ask Ring why they are selling products that don’t work as marketed…(and then the class action lawyers will swarm in)…

Same issue here…seemed to happen just before Halloween and now with no changes of my own and working fine on Human only setting it picks up objects across the street. Rest and result zones and tried all motion settings…had to turn off completely.

I have the 3rd generation Indoor Stick up Cam and it alerts to my cat constantly. Also now that I signed up for the basic subscription plan, I no longer get motion alerts for my device. Which is a problem for me. It is not even recording me as I entered my apartment with the motion alerts on. I’m getting very disappointed and about ready to send the whole things back.

I also have two indoor wired cameras that are both recording events constantly even when set to people only mode. All it takes is for one 10 pound cat to stroll across the floor to set mine off, and sometimes he can slink along the corner of the room partially obscured by furniture and still set it off. Right now my activity log is full of video of Sylvester walking around the two rooms with cameras. I’ve just turned off People Only and adjusted it manually to the least sensitive setting, hoping maybe it’ll help, but whether the Ring employee agrees or not, the People Only mode certainly isn’t working correctly for either of my two cameras.

For that matter, I had to completely disable the motion detectors that were part of the Ring security system because although it too is set for relatively low sensitivity which was not supposed to pick up anything under whatever weight threshold (50 pounds?), a cat managed to keep setting it off one night when I was out of town and I kept getting calls in the middle of the night from the monitoring people and one visit to my house from the police. So the cameras aren’t the only product in this product line that doesn’t have working “people only” capability.

I didn’t want to do it, but I have a feeling I’m going to have to configure the cameras to not use motion detection and to only record as a linked event whenever the alarm is actually going off or entry delay is active.

Check to make sure there is nothing reflective in the sensor/camera view.

I have a stainless steel table top in view of my floodlight cam. My camera was detecting motion and recording (while on people only mode) at night with cats, windblown debris, rain etc… After reading about reflective stuff like windows causing sensor triggers, I put a tarp over the table and it stopped.

I think what was happening is, the lights come on with more sensitivity than the camera (a cat, for instance), and the light was hitting the stainless steel and reflecting causing the camera to activate. I made two motion zones that covered the areas I want and boxed away/excluded the area of the table and it has’nt triggered falsely since.

I noticed the same. I didn’t have the street in the motion zone but the headlights reflected off of a reflective object and triggere the motion.

I have my wired spotlight cams set on the people only mode and at 3am today i recieved an alert and got up to check and it was a cat that walked across my garden! (I have a dog that roams around the garden and he hasnt set it off). I was quite annoyed to be woken up by this false alert.

This defeats the whole point of the RING eco system, how many times will i be woken in the middle of the night by false alerts until it reaches a point that i start to ignore the alerts thinking its a cat ( a bit like the boy who cried wolf!) and then miss an actual intruder.

Having checked the footage the cat triggered it more or less instantly as it stepped into the motion zone, right under (below the actual camera motion sensor) from the far left.

See my reply a few up also. I have been monitoring this with mine. I have a stainless steel topped worktable directly under where this floodlight is. I finally got a reply as part of some answers from a “neighbor outreach specialist” who contacted me after seeing my aggravation. This is actually somewhere on the web site to read about too…reflective surfaces will trigger the cameras.

In my case, I think what was happening is, when the cat walked by, it triggered the lights. OK, that’s fine, these are LED’s so not a lot of electricity use and a random splash of light I don’t see in the middle of the night cant hurt security. I think the light was bouncing off that stainless/silver table top and triggering the camera motion zone.

I covered the table with a tarp and it seemed to stop (or no cats). I removed the tarp and configured the motion zones around that table and thought I was a genius and had it solved. Seemed to work for a while, then I was getting recordings at night again…but no cat. Seems like almost anything will set the lights off. I’ve been sitting outside at night and the lights go off around the corner (I didn’t set them off)… I check the video, nothing but maybe some stuff floating in the air. I don’t sleep with my phone in the room, but had figured I would start because of this new “wonderful light/camera”…until I realized it was going off with false alarms.

So, I re-covered that reflective table and since have had no camera motion alerts. Seems the table reflecting the floodlight, triggers the camera motion zone even with the motion zone configured around/excluding the table. So now, it looks like I have to either leave a tarp on that table all the time or make some kind of non-reflective cover for it long term. The table is useful where it is, so moving it is not the best option for me.

Look for stuff that may reflect the floodlights. I suspect even a vehicle does because our van going in and out of the garage triggers the camera (while set on “people only”). It triggers before the van gets all the way out of the garage so I don’t think its picking up the human behind the glass. I think it may be triggering on reflection from the paint on the top of the van (even on cloudy days…go figure) and or the windshield glass when coming back in. It’s a pain, but not the end of the world…but my wife is on the subordinate app and cant turn it off when she comes and goes. I can spy on her, but I can turn the zones off when I come and go from the app as the owner to stop me being recorded as I come and go from the driveway.

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Reporting that my wife left from the garage in the van today and the floodlight-cam did not motion alert then or when she returned as it had been. But did motion alert when she walked in front of the camera later. THATS the way its supposed to work. Dont know whats changed. The only thing difference I can think of is I moved the zone out away from the garage door 4-6 feet because it was picking up on activity right outside the garage door like loading the van at the back lift gate. This was daytime, moderate sun/cloud mix.

EDIT!: 6:45AM this morning 1/3/2020 the camera motion detector was activated by a possum. I know it wasn’t a reflection from the lights setting it off because the beginning of the video was in night vision and the possum didn’t set off the lights until it got close to the floodlight.

So, its a fact that this thing is STILL activating on small animals while in people only mode. So, you can either be woken up at random times by non-human activity or turn your notifications off or leave the phone outside the bedroom and have no idea when an actual human is approaching the camera until you look at event history. Anyone who purchased this light for real-time security is likely going to lose some sleep. You might as well get a $20 motion detector and just get up and look out a window when it goes off. It’s useful when away if you can connect to it and you can always answer a motion alert, but the device is not functioning as advertised for this feature.

Hey neighbors! Thank you so much for your feedback and for sharing the details about your experience. As we are always looking to perfect our devices, features, and integrations, this feedback is definitely valued by our teams.

There are mentions of People Only Mode and the People Only motion adjustment in this thread, so I wanted to clarify for all neighbors.

People Only Mode is a toggle, within your motion settings in the Ring app, which allows you to only receive alerts for activity that matches human-like behavior. Other events, such as cars passing, will record but should not notify.

People Only on the motion sensitivity slider is an adjustment to motion which allows for the fine-tuning of which events or objects it will detect. Using both People Only features together can certainly improve the experience.

The best first step to improving either experience, I always recommend utilizing all the zones available and avoid using just one big zone. Multiple zones can emphasize and optimize movement detection, as well as help to avoid any common culprits of false motion. Of course, trial and error is always helpful for tailoring your settings to work best with the environment. I hope this helps! :slight_smile:

Marley, Thank you for replying.

1- People only mode: So you are saying it will record other motion but should not alert unless a person is the motion? That’s not what people are reporting. People here are reporting receiving notifications of “other movement” than people. So, the devices are not working even as you have reiterated. I’d be happy if mine did.

2-People only on the motion sensitvity slider: On the app for my device, you have two choices. You can select “people only” and it fixes the slider at about 1/3 sensitivity. The only way to change that slider position is to toggle off people only mode. There is no adjustablility while in people only mode available that I find. In fact if I try to move the slider the app tells me if I want to do that I have to toggle off people only mode.

3-Multiple zones: I cant imagine how this helps with this specific issue. A motion zone is a motion zone. How would one motion zone behave any differently than another? Sure, you can box a zone around a sidewalk for example, but the hypothetical cat can still walk across that zone. The issue is the devices NOT discerning the difference between people and a cat for instance, and notifying of that cat’s motion, instead of not notifying and staying silent while still recording the event as you described above.

So, thanks for the reply, but it doesn’t really address this specific issue the best I can tell. I’d love to be corrected and my device work as specified.

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Totally agree with the points made below

@Dude wrote:

Marley, Thank you for replying.

1- People only mode: So you are saying it will record other motion but should not alert unless a person is the motion? That’s not what people are reporting. People here are reporting receiving notifications of “other movement” than people. So, the devices are not working even as you have reiterated. I’d be happy if mine did.

2-People only on the motion sensitvity slider: On the app for my device, you have two choices. You can select “people only” and it fixes the slider at about 1/3 sensitivity. The only way to change that slider position is to toggle off people only mode. There is no adjustablility while in people only mode available that I find. In fact if I try to move the slider the app tells me if I want to do that I have to toggle off people only mode.

3-Multiple zones: I cant imagine how this helps with this specific issue. A motion zone is a motion zone. How would one motion zone behave any differently than another? Sure, you can box a zone around a sidewalk for example, but the hypothetical cat can still walk across that zone. The issue is the devices NOT discerning the difference between people and a cat for instance, and notifying of that cat’s motion, instead of not notifying and staying silent while still recording the event as you described above.

So, thanks for the reply, but it doesn’t really address this specific issue the best I can tell. I’d love to be corrected and my device work as specified.