Meet Zita, my 4 months old companion. She likes to play with anything and to run around without a clear intent. What she doesn’t like is staying calm, especially not in her box.

Zita in her box

However, I would like her to calm down in her box. For that reason, I’ve crafted a little something that holds one of my old Android phones, a Nexus 5, above her box. The free IP Webcam app is running on the device, configured to stream the back facing camera video into my local network.

Nexus 5 attached above Zita’s box

Setting this app up is a no-brainer, no technical knowledge required. It even comes with motion and sound detection. Now I can use any device with a web browser in my network to watch that live stream.

I just have to figure out my device’s local IP address (the app displays it on the main screen) and navigate to that address using my browser, e.g. http://192.168.0.6:8080. I’ve assigned a static IP address to my device, so that it doesn’t change.

Video stream from the Nexus 5

Instead of a browser, I prefer to use VLC player to view the stream, though. I can connect by selecting File — Open Network and then entering the address of the video stream, e.g. http://192.168.0.6:8080/video.

VLC is available for all major operating systems, so I’ve set it up on my couch tablet. The tablet usually serves as a remote control for my PC, but thanks to Android’s split screen feature now also displays the stream.