What about the lo tech fix of a mounted mirror if you can find a workable location? Sometimes the obviousness of such a device deters people from doing stupid things in your blind area. It would be much easier to replace when broken or stolen and charging and privacy concerns would never be an issue. Your location says Florida. It would also be one less device that needs special rain protection. Should you become stuck it could double as a signal mirror.
I often run a security cam viewer on a 5s. I've also used the same phone to send video feed to an Apple-tv. Ongoing video tends to heat up iOS devices, and thus shorten life. I had a 5s screen delaminate and I guess this could have contributed. I'm not convinced sending a video feed to or from an iOS device or other non dedicated screen for an extended time is the best long term solution.
Shooting way off on a tangent: --->
If this is 100% about the dog, have the dog wear the camera. Isn't the dog already wearing inservice wear? A go-pro and K9 head gear ought to do it, working or not. A silver lined 'space helmet/hat' from a 50's era french sci-fi movie would just about complete the ensemble for the animal. Depending on your temperament, you could take it a step further and come up with a story about the reason for the getup is because the dog reads minds or some other ridiculous story to put you in good position to tell them it is actually because people were interfering with your animal. It may help with the awkwardness of the chair itself presents to regular people, who just want to help without being offensive, and give the chance of starting a relatively safe conversation about the animal allowing, if you want to, you to shut down in advance questions about 'what happened to you?'. Unless the person is like me and just rudely/awkwardly but with good intention, starts by asking, 'so what happened?'
No matter the solution, you still have to gently educate regular people and children about the etiquette around service animals. Not very many people have service animal contact and simply do not realize it is an extension of you. A camera will never be able to fix this lack of knowledge.
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My vote is for a mirror, a space helmet, and something that looks like a camera or laser beam and go more low tech. If you have spare time, post the K9 cam to your personal blog and generate some awareness on working animals. If you do the K9 cam helmet, I think we all want to see your results.
