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A group of activist hackers called The Institute for Applied Autonomy had some interesting experiences with their graffiti-writing robot: when they took it to public places and started spraying messages on the pavement, members of the public would be perfectly happy to join in and have the robot write their own messages. Of course if they'd tried the same thing without a robot, nobody would have joined in and they probably would have been arrested. Somehow the robot made their actions appear legitimate, and I think the same thing is happening with this guy. If he walked around spraying people he didn't like with a water pistol and telling them to move on, he'd probably be charged with harrassment and assault. He might even be considered mentally ill. But because he uses a robot it's a "patrol" - he seems to be on the side of authority because he's using technology more commonly used by the authorities.

How 1984.. So much for Isee, the site that allows you to avoid surveillance camera's... http://www.appliedautonomy.com/isee/info.html How likely is it that there will be the NSA databases using automatic face recoginition. Great way to track people and their relations. 3000 camera's must allow multiangle views on all of lower manhattan. You could build up a full body image of anyone passing by, detecting pregnancies, concealed weapons. Let's ask Google to feed the footage live to Google Maps for advanced 'looking out of the window' during work. The benefits are countered by the fact that you need to be able to trust the people watching the footage. I would petition the data of all camera's should be public (website and direct IP).

He has one already

Yes, that is a damn fine question. Why do we keep electing them? And dont give me crap about we have no choice. I see lots of choice that people consider "fringe" and dismiss.

My question is, knowing that this would happen given the advances in technology, short of running for office what are we (the technologically inclined) doing to keep the playing field level? Other than Lessigs challenge and Applied autonomy what else are we doing?

I realize that we aren't all cut out for leadership roles but we can do things to combat governmental excesses and restrictions on freedom. We gave the common user macros and excel for power over office data, what are we giving them for power over personal data?

hmm, Its been done. Im looking for it on google -- cant find it.

An geeky 'artists' collective got a grant to do just that. They put spray paint on the back of a remote control monster-truck. 4-5 cans of different colours were lined up in the back... as the truck moved, it would spray various dots and write slogans.

What you described is mentioned on this geek's website.

AH! Here it is! have a look at the GraffitiWriter and Streetwriter projects from left menu. These two projects seem more fitting for a sneak-up and tag scenario, though they do it underfoot with less visibility.

Look

Now this is a taggin' robot!!!

Check out the GraffitiWriter at Applied Autonomy.

This puts in me in mind of a couple of novels:

David Brin - Earth

and

Bruce Sterling - Islands in the Net

Couple of neat stories with ubiquitous cameras as part of the social dynamic. Sick of being watched? Check out iSee.

The Institute for Applied Autonomy has a nice tool to plan paths through Manhattan that will take you past the fewest cameras. I imagine these kinds of tools will spring up in other areas

Or you can get ahead of them like I have. Get a tracking cell phone while it is still optional

Sounds somewhat like the GraffitiWriter & StreetWriter... Both cool-ass dot matrix style graffiti tools made by the Institute for Applied Autonomy. (Except the StreetWriter does it while you drive)

see the street writer at Applied Autonomy

Check out STREET WRITER. It's a modified van that will spray paint entire messages on the street. :-)

Now this is a giant ink jet printer.

The measurement precision required to make this work well is quite high. I look forward to seeing it work.

Your idea sounds pretty close (but not identical) to GraffitiWriter, a remote control car with a "print head" consisting of 5 cans of spray paint. You should check it out.

A group called the 'Institute for Applied Autonomy' didn't like all the cameras in NYC, so they went around marking locations, and they have an online service called 'iSee' What it does is allow you to click on a start point and a destination, and it will draw you a route that follows the least amount of cameras in new york city. It would be very useful if someone did the same for London

A group called the 'Institute for Applied Autonomy' didn't like all the cameras in NYC, so they went around marking locations, and they have an online service called 'iSee' What it does is allow you to click on a start point and a destination, and it will draw you a route that follows the least amount of cameras in new york city. It would be very useful if someone did the same for London

Personally I want a robot to spray paint patriotic literature all over my neighborhood.

The number of cameras is staggering. In addition to those familiar weatherproof housings around city buildings, some of which pivot and zoom, there are the ATM cameras (which can see surprisingly far, I recall a carjacking solved with one), store surveillance (Timothy McVeigh was taped at a McDonald's), traffic enforcement cameras (the DC snipers were photographed by one during their spree, running a red light -- but this was not discovered in time), etc. Many patrol cars now carry cameras; I don't know whether they turn them on outside of stops, where they are useful to deflect charges of police civil rights abuses or, in one case I saw, to tape an officer being murdered.

Note that I'm not a nutty civil libertarian (cut out the nutty part): the parenthetical examples above illustrate desirable uses of these cameras. But I also wonder, when the technology is developed to read license plates and recognize faces, if there won't be a temptation to track someone everywhere they go, without warrant or even any particular suspicion. I don't think this would violate the Fourth Amendment as currently interpreted. Imagine how use it would be for some civil actions, say to prove adultery.

Interesting that security guards would be upset at your taking pictures of cameras. Granted you might be casing the joint, but I also feel that if they can film you because you're in public, the reverse should be true.

Some group (applied autonomy) designed software to help the camera-shy navigate Manhattan's 2400 or so cameras -- a controversial project.

How does this fall into this topic? This is talking about ACTUALLY walking around in manhattan, not some online representation of it... There's already a site where you can map a route that avoids cameras... what more do you want??

Yes, one actually exists but it isn't a crazy, self knowing, bot.

In spite of the fact that slashdot's editors got it completely wrong and this robot doesn't spray anything but just sends signals to the air conditioning system, this development is just one in a flood of recent advances in the robot field that will ultimately create the real-world equivalent of pop-up ads.

The Crazy Graffiti Writing Robot has already been built and deployed to independent freedom agents (Trolls) across the country for years.

In fact, we've moved on to phase II

The Crazy Graffiti Writing Robot has already been built and deployed to independent freedom agents (Trolls) across the country for years.

In fact, we've moved on to phase II

Well, not only graffiti taggin' super robots, but also graffiti taggin' super cargo van (think "A-Team") and graffiti taggin' super remote controlled cars can be found at Applied Autonomy. Very cool.

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Heh. Anyone else notice that at the top of the page it says version "v.911" and the tagline "now more than ever"? Obviously no coincince about the timing of this tool.

When did it launch originally?

Institute for Applied Autonomy

I worked on the first version of the GraffitiWriter robot that is mentioned in the article. The second version (which is much more effective) isn't a replacement, but more of a fast attack tool for the protesters. It's small and can spray paint a message in a public space at 15 MPH. That allows for high visibility during highly watched public events. You can find more information at The Institute for Applied Autonomy (IAA) web site

I've actually worked with the Institute for Applied Autonomy (IAA), and part of their aim was to develop inexpensive disposable gadgets to help in civil disobedience. And they have created some good stuff. (esp. GraffitiWriter)

I'd like to see this bot go up against GraffitiWriter.