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HP Experiments with 'Always On' Camera

Posted by michael on from the sieve-his-proper-worth dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Hewlett-Packard researchers in the U.K. are working on a camera that's always on, recording everything you see and letting you go back later and decide what's actually photo-worthy. Raises some serious privacy questions. But as an HP researcher notes, "If your wearable camera is always on ... you're not going to miss any moments, but you're also going to get a load of junk.""

7 of 288 comments (clear)

  1. Battery Life? by Ulky · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Hmm...intesting idea... need some big batteries..

  2. Privacy Issues? by AtOMiCNebula · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Sure, it may create some privacy issues...if it's storing it at some central HP or public database. If it's just recording it to some internal storage drive, and then you move the footage to your hard drive or somewhere else, then what's the problem?? I'm not trying to troll, but why is this such a big deal?

    Is it just me, or is the paranoia level going up these days...

  3. Photo-Worthy? by Dr.+GeneMachine · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I don't think so. The worth of a photograph or a film usually stems not only from the scene or event documented, but from the composition of the scene, from the thought of the photographer, freezing a particular moment in a particular perspective. This will mostly lead to an even mightier flood of crappy pictures no one really wants to see.

    And yes, you can pry my mechanical Yashica and my black and white films from my cold, dead fingers...

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    This comment does not exist.
  4. Social considerations by Kobayashi+Maru · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I wonder, at times it seems technology gets a pass, just because it is complicated.

    Though the article mentions privacy concerns, it is stuff away between a half-dozen other headings. All technology is nothing more than tools. It is the context that gives the tool its meaning. And in this case, the social context of the tool should very much be weighed against the abilitity to "never miss an important moment." Who defines important? And who defines what *should* be recorded, and what should not be recorded? The social implications of all technology deserve more consideration than they currently recieve, I think.

  5. Re:Big News Today by truthgun · · Score: 5, Insightful


    Stranger things have happened. I still can't see why webcams are popular.

    Bceause they make phone sex so much more interesting.

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    Sattinger's Law: It works better if you plug it in.
  6. Re:Muder in the DC area... by cjjjer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Atleast the police would have the evidence that it was her who did it as long as she didn't hit the camera while plunging the knife into your chest.

  7. Re:similar thing posted already by rokzy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    >If someone says "hey look over there" and that thing is gone, you're still screwed.

    not at all. that's where THEIR camera comes in useful.