HP Experiments with 'Always On' Camera

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.""

Comments

Load of junk

[Sowbug]

"...but you're also going to get a load of junk"

If by "a load of junk" you mean "a lot of pictures of people pointing at your goofy-looking glasses and laughing," then you're absolutely right.

Re:Load of junk

[Saeed al-Sahaf]

"...but you're also going to get a load of junk"

I think by "load of junk" they mean it's a Compaq/HP product.

Battery Life?

[Ulky]

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

slashdot

[ispepalocacoc]

Sadly, all I would get are many many screenshots of slashdot.

Photo-Worthy?

[Dr. GeneMachine]

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...

Social considerations

[Kobayashi Maru]

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.

Predicted even before the transistor was invented

[ron_ivi]

Vannevar Bush wrote an excellent article called As we May Think in 1945 predicting this invention.

<i>The camera hound of the future wears on his forehead a lump a little larger than a walnut. It takes pictures 3 millimeters square, later to be projected or enlarged, which after all involves only a factor of 10 beyond present practice. The lens is of universal focus, down to any distance accommodated by the unaided eye, simply because it is of short focal length. There is a built-in photocell on the walnut such as we now have on at least one camera, which automatically adjusts exposure for a wide range of illumination. There is film in the walnut for a hundred exposures, and the spring for operating its shutter and shifting its film is wound once for all when the film clip is inserted. It produces its result in full color. It may well be stereoscopic, and record with two spaced glass eyes, for striking improvements in stereoscopic technique are just around the corner.
</i>

Interestingly, in the same article, he predicted the CD Rom, the Internet, Wikipedia, Color Photography -- well before the first dry cameras or the first computers.

Re:Big News Today

[truthgun]

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

Bceause they make phone sex so much more interesting.

Not a new idea: Deja View

[ayeco]

This is not a new idea. This DejaView Camera keeps a buffer of 30 seconds.

Deja View's Camwear Model 100 captures everything you see, records it in a buffer so you never miss that moment! Simply press the record button and the last 30 seconds of video with audio will write to a removable storage device.

The Deja View Camwear Model 100 easily clips to your glasses or hat is constantly buffering 30 seconds of what you experience while wearing our product. With one simple press of a button, the camera will record a 30 second video with audio in 320X240 CIF in the latest MPEG-4 technology! The file is saved to a SD Memory card (64MB provided) upgradeable to 512MB (optional). The file is easily stored and transferred to a computer or when played in Video out mode, can be recorded directly through a VCR or viewed right on your TV screen! USB connection for computer or remove SD memory card and view it in an SD reader (not included).

Re:Muder in the DC area...

[cjjjer]

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.

Re:Privacy Issues?

[System.out.println()]

I'm not even going to go into all of the places that you shouldn't be taking pictures anyway (locker rooms, gyms, dr. office, the list goes on)


I think you just...um.... did. :)

Re:dont have to keep loads of junk

[ccnull]

Sounds like TiVo for the soul.

Re:similar thing posted already

[rokzy]

>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.