New System to Counter Photo and Video Devices

Incongruity writes "News.com is reporting that a team from Georgia Tech has developed and demoed a system that actively searches for and effectively blinds cameras and camcorders within a 10 meter radius." From the article: "In this system, a device bathes the region in front of it with infrared light. When an intense retroreflection indicates the presence of a digital camera lens, the device then fires a localized beam of light directly at that point. Thus, the picture gets washed out."

Comments

The advance of technology

[RobNich]

The next step is a video/still camera that detects an infrared source and closes an iris to keep the light from bouncing back. Or better yet, a coating that keeps the infrared from bouncing out of the lens.

Filters

[ChaosMt]

Thanks goodness, no one has invented the infrared filter!

Am I wrong, or does this seem too easy to defeat?

Re:Filters

[bjbyrne]

I would think that an IR filter would increse the chance of getting picked up by the detector. The filter prevents the ir light from getting to the lens so the ir light must be reflected back out again. Some kind of IR difuser that could absorbe the IR light and not reflect it back out would needed. I am sure there is a way to do it, but an IR filter seems to me to be the opposite approach.

Re:A big fuck-you to big-government

[hungrygrue]

Or a potential fuck you *from* anyone who doesn't want the public to be able to document them. Immagine if these were used to keep any non-approved journalists from taking pictures/recording events? Or used to cover an entire area where a protesters are demonstrating to make covering the event harder?

Re:I can just see it now...

[uncqual]

Off topic, but I'm waiting for the first lawsuit where the flash of a speed camera distracted a law abiding driver momentarily which results in a fatal accident. Somehow, I think the general public's dislike for the cameras might not make the city attorney's defense job any easier when the jury retires to deliberate.

Re:I thought the same thing...

[theLOUDroom]

In short, I doubt there's any deterimental health effects from this system.

Actually, strong IR light is bad for your eyes.

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2. Your glasses don't reflect IR, your camera lens does (actually, they all have an IR filter to prevent it reaching the CCD/CMOS).

Many types of glass do reflect IR light.
Think about it a little more, are glass or plastic eyeglass lenses really going to be made out of THAT different a material than glass or plastic camera lenses?

3. My optician is using some pretty bright light at my check-up. Enough to make a recording useless (read: saturate the CCD/CMOS), not enough to harm anyone.

It might appear bright, but you don't necessarily know what the spectra of the light actually looked like and therefore how much power was contained total.