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Prototype System Blocks Digital Cameras

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the lawyer's-wet-dream dept.

lee1 writes "Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have completed a prototype device that can block digital cameras. The team in the Interactive and Intelligent Computing division of the Georgia Tech College of Computing used off-the-shelf equipment (camera-mounted sensors, lighting equipment, a projector and a computer) to scan for, find and neutralize digital cameras. The system works by looking for the reflectivity and shape of the image sensors and saturating them with a thin beam of visible white light. The principal applications are expected to be protecting areas such as government buildings and trade shows against clandestine photography, stopping unauthorized amateur photography of, for example, shopping-mall Santas (really!) and defeating video copying in theaters. The countermeasure: film." Sounds perfect for copyrighted public spaces.

3 of 494 comments (clear)

  1. Only detects always-active CCDs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So... SLR-style cameras and cameras using CMOS sensors are invisible to the detector. Nice.

  2. Source? by iamlucky13 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Note - since the rise of cameras at intersections accidents have nearly doubled in some cases as people slam on the brakes in time for the person behind them to collide with them. But remember - it's safety - not revenue.

    Got a source for that one?

    I'd like to point out that there is a reason the light turns yellow for several seconds before it turns red. Sure, you can always speed up when it would be better to stop so you can make it through the intersection before it technically becomes illegal, but if the guy in front of you doesn't do the same, don't expect blame to fall on him.

  3. Re:My question is... by Gorshkov · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'd be mighty angry if I was at the movies, and the babysitter couldn't call me and let me know that my children had hurt themselves and was in ICU at the hospital. Sure, I set the phone to vibrate, but beyond that, if somebody calls me, I want to know about it.

    People have been dealing with that just fine since pagers first started coming out.
    When you go to the theater, you leave your pager with an attendant, and he records where you're sitting ..... if something happens, they come in to get you, you LEAVE, and use the phone. All without disturbing anybody else.

    And lets' face it - it's s SHITLOAD more likely that you're gonna get called by some wanker who wants to know if you've picked up the cheese dip for friday's big game thatn to get a call that a close relative just died in a car crash.

    And a partially aborted rant ..... what the bloody hell is people's obsession, with being in touch with the entire world 24/7? What the hell is wrong with NOT being wired for an hour or two?