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South Koreans Using Kinect To Monitor DMZ
Nerval's Lobster writes "The South Korean government is reportedly using Microsoft's Kinect motion-based game controller to monitor the heavily guarded DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) that separates the country from North Korea. The brainchild of freelance South Korean developer Jae Kwan Ko, the system is reportedly capable of differentiating between people and animals. (Hat tip to Kotaku, which originally ferreted out the story from South Korean publication Hankooki .) That makes it superior to the infrared systems already in use along the DMZ, which have a harder time determining whether a moving object is human. The Kinect-based system can send alerts of suspicious activity to the nearest military outpost. While the South Korean government reportedly installed the hardware at select portions of the DMZ last year, news about it is only emerging now—and details are relatively scarce, considering how this is a military project. Despite that secrecy, the South Korean government is playing up Jae Kwan Ko's contributions, highlighting him in the local media as an example of innovation and creative drive. Largely self-taught, he makes money by building apps for various mobile platforms—most of which, presumably, have nothing to do with detecting military threats."
Witness describe a hoard of armed men running through the DMZ yelling "Xbox OFF!"
When the kinect won't shut up about 2 people being in front of it or won't switch primary users, we just build a small fort around ourselves with couch cushions and tada, complete invisibility. I hope the Koreans haven't developed couch cushion technology.
Why would we want to stop the influx of Undocumented Democrats?
For years people have complained about how much of an idiot security guards have to be for Solid Snake to be able to sneak around under their noses by hiding in a cardboard box.
Now someone's actually built a system that would make it completely effective ... and they used video game controlers to do it. Coincidence?
(conspiracy theorists can now discuss the probability that Konami paid them to it)
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
The easy answer:
1) the liberals hope they'll vote for them because they tend to be poor.
2) the Republicans hope they'll vote for them because they tend to be Catholic and anti-abortion.
The real answer:
X) the corporations hope they'll work for them at sub-market wages because they're entitled to cheap labor.
It's telling that back when Bush Jr was governor here, he'd talk a big talk about cracking down on immigrants, then he'd be called into a meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, and he'd tone it down after that. He got to be president and his puppet masters had to make him come down against the Minutemen militia, despite the fact that no matter what your opinion of the second amendment is, just about every interpretation of it supports a regulated militia for the defense of our borders from invasion.
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
I thought South Korea mostly welcomed people who were defecting from the north. If the North was trying to launch an attack of any significance I wouldn't expect the IR system would have a hard time identifying it.
Due to incident after incident the Korean troops have to be very careful who they let across the DMZ.
Let's see, USA has America's Army, PRC has The Glorious Mission, what does ROK call their war recruitment game?
"Who Wants To Eat Something?"
Forbids government monitoring of every person in the area without warrant.
First, the idea that a camera pointed at a border is somehow forbidden -- wouldn't want to monitor every person in an area without a warrant, now would we -- is silly. Someone call DOT and have them take down the freeway cams.
That said, we already employ vibration, and magnetic remote sensors, as well as cameras in both visible and infrared, plus software that helps determine if an event is human, animal or other in watching our borders (Canada and Mexico). It seems like a Kinect-based system would do even better. It'd stop CBP officers from responding to wolves tripping sensors.
http://www.policechiefmagazine...
Let's see, USA has America's Army, PRC has The Glorious Mission, what does ROK call their war recruitment game?
"Who Wants To Eat Something?"
That would be the DPRK's version.