Deceiving Surveillance.
How might we deal with surveillance in the year 2031
The problem
Public surveillance is a growing industry in many nations, it’s intended use is primarily for national security and anti-crime purposes. But there comes a time when it can be used for control and instilling fear in citizens. For this reason, there should be a certain level of transparency when it comes to public surveillance, but this isn’t always the case.
Testing face tracking with LED's
To test how face tracking could be deceived, I used my laptop camera, and a series of different ways in which I thought would deceive the face tracking on it, as seen below. Glare from LED lights stopped the computer from tracking my face. With this understanding, it is assumed that Ir lights would prevent other face-tracking cameras from tracking your face also. The last images show the proposed solution using Ir lights and the effect they have on video cameras.
Solution's
The solution below is a pair of modern sunglasses which are based on mixed reality goggles. The goggles contain Ir lights in the top of the goggles, which emit light when CCTV is detected, these cant be seen by the naked human eye. How is this possible ? Scroll down and see.
Accompanying app
The accompanying app allows the goggles to emit the Ir lights when the user walks into a CCTV zone. Most nations require by law for CCTV in public to be documented on public record. The futuristic app will scan online databases for CCTV public records and will use the GPS on the phone to know when it is in a CCTV zone. Once the user is in a CCTV zone, the app will trigger the goggles Ir lights, and they will prevent the CCTV from seeing the user. The app has a manual on-off button for the Ir lights in case the user wants to activate or deactivate the Ir lights.
Solution diagram
Concept scenario : using goggles & app
The scenario is set in Tokyo in the year 2031, a CCTV camera has a view of a square in Tokyo, peoples faces are being scanned and tracked and personal data is being assessed. However, one person goes undetected, this person is using Northern Light an Ir goggles and app combination which hides their face and identity going undetected in their every day lives.
