Audio surveillance, especially in public places, seems to be one of those lines that we do not want to be crossed. Yet, it seems it will not be long before it gets crossed anyway.
New Scientist this week had an interesting snippet of news about the development of something called ‘AudioScope’ by Morgan Kjølerbakken and Vibeke Jahr, who were at the University of Oslo, but have now set up in business to sell this system, mainly it seems to sports stadia and conference facilities. The technology itself relies on a combination of cameras and microphones in an array, both of which can effectively zoom in on sounds, and “with 300 microphones can make a single conversation audible even in a stadium full of sports fans”.
I just wonder it is before we see an ‘experimental’ version of this installed in some public square, and which will be the lucky city… place your bets now!
ubisurv 