5 ms·

So privacy will evaporate. Imagine dropping millions of these from a drone, carpeting a city. They'd be carried everywhere on clothing, animals, wind. Go to any

So privacy will evaporate. Imagine dropping millions of these from a drone, carpeting a city. They'd be carried everywhere on clothing, animals, wind. Go to any location and scan for local cameras, download. Privacy will have to be redefined. We've done this lots of times. You hear what goes on behind the bathroom door, you don't say anything, you actually forget it. Because it's not polite to snoop. So in future even if you see something you shouldn't on camera, it'd be boorish to mention it. That doesn't solve the police state of course.

dataflow 5y ago
> Imagine dropping millions of these from a drone, carpeting a city. Doesn't it still need a source of power?
- roywiggins 5y ago
  There's at least some power to be pulled from ambient radio waves. No idea if it would be enough to power these things. https://phys.org/news/2017-08-ambient-energy-power-internet.html https://phys.org/news/2017-08-ambient-energy-power-internet.... Or combine it with photovoltaics: https://www.smart2zero.com/news/self-powered-camera-sensor-combines-imaging-energy-harvesting https://www.smart2zero.com/news/self-powered-camera-sensor-c...
- JoeAltmaier 5y ago
  RFID tags have no power source, and can do significant processing. As others mention, ambient electromagnetic fields can be harvested with a loop antenna.
  - fallat 5y ago
    What processing can an RFID do? AFAIK RFID can only store and send data, and are pretty "dumb".
    - _jal 5y ago
      For instance, https://www.usenix.org/legacy/events/nsdi11/tech/full_papers/Buettner.pdf https://www.usenix.org/legacy/events/nsdi11/tech/full_papers...
    - anaganisk 5y ago
      I remember watching a docu in Netflix about spies where they show a deice that could record and transmit sound, using same technology.
      - xijingpooh 5y ago
        That's how the Soviets bugged the US embassy in Moscow. With a resonant circuit w/o a power source and a reflected RF beam.
      - fallat 5y ago
        It's not processing though? It's acting like a mirror or a polaroid? Do those process?...
      - dredmorbius 5y ago
        The "Chrysostom" Great Seal Bug, 1945, USSR, created by Léon Theremin, who also invented the early electronic musical instrument bearing his name. The bug remained installed in the US Embassador's office for 15 years, though it was recognised as a listening device in 1952. https://hackaday.com/2015/12/08/theremins-bug/ https://hackaday.com/2015/12/08/theremins-bug/ https://www.algora.com/Algora_blog/2021/02/07/the-great-seal-bug-how-the-soviet-union-spied-on-the-us-embassy https://www.algora.com/Algora_blog/2021/02/07/the-great-seal...
  - trompetenaccoun 5y ago
    It's theoretically possible but they'd have to put up antennas all over our cities, emitting ultra high frequency signals. The distance this would work over would be very short as well.
bobthechef 5y ago
Counter snooping measures will likely be developed in parallel. Maybe localized EMP or something that floods sensors with infrared light or whatever.
- LargoLasskhyfv 5y ago
  That would be one big RED ALERT halo, if they were watched by someone in realtime. Or some system. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Potential Perp entered perimeter! Beep! Beep! Beep!
zuminator 5y ago
This is just the camera mechanism itself, not a recording or transmitting device nor, as sister comment points out, a power source. So, a few more steps to smart dust.
perl4ever 5y ago
>Imagine dropping millions of these from a drone, carpeting a city This was the end of a science fiction novel from 1972, albeit the technology was an imaginary substance called "slow glass": https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/939190.Other_Days_Other_Eyes https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/939190.Other_Days_Other_...
wiml 5y ago
This always makes me think I should go back and reread Brin's _The Transparent Society_ and see how it's held up to time. It seems pretty prescient from what I can remember.
xijingpooh 5y ago
They still need means to store or transmit recorded data, a power source. So not that dystopian, but some hotels and airbnbs will certainly be bugged with such tech. You won't see it if it embedded into a wall or a framed picture. Also it's probably quite useful in the automotive sector as well.

dataflow 5y ago

> Imagine dropping millions of these from a drone, carpeting a city. Doesn't it still need a source of power?

roywiggins 5y ago
There's at least some power to be pulled from ambient radio waves. No idea if it would be enough to power these things. https://phys.org/news/2017-08-ambient-energy-power-internet.html https://phys.org/news/2017-08-ambient-energy-power-internet.... Or combine it with photovoltaics: https://www.smart2zero.com/news/self-powered-camera-sensor-combines-imaging-energy-harvesting https://www.smart2zero.com/news/self-powered-camera-sensor-c...
JoeAltmaier 5y ago
RFID tags have no power source, and can do significant processing. As others mention, ambient electromagnetic fields can be harvested with a loop antenna.
- fallat 5y ago
  What processing can an RFID do? AFAIK RFID can only store and send data, and are pretty "dumb".
  - _jal 5y ago
    For instance, https://www.usenix.org/legacy/events/nsdi11/tech/full_papers/Buettner.pdf https://www.usenix.org/legacy/events/nsdi11/tech/full_papers...
  - anaganisk 5y ago
    I remember watching a docu in Netflix about spies where they show a deice that could record and transmit sound, using same technology.
    - xijingpooh 5y ago
      That's how the Soviets bugged the US embassy in Moscow. With a resonant circuit w/o a power source and a reflected RF beam.
    - fallat 5y ago
      It's not processing though? It's acting like a mirror or a polaroid? Do those process?...
    - dredmorbius 5y ago
      The "Chrysostom" Great Seal Bug, 1945, USSR, created by Léon Theremin, who also invented the early electronic musical instrument bearing his name. The bug remained installed in the US Embassador's office for 15 years, though it was recognised as a listening device in 1952. https://hackaday.com/2015/12/08/theremins-bug/ https://hackaday.com/2015/12/08/theremins-bug/ https://www.algora.com/Algora_blog/2021/02/07/the-great-seal-bug-how-the-soviet-union-spied-on-the-us-embassy https://www.algora.com/Algora_blog/2021/02/07/the-great-seal...
- trompetenaccoun 5y ago
  It's theoretically possible but they'd have to put up antennas all over our cities, emitting ultra high frequency signals. The distance this would work over would be very short as well.

bobthechef 5y ago

Counter snooping measures will likely be developed in parallel. Maybe localized EMP or something that floods sensors with infrared light or whatever.

LargoLasskhyfv 5y ago
That would be one big RED ALERT halo, if they were watched by someone in realtime. Or some system. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Potential Perp entered perimeter! Beep! Beep! Beep!

zuminator 5y ago

This is just the camera mechanism itself, not a recording or transmitting device nor, as sister comment points out, a power source. So, a few more steps to smart dust.

perl4ever 5y ago

>Imagine dropping millions of these from a drone, carpeting a city This was the end of a science fiction novel from 1972, albeit the technology was an imaginary substance called "slow glass": https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/939190.Other_Days_Other_Eyes https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/939190.Other_Days_Other_...

wiml 5y ago

This always makes me think I should go back and reread Brin's _The Transparent Society_ and see how it's held up to time. It seems pretty prescient from what I can remember.

xijingpooh 5y ago

They still need means to store or transmit recorded data, a power source. So not that dystopian, but some hotels and airbnbs will certainly be bugged with such tech. You won't see it if it embedded into a wall or a framed picture. Also it's probably quite useful in the automotive sector as well.