Bug Eyed Drone Used 368 iPhone 4S Cameras

Everyone marveled when the iPhone 4S came equipped with a full high definition video camera. Little did they know that the race to miniaturize cell phone cameras led to quite possibly the spookiest surveillance camera on earth.

Autonomous Real-Time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance Imaging System, or ARGUS-IS, which we recently covered, is the result of a low budget and 368 cannibalized cell phone cameras, slammed together to create the largest, finest surveillance camera in the world.

Attached to a predator drone, the camera records approximately 1 trillion gigabytes of information in a single day. (more)

Read More

Jam Da Cam - Stick it to Da Hacker Man

CamJAMR is a reusable plastic film sticker that fits over camera lenses installed on computers, tablets and smart phones. Web developer Josh Luft, 24...

To thwart any unwanted spying, Luft, who creates websites in Somers, first put Post-It notes over his computer’s web camera. The sticky papers kept falling off, so Luft began researching materials until he settled on a plastic film similar to the removable plastic films that cover screens on new cellphones.

Luft’s website, CamJAMR.com, sells the sticker packages of 12 lens covers for $4.99. The covers have various sizes to fit computer and cellphone cameras. The stickers leave no residue on the lenses, he said.

Read More

Interesting Security Technologies - Sunpass Bug & Butterfly Authentication

Doug Blakeway, President & CEO, Nanotech Security Corp., reveals new surveillance technologies in the company's Annual Report...

(from their subsidiary) "The CTR-1300 JOEY, a disguised Variable Power Audio Transmitter Utilizing a new LiPo internal battery and incorporated into the Garage Door Opener, EZ Pass, and Sunpass as disguises."

and, the latest in anti-counterfeiting technology...

Click to enlarge.

"Nanotech is developing what it sees as a highly sophisticated and commercially viable nanotechnology for use in anti-counterfeiting as well as product and document authentication. It will potentially be used to authenticate a huge range of items, including currency, legal documents and commercial products.
 
The specialized optical features are comprised of arrays of hundreds of millions of nano-holes–implanted directly onto various substrates and which emit unique light signatures that we believe cannot be reproduced by a counterfeiter.  

KolourOptics® is the trade name for this revolutionary authentication feature which produces nano-scale surface structures similar to those found on the wings of the iridescent blue Morpho Butterfly.
 
The features can be directly applied to banknotes and other valuable documents and products and will produce light signatures are both “overt” (visible to the naked eye) and some that are “covert” (machine readable only)." (more)

Read More

Sand Sized Gyroscopes to Track You Anywhere

Mini-gyroscopes developed to guide smartphones and medical equipment...
Prof. Koby Scheuer of Tel Aviv University`s School of Physical Engineering is now scaling down this crucial sensing technology for use in smartphones, medical equipment and more futuristic technologies.

Working in collaboration with Israel`s Department of Defense, Prof. Scheuer and his team of researchers have developed nano-sized optical gyroscopes that can fit on the head of a pin — and, more usefully, on an average-sized computer chip — without compromising the device`s sensitivity... Measuring a millimeter by a millimeter (0.04 inches by 0.04 inches), about the size of a grain of sand, the device can be built onto a larger chip that also contains other necessary electronics...

Nano-gyroscopes integrated into common cellphones could provide a tracking function beyond the capabilities of existing GPS systems. "If you find yourself in a place without reception, you would be able to track your exact position without the GPS signal," he says.
There are benefits to medical science as well... (more)

Read More

World's Smallest Video Cameras

Typical applications are medical endoscopy, dental imaging, surgical robots, guide wire visualization, intubation equipment visualization, disposable equipment ...and some spy applications to be sure. 

(more)

P.S. The one on the coin is a 3-D camera!

Read More

Spy Camera Glasses - Austin Powers is Thrilled

Question Mark & the Mysterians may sue... 

from the manufacturer...
"Ankaka launches Innovative Spy Camera Glasses Espionage. The high tech spy gadget manufacturer Ankaka is back!

This time they bring people the Spy Camera Glasses espionage-spy-camera-sunglasses; Very stylish and comfortable to use, this latest make of high quality spy gadgets enables people to walk around with no worries as people spy on their subject..." (more) (video)

CUT! 
Enough already. This insults the word covert. It's time to stop applying the word "spy" to everything. (grab your glasses and sing-a-long)

Read More

See What Drones See

These unmanned flying robots–some as large as jumbo jets, others as small as birds–do things straight out of science fiction. 

Much of what it takes to get these robotic airplanes to fly, sense, and kill has remained secret. But now, with rare access to drone engineers and those who fly them for the U.S. military, NOVA reveals the amazing technologies that make drones so powerful as we see how a remotely-piloted drone strike looks and feels from inside the command center.

From cameras that can capture every detail of an entire city at a glance to swarming robots that can make decisions on their own to giant air frames that can stay aloft for days on end, drones are changing our relationship to war, surveillance, and each other. And it's just the beginning. Discover the cutting edge technologies that are propelling us toward a new chapter in aviation history as NOVA gets ready for "Rise of the Drones." 

Sneak preview...

The full program is available on-line. ~Kevin

Read More

Need an "I'm not here" outfit to go with the Mysterian glasses?

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or "drones") are fast becoming an ever-present eye in the sky, potentially granting governments greater strike and surveillance capabilities than even Orwell’s fictional Big Brother could hope to wield. In response, NYC artist Adam Harvey has created a series of garments which claim to reduce the effectiveness of UAVs.

Harvey’s garments include an anti-drone hoodie and scarf, which are designed to block the thermal imaging cameras used by many airborne drones. The designer also created a burqa which appears to function in much the same way.
 

Click to enlarge

Harvey is currently selling the designs, and would-be shoppers can pick up an anti-drone hoodie for £315 (or around US$500).
 
The Stealth Wear collection is on display in the UK at Primitive London until January 31. (more)

Read More

The Mysterians and Question Mark...or viceversa?

Worried about all those security cameras tracking your every move? Try rocking one of these visors and enjoy anonymity once again.

At least that's what Isao Echizen from Japan's National Institute of Informatics is trying to achieve with the Privacy Visor (PDF).

Developed with Seiichi Gohshi of Kogakuin University, the visor has a near-infrared light source that messes up cameras but doesn't affect the wearer's vision, according to the institute.

They're hardly fashionable, but the lights create noise that prevents computer vision algorithms from extracting the features needed to recognize a face. (more) (get the t-shirt) (sing-a-long)

Read More

Seeing Through Shower Curtains and Other Light Scattering Materials

via Gizmodo.com...

Taking a shower while secure in the knowledge that no one can see through the curtains may soon be a thing of the past. Researchers Ori Katz, Eran Small and Yaron Silberberg of the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel, have developed a method for de-scattering light to form coherent images in real time. 

In other words, they have found a way to look through shower curtains, frosted glass and other image-blurring materials. The technique may one day aid scientists in seeing through living tissue or around corners. (more)

And, I have found their research. ~Kevin

Read More