exmovere makes sensors that can monitor a user’s emotional and physical state. why? to “be there when you can’t be there.” they also offer “group monitoring solutions.” so, the age-old (fictitious?) application of remote care for the elderly comes up. but who knew there were even more sinister applications? one project, ‘mr president,’ proposes a […]
Category Archives: surveillance
remote war
wafaa bilal has been living in an art gallery for the past month getting shot at by a web-controlled paintball gun, kind of like the way armed aerial drones in iraq and afghanistan are flown by pilots sitting in an office the US – hurry! only two more days to shoot him!
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spoiled spud, crack-proof egg & co
sensor wireless inc. makes replicas of products such as potatoes or eggs (left) and glass bottles (right) outfitted with sensors (probably accelerometers) so that manufacturers can track damage to the product along the assembly line in real-time on PDAs. i first learned about the smart spud ™ while visiting frito-lay, because the conveyor belts and […]
Also posted in fabrication, food, soft/glowing, supply chain, traceability
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pocket spy
in george orwell’s 1984 hidden microphones embodied big brother’s constant surveillance: ’Yes. Look at the trees.’ They were small ashes, which at some time had been cut down and had sprouted up again into a forest of poles, none of them thicker than one’s wrist. ’There’s nothing big enough to hide a mike in. Besides, […]
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product black box
toby mckey’s laptop became famous for inadvertently taking and uploading pictures while it was being repaired at some ‘secret’ facility, although in the meantime the photos mysteriously disappeared (the one above was salvaged and purportedly shows a flextronics facility in tennessee). as in airplanes, a ‘black box’ for products could become part their value rather […]
Also posted in possessed products
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tracking coat
recco makes avalanche detection systems consisting of a rugged chip embedded in snow clothes and a radio detector carried by rescue workers. the north face makes a series of pants and jackets with the devices, which feel like a small lump of rubber. in reality these are probably RFID chips powered by a remote detector […]
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invisible fortresses
for a country that’s always at war with an invisible enemy, what better than fortifications you don’t even notice? rogers marvel architects are proposing a series of car-bomb defenses disguised as bus stops (top) sculptural benches (bottom left) and fountains (bottom right). while the benches and fountain work just like traditional bollards and jersey barriers, […]
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remote petting 2.0
soon after we learned how to tele-pet a chicken, telepresence is here: on december 29, 2005 mark kroll’s domestic animal telephone was patented – a remote love machine. it allows owners to call their pets, see them through a screen and even deliver affection by becoming warm or dispensing treats. seems like harry harlow‘s dream […]
Also posted in human2.0, perception, soft/glowing
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