DIY IR headgear repels security cameras, attracts "security"
By Donald Melanson 
posted Feb 23rd 2008 7:53AM
posted Feb 23rd 2008 7:53AM
It's not the first method we've seen for blinding security cameras, but this new DIY / art project from the folks at Oberwelt e.V. looks to be one of the simplest, and one of the few that could conceivably be used on an everyday basis. Dubbed the I-R.A.S.C. (for "infra-redlight against surveillance camera"), the device apparently consists simply of a series of infrared lights connected to a battery, which combine to blot out your face with a slightly unnerving glow. Needless to say, while it appears to hide your identity quite effectively, it doesn't exactly scream subtlety, so you'd best think of some excuses to explain yourself if you actually plan on trying this thing out in public.
[Via Coolest Gadgets]
[Via Coolest Gadgets]
The perfect device for Modern Britain :)
Indeed!
I imagine that the stig does this naturally.
Or another way to block speed cameras. Just put a hundred bright IR leds around your license plate.
That's a really good idea. I might actually do this for my license plate to counter all the red light cameras around here.
Putting IR LED's around your license plate doesn't work. Since most speed cameras are technically SLR cameras, the IR would not have any affect. The digital ones which use a CMOS sensor are more likely going to fall foul to this trick, but then again, some CMOS sensors are immune to this.
i built a similar unit for some thieves that i knew i highschool, i used high intensity IR LEDs and had them strobe at a pattern which messes up the ccd's exposer and the whole screen whites out.
Concerning whether cameras will see it or not:
SLR does not make a difference, it is just a type of camera. The thing that matters is whether the camera is equipped with an IR filter or not.
Cameras designed for use in night-vision systems will almost always not (because they illuminate with IR) but most digital cameras actually have the filters to eliminate the extra light. Simple way to check: aim your camera at your tv remote while holding down the button, or at your wii bar. If it lights up, then you know this hack will work.
Also, many cd drives use IR/NIR lasers rather than red lasers. aim those at a CCD camera, and then you can block it out in general, without attracting attention directly to you. (If your looking into taking down specific cameras rather than in general)
or you could use a guy fawkes mask instead of this device
Oh, and that won't attract unwanted attention?
never seen V For Vendetta, have you?
Needs moar lens flare.
why halo thar good sir
I hope tube stations will mount guns to their cameras to shoot any idiot wearing one of these.
I wish I weren't half joking.
^^^^^^ Apparently, the government's "privacy supports terrorism" campaign has been effective on some.
Someone needs to read "1984"
Forget "1984". People can too easily dismiss it as a work of fiction. How about we jump back to the 1930s when Hitler got the Reichstag to pass (by a large margin) the Enabling Act, giving the Nazi Party pure authoritative power.
"The government will make use of these powers only insofar as they are essential for carrying out vitally necessary measures..."
Thanks for confirming Godwin's Law once again. *sigh*
@ Craig
I apologize if the rise of the Nazi Party actually is a proper analogy here. Yea its way overdone and misused (especially when comparing Presidents to Dictators), but you find me an example of lawful authoritarian power and ill gladly concede my analogy for yours.
I'm not agreeing with the OP, and I definately think that there's nothing wrong/illegal about wearing one of these, but I COMPLETELY disagree with your Nazi analogy. Authoritative power and cameras are two completely different things. Furthermore, you have no right to privacy in public, hence the reason it's called "public" so there's nothing illegal about security cameras. Additionally, you're free to wear one of these since it's not visible to the naked eye and thus isn't going to be distracting/damaging to anyone out on the street.
I'm appalled to see that I've been grouped in with the terrorism hysteria afflicted and those who haven't read 1984. Wrong and naive on both counts.
I'm very concious of the slippery slope towards a 1984-esque society, and understand that there must be strict limits to privacy incursions. Western governments are ostensibly a representation of their constituents, and are composed of fellow citizens. Demanding accountability and transparency from your government is the best way forward. It is unwise to lower your defences against deranged individuals however.
I can easily forsee many malevolent uses of a device like this that certainly far outweigh what few legitimate ones exist.
By the way, I thought "The Lives of Others" was both great and terrifying.
"so you'd best think of some excuses to explain yourself if you actually plan on trying this thing out in public"
You might draw attention, but why would you have to justify wearing it?
I was kinda thinking the same thing. Maybe whoever sees it will think your some type of spy, and then you'll have to deal with the CIA...ugh.
The best part is that you wouldn't be causing any problems around you, but instead would be frustrating the people behind the scenes, trying to watch the security footage. To anyone else around you, it would just look like you were wearing a headband.
I was thinking the same thing, Mike ... no one around you would be able to see the IR light, so they might wonder why you're wearing a headband if you're wearing a business suit or something, but there are obviously other ways to disguise the IR lights. Only the people watching the security cameras would notice the camouflage, but that may be enough for them to send someone to question you (especially if you're wearing this device in a high-risk target area, like a bank or gov't building). In fact, your face may be obscured on camera, but I won't if this wouldn't attract *more* attention than simply going about your business.
Careful .. if ur in the US ..
You might not have to justify why your wearing it,
but apparently they don't have to justify sending you to Guantanamo bay under the blessed patriot act..
the things we let them do.. all in the name of 'freedom'
I can't wait for this to be on CSI:Miami.
Wow! This is exactly what Punisher did in the comicbook Punisher 2099, but instead of a flash, his face shows up as a digitalized skull!
When I was reading that comic I said to myself, "That's not possible..." I was wrong and this technology comes out 91 years earlier than expected!
You beat me! The thing about that comic that rocked was that he didn't wear a mask, but the authorities couldn't ID him because of two things: 1. the face scrambler--thing and 2. he KILLED EVERYONE who saw his face while he was in costume (at least for the first 12 issues or so)--that rocks! It's a good way to keep your secret ID FYI.
WTF think of excuses? Where I live it's still allowed to tie to your head whatever you want. You can cover your face in public as much as you wish. In civilized countries, there are exceptions to this right only in case you are participating in demonstrations in order to demotivate anonymous acts against the public order, and that's bad enough already.
Laughing Man? Izzat you?
F**k Big Brother.. reason enough?
To bad for them most modern cameras have IR cutoff filters (at least when the room is properly lit).
LOVE IT.
Now, let's put a scrolling message on the top of a ballcap only in infrared to tell off those guys watching the cameras.
So how do these cams that film everyone film all the muslims i see on the train everyday??? do they have a x-ray type system so that their faces can be seen?
What? I've read your post several times and I still don't understand. It seems as though you believe Muslims have infrared skin, which I'm fairly certain is not the case.
I think he's trying (badly) to refer to Muslim women who wear a face covering
Now, who's going to make one that works on those annoying traffic cameras?
A license plate frame surrounded by IR LED's would probably do nicely.
thats a pretty badass idea, they are getting traffic lights in my city and that sounds like a nice hack.
There is a device that works pretty much like a slaved camera flash. It waits for a camera flash from a speed or red light camera which triggers another flash that is directly on your license plate. This causes the image to be overexposed and cannot be found by inverting the image and messing with the colors (which is how photoblocker sprays are defeated).
I'm not sure how you'd get past video enforcement, though, since those cameras almost always have IR cutoffs and auxiliary lights for night use.
Or you could, you know, not run red lights. You know, not risk killing innocent people just to shave five minutes off your commute? 1984-esque security cameras, fine, I can understand foiling those. Red light cams, no way. Wait like everyone else: add a few minutes, save a few lives.
Did I mention anywhere in my post that I actually run red lights? Just because I theorize ways to defeat them doesn't mean I actually do it, just as everyone wearing IR headgear isn't a criminal. I deride red light runners and have seen many accidents caused by people that do (and narrowly avoided some myself) so get off your high horse and stop jumping to conclusions.
UK'ers: They should work for speed cameras too ;)
@Ross
Yes, but think about it: any time someone says that they plead the fifth, 9 times out of 10, the people that say it are guilty, otherwise they wouldn't have anything to hide.
Just some food for thought, and i know the proof of concept guys always get kicked around.
you could always wear a hood. duh.
unless you're afraid it'll mess your hair up
Brilliant, now London's gangs can roam the streets intimidating the general public without fear of reprise.
Wrong. It's that the London (UK/Europe) people's inability to defend themselves vis a vis by not being allowed to carry a weapon for DEFENSIVE purposes, that allow the criminals to live and thrive.
yeah "FThorn", cos the UK/Europe has so much more street crime than the US.
The UK is a bit different from the majority of European countries. Violent gun crime is not common Europe. I don't know how bad it is in Britain, but I imagine it's not as bad as in the US.
Guns don't solve anything. In my Scandinavian country the police don't carry guns at all - and the police are still not getting shot on the job. And people feel safe. So what's this nonsense about needing guns?
Except that you all miss the fact that a majority of the street crime in the US are due to racism and other non-gun factors.
chaymation,
90+% of the news I listen to, hours a day, is UK news. There are TONS of personal, violent and property attacks all the time mentioned on those outlets. Don't lie to yourself or anyone here that crime does not happen there. Nobody I know of here has been attacked or robbed like people in the UK take for granted. Because in the UK you can't defend yourself like you can here. That's just fact. Not arguable.
FThorn, I hate you... Are you really ignorant enough to believe that people, like myself, that live in the UK/London would feel any safer if everyone suddenly had free access to firearms, for so called 'defensive' purposes? How the fuck are you supposed to defend yourself against a gun anyway? The only reason you need guns to defend yourself in the US is that anyone else can own one!
Just because you hear a lot about gun crime from the UK, doesn't mean it's as much a problem as it is for the US. The media here tends to jump all over incidents involving guns because they don't occur that frequently.
Fthorn, just how many reports of a child shooting another child at school (or anyone shooting anyone at school post Hungerford) have you heard from the UK?
RikF,
Curious, how did the UK go about getting rid of guns? It had to be more involved than just making them illegal right? I can't imagine the criminals all suddenly decided to give up their lives of crime and start following the law.
I could see this adapted into the frames of glasses as an unobtrusive way of wearing such a device. A series of LED's embedded into the brow of a frame and designed to look like part of the frame would probably work nicely.
Yeah why do people think this is a good thing? Do you walk down the streets constantly angry because of security cameras and how they rob you of your privacy and ruin your entire life? I sometimes hate the fact that I can't walk into a subway station at night and have a sceret wank and a cry without it being filmed. I mean who the f***, apart from people who want to commit a crime, thinks this is a good idea?
that's just it, we want to commit crimes. is that so bad?!
But how will you post it on youtube with no footage!? :p
Maybe it is people who do not think that the constant surveillance of their ways and schedules by others is promoting their personal privacy? This is especially of concern if you are NOT concerned about hiding your identity with a hoodie (like criminals). Also, it does not help you at all if criminal X might be identified from CCTV footage AFTER he shot you dead, as surveillance systems *should* supposedly initiate the timely arrival of police forces (real world: haa haa) to prevent crime, in which case it also would not matter whether you can identify faces on tape, as timely arrested thugs could be identified via clothing.
@Christopher Burden
I am not a criminal, But I don't want to be watched, everywhere I go. That should be a basic right for everyone who lives in a country, where the very same goverment in charge, lectures other countries on the lack of human rights for their citizens.
Terror?, Tired of hearing that excuse.
Great! Now we need Shield Belts.
Get out your patents...here's an idea. What about a license plate frame using similarly simple technology to fowl those spying traffic cams?
yea but this doesnt work in a well lit area, at all. only on cameras shooting in low light conditions, those that use IR lights themselves to take footage.
Now this is a bright idea. :)
So typical of western thinking. Remember the tale of The Americans spending millions developing a pen that could write in Space and The russians used a pencil. Us muslims just use a veil! ;-)
When you smudge the burn or trajectory codes with your hand before maneuvering or during a radio blackout, you'll wish you had used a pen.
;p lol
That is a urban legend. NASA (the American space agency) DID NOT pay for the development of the pen. It was a private investor (Paul C Fisher) who only spent 1 million (still a huge sum of cash especially in those days) to develop the pen before presenting it to NASA. Then later to the Soviet space program.
However, I do agree that the best answer is usually the simplest.
I think those discussing Muslims and their traditional attire should stop. This is for the discussion of technology, not theology.
Just to put my 2 cents in. A pencil isn't really that great. This is science, and in science it is traditional not to use pencils and to use pens to prevent the possiblity of data being altered.
Choco rations up 20%! Double Plus Good!
Oh no, I'm late for the 2 minute hate!
Wow. All this research about the Wii's remote and whatnot that's happening by average users right now and nobody thought about this.
I feel so stupid...
One issue of America's First Freedom had an article I read yesterday that said 80% of London's (street) crimes are unsolved. So, overbearing surveillance does NOT do much to help crime. So, it's proven, then that the only reason for cameras is to limit personal freedom's and curtail privacy.
I say this while at the same time for my PERSONAL residence, I've had 8 CCTV cameras and recorders now for 12 years. But, knowing the above, I also carry guns and knives.
Sorry but I don't need to justify anything.
I think this would be more useful to mount on your car near the license plates. So much for photo enforced lights!
hmmm. cool. Like the Laughing Man -- should superimpose a logo over your face.
Time to rig up a license plate frame version!
Phew! This is going to be a hell of a lot less bulky than the burqa I was planning to purchase in order to protect my privacy :]:]
Should be essential wear for the UK. Perhaps if enough people start using these our hopelessly paranoid government might BEGIN to get the message that we don't want to be watched ALL THE TIME! from 'ANGRY of Nuneaton!'
Can you mount this on the back of your car to cover your license plate? That would be great for red light cameras
um this could also be really bad.... what if the police (who are already privacy sensitive) used these to protect their faces, unless the average joe had some really nice cameras, the police are free to take law by their own hands.
No the UK would just make it a crime to wear them.
We have all of you on file now. Now to start working through the list "eliminating" as we go.
"The innocent should have nothing to fear".
"it doesn't exactly scream subtlety, so you'd best think of some excuses to explain yourself if you actually plan on trying this thing out in public."
Excuses for who? The police? Hmm, how about fuck you, this isn't damaging your equipment and it's helping me exercise my right to privacy. Any further discussion on the matter, you can have with my lawyer. Here's his card. Always record exchanges with Police, you don't want to get into "he said/she said" in court. Also Cops usually become quite reasonable all of a sudden when a camera appears.
THERE IS NOTHING ILLEGAL ABOUT THIS DEVICE.
@Ross
Yes, but think about it: any time someone says that they plead the fifth, 9 times out of 10, the people that say it are guilty, otherwise they wouldn't have anything to hide.
Just some food for thought, and i know the proof of concept guys always get kicked around.
Productize that now and start selling it to celebrities. $10,000 a pop to keep the paparazzi away would be cheap.
Wouldn't this be defeated with IR filters? Or just filtering the IR light in the video stream. I remember seeing something similar with red lasers projected against a surveillance cam. They just filtered the red light out of the image and you could see everything clearly again.
Messing with the auto-exposure is really smart although. Although that too is fixed with IR filters.
It would be nice to integrate this into a pair of sunglasses, or standard corrective even. I'd buy them for my next London trip. along with the Faraday cage passport wallet, tazer proof vest, ...tin foil hat (becoming less of a joke as the months go by).
"I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes."
Couldn't you make a device like this that can be fixed to some type of glasses with a push button in your pocket for the times when you need it?
No big deal. Good security camera's have IR filters which render just this sort of thing useless.
Everyone everywhere should wear one.
that's pretty cool
If I'll ever need one, I know where to find it now lol.
so does this thing cost a buck-o-five lol