Sci-fi movies often present us with omniscient villains who are able to track the most minute actions of their underlings and foes. Rarely do we get a glimpse into their surveillance systems, but you have to imagine that some of the more rudimentary "employee evaluation" hardware will not be too far off from
KDDI's latest. The Japanese cellphone giant has unveiled a new system, built around accelerometers, that can detect the difference between a cleaner scrubbing or sweeping a floor and merely walking along it. Based on new analytical software, stored remotely, this should provide not only accurate
positional information about workers, but also a detailed breakdown of their activities. The benefits touted include "central monitoring, "salesforce optimisation," and improvements in employee efficiency. We're guessing
privacy concerns were filed away in a collateral damage folder somewhere.
posted March 10th 2010 10:27AM
incase i dont see ya, good afternoon, good evening and good night!
Let's keep this technology away from the Pennsylvania Public School system, or laptops that monitor their students while home will be the least of the student's privacy infringements.
@Prevacator
Yeah, if this equipment can tell the difference between walking along a floor and actually cleaning it, if it were installed in students' homes courtesy of the school, the principal would have been able to tell whether a student's "inappropriate activity" involved a partner or was a purely solo affair.
Remind me to keep my phone in my desk or locker. Or maybe in my car.
Bam. Now how do you take care of THAT?
@Dan Fruzzetti: Rules stating that employees must carry it on them at all times, or face disciplinary action :x
1+ for picture, my all-time favorite scene.
How do they account for other motions that may be interpreted as "sweeping" or "scrubbing"? I'm just saying you can get tennis elbow without ever owning a racket.
1984 is one step closer.
I can certainly understand the need and desire to want to monitor employees' productivity, but this is just too far. It's pretty common knowledge that being watched so closely tends to diminish one's performance. Moreover, I'm pretty sure it's easy to judge whether a janitor's been cleaning during the night-shift or just walking around and if the manager cannot tell this, he or she should be without a job.
I wonder how KDDI would take to being watched this closely.
Truman Show? What?
I guess that's one way to exemplify a lack of privacy.
@Covarr
Exactly what I thought. That movie is awesome btw.
Merced Systems (Redwood Shores) focuses on "employee evaluation" software. They are not public yet but they have been growing very steadily.
Adds a whole new world to kink as well.
Now you don't have to be monitoring a video to know your sub is at home scrubbing the floor in a french made outfit.
You could carry on a normal life while your own phone indicates with subtle vibration patterns in your pocket their compliance and submission.
hahahahahah....
Yeah... it is strange. I wonder who will make the first million putting it together.