We're not too sure what's up with New England-based institutions and inspiration from the depths, but the two seem to have some kind of intrinsic connection. The latest company to prove such a wacky assertion true is Boston's own Scallop Imaging, a Tenebraex subsidiary that has developed a "low-cost" security camera that sees 180 degrees of view without fisheye distortion or the lag present in pan-and-tilt alternatives. Additionally, the multi-eyed cam automatically stitches and downsamples images, and can capture a new 7-megapixel still to transmit over Ethernet "every second or two." It's small enough to be placed into a light socket-sized hole, and it's powered by the same Ethernet cable that links it into a building's surveillance system. Of course, the fun won't stop there, as the outfit is already looking at automotive applications of the Digital Window, including "distortion-free backup cameras for the rear ends" of vehicles.

We have all ideas (okay, so we know it for a fact) that the Los Angeles Traffic Cam was designed for those living in LA, but we can't help but imagine how drivers in less congested cities could use this to make their own daily commute not seem so bad. NBC4 and 3rd Dimension have teamed up to beam out live video and nearly live still shots from some 270 LA-area traffic cameras to those with compatible mobiles, and being that it's ad-supported, the whole thing is completely free to end users. Of course, for all you know, they could just loop a clip of gridlocked traffic during rush hour and call it reality. Sadly, said idea would almost work.

Those billboards with facial-recognition-based tracking systems we mentioned last week caused quite a bit of consternation amongst those of us who value our privacy (read: everyone), but it at least one of the firms involved is engaging the debate and promising that it won't share any data it record. In a letter to the New York Times and a much longer, more boring version of the same letter sent to us, TruMedia Technologies says that none of its tech will ever record or store any video, only analyze frames and increment various demographic counters. TruMedia also says that no individually-identifiable information is ever stored, and that it'll never share any video or images with any private or governmental body. There's also mention of a standards body working to address methodologies and metrics for the tech. All excellent promises, sure, but we're never going to be entirely comfortable with this stuff, even if we live in an age of ubiquitous CCTV monitoring. Full letter after the break.

Putting cameras in billboards to measure how many people look at them isn't a new idea, but it's starting to get a little more creepily-high-tech, with several advertisers now using facial-recognition software to record things like age and gender. A company called Quividi has supplied camera-equipped ads to McDonald's in Singapore and Ikea in Europe, and it's now bringing the tech to the States, where it's been deployed in New York in ads for A&E's The Andromeda Strain mini-series and in Philadelphia in train station ads for the Philadelphia Soul. Another company called TruMedia Technologies has supplied similar tech to about 30 locations in the US, including malls in Chesterfield, Missouri, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and Monroeville, Pennsylvania. None of the systems currently record or store video, but no one's ruling that out as a possibility -- and even worse, there's talk of gathering racial data in an effort to even further target ads. Great, now we have yet another reason to break out the Nixon mask every time we leave the house.

[Via Techdirt]

Chicago residents are no strangers to the city's many CCTV cameras by this point -- if anyone knows exactly how long to stop at Roosevelt and State to avoid the red-light cam there, you let us know, okay? -- but it looks like this summer is going to bring a new twist to the city's surveillance racket: automated camera monitoring. Video from the several thousand cameras in Chicago's Operation Virtual Shield project currently comes into the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communication's ops center, but starting this summer, it'll also be watched by an IBM-developed autonomous system that can be programmed to watch for specific activities or objects, like certain cars or unattended backpacks. Since the video is stored on a 60TB storage array for 30 days, law enforcement can also do retroactive searches using the tech. That's a huge step up from San Francisco's useless CCTV system, sure, but we've never really believed any of this stuff is actually effective at deterring crime -- hopefully we'll be proven wrong. Check out the full news vid at the read link.

[Via Boing Boing]

England is already drowning in CCTV cameras, so it looks like Big Brother is starting to get creative in finding ways to deploy more: local councils are now outfitting crossing guards with camera-equipped stop signs. Yeah, crossing guards. With cameras in their stop signs. The cameras in the £890 ($1765) poles are fairly conspicuous, and the hope is that it'll curb aggressive driving around crossing zones, which resulted in 1,400 incidents last year. There's no word on how anyone plans to measure the effectiveness of the program, but we're certain the crossing guards who get passed over for the poles and end up with the hat-mounted cameras also being deployed will have a few choice words about things.

Quite honestly, we can't imagine anyone finding this the least bit surprising -- after all, aren't CCTV cameras and the UK an inseparable pair by now? Nevertheless, the Examination Officers' Association across the pond is currently mulling the idea of installing surveillance equipment in exam halls in order to keep an eye on test-taking cheaters. Apparently students are turning to their mobiles more and more (no way!) to plug any holes in their memory, and while the project hasn't been set in stone just yet, it seems to be headed in that direction. Ah, whatever happened to those old fashioned cram sessions?

[Thanks, Tomek]

We've certainly seen our share of wearable cameras and CCTV gear, but a company in England called WCCTV is aiming to combine the worst qualities of each with the 3G Covert Backpack, a torso-mounted vest with built-in camera and 3G modem. We're not exactly sure how "covert" a giant vest with a camera sticking out of it is, but assuming you make it into your mark's back-alley lair, the vest will transmit audio and video over 3G to your handlers, as well as your GPS-tracked location. If things get hairy, there's a panic button -- but it's located on the right shoulder, so smacking it is just about as discreet as yelling for help into the camera. Of course, you could always just chuck the enormous waist-mounted battery pack and control unit at your assailants while you wait for help to arrive -- or you could slip any number of video-capable cellphones into your shirt pocket and, you know, actually be discreet.

[Via picturephoning]

We're not huge fans of overzealous security camera deployment, but if you're going to spend taxpayer money deploying nannycams, at least make sure they're capturing more than one frame every two seconds -- the rate at which San Francisco's $900,000 system is running. A study of the city's 68 cameras found that the system has only led to one arrest in two and a half years of operation, and the main reason for the failure is uselessly slow video -- which is grainy, to boot. Compare that to Chicago's much-hated (but effective) system, which runs at 30fps, and it's obvious why the president of San Francisco's Police Commission said the city was "throwing money away." There's no word on how or when the issue might be resolved, but the city is due to review the system and issue a determination soon. Check the read link for a video of the system in (in)action.

[Thanks, Paul B.]

We never thought adding an absurd amount of surveillance cameras to a city (or its public transportation system) would become fashionable, but it seems like Toronto is the next big locale ready to hop on the Big Brother bandwagon. Reportedly, plans are already underway to "ensure every person using Toronto's transit system will be photographed as of next June," which means that some 12,000 cameras will have to be installed on "every [Toronto Transit Commission] bus, streetcar, subway car and at each station." Of course, it's noted that the images acquired will only be used as "crime-busting tools," and the entire system is expected to cost a cool $18 million. Good news for employees / police stationed at the transit system's command center, though -- you'll be able to "view live video or hear audio from any of the security cameras installed on subway cars." Now that's quality entertainment.

[Via The Raw Feed]

What's better than sticking it to the man with your anti-consumerism, pro-recycling commercial? Why, filming it with "video sniffin'," the practice of tuning in wirelessly to public and private security camera footage and recording it for fun and profit. The movie was sponsored by Mediashed, who also produced a movie involving free-running in a shopping movie using similar CCTV filming techniques. Of course, Mediashed takes the rebellion edge off a bit by asking permission to use the footage, but we like the quasi-optimistic stance of having a good time with all that CCTV in England, instead the standard vandalism or mugging forms of dissent. Videos are after the break.

[Via WMMNA]

While London, along with other parts of the UK, has long since been smothered by CCTV cameras and other forms of surveillance, a new report put out by the Liberal Democrats on the London Assembly suggests that all these watchful eyes may not be curbing crime. Dee Doocey, the Liberal Democrats spokeswoman, was quoted as saying that figured obtained in the study comparing the number of cameras in a given borough "with the proportion of crimes solved suggests there is no link between a high number of CCTV cameras and a better crime clear-up rate." Close to £200 million ($401 million) has purportedly been spent on building such an elaborate CCTV network, but this study noted that it still wasn't "entirely clear if some of that money would not have been better spent on police officers."

[Via Wired]

At least those residing in the UK can breathe a momentary sigh of relief, as it's not the only locale where the amount of surveillance drones is quickly approaching the number of citizens. Reportedly, French interior minister Michele Alliot-Marie recently announced that the government is planning to "triple" the existing CCTV surveillance capacities across the country, "with a view to curb the risks of terrorism and acts of violence." Beyond just bumping the amount of eyes scanning for troublemakers, she also suggested that the network of systems be more tightly connected in order to effectively "protect the French people and enable them to move freely without fearing for their lives or property." Of course, we're sure there's quite a few citizens who'd have beef with the whole "moving freely sans fear" tidbit, no?

[Via The Raw Feed]

It looks like New York City will soon be seeing a slew of new ever-watchful eyes, as The New York Times reports that the city is set to get a London-style "surveillance veil" that would eventually consist of thousands of cameras monitoring vehicles and individuals alike. Dubbed the Lower Manhattan Security Initiative, the system will initially include more than 100 cameras that are expected to be in place by the end of this year, each of which will be able to read license plates and send out alerts is suspect vehicles are detected. That appears to just be the tip of the iceberg, however, with some 3,000 public and privately-owned cameras set to be put into service by the end of 2008, along with a series of pivoting gates that'll be installed at critical intersections, giving authorities the ability to block off traffic at the push of a button. From there it'll apparently grow even further, with the entire operation expected to be up and running by 2010. No word on head-mounted cams as of yet though.