Crime fighting system converts lip motions into spoken word

If you think text-to-speech or video-texting is hot stuff, researchers at the University of East Anglia have something that just might cool your excitement. Kicking off a three-year project, the team is setting out to "collect data for lip-reading and use it to create machines that automatically convert videos of lip-motions into text." By building a vast database of lip movements that can be read and spat out in verbally, the gurus hope to fight crime by being able to pick out potentially threatening phrases that security cameras pick up. The university is teaming up with the Centre for Vision, Speech, and Signal Processing at Surrey University in order to get the technology wrapped into cameras just about everywhere, from mobile phones to vehicle dash boards. Admittedly, we're not exactly keen on yet another Big Brother agenda gaining traction, but if this stuff stays in the right hands, you loud-mouthed criminals better start crafting your own unique language over the next few years.