Palm Jumeirah Islands in dubai

The Palm Jumeirah is an artificial archipelago created using land reclamation by Nakheel, a company SQUARE owned by the Dubai government in United Arab Emirates and was designed and developed by HHCP architects. It is one of three islands called the Palm Islands (Palm Jumeirah, Palm Jebel Ali and Palm Deira) which extend into the Persian Gulf, increasing Dubai’s shoreline by a total of 520 kilometres (320 mi). The Palm Jumeirah is the smallest and the original of three Palm Islands under development by Nakheel. It is located on the Jumeirah coastal area of the emirate of Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

 

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Rotundus GroundBot spherical surveillance robot broadcasts live in 3D

Remote-controlled unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) have proven exceptionally useful in military applications, but according to Swedish company Rotundus, they can be equally well applied to civil security. Rolling through mud, sand, snow, or even floating in the water, the Rotundus GroundBot spherically-shaped robot is equipped with a pair of cameras, providing its remote operator with a live video feed in 3D.

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Controlled remotely or via a programmed autonomous GPS-based system, Groundbot can be equipped with wide-angled cameras (for 360-degree vision), night vision (IR) cameras, microphone and loudspeakers, as well as sensors for radioactivity, gas, humidity, fire, heat, smoke, biological material, explosives, or narcotics. GroundBot has all its sensors and cameras well-protected inside the hermetically sealed sphere, which means no sand, mud, water, or even gas can get inside. This makes it well-suited for uses such as investigating suspected gas leaks. It also withstands overturns, drops and knocks.

Able to move and turn in multiple directions with smooth acceleration and deceleration, GroundBot is driven via a patented pendulum-based mechanism. In order to start rolling, a built-in motor raises the pendulum located inside the sphere, thus changing the center of gravity. This causes Groundbot to roll in the desired direction.

With a top speed of 10 km/h (6 mph), GroundBot is reportedly virtually inaudible and comes with knobby tire treads for all-terrain operation, or without them for use on paved surfaces. It operates for 8-16 hours depending on mission profile, while it takes 3-4 hours to recharge its battery. Featuring a polycarbonate housing with high friction coating, Groundbot's size is comparable to an automobile tire, measuring 60 cm (23.6 in) in diameter, while weighing in at 25 kg (55 lbs).

According to Rotundus, Groundbot is suitable for security at places such as airports, train stations, power plants, borders and warehouses, and for applications such as perimeter protection and stadium/event surveillance. American Unmanned Systems has acquired an exclusive license for production, marketing and sales of the unit in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

The following video presents Groundbot operating at an airport.

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Japanese company offers disturbingly-lifelike masks of clients' own faces

It appears that there's a number of customers willing to pay a lot to be in possession of a lifelike replica of their face or even their whole head ... or at least, REAL-f hopes so. The Japanese company offers extremely realistic 3D models of human faces and heads made using vinyl chloride resin, based on its own technique called 3DPFs (3 Dimension Photo Forms).

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In order to create the mask, REAL-f takes a number of pictures of the person's face (or head) from various angles and imprints them on a vinyl chloride resin spread over a mold. The modeling technique reportedly allows for a very high level of realism, including detailed mapping of irises, blood vessels and pores, while the lifelike mask is also water-resistant and colorfast. It's possible to order just a mask, or a 3D mannequin-like human head.

These lifelike replicas are quite expensive, however. A 3D mask is priced at US$3,920 for the first one and US$780 for each additional copy, while the pricing of heads starts at US$5,875 for one, with US$1,960 for additional copies. Orders are now being taken by REAL-f. It takes around two weeks to become the proud owner of one's facial replica in 3D, or three weeks to obtain the head model.

The idea is actually not as unique as it might seem. America's ThatsMyFace.comlets clients order 3D sculptures of faces based on uploaded or mailed pictures. The so-called "LifeMasks" are way cheaper, but also appear to be less realistic than REAL-f's offerings.

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Gadgets for the ghosthunter

In a survey conducted by CBS News in 2005, it was found that 48 percent of Americans believed in ghosts. Other surveys have put the number at anywhere from around 20 to over 50 percent. While such figures certainly don't imply that ghosts are real, they do suggest that belief in them is relatively common. When someonedoes suspect that a ghost is present in their home or business, they will sometimes call in "experts" to ascertain if that is, in fact, the case ... and what sort of gear do these ghost hunters use to detect said spirits? We decided to find out.

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Given that ghosts are frequently thought of as non-physical beings that can only be seen by people like Jennifer Love Hewitt or Haley Joel Osment, one might wonder how regular human technology could possibly register their presence. We're told that it all comes down to what people are made of.

"We're built out of energy – atoms and molecules," says Rona Anderson, co-partner in the nonprofit Paranormal Explorers ghost-hunting group, which operates out of Edmonton, Canada. "I just think it's an internal piece of us that stays when our bodies deteriorate."

"When somebody dies, do they go into another dimension, with a very thin wall?" asks her partner, Ben Myckan. "I think that's sort of what it is. You can't destroy energy, it's just in a different dimension."

So apparently, it's not so much about looking for lost souls as it is looking for unexplained energy, or evidence of its manipulation.

EMF meter

When it comes to detecting energy, an electromagnetic field meter is definitely a good tool to have. "At a haunted location, erratic and fluctuating EMF levels are likely to occur," says Alexandra Woodfield, of UK-based paranormal gear retailerTomsGadgets. "Out of all the paranormal tools, the EMF meter is an excellent introduction to ghost detecting. Although currently there is no device that can conclusively detect for the existence of ghosts, the EMF meter is the closest tool on the market."

Rona and Ben use their EMF meters partially to identify man-made electrical fields within buildings, as some researchers have suggested that supposed ghost sightings could be caused by such fields interacting with the human brain. The couple are also interested in detecting EMFs in places where no electrical features are present, however, as those could be caused by ... well, you know.

Thermometer

Anderson tells us that ghosts both gather energy from rooms and release it into them, causing highly localized drops or rises in temperatures – hence the "cold spots" you might have heard mentioned in horror movies. A good thermometer will confirm that such perceived changes aren't just due to heebie-jeebies on the part of the observer, and will document exactly how large the changes are. "It has to be at least a ten-degree drop before we think, 'Oh, well maybe something's happening in this room'," she explains.

Besides a regular thermometer, Rona and Ben also use an infrared digital point-and-shoot model, that can instantly obtain temperature readings from any point that it's aimed at within a room.

Digital audio recorder

Ghosts supposedly do sometimes want to talk to us, but not in a way that's easy to understand in real time with the unaided human ear. Proponents of Electric Voice Phenomenon (EVP) tell us that if you record the room noise while asking questions aloud to the ghost, although you may hear nothing in response at the time, you'll be able to make out some replies when you play back the audio file. If you've heard EVP on any of the numerous paranormal reality TV shows, however, then you will know that a lot of those "replies" can be pretty faint and ambiguous.

Having to pick out the ghost's end of a conversation after the fact kind of limits what you can talk about, but a new product offers a way around that limitation. Connecticut's DAS Distribution makes a gizmo called the RT-EVP, which uses parallel microprocessors to simultaneously record audio and play it back on a time delay – that delay can be from 1 to 60 seconds, as set by the user. If you were to set the delay for five seconds, for instance, you would ask a question, then hear a recording of yourself asking the question, followed by an ongoing playback of whatever audio the device recorded in the room just five seconds ago.

Because it can pick up sounds down to 15Hz, which is below the threshold of human hearing, it can indeed "hear" things that we can't ... possibly even the voices of lost loved ones, according to product designer and DAS president Gary Galka. "Since the completion of the RT-EVP instrument, we have received three beautiful etheral messages from our daughter Melissa," he tells us.

Ghost Box

While EVP can allegedly be found in ambient sound, it's said to be easier for ghosts to work their voice messages into white noise, which is where something called the Ghost Box or Spirit Box comes in. A Ghost Box scans across local radio frequencies, supposedly allowing ghosts to use stray bits of static, squeal and other noise to form and/or carry their messages. The RT-EVP, in fact, has a "frequency sweep" feature that lets it operate as a Ghost Box.

For her part, Anderson believes that Ghost Boxes have their place, but can't be relied upon. This is due to the simple fact that what is being heard could very likely just be distant radio broadcasts. "The only way you know is probably what they're saying," she says. "If they say 'Help me,' or 'My name is Joan,' you're going, OK well that doesn't sound like a radio station."

A somewhat similar device is the Ovilus. It takes temperature and EMF readings, combines those readings into one number, chooses a word from an onboard database that matches up with that number, and then "speaks" the word aloud. The idea is that a ghost, knowing this device is present and presumably knowing how it works, will purposely make changes to the temperature and EMFs so that it can communicate through the Ovilus. Should you not want to shell out for the device itself, though, you can always download the iOvilus app to your iPhone. Just don't believe everything it tells you ...

The Ovilus "works" on the same principle as Ouija boards, which many ghost-hunters steer clear of, as they are said to open up portals that anyone or anything could come through. "You're not necessarily going to get who you think you're going to get," says Anderson, of the boards. "We've had people who have called us to come and do an investigation because they've used a Ouija board and someone's dropped in and hasn't left."

In other words, go ahead and download iOvilus, but don't blame us if you end up getting sucked into your TV.

Motion detector or beam barrier alarm

"These are also used for security by creating an invisible barrier to detect for any movement," says Woodfield. "Paranormal activity can trigger these beams and set off an alarm. Of course it is important to set up a digital video camera to eliminate tampering from other people or animals."

Rona and Ben also use a Trail Master camera trap, in which a motion detector is wired directly to a digital still camera, which snaps a shot whenever the detector is tripped. The setup is commonly used in the wilderness by wildlife photographers, or even cryptozoologists looking for Bigfoot ... but that's another article.

Infrared wireless cameras

When it comes to digital video cameras, Paranormal Explorers and most other groups use the infrared variety, running several of them into a split-screen display on a laptop. That way, they can show the client what their eyes might be missing, and make a DVD copy of the footage for them. Just what might that footage show?

"Sometimes you might just see something floating around," says Myckan. "You might see just a ball of light ... Sometimes you might even see a mist, or an ectoplasm, and it might be in the shape of something."

"Usually, when people watch it on TV, they really seem to have an epiphany, and they seem to be not frightened anymore," adds Anderson.

Digital still cameras are also considered essential gear, both for showing up things that us humans can't see (such as in Paranormal Explorers' shot below, possibly), and simply for documenting locations where investigations are carried out.

Other bits of gear used by Paranormal Explorers and/or recommended by Woodfield include parabolic microphones, flashlights, two-way radios, night vision equipment, FLIR thermal imaging cameras, and even dowsing rods.

It could be that one of the most useful things to have, however, is simply good "ghost sense."

"When we go into a house that is supposed to be plagued by stuff, I do rely on my intuition," says Anderson. "Usually I can pick up right away if there are spirits."

So, is it possible that any of these instruments – or even the human subconscious – could be detecting anything from the great beyond? We look forward to receiving your comments ... just remember the advice of Dr. Egon Spengler: "Don't cross the streams."

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Surveillance: two rare glimpses into who's watching you, and how

If it hasn't become apparent to you yet, you are living in an age when your every online step is being monitored. The notion of communications privacy has been steamrolled in the interests of security, and the occasional tiny chance we get to peek back at the people who make it their business to watch us is truly frightening. Two new stories from America this week give a rare glimpse behind the curtain at just how closely you're being watched, and by whom.

Online privacy: now virtually nonexistent

Do yourself a favor and check out Glenn Greenwald's article at Salon.com, titled "Project Vigilant and the government/corporate destruction of privacy." In the article, he shows how the United States government neatly sidesteps any legal restraints that might prevent it from gathering information on its citizens – in this case, by accepting dossiers from a network of private cyber-vigilantes that operates in near-total secrecy and with no accountability to mechanisms like the Privacy Act or the Freedom of Information Act.

This group is comprised of as many as 500 operatives, some of whom have experience in data security and surveillance after leaving top-level positions at organizations like the U.S. Department of Justice, Homeland Security, the Pentagon, the NSA, the New York Stock Exchange… and they are exploiting loopholes in ISP contracts to mine data on every step you take online.

Project Vigilant is just one further tool the U.S. government uses when it can't get what it wants – let's not forget that as the 'War on Terror' escalated, the NSA showed through its warrantless wiretapping program that it believes that such privacy laws as there are stopping the government from spying on its own citizens are at best flexible, or at worst to be completely ignored. And it's not like the Obama administration has made amends in this regard – if anything, they've pushed the Bush agenda even further.

So your online communications – including your browsing history, forum participation, social networks, emails and transactions can all be considered to be laid bare on the table, tracked back to your real-world identity and locations, by whoever decides it's worth doing.

Intercept and record mobile phone calls for US$1500

And if you were under the misapprehension that your mobile communications were any safer, Chris Paget's recent demonstration of cellphone tower spoofing showed just how easy and inexpensive it is for anyone with the appropriate knowledge to intercept and record your private phone calls as well.

Paget's device simply pretends to be a cellphone tower that delivers a closer and stronger signal than a real tower. Mobile phones automatically connect to the tower with the best signal, so they switch over to the spoofed tower, which quietly records the conversation and sends the information on to the real network. The user is completely unaware.

Worse still, the equipment Paget built for his demonstration, in which dozens of audience members' phones were 'hijacked,' cost him less than US$1500 – most of which was for the laptop he ran the system through. More about the demonstration at Paget's blog.

So the ability to spy on your mobile conversations is now so cheap to attain that it's no longer the sole preserve of cashed-up government and law enforcement agencies – just about anyone can do it. And it's a glimpse at the kind of capability the NSA and other agencies have almost certainly had since day one.

Read more about the cell phone tower spoofing demonstration at Wired.

This information is U.S. centric – it would be interesting to know the extent of government surveillance in other countries. But so much of that information will never come to light – because as Greenwald points out, the agencies and private groups that spend so much time ensuring you have no secrets are the ones that operate under the tightest secrecy protections themselves. No transparency, no accountability.


serials online

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Chobi Cam is the new king of miniature cameras

Not unlike the Mini-digi which we covered a few weeks back, the Chobi Cam fromJapan Trust Technologies gives you the power to shoot photos and videos using a device no bigger than an eraser. Even smaller than the Mini-Digi (2.5 x 1.8 x 1.2 inches), the Chobi Cam measures a miniscule 1.7 x 1.1 x 0.5 inches and weighs only half an ounce.

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Data is stored on a microSD card, which potentially gives you an enormous amount of storage capacity for a diminutive camera. Video files are stored in AVI format, and at a resolution of 1280 x 960. As for still photos, the Chobi Cam shoots at 2048 x 1536 and uses the standard jpeg file format. Surprisingly this camera can also be used as a voice recorder as well, capable of recording up to 50 minutes of audio.

The camera charges via a USB cable (included) and can be fully juiced in about 120 minutes. In addition, it comes with a regular external charger that you can plug into a regular outlet.

The price is not very large either at just over US$100 (JPY9980). For now it can be purchased via JTT's website, which is unfortunately Japanese language only. Some speciality websites like GeekStuff4U are selling the Chobi Cam, so if you absolutely must have the tiniest camera in your neighborhood you can try ordering it there.

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LightSpeed binoculars transmit sound and video

December 22, 2008 Torrey Pines Logic has designed an optical system that allows people to speak to the person they’re looking at. The LightSpeed uses eye-safe, infrared LEDs to transmit the wearer’s voice via a secure optical beam to another LightSpeed model. The data channel used by the binoculars can accommodate Ethernet, video streaming and multi-channel audio data, and the devices transmit data at 1Mpbs, at distances exceeding 5km.

The data/voice transmission technology can be incorporated into any binocular system and works within the entire binocular field-of-view, meaning the binoculars dont have to be pointed directly at the subject

Free-space optics – the transmission of data using beams of light – is more secure than RF communication, making the LightSpeed useful to the military for covert surveillance and communication. The binoculars also have applications in air traffic control, allowing clean communication that doesn’t clash with the many RF signals transmitted by planes.

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Real-life gadgets for real-life superheroes

Yes, there are real-life superheroes. And no, we’re not just referring to firefighters, paramedics, and other heroic people who we’re used to seeing coming to the rescue of others. We’re talking about costume-wearing, identity-concealing, cool-name-having people who fight crime, pollution, or other evils in their own communities, on their own time, and at their own risk. Many of them actually patrol the city streets, ready to intervene if they see trouble brewing – and being ready includes having the right tools. Given that none of these people have Bruce Wayne’s budget, however, their gadgets tend to be less like Batmobile clones, and more like... well, read on and see for yourself.

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Off-the-rack items

First of all, there are some household products that are popular in the RLSH (Real Life Superhero) community, including flashlights, first aid kits, mobile phones, cameras, and zip ties, to use as handcuffs. When it comes to preparing for physical confrontations, some not-so-household ready-made devices come into play, such as Kevlar vests, body armor, pepper spray, and telescoping batons. Moving up the ladder to the realm of “Is that even legal?”, a few RLSHs carry tasers, wrist rocket sling shots, and blast knuckles, which are shaped like brass knuckles and deliver an electric shock. Interestingly, we could only find one superhero who said they carry a firearm.

The Eye’s Custom Gear

Just as Spiderman is known for his web shooters and Wonder Woman for her golden lariat, so many RLSHs are known – at least within their community – for their custom-made gadgets. One in particular is The Eye, a kind of Dick Tracy-esque superhero who watches over the streets of Mountain View, California.

“Being a professional electronics tech from way back in my history, and being born and raised in Silicon Valley, I take great pleasure in the creation process, the sub-system testing, the final result, and a device's final effective usage in the field,” he told Gizmag. His mostly light-based doo-dads have a decidedly steampunk appeal, and include things such as...

• Finger Devices: these include a finger-mounted butane torch, laser pointers, and the Dragon’s Eye Ring, which contains a high-intensity white LED
• Sonic Screamer Tube: this one uses the electronics from a personal body alarm, transferred into a sound-concentrating steel tube
• Laser Wand: a toy Harry Potter wand, retrofitted with a 95mW green laser module – useful for pointing things out to the police, or letting troublemakers know they’re being watched
• The Nightmare Cane: inspired by a cane used by TV vampire Barnabas Collins, it sports an LED light, rare earth neodymium magnets for picking up metallic objects, a retractable claw hand for grabbing other items, and a video camera mount for peeking over obstacles

Over in the Southeastern U.S., Master Legend patrols the streets of Orlando, Florida. One of his trademark gadgets is a handheld cannon known as the Master Blaster. “The Master Blaster will shoot so high in the sky you won't see it come down,” he told us. “It can also blow a hole through a door. I can put anything in it that fits.”

He also uses custom body armor plates made from steel plating, and a closed-ended steel cylinder that slips over his hand and forearm, which he calls the Iron Fist. According to Master Legend, the device is capable of hurting somebody, or smashing a door down – not that he necessarily wants to hurt anybody. “Scaring someone is better than beating them up” he said.

Artisteroi – Just tell him what you need

Unlike The Eye and Master Blaster, the gadgets that Artisteroi makes aren’t for his own use. He has a degree in mechanical engineering, develops engineering software for a living, and has become one of a select group of people whom other superheroes turn to when it comes to getting devices made.

He is currently chief engineer on the Iron Rad suit project, in which several RLSH “gadgeteers” are collaborating on developing a sort of real life Iron Man suit. Mega-Rad, one of their fellow superheroes, is funding the project. According to him, some of the key features of the suit will include ballistic protection, light weight, strength amplification, sensory enhancement and non-lethal weaponry.

“Iron Rad is a bid to function in reality as a full time superhero, actually rescuing people, disrupting violent crimes, and doing some form of outreach toward the next generation of people (who could become bad guys) to try and help motivate them to become constructive and awesome members of society instead” he told us.

Right now, the suit is still largely on the drawing board. “All the parts of the Iron Rad suit are essentially existing tech that we intend to repurpose and shoehorn together into one system,” Artisteroi said. “We are just finishing up the ideation phase and beginning design and prototyping.”

Some of Artisteroi’s recent projects have included a fog gun, and a fighting staff that folds down into a compact carrying case. He is currently working on the Mega Claw, a spring-loaded mechanical hand for use in Iron Rad, that will be controlled by Mega-Rad’s own hand via cables attached to a control glove.

Putting it all to use

It’s obviously a lot of fun acquiring and/or fabricating these gadgets, but... do they actually end up seeing any use?

According to The Eye, absolutely. “My cane, the Fedora Light, the Eyeluminator, and the Dragon's Eye Ring are common-wear items, that I wear/use some combination of on every night patrol,” he said. “The Laser Wand I once used to spook some public park vandals away, by scanning it near their location.”

“As for the more offensive but legal items that I often carry, that I did not create, such as stun guns and pepper spray and such, I certainly hope I never have to use them, but am glad they are there if needed... I am always more pleased when my photonic, self-created devices are able to diffuse a situation before it escalates.”

Geist, a RLSH based out of Rochester, Minnesota, told us “I use a cell phone, flashlight and a can of gray spray paint all the time. The spray paint is to paint a neutral color over gang graffiti, thus reclaiming the neighborhood for the people and not the gangs. It's supposed to be a lethal insult to the gang (meaning they have the ‘right’ to kill you for doing it.).”

“I've not used my offensive or defensive weaponry and prefer I never do. I've talked down a lot of tense situations using diplomacy and reason. I'd really prefer that everyone just goes home and sobers up, rather than anyone going to jail.”

Artisteroi believes that the consumer products such as flashlights and body armor find use quite often, but the more exotic stuff – not so much. “That is a good thing, really,” he added. “The real world is a lot more stable than the chaos of the comics. If we had to use these expensive tools all the time, being a superhero would cost a fortune.”

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Bullet-proof polo shirt

October 14, 2008 For those occasions when a bullet-proof gentleman's square just won't do there is the bullet-proof polo shirt. The US$12,000 anti-ballistic shirt is made of ultra-lightweight, bullet-proof fabric by Columbian designer Miguel Caballero and features removable ballistic panels designed to offer protection from weaponry ranging from a 9mm pistol to an Uzi.

Caballero has been dubbed the "Armani of armor" and attracted high profile clients such as Prince Felipe of Spain, President Álvaro Uribe of Colombia and President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela. The shirt is part of Caballero's Black Label line, which includes a bullet-proof tuxedo shirt. Not sure what kind of parties or golf courses the buyers of these products are attending, but I'd be tempted to stay at home.

Caballero's products have previously been available in South America but are now also being sold through Harrods of London for US$12,000.

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Computers could identify people by their ears

If you’ve watched any spy movies, then you’ll know that biometric security systems can recognize individuals based on physiological traits such as their fingerprints, handprints, faces and irises. Well, you may soon be able to add “ears” to that that list. Scientists from the University of Southampton’s School of Electronics and Computer Science have used a program called image ray transform to achieve a 99.6 percent success rate in automatically locating and isolating ears in 252 photos of peoples’ heads.

According to Southampton’s Prof. Mark Nixon, ears are a good biometric indicator. Their unique structure doesn’t change as the person gets older, they aren’t affected by facial expressions, and they are always predictably displayed against the side of the head – complete faces, by contrast, can end up with all sorts of chaotic backgrounds behind them, making things more difficult for computer imaging systems.

The image ray transform used in this study utilizes a “pixel based ray tracing technique” and a subset of the laws of optics, analyzing the way that light reflects off of objects in pictures. It is able to identify and extract tubular and circular features from images, such as the helix (the curved outer rim) of someone’s ear. The system then creates an isolated image of just the ear, even allowing for hair or spectacle arms covering part of it. The ear’s owner could then be identified by matching that image to one in a database of ear images.

The research was detailed in the paper A Novel Ray Analogy for Enrolment of Ear Biometrics which was recently presented at the IEEE Fourth International Conference on Biometrics: Theory, Applications and Systems.

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New CCTV tech could spot abandoned baggage and track its owner

We’ve told you before about CCTV programs that can identify criminal behavior, or that skip through footage where nothing’s happening. Now, a consortium of ten organizations from six European countries is working on another concept involving video monitoring of public spaces. It’s called the SUBITO project, for Surveillance of Unattended Baggage and the Identification and Tracking of the Owner, and it’s intended to do pretty much what the name suggests. Installed in existing security camera systems at places such as airports or train stations, the software will identify baggage that has been left unattended, and that could therefore possibly contain an explosive device. It will then search back to identify the person who deposited that baggage, then follow them forward through various cameras to establish their present location.

A project such as this involves a number of technical challenges. One of these is the development of facial recognition software that can establish someone’s identity based on one camera’s shot, then proceed to recognize that same face in other shots. Behavioral algorithms are likewise being developed, to help the system guess where a person was heading, should it visually lose track of them in a crowd. The system is also being taught to recognize an individual’s gait, so it can recognize them simply by the way they walk.

Other applications being implemented include carried object detection and dual-background static object detection. SUBITO will additionally utilize “threat analysis algorithms” to identify potentially critical situations based not only on the presence of abandoned baggage, but also on the placement of people and other objects within the environment.

...and if all of this sounds just a little too Orwellian to you, rest assured that a study of the legal and ethical ramifications of the technology are a key part of the project.

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