Police in Britain are conducting trials on a small battery-powered, radio-controlled helicopter called the Microdrone that comes with a camera and a loudspeaker. The manufacturer's demonstration video points out that the copter works as a peeping tom device. (Not that the police would ever misuse it.)
It's battery powered, so it's quieter -- apparently at 350 feet it is rarely noticed from the ground -- but more limited in terms of performance. Although it might seem flimsy, the video shows how stable it is in flight. It is said to be quite rugged and can return to base even if it loses two of its four rotor blades. One unusual feature is a speaker so that police can give instructions to those on the ground.LinkThe video ... contains some footage shot from a Microdrone, which gives an impressive display of its powers. Zooming in on a sunbather in a bikini as a demonstration is not likely to allay fears about how intrusive this technology might be. And the ability to hover outside a window and peer in is one which is equally open to use and abuse.
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"In the far distance a helicopter skimmed down between the roofs, hovered for an instant like a bluebottle, and darted away again with a curving flight. It was the police patrol, snooping into people's windows." - George Orwell, 1984
I think that if you have a back yard with an opaque fence or shrubbery around it, you should be able to do whatever you like in that back yard without worrying that some pervert at the NRO is ogling you.
A point that's been made by others is that yes, if you leave your blinds open, someone walking past can see inside your home, but all they take away with them is a memory. That's a lot different than that image being recorded for posterity, databased, posted on YouTube, etc.
Our friends, the Toclafane . . .
Right, now the right to privacy, whether legal or just plain commonsense, have-a-fucking-sense-of-decency-and-stop-looking-in-my-window, no longer extends to your home or your yard.
And as we all know, all police officers and officials are upstanding and law-abiding, so there's no potential for abuse here.
This could be awesome if it was a mini AIR WOLF, complete with heat-seeking missiles that kiss, not kill, and is flown by a tiny bear dressed as a clown.
Until that happens, ill stick with my gut and say it's lame and a violation of my nude sunbathing.
Welcome to city 17.
These things remind a little too much of the annoying camera bot things from the dystopia city in half-Life 2.
Sci-fi dystopia, here we come.
Can't wait to see one hovering around my neighborhood so I can shoot it out of the sky with my paintball gun.
Police chief (over UAV speaker): "Do not be alarmed...continue swimming naked...aw c'mon...continue!"
Let's hope the BBC get there hands on a few of these. Would be great for shooting wildlife documentaries. Sneaky, sneaky into the lion's den.
Aren't there already enough cameras in the UK? Pretty soon there will be more cameras than people.
My guess is they'll be informally referred to as 'target drones' in many communities.
I swear Atlanta, Georgia has something like a drone in the shape of a triangle. A friend & I saw it and it was too low and quiet to be an airplane.
"Zooming in on a sunbather in a bikini as a demonstration is not likely to allay fears about how intrusive this technology might be."
This of course begs the question: Can it tip in dollar bills?
(OK, it's Britain, so pounds or euros maybe)
I'll be doing This to my back garden then :)
Next step: Attaching machine guns to them and imbuing them with facial recognition abilities.