Smart Microphones
From Business 2.0 via CNN Money.com:
Another approach that computer processing (the smarts) can exploit is analyzing sound. It is an interesting idea and so far the most notable is the gunshot detection systems.
Sound has a number of advantages including its cheaper (a high quality camera is $500, a high quality microphone is $50) and audio takes less bandwidth. Here are a couple of potential uses:
Sure, intelligent software can examine hours of security video footage and, say, try to recognize intruders, but it’s far easier to train a computer to listen for the sound of breaking glass.
A guard at a bank of screens can’t always monitor the right one. Listening algorithms can filter out the air-conditioning and hear a door opening in an abandoned corridor. By triangulating the sounds of footsteps, the software can then tell security cameras where to point.
Listening devices can monitor how efficiently office space is put to use. If a spare conference room is filled with hubbub less than once a week, it might be time to turn it into a cube farm.
I think its a great idea and I wonder if more vendors will consider implementing smart microphones. While there are legal issues with government use of microphones in surveillance, there is no reason it can’t be used by private parties for lots of different applications.
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