X-Message-Number: 7505
Date: Wed, 15 Jan 1997 03:53:24 -0800
From: Kennita Watson <>
Subject: Re:  slow-motion detector

Joe Strout writes:
>Well, I recently got a QuickCam (cheap CCD camera) for my Mac, and wrote a
>little script that demonstrates this concept.  It takes an image every
>minute, and compares it to the image taken a minute ago.  It works just
>fine on normal activity, and though I haven't tried it sleeping yet, I am
>fairly confident it could be made to work quite reliably.  It could be
>easily modified as needed, and connected to some sort of "alarm" program
>(which could, for example, call the cryonics provider and play a recorded
>message).

This seems like a great idea to me.  A few questions occur to me:
How would it tell whether or not you're at home (when considering
reference images, include changes in lighting and poor housekeeping)?
Could I use a sensor small enough to bond to the back of my Alcor
bracelet to change the program mode?

How would you connect multiple cameras?  Certainly I don't know in
which room I might be when I have a heart attack or whatever.
I guess it would be OK if you needed multiple reference images,
or even multiple running instances of the program; multiple computers
is right out.

The idea could be turned around, or added to, such that the system
(assuming it _could_ tell when you were home) could call your pager
(or wherever) if the picture _did_ change.  You could even save such
anomalous photos for possible evidence.  If it could use a sensor
to tell which room you were in (like the active badges of Xerox PARC,
which, for example, allowed the system to ring the phone nearest you
if someone called), it could monitor to see if you were OK in bed
and if someone had broken into another room at the same time.

The whole setup seems like something you could get the Net, or even the
general public, to pay for -- so much so that I can hardly believe it
hasn't been done.  When you say you don't need a very powerful computer,
what do you mean?  Would a Mac Plus work?  I was thinking of disguising
the system as a planter (so thieves wouldn't take it), which is about
all a Plus is good for these days anyway.

>(It was pointed out that live people move in their sleep with fair
>regularity.)

BTW -- I think that's more like once every five to ten minutes than
once every minute -- and I'd imagine some of the motions involve, say,
scratching the nose and putting the hand back where it was (to within
the resolution of a QuickCam, anyway, especially if the motion is
under a thick blanket).  How light-sensitive is a QuickCam?  Remember
that if a sleeping room is "too light" (sorry, no numbers), the pineal
gland gets confused and melatonin levels and sleep cycles are disrupted.

Hmm -- fortunately I own no animals.

Anyhow, back to the point -- it's a nifty idea, and worth pursuing.
It's good to see people working on projects like this.

Thanks,
Kennita





Kennita Watson    | The bond that links your true family is not one of blood,
| but of respect and joy in each other's life.   Rarely do
                  | members of the same family grow up under the same roof.
                  |                            -- Richard Bach, _Illusions_


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