Japan: Mobile phone allows boss to snoop(keep track of body movements)

BBC ^ | 03/07/10 | Michael Fitzpatrick

[TigerLikesRooster]

Mobile phone allows boss to snoop

By Michael Fitzpatrick, Tokyo

Researchers have produced a mobile phone that could be a boon for prying bosses wanting to keep tabs on the movements of their staff.

Japanese phone giant KDDI Corporation has developed technology that tracks even the tiniest movement of the user and beams the information back to HQ.

It works by analysing the movement of accelerometers, found in many handsets.

Activities such as walking, climbing stairs or even cleaning can be identified, the researchers say.

The company plans to sell the service to clients such as managers, foremen and employment agencies.

"Technically, I think this is an incredibly important innovation," says Philip Sugai, director of the mobile consumer lab at the International University of Japan.

[TigerLikesRooster]

From a blog on this same topic:

Cellphone Checks If Employees Goofing Off

Posted on March 7th, 2010 by Akky Akimoto

KDDI R&D Laboratory, a subsidiary of Japan’s No.2 phone company KDDI Corporation, developed a technology to know cellphone holder’s actions remotely, by using data from acceleration sensor embedded on cellphones.

photo by Daily Portal Z – “How to sleep at office”

Until now, cellphone motion sensor could only detect holder’s repetitive movement like walking or running. This time, combined with the back-end analytical server, it realizes to detect more complex behaviours.

For example, room cleaning, where several different motions like “bloom”, “walk” and “using dustpan” are done in random order, can be found out by matching acceleration patterns.

At the beginning, users under the supervision are also requested to record what they do on daily reports online. As the feature quantity of each task’s motion is accumulated, detection will be more accurate, then the system will be able to tell what the employee is doing only by equipped cellphone.

The release says, “This technology will make central monitoring possible with workers at several different locations.” It is pervasive supervisory by hi-tech.

Finding out goof-off employees seems to be a managers’ dream. (Probably not only in Japan, though I suspect more Japanese bosses love it) There were products to monitor trucks in 2002 [J] and drivers by cellphone in 2007 [J]. Sales persons became targets by cellphone GPS in 2002 [J].

But do the managers notice, if their current task is only to keep watching his/her people, supervising task will be also automated soon?

[TigerLikesRooster]

P!

[umgud]

Big brother at the gov’t level will usually be preceeded by the private sector.

[ShadowAce]

[NaughtiusMaximus]

How will the “snoop” report its new position at the bottom of the office toilet?

[Chickensoup]

“Technically, I think this is an incredibly important innovation,” says Philip Sugai, director of the mobile consumer lab at the International University of Japan.
...

...in the reinstitution of slavery...

[Still Thinking]

1) Why the hell would a cell phone need accelerometers? (The article says they're already in there) It's not like a hard drive, where the drive or the laptop it's in can tell if it's been dropped and park the heads before it hits the ground.

2) I envision an app being written (like the first day) for the phones to replay recorded motions back to the system. I'd write one even if I wasn't goofing off just to screw them over for being asshats. Shoot, if the accelerometers get sensitive enough, maybe they can distinguish extension of the middle finger.

[BigCinBigD]

The Japanese are just as crazy today as they were 70 years ago. Only this time it’s telephones instead of Zeros.

[Still Thinking]

Hard to blow up a carrier with a cell phone. So far, at least.

[Joe 6-pack]

"How will the “snoop” report its new position at the bottom of the office toilet?"

Eventually they will be implanted in your chest cavity.

[BigCinBigD]

Give them time...

[Tijeras_Slim]

Yeah, be prepared for the “Bataan Texting March” and the “Tweeting of Nanking”.

[Ditto]

Why the hell would a cell phone need accelerometers?

Ever see an I-phone or some of the others where you can hold the phone either horizontally or vertically, and it will adjust the screen aspect ration for either? It the accelerometer that tell the phone if it is vertical or horizontal. The I-phone even has an app where you can use it as a level.

[CholeraJoe]

A similar medical device about the size of a watch, called an Actigraph can be used to detect Periodic Limb movement during sleep and analyze the data for abnormalities commonly seen in sleep disorders like narcolepsy, sleep apnea and restless legs syndrome.

The phones should be able to tell when the wearer is asleep on the job, or not wearing the phone.

[Still Thinking]

Yeah, I guess they would need it for that. I’m thinking of my cellphone cellphone, which I use to make calls and text people.

[Still Thinking]

Is there a manual function where you can choose portrait or landscape mode if you’re holding the phone horizontal or close to it?

[Ditto]

Is there a manual function where you can choose portrait or landscape mode if you’re holding the phone horizontal or close to it?

Not that I'm aware of. As you turn the thing to a horizontal position, it automatically turns the image horizontal as well.

[ThomasThomas]

A device to move the phone in the needed manor to make the boss happy will be on the market soon.

[Ditto]

I’m thinking of my cellphone cellphone, which I use to make calls and text people.

That's all I carry as well, and I am not even overjoyed with that albeit it does come in handy at times.

But I have a number of friends with I-phones, and the technology and number of applications they can put in that little gadget is vrey impressive. They can even surf the web with it, which has settled a number of bar bets. ;~))

[TigerLikesRooster]

Good for geeks. First make body monitor cell phone and then make one to beat it.

A kind of making a cannon that can blast existing armor and then turn around to make a new armor which can beat it.:-)