Watching with intent

Rutkin discusses the uses of surveillance cameras. Among other things, smart cameras aren't just useful for surveillance. At iniLabs in Zurich, Switzerland, engineers have used IBM's TrueNorth chip--designed to mimic neurons at work in the brain--to power a vision sensor that behaves like the human retina, responding only to changes in light levels. The technology is far more efficient because image processing only kicks in when something interesting happens. That makes it useful for long-running research experiments or power-hungry devices. And another device about to launch, Vidalife, is designed to capture memorable moments around the home. When it senses a human interaction happening before the camera, it makes a recording and saves it for posterity