Engineers at the University of Michigan have developed a camera technology called PrivacyLens, designed to enhance privacy by preventing the capture and dissemination of identifiable images and videos from smart devices.
How PrivacyLens Works?
PrivacyLens combines a high-resolution video camera and a thermal imaging camera to detect and anonymize people in the footage. The hardware components include:
NVIDIA Jetson Nano: A powerful computing platform for running image processing algorithms.
Raspberry Pi Camera (RaspiCam): Captures high-definition video at 1920x1080 resolution and 60 frames per second.
FLIR Lepton 3.5: A thermal camera that captures heat signatures at 160x120 resolution and 8 frames per second.
The RaspiCam captures standard digital video, while the FLIR Lepton 3.5 detects body heat to identify people in the frame. The NVIDIA Jetson Nano processes the images, replacing the detected person with a generic stick figure that mimics their movements. This ensures that devices using the camera can continue functioning without revealing the identity of the person in view.
Applications and Benefits
PrivacyLens addresses the growing concern over privacy with smart devices, such as home cameras and robotic vacuums, which often upload raw footage to cloud servers. By anonymizing individuals before any data is stored or transmitted, PrivacyLens eliminates the risk of private moments being leaked online.
In addition to enhancing privacy for smart home devices, PrivacyLens has potential applications in healthcare. Cameras equipped with PrivacyLens can monitor patients' health and fitness at home without compromising their privacy. The device can help track daily activities, detect falls, and monitor exercise habits while ensuring that no identifiable information is captured or shared.
PrivacyLens offers users control over their privacy settings. A sliding privacy scale allows users to adjust the level of anonymization, from blurring faces to completely replacing bodies with stick figures. This flexibility makes users more comfortable with having cameras in their homes, as they can choose the level of privacy they prefer for different areas of their homes.
With PrivacyLens, the future of smart devices looks much safer and more secure, providing valuable functionality without compromising user privacy.
