Beam Me Up Scottie!

Posted by Rory on Jul 11, 2011 in Blog | 0 comments

Just when you thought every possible use of a mobile phone had been thought of, engineers in Japan have created a mobile phone that could be the perfect solution for prying bosses wanting to keep tabs on the movements of their staff.

I’ve always been interested to hear about new innovations or new uses for mobile technology. This one though (technically speaking), is a real gem!

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

Identifying everyday activities

It works by analysing the movement of ‘accelerometers’, devices found within many handsets. Everyday activities such as walking, climbing stairs or even cleaning can be identified from the data the researchers claim. KDDI has announced plans to sell the service to clients such as managers, supervisors and employment agencies, though the possibilities for this technology are mind boggling.

Up until now, mobile phone motion sensors were capable of detecting only generalised repetitive movements, such as walking or running, but the KDDI phone, is able to detect more complex behaviours by using analytical software held on a remote server. For example, say KDDI, a mobile phone strapped to a cleaning worker’s waist can tell the difference between actions performed such as scrubbing, sweeping, walking an even emptying a rubbish bin.

Analysing staff behaviour

According to a KDDI spokesman “We are now at a stage where we can offer managers a chance to analyse more closely the behaviour of staff.”

Now is it just me, or is there something a little sinister going on here? Sure, I can see some potential benefits in specific situations – like the medical profession for monitoring patients, or even in places like the prison service – but for the average office worker I’m not so sure…

Surely as a responsible employer we should be using trust, respect and encouragement to motivate our staff rather than snooping on their every movement? It hardly engenders confidence in either employer or employee!

Human rights

In response to some initial human rights protests KCCI were quick to respond: “This is not about curtailing employees’ rights to privacy. We’d rather like to think our creation more of a caring, mothering system rather than a Big Brother approach to watching over citizens.”

Will these phones ever catch on in the UK? Somehow, I doubt it!

Anyway, it’s new technology so I’d like to get hold of one of these phones to check it out. As soon as it’s linked up to the server back at HQ I think I’ll head off to play some darts, then a little tennis and finally a swim.

Then tonight…..if I’m in the mood for romance…

Let’s just see what the clever phone will make of that!