English helmet cameras going nationwide

In a blow for privacy advocates in England, the helmet cameras that were previously only being used in only in limited trials are now going nationwide. So all of the Police officers will now be sporting a camera attached to their heads. Again, why is the UK so obsessed with putting cameras on everything and everywhere? I can sort of see the usefulness of this, but it would seem to me that information overload would begin reducing the effectiveness of having cameras everywhere.

Via Engadet: England's helmet camera initiative to go countrywide

Parking attendants in the UK get head cameras

What is it with the UK and cameras? They have lip reading cameras, scolding cameras and now traffic warden cameras. It seems that scourge of littering and other "anti-social" behaviour is so prevalent, that traffic wardens are now being given the right to issue fines for "anti-social behaviour."

In order to back up the fines in court, traffic wardens are being issued head mounted cameras much like the cameras on police cruisers. So now when you are in England, not only are the cameras on every street corner watching and recording you, but so are all the traffic wardens. Can littering seriously be that much of a problem?

Via Manchester Evening News: 'Super wardens' go on patrol

Billboards that watch you watching them

You might remember sci-fi movie called Minority Report, that stared Tom Cruise. I personally didn't like the movie much, but it did have a lot of cool looking tech gadgets.
One of those was electronic billboards that would tailor their ads towards you if you looked at them. Well, a group of researchers from Queen's University in Ontario, Canada have brought us one step closer to that technology by developing a camera that can track eye movement from as far away as 10 meters. The camera is called the Eyebox2.
Roel Vertegaal the lead developer says, "it is good enough to let us know whether you are looking at a display or billboard or not," Which means that advertisers can theoretically now track what billboards will actually generate the most attention.

Check the article out at NewScientist: Tracking billboards could give you the eyeball

Lip reading surveillance cameras in the UK

The Home office of the UK is interested in creating a software system to read lips through the many surveillance cameras that blanket the UK. The UK already has the most extensive and intrusive system of surveillance cameras in the world. It is estimated that the total number of surveillance cameras in the UK is around 4 million. That is roughly 1 camera for every 14 people who live in the UK. Recently work was begun on upgrading many of those cameras to include speakers that will scold or shout at you if you break a law. Such as littering or jaywalking.
Now a British research team at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England is working on a computer system that will be able to lip read. The idea being, that not only suspicious behavior can be monitored through the cameras, but also suspicious speech.
While I could see a system like this being very useful in crime prevention, I'm not sure I would like it if the US was deploying the same type of thing here. It seems like this type of thing would be too much of a temptation for unscrupulous politicians. The potential for abuse here is very high. Of course, it is equally high for the current system that records everything on camera.

Electronic design article: Lip-Reading Technology Knows What You Said

Wikipedia article on the use of surveillance cameras around the world: Closed-circuit television