baby cam

[Margaret Fleck]

So, I'm guessing that everyone on this list has seen a blurb on the following
project:

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4987880.stm

Thinking about what a relatively small set of fixed-position cameras and mics
is likely to capture, or not capture, one could easily write this off as primarily an
exercise in systems computing and terabyte storage management.   However, eventually
someone is going to attempt something similar with more plausible recording technology.

My question is:   am I the only person who finds this creepy and how did they get
this past human subjects review?

The big thing that worries me is the pressure to keep the baby and eventually
the toddler cooped up in the house.   Not out in the garden where they can't
record.   Not out at the book store or restaurants with Mom and Dad.   Not at
playgroups or daycare.

And cooped up, moreover, in a house where everyone has had to consent being recorded,
there's strong pressure to mind what they say and do, take their adult conversations into
another room, turn off the stereo, etc.   This kind of strange half-life makes sense
for a traditional hour-long recording session, but who could live that way all the time?
Doesn't the baby belong at the family dinner table, where Daddy is complaining about
what his colleagues said at the faculty meeting?

Margaret
    (Margaret Fleck, U. Illinois, Computer Science)