US scientists invent digital camera blocking device

Photographers should avoid throwing out their film cameras just yet as US scientists have developed a technology that can block recording of digital images.

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have built a prototype device that can block digital-camera function.

The device has been developed ostensibly to aid development of anti-piracy products for the film industry.

However, according to the developers, commercial versions of the technology could be used by camera-shy industries, or in areas sensitive to publicity, to prevent video or still digital images being taken.

Gregory Abowd, an associate professor leading the project, said:

"We're at a point right now where the prototype we have developed could lead to products for markets that have a small, critical area to protect."

Mr Abowd said the product could prevent espionage photography in government buildings, industrial settings or trade shows.

The device uses visible light and cameras to find charge-coupled devices (CCDs), the images sensors used in digital cameras.

Once detected, it then flashes a thin beam of light directly at the CCD to overwhelm the camera and render the recorded image unusable.

Mr Abowd added that, because image sensors in most mobile phones and digital cameras are placed close to the lens, it makes them easier to spot than the deeper-set sensors of video cameras.

Despite being a sophisticated system, it may never actually work against single-lens-reflex cameras (SLRs), as they use a folding-mirror viewing system that masks the CCD except when a photograph is actually being taken.

Nor would the device work on conventional film cameras because they do not have an image sensor.

Researchers say that energy levels used to neutralise digital cameras would be low enough to preclude any health risks to the operator.

Commercial systems might even use invisible infrared lasers and photo-detecting transistors to scan for cameras in confined areas.

Georgia Tech and Mr Abowd’s own company DominINC are developing the fledgling technology in the US.

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