{"id":5742,"date":"2015-03-25T11:38:09","date_gmt":"2015-03-25T17:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.roughtype.com\/?p=5742"},"modified":"2015-03-25T16:40:17","modified_gmt":"2015-03-25T22:40:17","slug":"harmonic-surveillance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.roughtype.com\/?p=5742","title":{"rendered":"A symbiosis of surveillance"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"camera<\/a><\/p>\n

“Morals reformed\u2014health preserved\u2014industry invigorated\u2014instruction diffused\u2014public burthens lightened\u2014Economy seated, as it were, upon a rock\u2014all by a simple idea in Architecture!”\u00a0\u2014Jeremy Bentham<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“Could this spell the end for speeding tickets?” asks<\/a> Ford Motor Company’s UK arm as it introduces Intelligent Speed Limiter, an automotive system that\u00a0prevents drivers from speeding:<\/p>\n

The system monitors road signs with a camera mounted on the windscreen, and slows the vehicle as required. As the speed limit rises, the system allows the driver to accelerate up to the set speed \u2014\u00a0providing it does not exceed the new limit.<\/p>\n

\u201cDrivers are not always conscious of speeding and sometimes only becoming aware they were going too fast [sic] when they receive a fine in the mail or are pulled over by law enforcement,\u201d said Stefan Kappes, active safety supervisor, Ford of Europe. \u201cIntelligent Speed Limiter can remove one of the stresses of driving, helping ensure customers remain within the legal speed limit.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Register’s Simon Rockman fills in<\/a> the technical details:<\/p>\n

The Intelligent Speed Limiter combines current Ford technologies: the Adjustable Speed Limiter and Traffic Sign Recognition\u00a0…\u00a0At speeds of between 20mph and 120mph the system smoothly decelerates by restricting the fuel supplied to the engine, rather than applying the brakes. Should travelling downhill cause the vehicle to exceed the legislated speed an alarm is sounded.\u00a0The limiter also communicates with the on-board navigation system to help accurately maintain the appropriate maximum speed when distances between speed limit signs are greater, for example on long country roads.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Britain has, of course, been a leader in the automated enforcement of traffic laws, having installed\u00a0radar-equipped cameras pretty much everywhere. Intelligent Speed Limiter closes the loop between enforcing the law and obeying the law. One camera keeps tabs on you; another makes sure you stick to the straight and narrow. And that means\u00a0you can relax, like a baby in a Snugli.<\/p>\n

As Rockman explains, “the Ford tech is fighting automatic regulation with automatic adherence.” But “fighting” doesn’t seem like quite the right verb. It’s more of a warm, seamless, symbiotic embrace between surveillance and response, with the stress-inducing vagaries of personal\u00a0choice removed from the equation.\u00a0One can imagine all sorts of applications of such closed-loop enforcement systems as the internet of things becomes universal.<\/p>\n

Photo: Jon Lewis<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Morals reformed\u2014health preserved\u2014industry invigorated\u2014instruction diffused\u2014public burthens lightened\u2014Economy seated, as it were, upon a rock\u2014all by a simple idea in Architecture!”\u00a0\u2014Jeremy Bentham “Could this spell the end for speeding tickets?” asks Ford Motor Company’s UK arm as it introduces Intelligent Speed Limiter, an automotive system that\u00a0prevents drivers from speeding: The system monitors road signs with a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.roughtype.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.roughtype.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.roughtype.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.roughtype.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.roughtype.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5742"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.roughtype.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5757,"href":"https:\/\/www.roughtype.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5742\/revisions\/5757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.roughtype.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.roughtype.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.roughtype.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}