Multimedia Phantoms And A/V Ghosts

[Image: Courtesy FakeTV: The Burglar Deterrent].

Just a quick note that I’ve got an article up over at New Scientist about how a “fear of crime and a desire to prevent burglary are transforming the domestic interior into an uninhabited multimedia environment, an immersive videodrome playing randomised loops that can be mistaken for human behaviour.”

Check it out if you get the chance.

Among other things, the piece looks at various new tools designed specifically to make your home appear inhabited when it is not; these include the so-called FakeTV, which is basically exactly what it sounds like, as well as an album that describes itself as a collection of “hundreds of professionally recorded interior house sounds to give the realistic impression that someone is at home.” It’s the brave new world of home protection audio.

That kicks off a new monthly column for New Scientist exploring “how technology and design are changing our cities, homes, the built environment—and ourselves.”