Surveillance Speaker, 2018-2023

“Surveillance Speaker ” is an installation about surveillance and artificial intelligence. The artwork showcases in a critical way the latest breakthroughs in computer vision software.

“Surveillance Speaker” exists out of a camera, computer and speaker. Through the speaker we hear what the camera sees in a sentence that starts with “I see..”. For example: “I see 3 people in an exhibition watching paintings”. The audience can interact in a playful way how a computer can see. The Surveillance Speaker was exhibited in- and outdoor.

How do you look in the eyes of a surveillance camera that can speak?“

    if modus == 'auto':

        randomMovements()

        takePicture(imgPath)
        description, confidence = analyseImage(imgPath)

        if float(confidence) >= 0.500:
            textToAudio("I see " + description)

        if float(confidence) < 0.500:
            textToAudio("I think I see " + description)

        sleep(0.4)

Changelog of the installation:
v1. Release at FOMU Antwerp
v2. Added motor that can pan/tilt