Cameras Embedded In pavement Markings--Used In U.S. For Past Three Years !!!
There's an interesting twist I discovered to a story that's been going around the blogs. That story was about cameras embedded in flush-mounted dots (or "catseyes") in the road. E.g. according to a May 13, 2004 New York Times article: Now, after perfecting illuminated markers that are embedded in the road surface to guide motorists through bad weather or warn of dangerous conditions, Mr. Dicks's company, Astucia Traffic Management Systems, is going a step further. Its latest creation is an embedded stud equipped with a camera that catches speeders, monitors traffic for criminals or stolen cars and even checks for bald tires on the fly.
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The cameras (the system can use either normal or infrared sensors) provide remarkably detailed images, according to Mr. Dicks. "You can clearly see everything underneath a vehicle, although I'm not sure why you'd want to do that," he said.
The police, however, are likely to be interested in seeing the license plates of vehicles traveling above the speed limit or through red lights. To that end, Astucia has developed a system that is operating on a highway in Scotland. It employs three embedded cameras to give front, rear and side views of passing vehicles. Other embedded sensors project two infrared beams over the road that are used to time traffic and determine its speed. The images and the speed data travel under the road by cable to a computer.
The photo below from an Astucia brochure shows how similar "intelligent road studs" are embedded in pavement:
The twist that's underreported is that this is evidently not a new technology, and has been in use in the U.S. for at least three years. According to a June 20, 2001 BBC story: A British firm has pioneered a camera which is hidden in a catseye and is hoping it will eventually replace conventional cameras.
The catseye cameras, developed by Kent-based firm Astucia, are already in use in America and south-east Asia.
Despite this, the only mention anywhere on Astucia website of the camera studs is a 2004 conference announcement, which pretends the technology is new: ...new exciting Astucia Traffic Management Suite of products, including the new Camera and Detector Studs
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