A new camera from the University of Michigan promises to prevent companies from obtaining potentially embarrassing or identifiable photos and videos of consumers from their smart devices — such as home cameras and robotic vacuums, for instance.

PrivacyLens, which was developed by a team of University of Michigan engineers, relies on a standard video camera in combination with a heat-sensing camera that detects people in images based on their body temperature. Once the person is detected, the device will replace the person's likeness with a generic stick figure. According to the device’s developer, the stick figure’s movements will mirror those of the person it is “standing in for,” all without revealing their identity.

Source: Brenda Ahearn, Michigan Engineering

"Most consumers do not think about what happens to the data collected by their favorite smart home devices. In most cases, raw audio, images and videos are being streamed off these devices to the manufacturers' cloud-based servers, regardless of whether or not the data is actually needed for the end application," the researchers explained.

As such, the developers are suggesting that their device might make patients more comfortable with in-home remote monitoring for chronic health issues, for instance, thereby protecting patient privacy.

The device is detailed in the article, “PrivacyLens: On-Device PII Removal from RGB Images using Thermally-Enhanced Sensing,” which appears in the journal Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies.