Mama, just
killedhit a man, Put a gun against his head, Pulled my trigger, now he’s dead.
Mama, life had just begun, But now I’ve gone and thrown it all away…
This latest piece of half-art / half-prototype from one of our favorite hacker-artists [vtol] is a billy club equipped with a GSM-module. It automatically sends an SMS to your mother with the text: “Mom, I hit a man.” He calls it the Antenna:
The idea of the project is to create a device which strictly controls the cruelty of police. As all the standard methods of control are ineffective, this project suggests the maternity as the last stronghold of human kindness and responsibility.
An Arduino is equipped with a piezo sensor to detect impact, and a GSM shield takes care of the texting. It’s an interesting concept, similar to requiring police officers to wear body cameras. You can debate the practicality, but we’re always interested in hearing about weapons monitoring tech concepts. One of our favorites has always been the DNA gun from (Judge) Dredd. Did you know there was an Internet Movie Firearms Database? But we digress, check out [vtol’s] demo video:
Speaking of those body cameras — [vtol] also made an 8-bit photo gun not so long ago…
And since Bohemian Rhapsody is now stuck in your head (you’re welcome) here’s that little ditty:
so… where is the arduino GSM molotov cocktail and brick that messages if thrown?
with accelerometer instead of a piezo, this would be no effort to do.
but how do you get the mob to only use this kind of weapons?
I’m imagining a bomb that tweets “allahu akbar” when triggered. Feel a little bad for laughing.
Ooooo. I have an even BETTER idea!
Since driving a vehicle in the US is a privilege, not a right, we should make everyone install front, side, and rear cameras on their cars! Those cameras can all dump live video to the internet. And since we are already streaming data, we should grab live telemetry from the OBD2 while we are at it too right? That way no one will be able to speed without the whole world knowing about it!
OH I know, we can force everyone to get an RFID implant too, and put readers in every doorway! I hear that some people trespass or cut school these days. I bet this would stop them in their tracks!
Will it cost billions of dollars? Probably! But we can’t let that fraction of a percent of people who disobey the rules get away with it can we? Hell no! Let’s make it harder for EVERYONE to go about their lives/jobs just because we don’t understand that there will always be a FEW people who will ruin it for everyone else!
YEAH!
Pretty sure the cops in ole usa who swing their batons with abandon would just cover them in tinfoil.
Can see it now…. tinfoil covered club coming down on tinfoil covered head.
Buying shares in tinfoil now.
Too bad there isn’t much tinfoil anymore. Better invest in aluminum. (yeah, I am that guy ;P)
Controlling citizens or checking the work of state officers, who have the right to use corporal force and kill, are two different things.
Because moving a single notch along a spectrum between absolute maximum and absolute minimum with nearly infinite discrete values along the way is EXACTLY the same as if it were just a binary scale.
Oooooo we can’t have the slightest move in the Direction I Don’t Like because who will stop those People I Disagree With from doing Things I Disagree With.
“The idea of the project is to create a device which strictly controls the cruelty of police. As all the standard methods of control are ineffective, this project suggests the maternity as the last stronghold of human kindness and responsibility.”
What does that statement say to you?
Something like “All police need to be under constant surveillance by every civilian, because Internal Affairs can’t do a good enough job at reigning in all their aggression” maybe?
My comment was intended to be ridiculous.
I realize that this guy is making an “art piece” but he is being intentionally antagonistic towards a group he is obviously prejudice against. If he ACTUALLY cared enough to make a difference, he would go get a badge himself and set a good example. Instead, he is taking pot shots over the internet at an easy target because he is too lazy or too much of a coward help fix the things he is complaining about.
How about it [vtol]? Why don’t you put your money where your mouth is and set us a stellar example of what law enforcement should be?
Yes it’s a silly art project, but are you saying that police brutality happens because cops just don’t have good examples to follow? Are you saying that a good role model wouldn’t end up Serpico”d?
What color is the sky in your world?
Do find yourself standing on the shore and throwing ice cubes into the sea, expecting the sea to freeze over very often?
Ever hear of the “thin blue line” which doesn’t translate into “the thin blue line that we stand for that protects the citizens” as much as “the UNION that protects the police from being punished for excessive force and abuse of power”? .
And IA? You mean cops that are supposed to discipline cops!? Only in places that have forces big enough to even have IA.
Given typical outcries of those with mortal injuries, it’d probably be better if it called the victim’s mother.
People tend to complain a LOT less when they are dead. Did you perhaps mean WITHOUT mortal injuries?
“Excuse me sir, but I am about to hit you in the head multiple times with this, ahn, device. Can you please give me the phone number of your mother, so it can automatically send her a message about it?”
I don’t think this is going to happen.
Vtol.cc has a lot of weird projects, and this is just one more. This is art, and my view on art is “like it or ignore it.”
actually this is the song that sprung to my mind http://youtu.be/fCkKx5B8OK4
Now add gps and force data. The ability to have “am I still connected” feedback and tamper proofing of anything logged on the device itself.
This might make for some interesting evidence in a court case if the data can be proven to be robust.
So how does it differentiate between a person and any other object? It would still theoretically send the message if they accidentally dropped it on the ground, or even go off if they used it to break open a car window to retrieve a baby locked inside…
Practical aspects aside, it is “art-hacking” project. Meh.
This is a really nice ideal. vtol is almost legend as digital/gadget artist.
I just love when art meets technology meets ideology/attitude.
The Antenna? Should be called The Tattletale. I’ll tell yer mum!
Or…
call it The Tattle Paddle!
Depends on the mother here, she might just text back, “Good Son, whip his ass!”
The U.S. is quickly becoming a police state. They use examples such as third world countries and even our closest allies, such as the U.K. as an example of “it’s not THAT bad” – yet they keep pushing towards being more like those places. The green to blue programs that are just now getting attention were pumping millions of dollars worth of battlefield ready gear into your neighborhoods to “keep you safe”. I’ve seen very few street gangs using MRAPs with gun ports and .50 cals on top. And that’s just the extreme militarization side of it. Things like “Nickel Rides” and “STOP RESISTING” and plain ol’ deadly force have been used for years, disproportionately against the poor and minorities since the beginning of policing in the U.S.. Now they are moving on to spying on your every move with ALPRs, stingrays, 24 hour aerial surveillance etc.
The DOJ and the states on down to local police are now treating everyone as if they are guilty until proven innocent, when it’s supposed to be the other way around. It’s gone from WE THE PEOPLE hired you to SERVE AND PROTECT to “we’ll do what ever we want, and don’t dare question it because we have untouchable power” and I don’t remember signing up for that…