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Whenever I use the DK2 with UE4, the head tracker camera is working just fine even though the blue camera light is off.
The world today is very different than it was just couple of years ago. In case you haven't been keeping track of all the privacy violation news then webcams are pretty unsafe, and countless of examples of webcams being hacked exist. The American law enforcement even has a special program to take over webcams, without the webcam light being active!
I have no interest in having the Oculus webcam on top of my monitor, with a potential hacker watching me or some privacy right violating spy agency monitoring everything in my life and logging it into a database for "safe keeping". I physically unplug the camera and put it away when I don't use the rift.
It's only a question of WHEN the Oculus camera is hacked, not IF, and you'll end up seeing photos of some innocent girl or guy being leaked on reddit or 4chan or whatever. Then some time later we'll find out Oculus has a U.S. court ordered gag order enabling access to their systems via a backdoor. I mean this is the world we live in today. Nothing can be trusted and everything should be treated and malicious.
I'm sorry. I use my computer and internet knowing everything I type, browse and do is potentially monitored and logged. But I prefer not to be watched when I'm not using the computer. Having this "eye" on top of my monitor just creeps me out.
Already you have a Oculus employee stating that the camera can't see anything, and then you have developers that claim otherwise.
That's just one aspect of this all, personal privacy. Then when you put in the mix the attitude of all sorts of different countries towards "spy technology from america". At some point China will simply ban U.S. companies selling "webcams" in China, including Oculus Rift which uses a "webcam", albeit infrared, that won't matter. Then you'll see France, Germany follow suit. Already China has banned Windows 8 from government computers. In the near future this will ramp up.
The camera is risky business, not just for the potentially violated consumer, but also for Oculus itself if their product gets caught up in some privacy/spying/trade-war.
I don't think that's sufficient, to simply say to people "cover up the camera if you want privacy". There should be no potential to violate your privacy in the first place. With DK1 you didn't have to worry about this.
Also, what about the time when you're actually using the Rift and the camera is active, are you not entitled to privacy then?
And obviously, if you want to bring VR to mobile, then a distant camera won't do the tricky anyway.
Fair enough, it should only be able to capture as much as is necessary for the positional tracking to function.Unfortunately, I'm not educated enough on this matter to know what that entails. Is there a way to disable this sort of image capturing functionality without breaking the IR functionality? If so then Oculus needs to make those alterations immediately.
It's not entirely on Oculus to make your computer "safe". You've got to at least put in a little effort yourself. Look at me, I don't even have a webcam because of how vulnerable they are, even though my computer is pretty heavily protected and locked down. And I'm not pissing myself over the DK2's camera, I'll simply cover it up when I'm not using it.
Some of us would like to potentially integrate with the IR camera to track other points... I guess we can have our users put another camera on their desk ... But why not just reuse the one already hooked up?
Some people are concerned about what the Microsoft Kinekt sees too; but that camera is still able to see full color and IR. If you really want to be secure, disconnect the device when not in use... Or perhaps put a light filter in front of your IR camera that only allows the light from the headset through...
Tools: UE4, Blender, VS2013, PSP 4.12, Fre:ac
Well, it has been asked on this developer forum. A response from OVR:
viewtopic.php?f=26&t=10694#p139968
As this is a developer kit, doing things like this is what is expected... And if developers tie into the IR tracking for additional features, the CV1 might tout that it's IR tracker works with various accessories.
EDIT: Obviously, OVR's response was not an endorsement for using the IR camera for tracking additional accessories. I was merely pointing out that the question was asked and we were not told "No".
Tools: UE4, Blender, VS2013, PSP 4.12, Fre:ac
Tools: UE4, Blender, VS2013, PSP 4.12, Fre:ac
Plastic bags are a treat to privacy i am going to do a petition to make them illegal. I wait for your signature Paul33993
Tools: UE4, Blender, VS2013, PSP 4.12, Fre:ac
i just dont think they considered how many nutjobs there are on these forums. this kind of thing specifically gets me riled up. someone using weak evidence and a very obvious bias in their conjecture to try and 'poove' how easily something that just wont happen could happen. yes security is an issue. but if you think there is going to be a wave of people suddenly able to 'hack' into your infrared camera. when they dont do it to webcams that see regular light is just absurd. the few cases where someone has illegaly spied on someone has been somone gaining access or using access to a webcam they already had been given (like in the case of the school's IT guy spying on teenagers while they undressed this person had access to these laptops using a program they knew was on there when the students where given the laptops) piggybacking on a stream from a webcam in progress. (watching what you think is a private interaction as it happens because they are capturing it as it is sent) or just stealing video recording that you or another has made with the webcam.
anything more is baseless conjecture with little or no evidence.
expecially when the answer to this concern is so simple. first unplug it while its not in use, and second if its that much of an issue for you dont use it in the first place. its your loss, but stop faning the flames of psuedo scientific thinking
You have to remember that someone getting hacked isn't exactly front page news material unless they're famous.
more common than you might think? no, i know it is possible. and does happen. however just because while someone has access to someones webcam while they are in the system it doesnt mean they are interested in it. the vast majority of people getting into your system arent doing it to see your room. they want your files. or want to install a keylogger to get at your accounts. its like being concerned that the person robbing your house is going to drink your milk. i'm much more concerned about the cash, guns, and jewlery they just stole.
and the point most people are missing i think is that this has nothing to do with oculus or any other webcam producer. this is your computer that is being hacked into. not the webcam. invest in some decent web security, keep flash, javascript, windows, linux, and all your other programs up to date. and the chances of you getting hacked and virtually nil.
ok..lets go with that.
it takes something like 300 hours of film to make one hour of reality tv. this is assuming it is not a semiscripted or outright scripted program like most reality tv is.
even if you cut out half of it due to bad angles in that 150 hours of life. only fourty minutes of it is remotely exciting to view. and that is after the mundane stuff is snipped out to make everyone seem as crazy as possible (i was a low level assistant during the second season of big brother, trust met that shit is BORING though they have perfected the art of getting them drunk and goading them but thats probably one of the more 'realistic' reality shows) . honestly think about what you are doing while using your computer/laptop. assuming you are actually infront of the screen. how exciting will you typing or watching youtube be to a voyer? maybe they catch you watching porn. or undressing or something. and yes its creepy and a violation of your privacy. but its still not oculus to blame. all of these programs that let people into your computer are malicious bits of code that you unwittingly download. be it by clicking on a lick or downloading some file. or they are using a security risk from an outdated program with high level access to your pc. java, and flash and norton are the biggest. its not your camera, its your pc.
Let me rephrase my original question:
"Ignoring the implications for surveillance and privacy, what exactly is the DK2 Camera capable of seeing without any hardware modifications?"
You realize they could easily just tape it and fast forward to the interesting bits.
I thought you got an answer from the community here:
viewtopic.php?f=26&t=11385#p152510
The IR camera can take in light within the IR spectrum +/-. You might be able to get a more meaningful image than the one posted by lazydodo by processing the raw IR data differently.
Are you looking for an official answer from Oculus? If so, you might want to e-mail Ocululs support directly.
Tools: UE4, Blender, VS2013, PSP 4.12, Fre:ac
You're right, I have my answer already. I wrote that so that this thread I made won't become something it wasn't meant to be.
http://i.imgur.com/cwX7Nk7.jpg
If you're concerned about your privacy, cover it! And just to fan the flames, no the blue light on the Position Tracker did NOT light up when I was recording that picture.
Dave
This has to be one of the most hyped up and bizarre threads yet.
I think a bit of it comes from the first page where someone from Oculus said no images can be seen with this camera which was later proven false.
I'd say treat it like any other camera attached to your computer or other network-connected device: a very low "threat" for spying or whatever but in cases where you are concerned about such things, it's best to cover it or point it away from you.
For me that's not a big issue. I doubt I am at any real risk of having my webcam used to spy on me but at the same time, out of habit I just keep it pointed at the wall when I'm not using it. I'll probably get into the same habit with the Rift camera but for now, the odds are just so low and I'm not concerned enough to worry about it. In the end, it's still a camera hooked to your computer so treat it with the same concern (or lack thereof) that you would a webcam and things should be OK.
Or unplug it. Or do this...