Noisy CCTV
20 June 2001

The security camera that's better at thief-catching because it's ear-catching.

This new closed circuit TV camera makes itself almost impossible to resist looking at, and so guarantees the police a full face image of a potential criminal every time. It does this by emitting a 'broadband' noise which is triggered when someone passes by. Broadband noise comprises a simultaneous range of frequencies. It’s this range of frequencies which gives the brain enough information to pinpoint from where the sound is coming.

The part of the brain which reacts to broadband noise is the superiorcolliculus which humans share with most other animals. As soon as the superiorcolliculus is alerted to broadband noise, it instinctively locates the precise source and triggers a physical movement towards it. Broadband noises occur frequently in nature (for example a snapping twig or rustling leaves). They are sounds that animals need to be able to pinpoint in order to avoid predators. Broadband noises key in to our instinct to survive.

Tests done with 'narrowband' sound did not generate full face images because the brain cannot glean enough information from the small range of frequencies to locate the source; people either ignore the sound or look in another direction. Inventor, Professor Deborah Withington of Leeds University, also discovered that people about to embark on a crime are very agitated and anxious. She has demonstrated in tests that these types of people are even more susceptible to responding to broadband noise, because they are on alert for just that type of sound.

Additional Information

• Sound Alert
  Justin MacDonald
  The Unit 2 Taurus Park
  Europa Boulevard
  Warrington
  WA5 5YT
  Tel: 01925 446139
  Fax: 01925 446139
  alison_parsons@soundalert.co.uk