Electronic surveillance

DIY Surveillance Tool Lets You Spy On Conversations By Making Them GIFs

Danish design agency Rebel Agency partnered with Great Works CPH to develop a new DIY spy kit which turns recorded conversations into GIFs. Stemming from the premise that if the government and other platforms have access to surveillance tools then everyone should, they have created “I see U,” a surveillance gadget for mainstream use.

After assembling the device with the included Raspberry Pi 3, parabolic microphone, and touch screen, it is able to record the words of those it’s pointed at, and then use the transcript as search terms on the GIPHY database, a renowned GIF search engine. The result is a replica of the conversation made up entirely of related GIFS. In truth, it is quite difficult to discern the literal meaning of the conversation as the GIFS act only as a funny interpretation. “I see U” is not meant for the actual purpose of spying on others, but to raise awareness on the current issue privacy infringements pose on our society.