CCTV cameras, drones or robots may soon be able to automatically track an individual as they move across a city, without needing to see their face.

Researchers from the University of Washington have created cameras that are able to track a specific individual as they move around an area.

The cameras give people numbers and a colour to identify them.

Networked cameras and a sophisticated algorithm allow the cameras to identify a person and follow their movements. The development could lead to even more sophisticated surveillance systems that may even be able to operate in a completely automated manner.

In one not at all worrying experiment, the researchers installed the tracking system on a robot and a drone, which were able to follow a person even when there were obstacles that blocked the person from view.

Lead researcher on the project Jenq-Neng Hwang said: “Our idea is to enable the dynamic visualization of the realistic situation of humans walking on the road and sidewalks, so eventually people can see the animated version of the real-time dynamics of city streets on a platform like Google Earth.”

In cities that are densely populated with surveillance cameras, the technology may allow big brother to snoop at whole new levels.

At present it does not work in real-time, but scientists are working on bringing the technology up to speed with moving data.

To work at present, the cameras record for a few minutes to gather data, which they can then analyse.

They then detect the difference in colour, texture and angle between the pair of cameras for those people who walk into the frames.

The algorithm is able to identify the differences between a pair of cameras, and is able to pick out the same people from different frames.

Hwang said: “Tracking humans automatically across cameras in a three-dimensional space is new. As the cameras talk to each other, we are able to describe the real world in a more dynamic sense.”

On privacy concerns Hwang said: “Cameras and recording won’t go away. We might as well take advantage of that fact and extract more useful information for the benefit of the community.”

Away from the potential surveillance possibilities that could see computers knowing where we are at all times and following out routines automatically, there are other potential uses for the technology.

The cameras may be able to provide advanced ways for people-management at large events, or help to locate missing persons from a large amount of camera footage.

There is also potential for it to be used within shops to determine particular customers’ movements and buying habits, and could presumably be combined with other data to produce detailed analysis of human behaviour.

Images courtesy of University of Washington.