more on Implications of fast, automated 3-D mapping not considered

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Avideh Zakhor <avz () EECS Berkeley EDU>
Date: May 10, 2005 11:44:11 PM EDT
To: Bob Alberti <alberti () sanction net>
Cc: dave () farber net, avz () EECS Berkeley EDU
Subject: Re: Implications of fast, automated 3-D mapping not considered



Bob:

I am afraid you, and possibly others have mis-interpreted, and  
misunderstood what I said; or perhaps the comments were aired out of  
context.

Pehaps this clarifies it:

There are two things at stake here.

1. 3D models of cities which as I said can be used in many ways, game  
industry uses them, can be put on cell phones. These models are  
already available for sale by many companies and terrorists and non- 
terrorsits can pay money  to buy them.

Our research is concerned with ways of making these models much  
faster than previously known techniques: hours instead of weeks.

2. When I talk about " it could be a terrorist tool", it refers to  
the methodology of creating models in a fast way, not the models  
themselves.
I believe it is the methodology and the products that create the  
models that should NOT be in the wrong hands.

As for the models being on cell phones, their 2D version already is  
and their 3D version will be soon.


Avideh Zakhor


On Mon, 9 May 2005, Bob Alberti wrote:


> It was a typical technology segment on American Public Radio's "Future
> Tense" as U. C. Berkeley Professor Avideh Zakhor described the newly
> developed technology, sponsored by the Pentagon.
>
> http://www-video.eecs.berkeley.edu/~frueh/3d/
>
> Using cameras and distance-measuring lasers, a vehicle can drive  
> through a
> city at regular speeds, and produce a 3-D digital representation of  
> the
> city.  Presently at a ratio of 1:8 (one hour of recording requring  
> eight
> hours of image processing), it's not far from being able to generate
> real-time 3-D digital representations of real urban settings.
>
> Professor Zakhor enthusiastically speculated on its uses.  Military
> deployments.  3-D maps on your cell phone.  Video games using real  
> U.S.
> cities.
>
> Then came the shocker.  About 2 minutes into the Future Tense program,
> (available for RealPlayer at http://tinyurl.com/dctc6 ) host Jon  
> Gordon
> asked Professor Zakhor, "It could be a terrorist tool, right?  Is  
> this a
> technology that should be limited in its export or distribution?"
>
> "That's a very interesting question," replied Professor Zakhor,  
> "One that I
> hadn't thought about up until this point." She quickly stated that  
> this
> technology, which she previously suggested be put into cell phones  
> and video
> games, be somehow limited in its distribution to those  
> organizations that
> would not abuse it.
>
> Academia sometimes receives undeserved criticism rap for being out- 
> of-touch
> with the real world, but in Professor Zakhor's case, the criticism is
> well-deserved. How distracted must one be to produce a technology,  
> that can
> threaten everything from personal privacy to national security,  
> without ever
> considering what some of the ramifications of that technology might  
> be?
>
> Bob Alberti, CISSP, President                        Sanction, Inc.
> Phone: (612) 486-5000 ext 211                         PO Box 583453
> http://www.sanction.net                         Mpls, MN 55458-3453
>
> "They SAY that your network is secure, but how can you be certain?"


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