But in a world obsessed with privacy and militating against technologies that allow intruders to scoop around our personal lives and catch us on camera in no matter what contexts, how successful can another spying device become? Enter the new Peek – I lens, a small lens that can be magnetically attached to a smartphone camera allowing the user to take pictures of a person without being noticed by the “victim”.
How can this happen? It is easy: the new Peek – I lens works like a periscope, being able to spin at 360 degrees to take pictures at any angle and to reflect the image at a 90 degree angle, eliminating the drill of reaching out your arm, focus the image and push the button to take the pic. With this small spying gadget you can pretend you picture something else in the surroundings while covertly capturing your sweet, spontaneous child’s play without spoiling your intentions.
If you think somebody will notice you have some gizmo attached to your phone’s camera, don’t worry: the lens is small enough to pass unnoticed: it measures only 0.79 x 0.6 x 0.2-inches and looks stylish enough to be mistaken for some extra smartphone decoration.
The new Peek – I lens comes from an Indiegogo crowd funded project that exceeded its initial funding threshold, thus answering to the question about its future success on the market. Those who wondered about the utility of the lens on plastic cases need not to worry, as the developers announced recently that the ones concerned with smartphones’ plastic bodies not being compatible with the new Peek – I lens will
receive a a magnetically charged metal ring that could be attached to your phone with a sticky side.
Turning your smartphone into a spying device is not a new idea, as there is at least another similar project out there which allows users to snap photos of unknowing victims without disclosing their intentions. The COVR Photo is an iPhone 5 (and 5S) case that also relies on periscope features and which allows you to keep your phone in a flat position in your hand (like you would read a text message or look for somebody in the contacts list) and still take photos of people or objects in front of you.
Having these new gizmos available sooner than expected (the new Peek – I lens is expected to be delivered this month), the world might split in two combating factions: the ones using the available devices to have fun and not hurt anybody and the ones fearing their own shadow as, at some point, we won’t be able to tell friend from foe and let’s be honest: everybody is holding a phone in their hands!