China has begun rolling out new surveillance software capable of recognising people simply by the way that they walk.
中国开始推出新型监控软件,它只需要监测人们走路的方式就能识别个人身份。
The "gait recognition" technology, developed by Chinese artificial intelligence firm Watrix, is capable of identifying individuals from the shape and movement of their silhouette from up to 50 metres away, even if their face is hidden.
这种“步态识别”技术是由中国人工智能公司银河水滴科技公司(Watrix)研发的。即使行人的面部被遮住了,它也可以根据50米以内行人影子的形状和活动识别个人身份。
The system is currently being used by police in Beijing and Shanghai and adds to the country's formidable surveillance network that includes an estimated 170 million CCTV cameras.
目前北京和上海警方已经在使用这套系统,而且它还被装入中国强大的监控网络中,可以覆盖近1.7亿个监控摄像头。
The software can be used on footage from standard surveillance cameras, however it does not currently work in real-time. Instead, the footage is analysed once it is recorded, which takes approximately 10 minutes.
该软件可以监测标准监控摄像头的连续镜头,不过它并非即时生效,而是通过分析纪录下来的影像来得出结果,这需要大约10分钟的时间。
"You don't need people's cooperation for us to be able to recognise their identity," Watrix CEO Huang Yongzhen said.
“你不需要行人配合我们就可以识别他们的身份,”银河水滴科技公司总裁黄永祯说道。
"Gait analysis can't be fooled by simply limping, walking with splayed feet or hunching over, because we're analysing all the features of the entire body."
“步态分析不会被简单的跛行、外八字或弓着腰走路所蒙蔽,因为我们分析的是整个身体的特点。”
Previous surveillance initiatives include a so-called "spy bird" programme that uses dove-like drones to monitor populations from the skies.
先前的监控方案还有一种被称为“间谍鸟”的程序,它可以通过像鸽子一样的无人机来从空中监控人群。
China is also in the process of introducing a controversial "social credit system", aimed at reinforcing the idea that "keeping trust is glorious and breaking trust is disgraceful", according to a government document.
据中国政府的一份文件指出,中国还在引入一种备受争议的“社会信用体系”,旨在加强人们“守信光荣,失信可耻”的观念。
Set to be fully operational by 2020, the programme ranks citizens by their behaviour – such as parking violations and jaywalking – in order to determine who is most worthy of the best social housing and schooling for their children.
该方案计划于2020年全面实施,通过市民违规停车或乱穿马路等行为来为其排名,以此判断谁更值得为孩子选择最好的社会福利住房和学校。