Pro tips needed: ethnography / design research using pragmatic tools

October 11, 2012 6:49 PM

Hidden cameras or microphones - on the go, or installed for long term capture. What are your pro tips?

So, I've done plenty of research here and elsewhere, and was wondering if any of you all have used these tools, practically, in similar or other contexts. For your reference, I'm looking to use these for ethnography, design research, and knowledge management.

I'm looking to (1) capture movements of people through spaces (public or private) over time for research or visual analysis. Think William Whyte.

Or (2) capture footage when walking through a site efficiently for reference, without being encumbered by a device that is clunky, inconvenient, or otherwise non-graceful in use. Think James Bond if he were in ethnography.

It seems there are a wide array of options for this: hunting cameras?! who knew? And yet I hugely recognize the best strategies have likely been figured out by people who have worked with this equipment.

My criteria, then, would be:
1. Set it and forget it
2. Subtlety so I can observe a site without influencing behavior.
3. Decent resolution for editing into digestible bits for research review.

Thanks in advance! I'll be more than happy to share my knowledge while going through this process.

posted by pearl228 to Technology (1 answer total)

They have GSM cameras, you can control it remotely via cell phone, or it can be set to be motion activated and will text you when someone walks by. You just need to get a pay as you go sim card to put in it. It sends you a picture text, or you can set it to save the photos to a micro sim that can be downloaded later
posted by udon at 6:34 AM on October 12, 2012