# Is there any such surveillance tool as a lip reading camera? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 14, 2020, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-such-surveillance-tool-as-a-lip-reading-camera/853779 "2020-05-14T07:55:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-such-surveillance-tool-as-a-lip-reading-camera/853779/1 "2020-05-14T07:55:30Z")
Is there any such surveillance tool as a lip reading camera?If there is how surveillance is gathered from lip-reading and does masking impact that surveillance very much ? I look forward to your feedback ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-such-surveillance-tool-as-a-lip-reading-camera/853779/2 "2020-05-14T08:07:20Z")
I don’t think there is such a camera, but if there was, yes, of course masks would interfere with that. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-such-surveillance-tool-as-a-lip-reading-camera/853779/3 "2020-05-14T09:49:53Z")
I assume that you want lip-reading software. I doubt very much that there is. I know someone who lip-reads and she tells me that it is largely guesswork based on context. A lot depends on how familiar she is with the person and what they are talking about. If she watches a politician on TV, she can get the gist of what they are saying, but that’s partly because she will already know what they are likely to say. It’s not just lips either - it is the whole body that gives the clue about what they are saying. Software that could interpret facial movements and ‘read’ what they are saying might happen one day if there was a demand for it, but not yet I think. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-such-surveillance-tool-as-a-lip-reading-camera/853779/4 "2020-05-14T14:06:03Z")
We had the technology [19 years ago](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RFqe8U8qw-M). (Someone had to do it!) ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-such-surveillance-tool-as-a-lip-reading-camera/853779/5 "2020-05-14T14:10:16Z")
> **[Automated Lip Reading](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automated_Lip_Reading)** > > Automated Lip Reading (ALR) is a software technology developed by speech recognition expert Frank Hubner. A video image of a person talking can be analysed by the software. The shapes made by the lips can be examined and then turned into sounds. The sounds are compared to a dictionary to create matches to the words being spoken. > The technology was used successfully to analyse silent home movie footage of Adolf Hitler taken by Eva Braun at their Bavarian retreat Berghof. > The video, with words, w... ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-such-surveillance-tool-as-a-lip-reading-camera/853779/6 "2020-05-14T14:13:04Z")
And from the general article [Lip reading - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lip_reading) : > [@](#): > > Automatic visual speech recognition from video has been quite successful in distinguishing different languages (from a corpus of spoken language data).[62] Demonstration models, using machine-learning algorithms, have had some success in lipreading speech elements, such as specific words, from video[63] and for identifying hard-to-lipread phonemes from visemically similar seen mouth actions.[64] Machine-based speechreading is now making successful use of neural-net based algorithms which use large databases of speakers and speech material (following the successful model for auditory automatic speech recognition).[65] > > Uses for machine lipreading could include automated lipreading of video-only records, automated lipreading of speakers with damaged vocal tracts, and speech processing in face-to-face video (i.e. from videophone data). Automated lipreading may help in processing noisy or unfamiliar speech.[66] Automated lipreading may contribute to biometric person identification, replacing password-based identification. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-such-surveillance-tool-as-a-lip-reading-camera/853779/7 "2020-05-14T21:32:50Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > We had the technology [19 years ago](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RFqe8U8qw-M). > > (Someone had to do it!) True. Nitpick: Anticipated 52 years ago, though I respect your joke. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-such-surveillance-tool-as-a-lip-reading-camera/853779/8 "2020-05-14T21:40:04Z")
If it ever becomes prevalent, I think I’ll start wearing a [baseball glove](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/3026d8ffb49063596bbf4fbe8abe03c7ea5f2e09/c=0-223-2319-1533/local/-/media/2018/04/13/USATODAY/USATODAY/636592073272895242-USP-MLB-SEATTLE-MARINERS-AT-KANSAS-CITY-ROYALS-99104021.JPG?width=3200&height=1680&fit=crop)at all times. ---
**Author:** ![PoppaSan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/poppasan/32/189_2.png) [@PoppaSan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoppaSan)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-such-surveillance-tool-as-a-lip-reading-camera/853779/9 "2020-05-14T21:49:43Z")
When it becomes fairly accurate and widespread, ventriloquism will become a standard elementary school subject. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-such-surveillance-tool-as-a-lip-reading-camera/853779/10 "2020-05-14T22:03:17Z")
I’m not sure this was the particular experiment I heard of a few years ago…seemed it was more current, so maybe it was a follow up that came later. IIRC the experimenters concluded that babies can determine if someone is speaking their language without hearing any spoken words. They let them watch a muted television and the babies could see if the speaker is making the same types of faces as their mother (or others who spoke to them) in order to form the sounds, basically. Maybe that insight is a step in the direction to making such a machine? [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6308255\_Visual\_Language\_Discrimination\_in\_Infancy](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6308255_Visual_Language_Discrimination_in_Infancy) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-such-surveillance-tool-as-a-lip-reading-camera/853779/11 "2020-05-15T02:06:52Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > If it ever becomes prevalent, I think I’ll start wearing a [baseball glove](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/3026d8ffb49063596bbf4fbe8abe03c7ea5f2e09/c=0-223-2319-1533/local/-/media/2018/04/13/USATODAY/USATODAY/636592073272895242-USP-MLB-SEATTLE-MARINERS-AT-KANSAS-CITY-ROYALS-99104021.JPG?width=3200&height=1680&fit=crop)at all times. A sure cure for the (alleged) lip-reading opposition is to yak about how you’re going to throw the next guy a slow curve, and instead pound a fastball inside. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-such-surveillance-tool-as-a-lip-reading-camera/853779/12 "2020-05-15T02:11:08Z")
I can’t speak to cameras, but any kind of mask (and even facial hair) give human interpreters headaches. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-such-surveillance-tool-as-a-lip-reading-camera/853779/13 "2020-05-15T07:12:08Z")
“I’m sorry, **davidmich** , I’m afraid I can’t do that.” ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-such-surveillance-tool-as-a-lip-reading-camera/853779/14 "2020-05-15T07:50:13Z")
Facial recognition cameras have software that can defeat masks and one suspects that the intelligence and security services have had them for years. Otherwise, it defeats the purpose. A scarf wrapped around the nose and mouth would suffice and it would not raise suspicion.