Smile! You’re on Animal Camera

Surveillance cameras are always something of an intimidating, imposing intrusion no matter where they are. In places like museums or playground they can be downright sinister. Italian design firm Parson has created a new camera technology that will make you smile even if you do not know you are being watched.

In a series simply called ‘Animals,’ Parson, under the creator of the project, Eleanor Trevisanutto, has developed a type of video camera unlike anything previously attempted. Taking a base of a standard sized surveillance camera, Tevisanutto has outfitted each camera with an outer shell to resemble different, minimalist designed animals.

Every camera in the collection is encased within layers of brightly colored, sand-cast aluminum, allowing for a variety of customizations across the series. Some of the cuddly critters that are given the Big Brother treatment in the collection include a variety of birds, lizards, and even a squirrel.

This colorful corral was initially designed for the sole purpose of creating an aesthetically pleasing alternative to the otherwise harsh world of surveillance equipment. While it might seem a bit reductive to bring the design of a children’s nursery into the very adult world of security monitoring, it ultimately succeeds in brightening up and lightening up the atmosphere.
   

The ‘Animals’ collection could be as equally out of place as normal video cameras in many environments; there might not be a market for metallic macaws in high security bank vaults for instance. That said these cameras are a fantastic idea and they are a fiercely clever substitute for your basic, banal camera. Who wouldn’t want a cute chameleon looking down at you instead of a lens?

Photography Courtesy of Parson