Back in 1997, I read an article that I thought had to be an urban legend. It had to do with the new line of camcorders with IR night vision capabilities. Originally intended for parents to record their sleeping children or campers to immortalize that drunken night around the campfire, scary stories and all, the perverts quickly found a new use. The cameras, when used during the day with a certain red filter would act like an x-ray for certain types of clothing. If you've never heard of this, I'm not joking. No really, I'm not.
Many Web sites cropped up with images taken of unsuspecting women on the beach or walking down the street wearing summer gear. These pictures show enough of the body underneath the clothes keep the perverts coming back for more. Swim wear is especially susceptible to this misuse of technology. This is on the same level with the guys who sneak into bathrooms to record women peeing. After the images appear on the Web, they can't be taken back.
Now it appears that Descente Ltd has developed a type of material that is impervious to high-tech peeping toms.
The material, dubbed Video Proof, will be used as lining in swim wear and is intended to ease concerns by female swimmers over being shot by infrared cameras, which can make regular swim wear appear transparent, the Osaka-based sportswear company said.
The launch of this product will be at the Olympics this year. The Japanese swimmers where apparently nervous enough about being recorded that it was affecting their performances.
I suppose there will always be peeping toms, but these days, one peeping tom can ruin somebody online. Be aware of anybody with a camcorder at the beach. You may not think too much about being recorded in your swim wear, but the cameraman could be seeing more than your swimsuit.
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