Written by: Dave Owen

Prototype scours the internet and prevents user taking generic photos

We all love travel, but there are few things more tiresome than seeing photo after photo of the same old famous landmark popping up in your Facebook or Instagram feed.

Now a German designer has created a new digital camera that stops the user from taking too many photos at popular tourist spots, describing it as a 'disobedient tool.'

Camera Restricta from Philipp Schmitt on Vimeo.

Philipp Schmitt's Camera Restricta uses GPS and other tools to limit the number of pictures the user can take in one location, based on how many images of the place already exist online. The camera is essentially a smartphone in a 3D printed case, and uses an app to search photosharing websites like Flickr for geotagged images taken nearby. So if you try and take a picture of the Eiffel Tower, for example, the camera might stop you altogether.

The purpose of the project is to challenge people to take more original photographs of the world around them, and to create a discussion about censorship.

"Camera Restricta could be a controversial tech product," wrote Schmitt on his website, "promising unique pictures by preventing the user from contributing to the overflow of generic digital imagery." He also claims similar technology could potentially be used by governments or corporations as a means of censorship.

If the camera decides that too many photos of your location exists, it will automatically retract the shutter and block the viewfinder, where a 'Nein' message will be displayed.

If that happens, you won't be pretending to hold up the leaning tower of Pisa any time soon.