Is your boss watching you? Surveillance device tracks employees' movements in the office, sends details of conversations and even times their toilet breaks



Hitachi's Business Microscope monitors staff movements around the office



Records details of where and how long employees chat while on work time

It also monitors how energetic the conversations are among staff members

And it will even follow you to the toilet, checking how long you spend there



The days of skiving behind your boss's back may be numbered, following the announcement of a new product that can track your every movement in the workplace.

Electronics manufacturer Hitachi has unveiled a high-tech ID badge that not only tracks an employee's exact location within the office, it also keeps a record of all the other staff members they have spoken to, for how long and how energetically.

Dubbed the Business Microscope, the device will also send an employer information on how much time each member of staff spends out of their seat - and even how long they have spent in the toilet.

Business Microscope: Hitachi's high-tech ID badge tracks an employee's exact location within the office, sending their employer information on how long they spent out of their seat and where in the building they went

HOW DOES THE BUSINESS MICROSCOPE WORK?

The business microscope is fitted with sensors that let it sync and interact with other Business Microscopes within the company. These multiple sensor devices are placed inside a nameplate-type product that is attached to employees. When the name tag sensors come within a specific distance of each other, they recognise each other and record the face time, body and behaviour rhythm data to a server.

It tracks an employee's exact location within the office and also keeps a record of all the other staff members they have spoken to. The device sends an employer information on how much time each member of staff spends out of their seat - and even how long they have spent in the toilet. Business Microscope will also record how energetically they have contributed to group meetings, where a high level of enthusiasm. The information is used to create an 'organisation network diagram' based on the number of recordings.

As well as being used to find out which employees spend their days aimlessly wandering around the office gossiping to friends, the Business Microscope will also record how energetically they have contributed to group meetings, where a high level of enthusiasm and animation can be a good thing.



Although the product looks more like an ID badge or business card than a high-tech surveillance device, it actually contains complicated sensors that allow it to sync and interact with other Business Microscopes belonging to the company.

A message posted on the Hitachi website said: 'Business Microscope uses senor technology to measure and analyse inner company communication and activities.



Multiple sensor devices are placed inside a nameplate-type sensor that is attached to employees'.

'When the name tag sensors come within a specific distance of each other, they recognise each other and record the face time, body and behaviour rhythm data to a server'.



The end of the water cooler moment? Hitachi's Business Microscope will allow employers to keep a record of how long and how energetically members of staff chat among themselves

Hitatchi said the technology was designed to help boost efficiency levels in the workplace and to help employers realise and react to problems that may otherwise have gone unnoticed.



Perhaps recognising the product is unlikely to be popular among employees, including their own, Hitatchi adds that they hope it will help boost employee cooperation, leading to a better atmosphere.



The Business Microscope is by no means the first surveillance device to be marketed towards employers for use in the workplace.

Perhaps recognising the product is unlikely to be popular among their own employees, Hitatchi said it hopes the Business Microscope will improve the atmosphere in the workplaces around the world

Many companies already employ 'internet monitoring' software that scans sent and received emails, as well as monitoring the websites they visit over the course of the working day.



These systems often automatically send alerts directly to the employer when company rules are believed to have been broken.



And in 2008 Microsoft filed a patent for software that allowed workers to be tracked remotely, monitored their competence and productivity, and even measured personal information such as body temperature, blood pressure and facial expressions.