Wellington City Council and Japanese company NEC are trialling sensory technology in Cuba Mall as part of a safe city scheme.

Not only can big brother see you, he will soon be able hear and smell you too.

Plans are underway to bring sophisticated Orwellian technology to the streets of Wellington in an effort to beef up safety.

Cuba St is currently the testbed for a series of cameras with sensors that can detect screaming, smell paint fumes from graffiti and sense people in groups who may end up in fights.

The "Living Lab" sensor technology, which is used in Spain and Singapore, will be the first in this country and could spread to other centres if successful. Queenstown has already shown interest in the project.

Japanese company NEC developed the technology being used by Wellington City Council, which is expected to be unveiled in December.

Council community services manager Jenny Rains said the public had nothing to fear when it came to privacy, as the sensory cameras do not collect information on humans themselves.

"It does not have facial recognition capability and it does not connect to the CCTV network. It is a closed system that does not physically connect to the internet or the participating parties."

The sensory system would only pick up "unusual" audio, such as screaming, shouts and breaking glass. It would also pick up the smells of certain chemicals that could indicate graffiti, she said.

Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown said she was impressed by NEC's sensory technology and saw it as an important tool for making Wellington's "smart capital" vision a reality.

"We can't be everywhere, and if this helps alert us to people in danger then it will help keep everyone in the city safer."

Paul Eagle, chairman of the council's safety committee, said the cameras would help agencies and police gain a greater understanding of trends relating to alcohol, graffiti and psychoactive substances, and provide timely responses.

Wellington Police prevention manager Inspector Terry van Dillen said anything that eliminated crime and victimisation was an asset to police.

Police were working closely with the council on a number of safety initiatives, which included this pilot and a five-year plan focused on CCTV and new technologies.

Privacy Commissioner spokesman Charles Mabbett said new applications of surveillance technologies had the potential to be privacy intrusive, but the council appeared to be aware of its responsibilities.

First Retail Group managing director Chris Wilkinson said retailers saw the technology as a major step in improving town centres.

"This technology helps distil a huge amount of information automatically, presenting the greatest risk to individuals or the community."

Inner City Association committee member Sarah Webb said the technology could also be used to measure carbon monoxide levels in Wellington, and sensors in rubbish bins could inform council when they were full.

HOW IT WORKS

The project centralises a number of agencies' existing data, such as records of accident locations, tagging incidents and crime reports, and adds new sensor technology, that can tell the difference between typical and unusual activity. This will be used along with sensor technology to provide insights into day-to-day street level trends, patterns and hotspots.