Photo Credit: © Adam Harvey/AHProjects.com Adam Harvey's anti-paparazzi device in action on the streets of Los Angeles.

Celebrities and other public figures unenthusiastic about paparazzi attention have found various ways to communicate their displeasure. After Marlon Brando slugged him, photographer Ron Galella famously wore a football helmet. Rude language, lewd gestures and lawsuits are some of the other ways would-be subjects have communicated their displeasure at the pop of an enterprising photographer’s flash.

New York University graduate student Adam Harvey recently invented a smart alternative for camera-shy celebrities, one that won’t tarnish their public image or end in an assault charge. His “anti-paparazzi device,” which is built into a clutch purse, uses a photo cell that picks up a photographer’s flash and communicates with a circuitboard, which then fires LED lights that flash back at paparazzi, ruining their photos.

Long before enrolling in NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP), Harvey had developed an interest in photography, shooting documentary projects and doing some work as a wedding and event photographer. Founded in 1979, ITP was the first graduate program for multimedia and interactivity in the country.

During his first semester at ITP, Harvey found a way to bring his interest in photography to a physical computing project by developing his anti-paparazzi project. Harvey thought, “It would be really nice if there was some way to communicate back to the photographer if you didn’t feel like having your picture taken. There are both kinds of people: total camera hams and people that shy away from it.”

Using a photo cell that reads light and LED lights controlled by a computer-programmable microcontroller, Harvey was able to create a device that registered ambient light levels and then picked up on jumps in the ambient light caused by camera flashes. When the sensor registered the sudden light increase, it sent a signal through a circuit to three small LEDs, which would flash for 1/15th of a second and wash out the photograph.

Although Harvey began developing the device for his class, he wasn’t able to perfect it, and since last fall he has continued to refine the design. Currently the wiring and batteries fit in a ladies’ clutch, but he hopes to continue reducing the size of the device to the point that it could be worn in something as small as a pendant or tie tack. In its current form the device is activated by powering it on and then tilting the clutch. The sensor will register a flash being fired from up to a 45 degree angle each way.

The LED market is growing rapidly, Harvey says, and he has recently been able to get twice the brightness out of the LEDs he’s using. He is also still relying on a prototype circuitboard. Once he has a final circuitboard printed, it will reduce the size by half.

The device is meant to be used at night, in low light situations on the street or in a lounge, for instance. “It works up to iso 800 at f/4, but if you’re shooting something that requires more light than that then this thing can be overpowered,” says Harvey. The device works up to a 1/125 shutter speed. “If someone’s taking a low-light shot with a long shutter-speed then it’s much more effective.”

Harvey is currently working on the patent for the anti-paparazzi device, and continues to refine the design as well. “I like the idea of getting the patent,” he says, “but I like the idea of other people working on it and improving it, too. It’s just important to protect something while you’re developing it so someone doesn’t pull the rug out from under you.”