Researchers Build $7 AI-Powered Device That Detects Hidden Cameras With 94% Accuracy in Seconds

Researchers build a $7 smartphone clip-on that spots hidden cameras -- AI and dynamic LED grid deliver 94% accuracy

Researchers from KAIST, formerly known as the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, who collaborated with the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Singapore Management University (SMU), have developed a clip-on LED light that works in tandem with an AI app to detect hidden cameras. According to The Chosun Daily, the team, led by Professor Han Jun of KAIST's School of Computing, called the technology SweepLED [PDF], and it used an LED light grid that magnetically snaps to your power and an AI-powered app to analyze the image taken. There are many ways to detect hidden cameras using your smartphone -- this includes shining a flashlight around the room to spot tiny reflections coming from tiny lenses, using your phone's camera to detect infrared emissions from hidden cameras, or using camera apps with reflection analysis. However, the first two methods require manual scanning, meaning you're likely to miss something small and unnoticeable, while the last method is prone to false positives. Because of this, the research team decided to make their own solution using artificial intelligence. First, they built a $7 (around KRW 10,000) LED grid that snaps to the back of your camera phone. These lights change direction continuously, allowing the reflections on different surfaces to move or disappear altogether as they move around. Since most cameras, including hidden ones, have a unique structure with their lenses, aperture, and sensor, they often exhibit a distinctive reflection pattern which SweepLED can reliably detect. The team tested the gadget in real-world settings, running it across 30 items, some of which have embedded hidden cameras, and it was able to achieve a 93.9% detection accuracy. This makes it a huge improvement over manual methods, which are tedious and prone to false positives. Hidden cameras placed in private areas like restrooms, changing rooms, and even some rental properties and hotel rooms are slowly becoming a problem across the world, especially in East Asia. In fact, the issue has become so bad in South Korea that women started protesting it in 2018. So, one way anyone could protect themselves against voyeurs is to use this gadget, which is faster, more reliable, and easier to use compared to checking the area manually yourself. Unfortunately, this will not protect you against the over 40,000 security cameras all over the world that are streaming footage without any security, and the proliferation of smart glasses that are recording video and taking photos without the knowledge of people around them. Aside from privacy concerns, this also raises security issues, which is why the U.S. Air Force has banned the use of the gadgets in all its bases. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.

This phone accessory spots hidden cameras in 5 seconds -- SweepLED prototype uses LED reflections and could cost only $7

* SweepLED can spot hidden cameras by varying its illumination * AI can detect camera lenses by the light that gets reflected back * The accessory fits on the back of a camera and works in seconds Unless you're in the safety of your own home, there's always a worry that you're being surveilled without your knowledge -- when you're in an Airbnb, hotel room, changing room, or restroom, for example. Now researchers have developed an LED-powered phone accessory to give you some extra peace of mind. It's called SweepLED, and it's the invention of a team from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). The portable device combines 15 LED lights, a cable to attach to your phone, and some AI processing. According to the researchers, SweepLED can spot hidden cameras 94% of the time with a processing period of just five seconds per object. While this is only a prototype for now, the team has tested it on 30 different objects, reporting a high level of skill at identifying where hidden cameras are embedded (or not). Here's how it works: SweepLED fixes to the back of a phone (over the camera). As video is recorded and the phone stays still, the add-on turns its LEDs on and off, comparing different reflection patterns against each other. Hidden camera lenses show up in those reflection patterns in a way that standard reflective surfaces don't. Protecting your privacy "Hidden cameras pose a serious threat to personal safety and privacy in everyday spaces," says Professor Jun Han, from the KAIST team. "This research is meaningful in that it combines low-cost smartphone-based hardware with AI analysis to present the possibility of a practical detection technology that even non-experts can use." Previous devices along these lines required users to look for 'bright spots' manually as they were lit up by the detector, the tell-tale sign that there was a camera looking back at them. This should be more efficient, and better at spotting different camera types hidden in a variety of different housings (like clocks or mirrors). There's still plenty of work to do to get this refined and commercialized, but it shouldn't be expensive: the KAIST team reckons the manufacturing cost of SweepLED would be in the region of $7 (about £5 / AU$10). If you do a lot of traveling, it might be worth investing in something like this just to make sure you're not being spied on. The work has been presented at the ACM MobiSys 2026 conference and published online, though as yet there's no indication of when it might be available to the masses. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.