Chinese scientists create a 500 megapixel camera that can identify and track people inside packed stadiums

Inside Beijing National Stadium. (Wikipedia)

Chinese scientists say they've created a camera powerful enough to identify and track individuals in real time, even in large crowds.

The camera, developed at Fudan University and the Changchun Chinese Academy of Sciences, was unveiled at the 21st China International Industry Fair last week.

“Our cloud camera has a resolution of 500 million pixels, a hundred times that of 4K," Zeng Xiaoyang, head of the team that built the camera, said.

The camera isn't ready for operation, however. Researchers claim there are two issues:

First, the sheer size of the images creates a data transfer slowdown, particularly when trying to identify and track individuals in real time.

"When pixels reach the level of 500 million, especially when video images are needed, the camera system will become very large and a real-time video mosaic is basically impossible to achieve," said Zeng.

Second, researchers claim that a camera as capable as this presents privacy risks. Zeng and others said that the camera's use should be regulated.

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