Jump to Navigation

New cell phone technology to make 'goofing off' a thing of the past

KDDI R&D Laboratory invents a mobile phone censor that can let managers know exactly what employees are doing at any time
 
goofing off Sorry, guy, your cell phone censor just reported "staring at the sea on a beach" to your boss. (Photo by Flickr user kwimsnr)

Japanese tech blog Asiajin introduces a new technology from KDDI subsidiary KDDI R&D Laboratories that will let managers know if employees are properly working or, gasp, goofing off. "Acceleration sensors" on special mobile phones will beam back data from the body movements of workers that can be analyzed to determine the nature of their current activity.

How does the computer know what they are doing? Employees will help dig their own career graves by providing the company with a schedule of daily activities, so that managers can know what the data patterns look like for each.

Now the challenge will be for Japanese employees to learn how to beat the system. The trick will be finding ways to goof off that provide the same data as the core daily activity of Japanese businesses: doing meaningless paperwork that should have been abolished with the arrival of the Internet.

With a global reputation of Japanese salarymen being super diligant workers, some may be surprised why managers would need to develop such dystopian surveillance software. Despite extremely long work hours, Japan actually has one of the lowest worker productivity levels among post-industrial nations. In other words, workers do very little productive work even though they stay at the office all day.

The question remains, however, whether Japanese companies actually have enough tasks for their employees if goofing off ceases to exist and daily smoking breaks are paired down to 2-3 from several dozen. The easiest way to kill goofing off may not need technology at all. If everyone was forced to go home at 6:30pm, workers would have to go into productive overdrive to meet the tight deadline of an eight-hour work day.

User Comments and Reviews

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
No more reading the paper until midday and then starting work after lunch? But what will they do in the evenings if all the work is done by 5 o'clock?
bagofeyes' comment raises a real point. One of the reasons why the work day in Japan is so long is because it doesn't really start at 8 AM. It gets so frustrating when people tell me that they're surprised US workers leave the office between 5 and 6, yet the same people in Japan spend more time chit-chatting in halls, start between 9 and 10 AM, take longer lunches, read the paper in the office, etc. I see the same thing in the US sometimes.

What do you think?

Leave a comment or submit a review. You have to be logged in to comment.

Post

CNNGo Comment Policy: CNN encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You may not post any unlawful, threatening, defamatory, obscene, pornographic or other material that would violate the law. All comments should be relevant to the topic and remain respectful of other authors and commenters. You are solely responsible for your own comments, the consequences of posting those comments, and the consequences of any reliance by you on the comments of others. By submitting your comment, you hereby give CNN the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, cablecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comment(s) and accompanying personal identifying and other information you provide via all forms of media now known or hereafter devised, worldwide, in perpetuity. CNNGo Privacy Statement.

Comments are moderated by CNNGo, in accordance with the CNNGo Comment Policy above, and may not appear on this blog until they have been reviewed and deemed appropriate for posting. Also, due to the volume of comments we receive, not all comments will be posted.

Listings

  1. Play / culture
    Harajuku
    KDDI Designing Studio: Corporate innovation as mini-theme park
    See the future -- at least, the future of cell phone technology...more
  2. Visit / Classy
    AkasakaPrice $$$$
    Hotel New Otani: High class
    Hotel New Otani is one of Tokyo's classic luxury hotel options, with one of the city's best Japanese gardens...more
  3. Visit / Business Class
    RoppongiPrice $$$$
    Grand Hyatt Tokyo: The new upscale standard
    Grand Hyatt Tokyo, for the moment, seems to be the de facto hotel choice for international business elite...more
Know an amazing Bar or Club?
Be first to let us know. Just fill the information below and we'll be sure to feature it on our site.
Tell Us