Bosses Could Spy on Employees with new Orwellian Hitachi Device

Not pulling your weight at work? A new device could soon tell your boss what you've been up to.

Slackers beware because electronics giant Hitachi has built a new set of 'eyes' for employers, one that can even follow workers into the toilet.

It might not have the most imaginitive name, but the Hitachi Business Microphone will leave nothing to employers' imaginations as to how productive their workforce is.

Looking much like an identification card, the contraption records everything from movement to sound and can even pick up who talks to whom, how often, where and how energetically.

So, whether employees are making frequent trips to the coffee machine or shying away from contributing to meetings, the Hitachi recorder will tell bosses who's been naughty.

The intention of this invention is to increase productivity and get the most out of employees.

As Hitachi puts it: "Business Microscope is a system that uses sensor technology to measure and analyse inner company communication and activities.

"Multiple sensor devices are placed inside a nameplate type sensor that is attached to company employees. When the name tag sensors come within a specified distance of each other, they recognise each other and record the face, time, body and behavior rhythm data to a server.

"It creates an organisation network diagram based on a concentration of recordings from the nametag sensor displaying the cooperation structure of company employees."