New device tracks employees' every move at work

A Japanese company has developed a device that can track everything you do in the workplace - from how long you have been sitting idle to how often you visit the lavatory.

Hitachi, the electronics maker, has created the device, called 'Business Microscope', which looks like a badge or ID card and contains chips and sensors to record an employee's behaviour.

It detects to whom you have spoken, how often, where and how energetically.

The gadget also reads your colleagues' badges and judges the distance between people talking, 'The Times' reported.

It tells bosses how often an employee leaves their seat, how far they walk and where they go. It would also be able to judge how often a person speaks in a meeting and report on how much they contribute to group sessions.

"Business Microscope 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 employees," Hitachi said on its website.

"When the name tag sensors come within a specified distance of each other, they recognise each other and record the face time, body and behaviour rhythm data to a server," it said.

The company said the technology could help to make workers more efficient, and help bosses to reorganise the workplace to ensure greater co-operation between workers.