So to break it down into it's most basic form, it spyware. Highly illegal and if you get caught using it there are some real legal issues you could face. Joshua made a post earlier in the group saying after seeking legal advice he was stepping away as the app is going in a direction he is not comfortable with. That post is gone so I wonder is he being silenced by the iControl team?

Above it was mentioned that it uses AI systems for deep learning. Im not sure if this is true or not but if it is that is incredibly worrying as having your images/notes/messages feed an AI bot can lead to huge data leaks.

I love technology in magic but for 1.2k and the risk of really serious legal trouble... Use a billet instead!

The lack of ethics in violating a participant's privacy to perform a trick is awful enough. But in the UK this would almost certainly be a criminal offence too.

Well, if we delve into the realm of ethics, most of the apps would become obsolete. Even ‘Inject,’ which is installed without the spectator’s permission or knowledge, along with many other apps and shortcuts that reside on the spectator’s phone, constitutes a clear breach of privacy.

In the interpretation of ‘installed’ I wouldn’t say inject falls into this description. IMO typing a web address into a search bar is not installing anything. Same as using a nfc tag, you are not ‘installing’ anything. However google search definition of install and this is the meaning…

“place or fix (equipment or machinery) in position ready for use”

So the argument here could be you have ‘placed’ a certain web address in the search bar ‘ready for use’. So technically is this interpreted at installed - maybe.

Ethics re doing something to their phone without permission or being unknown to spectator, yes this is what we are doing. I’m a user of wiki, inject, elips etc and other similar apps using the guise of ‘searching for something’. Personally I feel comfortable with it as I think the majority are.

There is very much a difference between the likes to Inject, Wiki etc to this. You take a spectators phone and spoof a URL. They enter some data which you then reveal. A celebrity, random word etc. These apps were developed by those who knew the limits and stuck to them willingly to create amazing pieces of magic. The apps can only send you what is explicitly entered. iControl seemingly harvests any any all (personal) data the performer wants to while feeding it all to some sort of AI system. Previously mentioned apps have been used world wide by professionals and are used in many Television/Stage shows. I can almost guarantee iControl will never be used in this capacity as no performer worth their salt would ever dream of violating a spectator in this way. The fact it has been mentioned by the creators themselves as "illegal" in some posts as well this in direct quote from their FAQ's

"iControl is a professional performance tool. It must only be used on devices you own or on devices where you have explicit, informed consent from the owner. Unauthorized use of another person’s device or capturing their private information can violate privacy ethics."

Clearly shows that they know this is not something that should ever have been released to the community.

I'll put it another way. How would you feel if a magician performed on your partner, friend or family member and illegally gained access without their permission (or without them even knowing) to their private photos and messages. And not only were able to scour through them with free rein but also share those private images and text with third party apps and go knows who else?

The website for this appears to be down at the moment. If it's able to do what's been described here, I don't understand how you get explicit, informed consent from the owner of the phone without tipping what you're doing. I too love tech magic and there are some amazing applications out there, but this one feels like a bridge too far and with too many ethical concerns.

I personally think its more hype and less substance, and magicians having fomo

There is NO WAY I would ever use the "features" that I've heard ascribed to iControl. EVER!

Mark

Have to say though, I’m really intrigued and curious to the potential and capability of what this can achieve. Would love to see a vid demo to appreciate how clever it is. Sounds a bit like imim but on steroids.

I don’t see myself using it extensively either but I suppose if you want some good deep pre show done, this could be of great leverage

Absolutely! My thinking and feeling…. Jan

I have only just found out about this device from another performer who mentioned that it made iMiM look like a calculator Watch. I recently had a brief chat with Chris who mentioned that the price is going up to $3500. I’m assuming the large leap is to keep it out of their hands of few that would use this nefariously.

Additionally avail the specs that I hear are being launched this year. The inventor of this has a pretty impressive resume and has created something diabolical. Pair these bad boys to most of the tools that we have avail and you can have a really good hands-free effect. However pair this with the V2 you pretty much have the most diabolical personal, descriptive read that many of us wish to achieve at that level.

I’m very, very tempted. *** it. Why did I have to see this!?

I was thinking the same. They do have another project out called Spectre which is something similar to iMiM but without the hardware.
I love my Mim and had been the best investment period. But this, wow!! It makes it look like a Casio watch!

What’s this buzz around Spectre?