London Reaches 1984

Shoreditch TV is an experiment in beaming live footage from the street into people's homes. Viewers can watch the dog walkers on the street below, monitor the appearance of new graffiti and keep an eye on the local pub through several security cameras. This summer 22,000 Londoners will be tuning in and homes across Britain are getting their own version next year. But despite being a curtain-twitcher's paradise, the channel is about "fighting crime from the sofa", not entertainment. Digital Bridge, which set up the scheme for the regeneration agency Shoreditch Trust, hopes it will reduce fear of crime. It is also in talks with police about including an Asbo channel, featuring the faces of youths to avoid because they have broken the terms of their order.

After a free three-month trial residents will pay £3.50 a month for the TV on-demand service, which also comes with a wireless keyboard that can turn the television into a PC with broadband internet. Police will also be able to interrupt regular programming with alerts about incidents. They can alert the council and police through a CCTV hotline and an anonymous e-mail tip-off service. Or they can just watch the world go by.