A submethod of covertly integrating into a situation without appearing to be a part of it by broadcasting false task fixation; to procure intel from a (private) nearby conversation or to assess an active situation for the best actionable response.
This is done by emphasizing but only appearing to fixate on a normal and plausible task in public (or otherwise open setting) such as texting, smoking, reading, eating or taking a phone call.
The objective is to be present or near a situation where otherwise you would not be welcome or it would be suspicion. By appearing busy and oblivious to the immediate vicinity around you, your target subeject(s) may mark you as nonthretening and gives you cause to be where you are at that moment.
This access can give you inside information from within a closed conversation or live decision making data as an event occurs in real time.
The tasks to fixate on is not only for plausible presence reasoning but also as the diversion to mask your intel gathering. But the key is to never falter from that false task, to stay in character.
You don’t have look at something to see that something. You don’t have to hear something to listen to that something. You don’t have to interact with something to influence that something.
[PHOTO :Urban Survival in Saigon, Vietnam]