def observeInBackground(self, seconds=None):
        """ As Region.observe(), but runs in a background process, allowing the rest
        of your script to continue.

        Note that the subprocess operates on *copies* of the usual objects, not the original
        Region object itself for example. If your event handler needs to share data with your
        main process, check out the documentation for the ``multiprocessing`` module to set up
        shared memory.
        """
        if self._observer.isRunning:
            return False
        self._observer_process = multiprocessing.Process(target=self.observe, args=(seconds,))
        self._observer_process.start()
        return True