Facebook kicked off a new series of proposed policy changes on August 29, and among them has been the addition of facial recognition in its data protection policy for its European users. Such has drawn the attention of the Hamburg data protection commissioner, which had dropped legal proceedings against the social network late last year […]
Everybody who’s ever done a video chat has felt the frustration. You call your pal using Skype or whatever so that you can see their face and they can see yours, but whoops, you’re not even looking at each other. You’re looking at the screen so your eyes are slightly off-center. Annoying! But maybe not for long.
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Move over, NFC. Uniqul is getting ready to unveil a new payment system that utilizes facial recognition to process payments. You can set aside your credit cards, debit cards, and checkbooks, too, because all you’ll need to pay for stuff when you shop is your face…and that’s already attached to your body.
Uniqul’s payment system links a person’s face with their bank account so that they’ll only have to gaze into a camera when they want to pay for something. No muss, no fuss, and no worries that come with lost or stolen cards.
Here’s how it works: stores are provided with a Uniqul tablet for their check-out counters. These tablets will take the customer’s photo and analyze the biometric data to locate the person in the database. After pressing an “OK” button, the payment is processed and the customer can go on his or her merry way.
Uniqul’s system is protected by military-grade algorithms, so nothing to worry about on that end. The system will be launching soon in Helsinki, Sweden.
[via Dvice]
Imagine a world where your debit card stays in your pocket at all times, and you never have to touch cash. This is a place where you don’t have to remember your wallet, or even phone, when you run down to the corner store. It’s a future well off in the distance, to be sure, but dozens of companies are taking the first steps to get there.
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Every director has his or her own distinct visual mood, but does that mood extend to what types of faces they cast? Based on data pushed through a facial recognition algorithm, these images shows us the aggregate of every face shown in a handful of blockbusters from the past few years. As you might guess, Avatar is very… blue.
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Glasses that prevent the wearer from being recognized by face detection software have been demonstrated in Japan, using LED light invisible to the human eye but confusing to monitoring cameras to mask identity. The privacy visor, under development by Isao Echizen‘s team at the Japanese National Institute of Informatics, works by packing a pair of
This is the world’s first pair of glasses which prevent facial recognition by cameras. They are currently under development by Japan’s National Institute of Informatics.
Photos taken without people’s knowledge can violate privacy. For example, photos may be posted online, along with metadata including the time and location. But by wearing this device, you can stop your privacy from being infringed in such ways.
“You can try wearing sunglasses. But sunglasses alone can’t prevent face detection. Because face detection uses features like the eyes and nose, it’s hard to prevent just by concealing your eyes. This is the privacy visor I have developed, which uses 11 near-infrared LEDs. I’m switching it on now. It prevents face detection, like this.”
“Light from these near-infrared LEDs can’t be seen by the human eye, but when it passes through a camera’s imaging device, it appears bright. The LEDs are installed in these locations because, a feature of face detection is, the eyes and part of the nose appear dark, while another part of the nose appears bright. So, by placing light sources mostly near dark parts of the face, we’ve succeeded in canceling face detection characteristics, making face detection fail.”
Compared with previous ways of physically hiding the face, this technology can protect privacy without obstructing communication, as all users need to do is wear a pair of glasses.
However, because this system utilizes the difference in spectral sensitivity between human vision and imaging devices, another method is needed for cameras that aren’t affected by infrared light.
“In that regard, what we’re thinking of is a visor that doesn’t use electricity, but uses reflective material. For example, one like this. This makes light from outside look white, or absorbs it. That pattern breaks up the features used in face detection. So you can prevent face detection even without using electricity, by wearing this visor. It is also very cheap to make.”
Event: NII Open House 2013
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In a time when it seems like the privacy we all enjoyed was just a smokescreen, it’s nice to know there’s at least one way to fight back against all the systems designed to keep track of our comings and goings. Developed by Japan’s National Institute of Informatics, these glasses include eleven LEDs that blast a privacy curtain of near-infrared light to obscure your face.
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Since surveillance culture is at the top of the news agenda, this new invention from Japan’s National Institute of Informatics couldn’t be more timely. It’s a pair of goggles that blocks facial recognition algorithms and ensures no-one can snap a pic of your mush without your permission. The wearable uses 11 near-infrared LEDs which shine a bright light that’s invisible to humans, but will dazzle any passing cameras. Admittedly, the technology is useless for cameras that aren’t sensitive to infra-red, which is why the institute is also working on reflective materials that’ll work with any imaging sensor — but that, unfortunately, isn’t quite ready for prime-time. Curious as to see it in action? Head on past the break for the video.
Filed under: Cameras, Wearables
Source: Diginfo News
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