Google Bans Facial Recognition Apps on Glass

[Ickorus]

As one who actually has difficulty recognizing faces or remembering names, I would actually love an app that would post a nametag under faces as I walked around.

Normally, I get to be totally awkward as people I can't remember come up to me and talk to me as if we've been friends forever. It usually takes three to five minutes before I get enough to deduce from context who the heck this stranger is.

238U

I still forget people's names at work (40ish people) so it'd definitely be helpful for me, perhaps it could be restricted to info you put on it for that face or for Google+ profiles of people on your friends list.

 

[Sartan0]

My issue with goggle glass is not so much with it's use on the public street as in my home. I am seriously thinking I am going to need a no goggle glass in my house policy for guests. Not to mention that life tracking camera thing that takes photos every 30 seconds and any number of not yet created devises.

It might have to be a no recording devises in my home unless stowed away and powered down. This is a crazy world we are heading into.

 

[oldtaku]

It's pretty easy to sideload apps on Glass. This is mostly symbolic.

 

[Something Amyss]

Which brings us right back round to the smartphone. Did you actually think about your argument before you made it?

Since ths smartphone's already been addressed and dismissed, did you actually think about your argument before you made it?

No? Time to move on, I guess.

 

[Jumwa]

I'd be very tempted to get one if it could be slipped into my glasses without standing out greatly.

 

[jon_sf]

I think people have been watching too much NCIS or something - That sort of facial recognition isn't even close to possible. Picking a face out of a small subset can be achieved somewhat accurately but identifying any passer by on the street isn't possible and probably never will be. If it was used to try any identify a particular face it could be as helpful as 'yeah, that kinda looks like him' but in that case it would be much more effective to use your damn eyes. As it stands facial recognition is useful for little more than guessing which friends are in a photo and as a pretty unsecure and unreliable login method.

Salon had an interesting article on facial recognition in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings. It talks about what is currently possible, and the hurdles that still remain.

In some ways, Google Glass could be better at detecting people, because it could take multiple pictures of people at different angles, and from much closer than a surveillance camera normally gets. From multiple images it would be easier for a computer to construct a 3-D representation of their face, and check that against a database of known faces. Of course, you'd also need that database. It would be interesting (and scary) for Google or Facebook or Apple to take the massive number of pictures of people's faces they have, and create databases based on that raw data.

Or imagine when Google Glass 2.0 comes out, that has tiny versions of the sensors that will be in the Xbox Kinect v2. It could extract even more information about the world around you, which could be crunched by servers up in the cloud.

I think it's a good move by Google to be proactive about this. We still need to come up with laws and social norms for what's acceptable for this sort of technology. For example...

My issue with goggle glass is not so much with it's use on the public street as in my home. I am seriously thinking I am going to need a no goggle glass in my house policy for guests. Not to mention that life tracking camera thing that takes photos every 30 seconds and any number of not yet created devises.

If I was a guest in your home, that would be a completely reasonable request to me. I would absolutely turn off my Glasses (if I had a pair) and put them away if asked. Would mean I'd have to remember to bring a spare pair of regular glasses with me, for situations like that.

 

[Madkipz]

I think people have been watching too much NCIS or something - That sort of facial recognition isn't even close to possible. Picking a face out of a small subset can be achieved somewhat accurately but identifying any passer by on the street isn't possible and probably never will be. If it was used to try any identify a particular face it could be as helpful as 'yeah, that kinda looks like him' but in that case it would be much more effective to use your damn eyes. As it stands facial recognition is useful for little more than guessing which friends are in a photo and as a pretty unsecure and unreliable login method.

Salon had an interesting article on facial recognition in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings. It talks about what is currently possible, and the hurdles that still remain.

In some ways, Google Glass could be better at detecting people, because it could take multiple pictures of people at different angles, and from much closer than a surveillance camera normally gets. From multiple images it would be easier for a computer to construct a 3-D representation of their face, and check that against a database of known faces. Of course, you'd also need that database. It would be interesting (and scary) for Google or Facebook or Apple to take the massive number of pictures of people's faces they have, and create databases based on that raw data.

Or imagine when Google Glass 2.0 comes out, that has tiny versions of the sensors that will be in the Xbox Kinect v2. It could extract even more information about the world around you, which could be crunched by servers up in the cloud.

I think it's a good move by Google to be proactive about this. We still need to come up with laws and social norms for what's acceptable for this sort of technology. For example...

My issue with goggle glass is not so much with it's use on the public street as in my home. I am seriously thinking I am going to need a no goggle glass in my house policy for guests. Not to mention that life tracking camera thing that takes photos every 30 seconds and any number of not yet created devises.

If I was a guest in your home, that would be a completely reasonable request to me. I would absolutely turn off my Glasses (if I had a pair) and put them away if asked. Would mean I'd have to remember to bring a spare pair of regular glasses with me, for situations like that.

Or we just release stuff on the market and let everyone have unlimited power and then see what they do with it. Because the software will be broken the moment those glasses start to become more accessible. It would be better for humanity to evolve with everyone playing by the same rules rather than trying to force outmoded rules and concepts onto present to future reality. <,<

 

[Milanezi]

They should allow the user some sort of privacy feature instead, so anyone who doesn't mind being recognized could turn on the facial recognition, also this feature could be linked to social networks, so that only people you "follow" and those who "follow you" would be able to use the advantages of facial recognition. I was really looking forward to buy Google Glass, but the more I read about it the less interesting it becomes, more and more it seems to do even less than smat phones do, I mean, I don't mind reading info from my iPhone screen, I was expecting something brand new with the google glass, not just "reading e-mail"...

 

[Strazdas]

"not allowed" means it will be a little harder to get it hacked in. meaning that 90% of "Average user" will fail at doing that. so yes, bannign does work for the most part.

I don't understand why there is a particular issue with google glass. I mean, there is nothing it can do that your modern day smartphone can't. This device really is just a smartphone on your face.

Except that it's pretty damn obvious when you walk around holding up your smartphone in front of you. Google Glass? Not quite so obvious.

So its not obvious that a guy is wearing glasses? maybe you need some?
I think having a camera for an eye is a AWESOME idea. i would LOVE to be able to film everything i already see anyway for further reference and dont look like a jerk because apperently you can look but if you try to save that memory oh no your such a bad guy now.


All i see is fear of technology and brutes bashing conveyers because "They stole our jobs" all over again. Jesus do you never learn people?

Capcha: this is it
capcha seems to be more evolved than us all.

As one who actually has difficulty recognizing faces or remembering names, I would actually love an app that would post a nametag under faces as I walked around.

Normally, I get to be totally awkward as people I can't remember come up to me and talk to me as if we've been friends forever. It usually takes three to five minutes before I get enough to deduce from context who the heck this stranger is.

238U

Same problem, pretend that everyone is a friend untill i remmeber. i ride a bus with a colegue every day and i cant remember her name and am ashamed to ask again this would be a lifesaver technology.

 

[Elijah Newton]

I still cant see a use for these glasses but will keep an eye on them

Oh no, good sir - they will keep an eye on you.

 

[RicoADF]

I still cant see a use for these glasses but will keep an eye on them

Oh no, good sir - they will keep an eye on you.

That would be a sir, and yes I do believe thats the idea
They have some nice concepts, best use I can think of would be a HUD when driving, able to see the speed your doing without looking down. Assuming it works as advertised.....

 

[Elijah Newton]

Sorry for the initial gender uncertainty, Rico - hadn't checked your profile 'til after I posted. And the joke was lame but I couldn't resist. While I'm not bonkers about the concepts promoted by Google, I agree that when it comes to navigation there's lots which could be cool, and think I'm more impressed by what's possible when outside a car (though you've a good point). Walking around and being able to see 'through' buildings to look around and see, say, nearby restaurants when in an unfamiliar city / town, instead of having a 2D map. Having icons overlay your field of vision to navigate through a subway, airport terminal or city street (pacman pellet looking things roughly 7' in the air, say).

None of what I'm interested in requires a camera, though, so I get irritated by Google's fixation on the things. Most of what I think is neat is, as you said, HUD related.

 

[frobalt]

I can't help but wonder: Why are people so against the idea of facial recognition anyway? You can't stop people looking at your face in public anyway, unless you wear something that covers your face, which would most likely break any facial recognition software.

There are other things people aren't considering with their paranoia about facial recognition software:

First of all, let's tackle the technology limitations. Yes, facial recognition is possible, but is are the google glasses capable of doing it in real time all the time? I highly doubt it, as that sort of thing would take a lot of processing power to do, especially in large crowds. Also, how accurate it is? I doubt it's 100% accurate as of yet, especially if you can't get a proper look at someone's face, which you won't always be able to do. In short, I doubt the software is currently as capable as paranoid people believe.

Secondly, even if the software is able to recognise your face in real time with 100% accuracy, what information do you think a person will be able to get out of it? There won't suddenly be a massive public-access database with everyone's information on it cropping up on the internet. You could argue that this is basically what Facebook is but you have control over what information about you is on Facebook. If your information was only visible to friends before-hand, then chances are it would only be visible to friends again.

So, basically, I can't see why this is such a big deal. Being paranoid about people stalking you because of google glasses is the same as being paranoid that someone might shoot you just because guns are easy to come by. Sure, it can happen, but your paranoia will be greatly exaggerating how often it will happen.

 

[IndianaJonny]

"We've been listening closely to you, and many have expressed both interest and concern around the possibilities of facial recognition in Glass...

Yeah, like I'm gonna take off my tin-foil hat now, Google! Sure, people are unnerved by Google Glass but that's nothing compared to the scary potential of "Google Ear"!!!

Silly goose, you can't escape from google ear! They're installed in the walls, all of them!

Hehe, got visions of that scene in Das Boot: "They can hear us!!!"

 

[Andrew_C]

The real reason Google won't allow facial recognition apps on this is they don't like people muscling in on what they see as their data-mining turf. Anyone who still believes that "Do no evil" line is a sorry schmuck. It hasn't applied since before that started censoring stuff on behalf of the PRC.