Facial recognition and face masks 🎭
Digital views and news - week 4
This is your weekly dose of short news about technology, digital media, and (un)popular opinions. If this newsletter was forwarded to you, subscribe here:
I binge-watched the "new" Watchmen series last week (btw, I highly recommend it). If you didn't see it, here is an important fact: After a white supremacist attack and kill almost the entire local police department, laws are passed that allow the cops to hide their identities behind face masks.
source: variety.com
It was created in 2019, so seeing something "common" as a face mask nowadays to be considered as something very "uncommon" put a strange twist to my feelings towards this show. I also realize that hiding your face under a mask could be a "new normal" in the future - and not because of coronavirus and other diseases. Or not? 😷
Let's take a look at facial recognition. We like this feature on our phones - it's making our lives easier and quicker. But would we be so glad even if we know that somebody could be able to identify us on a street or in a shop simply with one look at us? Sounds scary? Well, perhaps it might be. 😬
Facebook is recently discussing building facial recognition into its upcoming smart glasses. It should arrive probably later this year, but there is a lot of controversy around it. "Face recognition is a hugely controversial topic and for good reason and I was speaking about was how we are going to have to have a very public discussion about the pros and cons," said FB Vice President Andrew Bosworth. 👓
This topic is highly controversial due to easy access to facial recognition for almost everybody (who can afford these glasses ofc 💁♀️). That brings us back to the idea of wearing a face mask to block these facial recognition technologies. If we think that should help, maybe we are not right.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology tested 89 commercial facial-recognition algorithms - and found a 5-50% error rate in matching faces with digitally applied masks to photos of the same person.
The same happened in January - US Department of Homeland Security showed that facial recognition technologies identified people with face masks with a 77% identification rate, with the best performing system accurately identifying individuals 96% of the time.
We can all agree this is a very complex and complicated topic. Just to wrap it up with something very weird - there is a Japanese company that is paying Tokyo residents $380 to have their faces copied onto realistic 3D-printed masks. They will then sell the 3D-printed version of your face for $750. I guess this is an inspiration for Watchmen 2? 🤔
Latest Digi Snacks 🍩
🍪 Trump plans to have his own social media network
Watch out, Facebook & Twitter! Former US President Donald Trump would like to launch his own social media platform in the coming months. Reportedly, he should be in talks with an app "FreeSpace" which is "built on the power of positivity." 📳
🍪 Solution for people tired of online meetings
Zoom Escaper is officially here! It's a free web widget that creates fake audio effects giving you many various reasons to end and leave your Zoom meeting. Bad connection effect, baby crying sound, construction noise... the choice is yours! 🤐
🍪 The first 3D housing community
Developers in Southern California plan to build 15 eco-friendly 3D-printed homes with zero net energy. The starting price for one three-bedroom house? $595,000. 🏠
🍪 The first tweet ever was sold
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey sold the first-ever published tweet as an NFT (more about NFTs here) for $2.9 million. 💸
🍪 Leggins for a better posture
Forme is a company that creates clothes able to physically help people to better align their spines and improve their breathing. They also have several studies to prove it works. 🧘♀️
🍪 Are bikes the future of emergency healthcare?
Emergency Bikes are tested since September '20 in Paris. It's a special e-bike for medical emergencies and helps doctors to get to the place much more quickly due to the traffic jams in huge cities. 🚲
One recommendation 👌
Would you like to step out of your personal bubble? Then have a look at TheirTube. This tool shows you how Youtube's recommendation algorithm works for different users - you can see the homepage of people with different political opinions as well as climate change deniers or fruitarians.
One Fun Fact 🤓
Did you know that the first computer "bug" was an actual bug? 🦗
In 1947, computer scientists found a moth blocking electrical signals in their calculator - a five-ton machine the size of a room. 💻
That’s a wrap for a week four! Did you like it? Feel free to share and your feedback is more than welcome.