The Enthusiast’s Guide to Facial Recognition Technology in Fashion
Smile! You’re on camera! …. and every single database that it’s connected to :)
[ This is a featured article in The Closet On The Cloud, a Fashion Tech Newsletter.]
You know what these guys are doing, right? They’re installing CCTV cameras (more aptly, surveillance cameras) everywhere…and..well…surveilling us. Something that is supposed to be for citizen safety has very quickly turned into citizen tracking.
Our every move. Every step. Every action. Every pose. Every expression. Even every single haircut, it’s all stored on some database somewhere.
Now I’m not saying that the government is leaning back in their chairs and chuckling about that time you cut your bangs at home, but if…if for some reason…some Member of Parliament somewhere wanted to know when you did it and how you looked… it wouldn’t be too hard to find out.
And if Mr Tharoor or Mike Pompeo want those cheap thrills, it’s technically not putting you at a total security risk, but like, shouldn’t they ask you first?
On that note,
Why is Facial Recognition questionable?
Most of us first came across Facial Recognition (FRT) probably when Facebook came up with its ‘automatic tagging’ feature.
I swear to you, to date, Facebook thinks my mother, sister, aunt, best friend and me are the same people. Clearly, the system isn’t perfect.
But that isn’t why it’s questionable. Let’s first look at how it works.
Keywords being: ‘Data’ & ‘Decision’.
On viewing its functioning, a number of questions arise.
What if the data isn’t accurate enough? If the data is wrong, how do they get to know? Even if they get to know, how do they fix it? Do they fix it? Is anyone making sure they do? And so on. Am I a part of this data? How do I know I am? Can I leave? And so on..
But what truly gets to me is:
If humans building these systems is ‘innovation’ and the first products of this innovation are immature, and the unpredictability of these immature systems make them experimental in nature, doesn’t their use on citizens equal subjecting human lives to experimentation?
And let me assure you, these questions aren’t “overreactions”. Accuracy isn’t easy. I’m talking the biggest of the big. Facebook faltered. Amazon faltered. Google faltered. So did Megvii (Face++).
In short,
Faulty Datasets coupled with Inadvertent Biases compounded by Lack of Federal Regulation, all make Facial Recognition questionable.
Facial Recognition in Fashion
Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) in the Fashion & Beauty Industry takes its place in 4 basic divisions. Let’s look at the use cases and analyse them.
(The Closet On The Cloud was formerly known as SheTalksFashion)
1. Retail:
2. Marketing
3. Personalization
4. The Beauty Sector
Anti-Surveillance Fashion: The Fight Against FRT
A century ago we were painting, wearing and covering ourselves to fight off enemy planes and ships. The fight is still on, its just that now its against cameras.
Fashion is universal and it is a part of all our lives. And one doesn’t know if it’s time to rejoice or reconcile, but so is technology. And those two are neither mutually exclusive nor dependant. But man are they feisty! And I’ll tell you why.
Fashion has waged a war on FRT. And it’s main warfare? CAMOUFLAGE.
Artist Adam Harvey has procured an impressive headstart in the battle with his foresight in 2010 when he created CV Dazzle makeup, a type of makeup that enables citizens to support asymmetric hairstyles and specific painted makeup patterns to confuse FRT.
Source: Business Insider — — Cha Hyun Seok/Coreana Museum of Art
“Facial recognition algorithms look for patterns of light and darkness across the forehead, cheekbones and chin, and the way colour is distributed across the face. No two people have the exact same rise and fall of shadow and colour distribution. Cover them up, Harvey realised, and algorithms won’t be able to separate a face from any other swathe of pixels. Only the human eye is up to that task.” — SMCP
Other innovations include:
“The mask’s curvature blocks facial recognition from all angles.”
Source: Business Insider — — HKU Design/Jip van Leeuwenstein
A Japanese college professor designed goggles fitted with LEDs that thwart facial recognition.
Source: Business Insider — — National Institute of Informatics/Isao Echizen
Sanne Weekers, a design student in the Netherlands, created a headscarf decorated with faces intended to confuse algorithms.
Source: Business Insider — — HKU Design/Sanne Weekers
Whether or not these methods are effective and whether or not you feel the need to make use of them, is subjective. The bottom line remains that most of us aren’t against this technology. We simply demand the correct rules in place.
And once we’re all clear on what regulates the field, the game won’t stop!
All in all, let’s just look at this way: if you didn’t want your mom to know where you were and all your friends were chill enough not to tattle, just imagine how it would feel if Facebook told her instead…and even gave her pictures as proof…….
Think about it…..
I really can’t wait to hear what you think about the Digital Fashion Weeks and what your responses to my questions are!
Do make sure to comment below or reply to the email 😍
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