Fooling facial recognition surveillance cameras with cunning and crocheting

[Video Link]

Canadian yarn-lover and privacy-lover Howie Woo has developed an ingenious system for thwarting surveillance cameras that use face recognition technology. His solution involves crochet and LOLs. Here are more photos (via the Boing Boing Flickr Pool). More about Howie's playful creations here.

Boing Boing editor/partner and tech culture journalist Xeni Jardin hosts and produces Boing Boing's in-flight TV channel on Virgin America airlines (#10 on the dial), and writes about living with breast cancer. Diagnosed in 2011. @xeni on Twitter. email: xeni@boingboing.net.

MORE: cameras • craft • crochet • Funny • hacking • lol • privacy • spying • surveillance • yarn

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Antinous / Moderator

Isogabamaware.
- Smash Martian
  
  Isogabamaknitware.
SoItBegins

Now THIS is wearable emoticons done right!
http://twitter.com/jfrankena Jason Frankena

Mr. Potato Head for the 21st-Century facial recognition generation
Xof

I took one look at it, and thought, “That would be kick-ass for a Slenderman web original series.”

I need to get out more.
Mister44

Too bad they will just outlaw masks then. IIRC some cities already do.
Art Carnage

Wearing a mask or disguise in public is illegal in many places. Not a new development, the laws have been on the books for decades. And drawing attention to yourself (as this will do) is rather defeating the purpose of attaining anonymity.
- headcode
  
  No problem! Just make totally concealing headwear part of your religion.
  - bingobangoboy
    
    Now there’s a surefire way to avoid harassment from the authorities.
    - oasisob1
      
      Is it? Let’s check in with France on that topic…
  - http://lemoutan.blogspot.com/ Lemoutan
    
    Yay. Adapt P K Dick’s scramble suits to generate a halo and a holier-than-thou posture – problem solved.
- SoItBegins
  
  The trick is to get everyone to start wearing them. Remember V for Vendetta? Suddenly, everyone’s got one of those ruddy Guy Fawkes masks on… only this wouldn’t be as revolutionary. More ‘fun’.
  - http://lemoutan.blogspot.com/ Lemoutan
    
    But, splutter, surely, … if only everyone masks their faces then only everybody … will … um.
    
    Hmm. Works for me. OK.
- kjh
  
  Just wear it on the back of your head, or on your chest.
- Martijn Vos
  
  I agree. If you only want to thwart automated facial recognition, but be recognizable to humans, something like CV Dazzle http://cvdazzle.com/ is much more suitable.
  
  Also has the advantage that you get to live in a SciFi world instead of a comicbook world.
- BombBlastLightingWaltz
  
  Except on Halloween.
Bottle Imp

I can’t help thinking of this as a face yarmulke…
- squeeziecat
  
  YARN-mulke.
RedShirt77

If you shave your eyebrows and wear alternating wigs could it figure your face out? Maybe have a hat with a second, more distinct face on it. Creepy but it might work<
Jonathan Roberts

Privacy loving man invokes Streisand effect, posts pictures and video of himself with his ‘disguise’ on Boing Boing. Also colours hair purple, just in case people can’t identify him with the mask on.
softyelectric

Super neat looking… just as a note, “real-world-applicable” (or what I’d call industrially viable) facial recognition systems aren’t even close yet. At the convention hall or in the developer’s testing lab, under perfectly controlled conditions, yes, but the idea that these kinds of systems are implemented and effective at your local airport or corporate headquarters is simply untrue.
- timquinn
  
  also defeats human powered facial recognition, no?
tony hille

so it’s ok for a women to wear a wig,a tonne of make up with huge lashes…but it’s not ok to wear a mask?
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  It’s also okay for a man to wear a wig and make-up.
IronEdithKidd

Enhance!!

(I can’t believe no one said it yet.)
knijon

Did the “you can’t wear masks like that in public” crowd actually watch the video to the end? Me thinks not.
Ryan Matheuszik

There’s no red light camera on the corner of Railway Rd and Jackson Ave in Vancouver… :-D
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1342863133 Steve Marsh

Disregard this comment.
- timquinn
  
  no, well, okay
  
  Edit: I see what you did there. You have hidden your actual comment behind an impenetrable mask. I must, reluctantly, ask that you ignore this reply.
http://disqus.com/Kimmoth/ Kimmo

Love it.

I know I’m too late, but here’s the pix without the gazillion clicks.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7062/6982124979_067e18581c_b.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7252/6999265033_bcb2e6fa8d_b.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7181/6999262389_11d80c3cb2_b.jpg
http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6106/6853137950_68b49d2b08_b.jpg
http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6053/6853137826_3f5c387f01_b.jpg