Watch: This prototype can give a face on video footage an identity, and it’s unnerving
You’ll not only be watched, but you’ll also be recognised, even in a crowd.
The not-too-distant future may well have all of humanity under surveillance 24/7. Which is why the prototype for a new facial recognition system appears unnerving (video above).
It starts with cars, but the video moves on to demonstrate how faces captured on CCTV can be matched with a database to provide identification. While we have already seen face recognition systems on social media sites like Facebook, the ability to pick out a face in a crowd and give it a name is disconcerting – even if it’s helpful to combat crime.
The brainchild of the Chinese company SenseTime, the recognition suite is called, appropriately enough, SenseFace. It’s impressive – and worrying. Someone is bound to ask sooner or later whether it breaks the right to privacy.