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Facial Recognition Fails in Boston, Too

bryan writes "Only a few weeks after cameras were found to be ineffective in catching criminals in Tampa, FL, a test of a facial-recognition system in Boston's Logan airport also came up disappointing. The cameras which were given photos of employees to detect, were only successful in 153 out of 249 random tests over the past year (about 61%). The article did not say how many false positives the tests generated. The companies involved were Indentix and Visage."

18 of 318 comments (clear)

  1. The system would work better... by MikeCapone · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...if the cameras were mounted on black helicopters.

  2. Point of view by mattdm · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm not sure I would call the failure of big-brother tech "disappointing".

  3. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  4. Is it any wonder? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Indentix and Visage

    Is it really any wonder? Those must be the two of the dumbest fucking company names I have ever heard before. Serves 'em right.

  5. as opposed to me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    i recognize all the facials in my picture collection !!!

  6. Re:Of course it doesn't work. by cant_get_a_good_nick · · Score: 4, Funny

    They aren't at the stage yet where machines can recognize people based on gait ....

    So the Minister of Funny Walks is still safe.

  7. Re:wetware comparison by Abcd1234 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Satan's Face in the WTC smoke? Wow, I never heard of that one... that's pretty funny. :) Heck, it's right up there with seeing Jesus' face in a burrito.

  8. Re:What is failure? by fingon · · Score: 3, Funny

    Well, assuming 100 percent false positive rate is okay too, I can sell you box that detects 100 percents of terrorists! And cheaper than what the govt pays for it's system, I bet! (just 100M $ for you, my friend..)

    --
    -- pending
  9. My disguise by Mighty+LoPan · · Score: 5, Funny

    Okay, I admit it. I single-handedly foiled big brother's plan by marching around Logan with novelty glasses and a giant foam cowboy hat.

  10. Engineers == naturally stoned by J4 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Who comes up with harebrained schemes like this anyway?
    It sounds like something a couple of potheads thought up.

    Engr1: Dude, you know what'd be awesome? We could make a widget that recognizes faces, then we could put it at the door so we'd know if it was the pizza guy knocking.

    Engr1: Whoaaa dude, that'd be awesome. Pass the caffeine.

    1. Re:Engineers == naturally stoned by tybalt44 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Not only that, he's asking himself to pass himself stuff.

      Engr1 : Dude, pass me the caffeine.

      Engr1 : Dude, you *already have* the caffeine.

      Engr1 : Whoa. Hey, I do have it. I thought you had it, dude.

      Engr1 : Dude, you've had it all along.

      Engr1 : Whoa.

      Engr1 : Whoa.

  11. Don't worry... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    ..hugh amounts of tax money will fix these little problems.

    Thank you.

  12. Re:wetware comparison by greenhide · · Score: 5, Funny
    Not susceptible to any sort of bias?!?

    May I direct you to the following quote, from a highly notable artificial intelligence program:
    I hate this place, this zoo, this prison, this reality, whatever you want to call it. I can't stand it anymore. It's the smell, if there is such a thing. I can taste your stink, and every time I do, I fear I've somehow been contaminated by it.
    Proof!

    Computers hate us to their very bones. My computer has only crashed when I've been doing something important, like writing a term paper or surfing for porn. They're out to get us, all right.
    --
    Karma: Chevy Kavalierma.
  13. Re:Twins? by Pvt_Waldo · · Score: 3, Funny

    I bet it was at that point where you said, "It was my twin brother, really!" when the guy decided to take a swing at you :^)

  14. Re:Twins? by presearch · · Score: 2, Funny

    But if you grow facial hair, they'll know you're the evil one.

  15. Boston... by SEWilco · · Score: 2, Funny

    Of course, the 61% recognized were all Kennedys.

  16. we need quantum computers! by donkiemaster · · Score: 4, Funny

    With quantum computer problems like this will be a thing of the past. We will just say "locate all criminals" and then the quantum computer will do it because they know things without actually knowing them. We will tell them to find the crimincals but they will have already found them, before the criminals even knew they were coming. Quantum computers will also be good for telling us what TV to watch and then rather than just watching the TV it will tell us whether the show we were going to watch was any good. Saves time that way. And then they never really had to make the show because the quantum computer already knew if we were going to like it so there is no real point in actually spending money to make the show. At least, this is my understanding of how quantum computers work. I think you can also do floating point math up to 10 digits too, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

  17. 61%? I know why it didn't work... by r_glen · · Score: 3, Funny
    The problem is NOT that the technology isn't there yet. Sloppy coding is to blame.
    I've taken the libery of fixing it. Now we can finally replace those hard-working security screeners:
    BOOL IsLikelyTerrorist (PASSENGER_INFO *passenger)
    {
    if (( passenger->skin_color != RGB(255,255,255) ) && ( strlen(passenger->name) > 30 ))
    return TRUE;
    else
    return FALSE;
    }
    No thanks needed; I'm just glad I could help my country.