Face Recognition - Real or Science Fiction?

An anonymous reader writes "Facial recognition software has been touted as one of the technologies that will change our future, particularly in law enforcement. How close are we to being recognized by a computer anywhere we go, as portrayed in movies like Minority Report? According to the industry's recent Public Relations releases, these products are closer than we think. The reality though, is that current products work only when utilizing a small comparative sample, and any attempts for an individual to disguise themselves typically throw off the results. To see how far this technology needs to go before becoming mainstream, one site utilized Government-tested face recognition software, available freely through MyHeritage.com, to compare hundreds of famous people, animals, and cartoons to a database of 2,000 celebrities. Some of the results showed promise for the technology, but most were just funny — for example, who would mistake Barbara Streisand for Shrek, or Lance Bass of N'Sync for a Teletubby?"

Comments

trick question

[Lurker2288]

"who would mistake Barbara Streisand for Shrek, or Lance Bass of N'Sync for a Teletubby?"

I think it's more a question of 'how many beers' than of 'who.'

Re:trick question

[slysithesuperspy]

I've never seen them in the same place at the same time. Hmm...

Actors not characters

[Anne_Nonymous]

>> who would mistake Barbara Streisand for Shrek

Actors hate it when fans think they are the characters they play.

The miracle of technology

[Lisandro]

For example, who would mistake Barbara Streisand for Shrek, or Lance Bass of N'Sync for a Teletubby?

So, i see it's working correctly!

As always Southpark says it best about Streisand

[MikeRT]

Cartman: Try this on for size. Blood-drenched, frozen tampon popsicle!
Sadaam Hussein: Hey buddy, I know I was mean before, but don't worry, I can change!
Cartman: Okay.
Not. Fuck, shit, cock, ass, dildo, boner, bitch, pussy, butthole, Barbara Streisand!

Re:I've heard this for years

[john83]

That's just what I need: Tesco X-raying my head every time I walk into the store to direct me to specials on items I might want. It'll break as soon as I develop super-powers from all the X-rays though.