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Facial Recognition Vending Machine Debuts
Peter Hanami writes "Yesterday in Japan, a facial recognition vending machine went on sale that can tell the age of the buyer based on a range of features including number of wrinkles, bone structure and how the skin sits on the face. It was developed as a way to stop minors from buying cigarettes from vending machines. In Japan, cigarette vending machines are a common feature on the street and presently few safeguards exist to stop younger users from purchasing them. This new machine is seen as a positive step to reduce under age smoking. If the machine doesnt deem the buyer to be of suitable age, 20 years old, the buyer must provide further identification such as a drivers licence."
And of course, what about people who look older than they actually are? I had a friend in high school who liked he was almost thirty before he even turned twenty.
This was obviously created in Japan with Japanese in mind. I am curious "out of the box" how it functions against other nationalities who's facial features are significantly different. I would suspect it would be unable to identify the age and require an identification card of some sort.
Well at least it is a fairly novel idea.
If it's that good, why don't they just require standard government ID and use the face recognizer to determine if the buyer is the person on the ID and let the ID provide the age?
I'm all for new technology making things easier, but in this case why not just require ID for everyone purchasing instead of using it as a backup to a much more complicated solution?
Registered Linux User #423733
There's not really much you can do about it other than require an ID for everyone regardless of age. In that case, you'd still have a problem with faked ids which this system wouldn't solve anyways.
Sigs are too short to say anything truly profound so read the above post instead.
Even worse: the article linked to is just another blog, seeking hits and advertising.
The original article is at yomiuri.co.jp.
Why not just have people use their driver's license every time?
Wouldn't the comparatively simple low tech solution be better? Wouldn't even older smokers rather have a reliable system that one that's probably going to deny them cigarettes when it misreads their faces?
And those who look far younger than they are. I recall an embarrassing gaffe where a friend of a friend offered to drive us to some store. He nipped into the house and emerged with the keys, started the car and away we went. I asked if his mom knew he drove her car. Ooops. He was 18 and it was his car, though he looked for the world like he was 13.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
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Engineering is the art of compromise.
How come no matter what button I push this damn vending machine keeps spitting out Clearasil?!
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They've already got those. Heck, these vending machines can even run away.
So some kid takes a picture of his grandfather's face, prints it out on his color printer, and then holds the printout up in front of the camera. I wonder if the software will realize whether it's looking at a real face or not.
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No, not for the vending machines, but so that blind-drunk guys can get a machines 'expert opinion' as to whether their prospective, er, 'date' is under age or not...
In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
>"There's not really much you can do about it other than require an ID for everyone regardless of age"
You can always just ban cigarette vending machines ... other places have done it.
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I can recall when vending machines in Japan sold cigarettes, coffee, beer, condoms & pantyhose...all out of the same machine. As Slim would say "That's a goddamn 3 day vacation in Las Vegas".
:)
Some of the beer machines would power off at a certain time to try to discourage street drunks.
When asked what kept under age drinkers from using the beer vending machines, the locals would reply "well, they just don't..."
Certain enterprising business men would pay the local high school girls for used underwear. Then they would shrinkwrap them, along with a signed Polaroid and put them into those arcade 'claw' machines. Had a thriving business until the neighborhood moms began wondering why their daughters were always asking for new Hello Kitty undies. The moms went to the cops. The cops were stumped, at first, as they had a hard time finding a specific law on the books that the pre-owned-panty vendors were breaking.
Finally, the cops decided to apply an antiques law that says you have to be licensed accordingly for the sale of certain 'used' or aged goods. No permit to sell antiques? Come with us...you're under arrest - and don't forget the evidence
that was from all the smoking...
man, I feel like mold.
"Are you saying I'm fat?" breeds a whole new meaning.
Well here is the Honne and the Tatemae (The real thing and the appearance or facade) of Japanese culture at work.
It is not about actually preventing minors from purchasing cigarettes, it about making the appearance of doing so. By making the appearance of oing so, these vending machines will continue to be allowed, and it may even stop them from being "turned off" at 11:00 PM as they are now. It may also allow Beer vending machines to make a comeback (they are still here, but in far fewer quantities than they used to be.)
Japan is about image, and showing that you are respecting the group consensus. Japan is not about actually making something foolproof.
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I think they should just dispense condoms for free for whoever wants them in the pubs and clubs. The kind of people who hook up in these places are the ones we don't want reproducing
http://greenobyl.com/ please.... think of the children!!
Whats next? A machine that calculates your weight based on a picture it takes of you and if it deems you obese refuses to sell you a coke?
Ever notice how the vending machines in women's bathrooms have one kind of condom, hair brushes, deodorant, lipstick, etc, but the vending machines in men's bathrooms have 8 different kinds of condom? I'm sure there's some market research going on there.
How we know is more important than what we know.
what prevents a kid from fashioning a mask (aka: buying cigs 'halloween style') that resembles an older person and then buying the cigs from the machine?
Don't most people who smoke look alot older than they are anyways ?
When I was a kid & smoked, all my friends & I looked older than we actually were because we'd started smoking when we were about 13.
Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
As far as I can tell, Japanese women between the ages of 14 and 32 all look the same age.
I browse Slashdot at +3, Funny
I don't know what the situation is like in Japan, but in many countries most people don't have driver's licenses -- moreso in places of high population density.
if (girl.isOldEnough())
displayApprovalDialog(girl.name);
else
whyDontYouHaveASeatOverThere(user.name);
//I'm pretty sure I violated Obscure Coding Rule #655360 but whatever
You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
vending machine gives face to you!
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Put a Vending Machine with masks of old people in it next to it. Intelligent kids can buy cigs for their friends and make a profit too. Everyone wins.
God spoke to me.
Teenage boys let out a sigh of relief that the used panties machine would not be affected.
http://informationthreshold.blogspot.com - Information Threshold
I had a friend in high school who liked he was almost thirty before he even turned twenty.
Maybe he looked thirty because he was smoking too much.
And maybe that made it easier for him to get cigarettes from the machine... which let him smoke more...
DATABASE WOW WOW
You know, 19 year olds that look like they're 40? Does he get carded?
Seriously, I have witnessed smokers pick up cigarette butts from the street when they were desperate, but then complain that the person who was serving their hamburger didn't wash their hands.
Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
Yes indeed! I do have them backwards. Thanks for that.
and being a resident of slashdot you have no female friends.
How we know is more important than what we know.
Gavin: okay. These guys, smoke.
Mark: They smoke.
Gavin: Yeah!
Mark: Wow.
Gavin: And they're *bad*! And you know what??? They taught a dog to smoke! Do you believe that?
Mark: Sure, I believe that.
Gavin: Yeah, well it's true! And they taught him to beg for cigarettes! Door to door! So right away when this poor little devil would ring your door bell with his paws, you'd know right away what he wanted! So you'd give him a cigarette, and he'd take it back to these guys that waited by the fence to smoke, and they didn't care who saw them smoke! These guys sure smoked!
I've had enough smokers stand upwind, throw cigarette butts everywhere, walk around stinking like a smokestack, etc., that I just don't care if smokers are inconvenienced once in a while too.
http://outcampaign.org/
While I admire the technical feat, a more effective way from a business standpoint to do it would be to outsource the facial inspection via internet to some cheap 3rd-world country. They don't even have to speak Japanese.
A big advantage of that approach is that you don't have to invest in a lot up front. You set up a small outsourced shop in Timbuktu and if the concept works, you hire more staff. The software approach requires a lot of big money up front. Physical staff can also study body movement and other cues that automation would be too expensive to get right. They can even ask the person to speak (via pre-recorded requests) to see if they have a mature voice.
Table-ized A.I.
Certain enterprising business men would pay the local high school girls for used underwear. Then they would shrinkwrap them, along with a signed Polaroid and put them into those arcade 'claw' machines. Had a thriving business until...
You mean they finally figured out what the "???" is in the Southpark Profit cliche?:
1. Collect Underpants
2. ???
3. Profit
Those clever Japanese.
Table-ized A.I.
When I was sixteen, ten years ago, I was mistaken for a 20-something college student by a guy who'd known me for a year.
A few hours ago, a telemarketer asked me if my mommy was home.
I can see this thing working out real good.
I live in Tokyo and there are of course, tons of vending machines in my neighborhood... the beed and cigarette machines shutdown around 10-11pm and turn back on sometime in the morning hours. When I leave for work in the morning, they are back on. Here's another story about ID's and vending machines: http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/421419 --- This sounds more feasible than the whole facial recognition thing. Anyway... I never see kids at the vending machine, I live in a fairly quiet neighborhood and most everyone is respectable... including the kids. I would imagine in other areas, ecspecially Adachi ward, smoking and dinking is a big problem for underage kids.
Bwa ha ha! That was hilarious. Nice.
The enemies of Democracy are
... Facial Recognition Voting Machine Debuts
Most people only choose one or the other... so, no, we haven't noticed.
As westerners our ideas of what happens to make a face look young (I can't speak for other cultures) just happens to be abundant in asian faces. A western female face, perhaps because we are more familiar with it, will develop quickly from that of a young a girl, to that of a mature woman, install a program like poser and see for yourselve how a subtle shifting of the facial lines can make a character leap through the years.
An adult face, even in a female is more lined, more pronounced, asian faces, by their nature are smoother. This doesn't apply to ALL japanese faces, but I myself have seen plenty of asian females well into their 20's who at first glance you mistake for someone ten years younger.
Faces of indian (as in india) women tend to me look far more mature on the other hand. Because they have in a way a more extreme version of the western face combined with the darkness of the skin, they seem older then they really are. To a westerner, grown up with western faces.
Saying that different facial structures throw you assement of their age off balance is racist is taking PC too far.
All people have difficulty reading faces of races they aren't exposed too. I noticed myself that since I started working in a more international area where I am constantly exposed to clients from all over the world, I have become far better at it.
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Am not sure you are regular visitor to women's room or gent's room. or Both!!
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"No you can't have another Mars bar you fat slob. Go Away."
"Go on, have a smoke. Given your yellow skin, I calculate you'll die of cancer in 6 months. Do us all a favour and clear the world of your sad arse."
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The government knows you through your driver's license, tax statements, birth certificates etc.
What's to stop me from holding up a picture of an old man, photoshopped onto the background of my surrounds?
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And what about the legal aspect? Is it even legal to decide wether to sell you something or not based on the way you look? I foresee a "babyface discrimination action class lawsuit" if it ever hits the streets.
"It's too bad that stupidity isn't painful." - Anton LaVey
Oh, I don't know, it's like unintentionally creating a compliment machine. Imagine how confused these women will be when the machine thinks they're too young. On one hand, no cigarettes. On the other hand, they're being called young, which is one of the ultimate compliments in a society with women as obsessed with youth is Japan. Traditionally, single Japanese women are considered to be over the hill at 30. Women who are 25 used to be referred to as "Christmas cakes" because their desirability ended soon afterwards.
I have one cousin in her early 30s who the entire family is frantically trying to get married off. Objectively speaking, she's smoking hot (no jokes, come on) and nice to a fault, so I don't understand the problem. But when she turned 30, it's like someone flipped a switch in the minds of my relatives. I think it would be a nice pick me up for her once in a while, even if it's from a vending machine
The adult-mask maker company jAdult (FACE) just went public.
I found most Japanese to be quite courteous in their smoking habits. For an example, almost everyone carries their own portable ashtray to the extent that they become fashion statements.
While in Japan there was about a half a dozen BEER vending machines about a half a block away (in somewhat shadowy area) - rarely did I ever see any kids try to get beer out of them. The one time I saw two tweens try an old momma yelled at them and they quickly scampered away.
It seems to me that social control via the social norms works pretty darn good in Japan.
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that old Ronald Reagan mask - as long as I'm not purchasing life insurance from the vending machine.
Um, it already IS a pain in the ass to buy alcohol... where do you find alcohol vending machines? Where do you buy alcohol without ID (if you look young)?
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
So the more a teenager smokes the easier it would be to fool the machine.
Basically, no. Not enough to cause anyone any problems.
Cause I've been bothered by drunk people before and I think it should be a pain in the ass for everyone to buy alcohol.I could live with that.
http://outcampaign.org/
In Japan. They're fairly common.
My Japanese friends would always ask me if it was ok for them to smoke before doing so. Definitely a lot more polite. Around here, most people will just whip out a cigarette and expect people to put up with their habit.
Yes, but In Japan you wouldn't say no. So how polite is it really?
"Do you mind I do this thing you would never insult me buy saying no to?"
hmmm
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Just put the Sensor high off the ground. "You must be this high to smoke"
Clinics that had been doing a brisk business in Botox injections report a baffling decline in business among their smoking customers, a group more inclined to early wrinkling than non-smokers.
SLASHDOT: news for people who can't concentrate on work or have no life at all and got tired of yelling back at the TV.
There are many ways of saying 'no' without actually using the words. Sometimes yes means no, particularly in Japanese society.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
Certainly from a health risk point of view, that makes more sense (and no, I don't smoke anything - never could stand the smell, and I prefer to waste my money on chocolate. Better a couple of pounds extra than one lung less :-)
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Progeria.
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1) Will it recognise non-Asians? A Japanese built system probably only looks at people with Asian faces, and doesn't look at Caucasians or anything else. To be honest though, I reckon a US, UK or Australian built system similar to this one would probably forget Asians and other races and only focus on Caucasians. 2) What happens if someone wears a mask?
you're causing me a problem right now ;)
oh wait, I'm supposed to tolerate jackasses like you.
can't win, eh?
Haha, they already fixed the summary. You must have missed the original, completely broken one--disjoined sentences, sentence fragments, mispunctuation, and more. Oh well, I may have been modded troll, but perhaps my outrage made a difference.
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