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No Smiles At NJ Motor Vehicle Commission

Posted by timothy on from the when-instructions-are-redundant dept.

Reader Presto Vivace blesses us with news that the state of New Jersey "has banned motorists from making big smiles [for their license pictures] because such expressions don't work with facial recognition software." Now that passports are by decree grim and glasses-free, I'm expecting the next phase to involve the banning of facial hair, lips, and any hair that blocks the ears.

7 of 265 comments (clear)

  1. Smiling foold facial recognition? by KatchooNJ · · Score: 5, Funny

    So... To flip this... does that mean if I smile when doing something naughty, I won't be recognized by the serious computers?

    --
    "Never give up, for that is just the time and place when the tide will change." -Harriet Beecher Stowe ^_^
    1. Re:Smiling foold facial recognition? by Firehed · · Score: 5, Funny

      Cue the Joker references.

      --
      How are sites slashdotted when nobody reads TFAs?
  2. No smiles in Ohio by Geoffrey.landis · · Score: 5, Informative

    That's not new. No smiles in Ohio, either-- I renewed my license over a year ago, and was quite firmly instructed that smiles were not allowed in drivers license photos because it screws up the facial recognition software.

    http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10249834-71.html
    http://www.autoblog.com/2009/05/27/states-adopting-no-smiles-policy-for-drivers-licenses/
    http://www.webanswers.com/legal/why-can-t-you-smile-in-your-drivers-license-picture-84ffba

    --
    http://www.geoffreylandis.com
    1. Re:No smiles in Ohio by Immerman · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Actually I don't think the software even "sees" glasses, they don't affect the control point recognition, but glasses can throw human-powered facial recognition off, and it's a lot easier for an official to ask you to remove your glasses when confirming your identity than to have you wear the same style as in your photo if you've changed them or are wearing contacts. Also glasses and flash photography don't get along all that well (glare hides your eyes), and do you really want *another* reason for the barely competent person at the DMV to spend three hours trying to do something simple for the person in front of you?

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
    2. Re:No smiles in Ohio by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 5, Funny

      I renewed my license over a year ago, and was quite firmly instructed that smiles were not allowed in drivers license photos because it screws up the facial recognition software.

      That means you have to smile while driving. :-)

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
  3. Validation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This is a great story. And yes, it's on topic for the OP. Take time to watch it all the way through.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbk980jV7Ao

  4. Re:thanks for the info by PRMan · · Score: 5, Funny

    Don't lie. Nobody smiles in NJ, because it's NJ...

    --
    Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...