Can a Computer Identify Your Urban Tribe?

Zothecula writes "Whether it's fashion, a favorite football team, or a certain kind of music, humans seem to enjoy being considered part of a larger group, and often self-identify as such. With this in mind, students from the University of California, San Diego Jacobs school of Engineering are currently developing a computer algorithm that can deduce from an image whether you're a goth, surfer, hipster, or biker."

Comments

Your Personalized Result Here:

[Anonymous Coward]

Urban Tribe: Neckbeard

This just in

[chthon]

I sent the tribe an e-mail stating, "Please accept my resignation. I don't want to belong to any tribe that will accept people like me as a member".

Re:This just in

[TheloniousToady]

Your English teacher called. She wants me to tell you that "wan'ts" isn't a word.

Why a four-year-old child could understand that post. Run out and find me a four-year-old child. I can't make head or tail out of it.

Oh, goodie.

[kheldan]

Many of us are disturbed by the idea of automated facial recognition being coupled with all the video surveillance that's becoming more and more prevalent in public places, to track us wherever we go, and that's bad enough. Now you're telling us that they're taking it to the next level and developing automated video profiling software? Is the world of Minority Report just around the corner?

Re:Oh, goodie.

[CanHasDIY]

Is the world of Minority Report just around the corner?

We knew you were going to say that.

Don't understand my result

[puddingebola]

I ran it myself and it said, "Loser."

Re:Never understood this

[Anonymous Coward]

Defending something for which you have no part in its success is silly to me. Whether it be sports or being a Windows fanboy, I just don't get it. The blind patriotism some people have is also baffling. Being a groupie and making arguments on behalf of people/companies/teams as if their actions somehow reflect on you as a person is delusional, sorry.

Even this perspective makes you part of an "urban tribe", the "non-conformity conformists".

NIl Sociological Value, IMHO

[NotSanguine]

It seems to me that the only application for this sort of this is attempting to attract venture capital to create a "business" that can be sold to Facebook/Google/Yahoo/whatever to aid in their quest to give marketers even more information which they think might help them sell more stuff.

While this is unsurprising, it's also pathetic. Sigh.

Several options

[jklovanc]

I would consider myself a member of at least five different tribes. While there is overlap between these tribes the overlap is nowhere near complete. For example I am a crafter and a gamer. While there are many gamers who are also crafters there are at least as many who are not.

Many don't adhere to the dress code

[Quila]

I love goth and industrial music, have been to hundreds of concerts, met and was friends with many band members. But I look decidedly regular. I'm looking back at my old photos, and I see one of a standard geeky guy with regular hair and glasses, wearing an admittedly hideous blue windbreaker, partying with Nik Fiend.

So this algorithm shouldn't only associate your face with your culture, but use the faces of those around you to establish your culture. But then I have friends who are in a death metal/industrial band, and their mainstream family members come to concerts to show support. So we'd have regular people labeled as being in the death metal culture if we did that.

Re:Never understood this

[TheloniousToady]

Brian: Look, you've got it all wrong! You don't NEED to follow ME, You don't NEED to follow ANYBODY! You've got to think for your selves! You're ALL individuals!
The Crowd: Yes! We're all individuals!
Brian: You're all different!
The Crowd: Yes, we ARE all different!
Man in crowd: I'm not...

Wait a minute.

[Chris Mattern]

Those aren't the Urban Tribes I learned in history class. Aren't they supposed to be Collina, Esquilina, Palatina and Suburana?