AVG Announces Invisibility Glasses

BrianFagioli writes So what do these glasses from AVG Innovation Labs actually do? The security firm claims it can protect your identity in this new era of cameras everywhere. From the article: "'Through a mixture of technology and specialist materials, privacy wearables such as invisibility glasses can make it difficult for cameras or other facial recognition technologies to get a clear view of your identity', AVG claims. This is still in the prototype phase of testing, though it has been officially announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. There's a lot of science behind this -- a series of infrared lights surrounding the eyes and nose is not visible to other people, but cameras will pick it up making recognition difficult at best. There's also reflective materials involved, which aids in the blocking, or so it's claimed."

Comments

*sighs*

[Barny]

Well, expect there to be signs all over banks and other secure locations, from now on, telling people to remove helmets, glasses and all articles of clothing.

Seriously, fucking with security cameras is really a needed thing?

Re:*sighs*

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

They are 'surveillance' cameras. Sometimes, surveillance is, indeed, an ingredient in the production of 'security'. Other times, not so much. In either case though, the camera only ever handles the surveillance, possibly with some other component producing security from it.

Re:*sighs*

[wonkey_monkey]

Regular old glass blocks the vast majority of infrared. No special IR "emitters" are necessary.

How would you imagine than an IR emitter would block IR, in any case?

The emitters are there to dazzle IR-sensitive cameras.

Re:*sighs*

[DarkOx]

The point of the emitters is not block IR but screw up the camera's exposure. Ever take a picture of someone standing in front of bright light source, and had the subject come out all dark? Its fooled the camera's light meter.

Same kind of deal here, either the IR will wash out the image of the rest of your face, over exposing, or fool the camera into thinking the reflected light is greater than it is, under exposing. Either way the resulting image will be less detailed. There are darkroom/photo editing tricks to overcome this to a degree but it will complicate the process greatly for automated systems.

How the TSA will feel about it remains to be seen.

Re:*sighs*

[MitchAmes]

... remove hats and sunglasses for more than a year.

I hope you sue them when you get skin cancer or cataracts after going all summer without protection from the sun.

Re:*sighs*

[monkeyzoo]

Some cool thinking by AVG, but the ideas presented have significant limitations, as they themselves acknowledge if you click through and read their actual link.

A more reliable (and perhaps feasible?) line of inquiry has been started by CV Dazzle through their use of "camouflage" glasses, facial markings, and/or hairstyles.
Very interesting stuff here: http://cvdazzle.com/

Re:*sighs*

[fustakrakich]

How the TSA will feel about it remains to be seen.

If they work, they'll be banned, if not, they will sell them at the TSA's airport duty free souvenir shop.

Re:*sighs*

[Mr D from 63]

Combine these emitter glasses with a tin foil hat for improve results.

Re:*sighs*

[Opportunist]

Gait recognition?

Dammit, THAT's what the ministry of silly walks was about! Those sneaky Brits!

Streisand effect.

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, this looks like just the way to get attention and get people manually making the effort to identify you.

Privacy is fundamentally not a technical problem but a social one, and needs to be protected with promotion of a privacy-conscious social contract and ultimately with laws (both to sanction private entities which abuse privacy and to limit the powers of the state to use any information gathered inappropriately).

Needs several people to wear them

[Jamu]

Assuming your identity isn't given away by the fact that you're the only person wearing infrared emitting glasses. Anyway, for the full effect, you should walk around naked so you can't be identified by the clothes you're wearing.

Re:Needs several people to wear them

[Savage-Rabbit]

Assuming your identity isn't given away by the fact that you're the only person wearing infrared emitting glasses. Anyway, for the full effect, you should walk around naked so you can't be identified by the clothes you're wearing.

That depends on your use-case. If you are Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi you might be better off just shaving your beard off and avoiding cameras. If you are a private citizen who is not trying to hide, not wanted by the police and is just plain old creeped out by being under constant surveillance then this might be a product you want even if it makes you stick out like a sore thumb. It also depends on how commonly accepted this technology becomes. If the public at large eventually gets so creeped out by being under constant surveillance that half of them wear a device like this there is very little the security services in most western democracies could do about it without looking like the Gestapo or NKVD.

Re:Needs several people to wear them

[Anonymous Coward]

You should go everywhere accompanied by a young, nubile swimsuit model in a revealing costume.

No matter how many cameras there are, any cameras directed by a male surveillance team won't be looking at you....

Re:Needs several people to wear them

[Skylinux]

Get with the program...

May I interest you in this privacy enhancing penis cover? Knobbed for her pleasure and "his" privacy ;)

Until it hits Facebook...

[PhilHibbs]

So when someone takes a picture of you wearing these glasses, uploads it to Facebook and tags you...

I have a demo for you

[Anonymous Coward]

Take a regular TV IR remote control and point it at your smartphone camera. You'll notice on your phone's screen that the LED lights up quite brightly.
 
You will be walking around a town with several of these things attached to your face, shining away happily. Do you not think anybody will notice?
 
This is the tech equivalent of Peter Griffin dressing in the clown costume while in the jungle, stating that "they're going to be looking for Army guys."

Dollar Store Equivalent.

[camperdave]

You can already buy identity concealing glasses. They work by projecting a false set of the facial landmarks used by facial recognition software while obscuring your own.

Best of all, you can get them at the dollar store.

Re:Might only work with digital cameras

[Overzeetop]

When we talk about things being like 1984, we don't literally mean 1984.

Re:Transparent material that blocks cameras?

[Lumpy]

nope. They can block IR thermal cameras, but 99.987641% of all security cameras are not the multi thousand dollar FLIR type camera.

License Plate Readers

[jcdenhartog]

Can this be used to block license plate readers? I can see that being a useful application for this technology.