December 7, 2016
Blippar, the augmented reality business, is adding facial recognition to its app. Some will find that cool, others will see it as a creepy invasion of privacy.
At the moment the Blippar app gives you information about all kinds of objects when you point your smartphone's camera at them - it will identify famous paintings for example, or provide advertising content when you point it at a product.
Now the app will also recognise people - in real life or in photos and videos.
Blippar's co-founder Omar Tayeb gave me a demonstration, pointing the app at magazine pictures of Michael Fassbender and Hillary Clinton, then at a TV interview with Boris Johnson. In each case, the app recognised the faces and provided information about them - their social media profiles and Wikipedia entries.
He explained that Blippar had made more than 70,000 "public figures" recognisable by the app. I was rather surprised when he pointed the phone at me to find I was among them.
Users will soon be able to upload their own faces.
Anyone who does not want their face stored on Blippar's servers, including those 70,000 public figures, can ask to have it removed.
But what happens if a mischievous friend decides to take a photo of you and put it into the database?
Mr Tayeb says the process of creating a face profile involves you taking moving pictures of your own face and claims the system is sophisticated enough to recognise if someone is trying to register someone else.
Blippar believes it is creating a new form of communication involving the most expressive single feature we possess - our faces.
"It's a social tool, something people can have fun with," says Mr Tayeb.
Blippar's technology is certainly impressive. But in an era where our every move is watched over by CCTV cameras, the idea of smartphone lenses examining our faces wherever we go may not get the warmest of welcomes.
Courtesy by BBC News
