UPDATED 06:37 EDT / DECEMBER 19 2013

NEWS

Another reason to hate Google Glass: FaceRec

Google has revealed that the next update for Google Glass will deliver new features including Hangouts messages, a lock screen, and the ability to upload photos and videos to YouTube. But the most intriguing feature is ‘Wink’, the ability to take photos by just winking.

The point of the wink feature is to allow you to take photos faster, without having to spoil the moment. But Google has bigger plans for wink than just taking photos.  In the future, it’s hoped that Glass wearers will be able pay for cab fares by just ‘winking’ at the meter, or perhaps even buy items at a store – just wink and that item will immediately be paid for and shipped to your doorstep.

Wink may be a cool way to take photos, but it has also fueled more concerns about privacy as ‘Glassholes’ will easily be able to take photos of anyone without them noticing.  And if that privacy concern is not enough to dampen Google’s spirits, another company plans to make Glass Explorers more hated than they are now.

Lambda Labs is planning to release an unauthorized facial recognition Glass app. Google has previously said that it will not allow developers to distribute facial recognition software through its Glassware app store, but that doesn’t mean developers can’t create one and side-load into the device.  And that’s exactly what Lambda Labs plans on doing.

The FaceRec app will allow Glassholes to integrate location data with the faces of people they’ve ‘captured’, to create a map of what users saw, and when and where.  FaceRec has the ability to recognize faces as well as vehicle license plate numbers, and will be able to help Glassholes to discern which people they came face-to-face with, as well people that were just in the background.  FaceRec will take a photo every 10 seconds and everything will be stored in the cloud.

“As you collect data over time, you can start to ask questions like who was that person I talked to during the last month at the Rosewood?” Stephen Balaban, founder of Lambda Labs, stated.

“Give it a geolocation, and you can find all the pictures and timestamps at that location, and it will show you all the people you saw.”

At the moment, FaceRec doesn’t capture images fast enough and cannot recognize faces in real-time as it doesn’t have a database to compare the captured images with. However, Lambda Labs believes that over time, as more people use the app, it will be able to deliver real-time face recognition and be able to create maps of your everyday activities and interactions.

There’s a possibility that Google could hinder the FaceRec app from being side-loaded into Google Glass. With that in mind, Lambda Labs will be launching the Lambda Hat on Monday. The Lambda Hat is $225 cap with a camera designed for a better always-on computer vision.

With the wink feature and the FaceRec app, HUDs could soon become one of the most hated devices on Earth.  The new feature and the Lambda Labs app makes it easier for Glassholes to spy on people and violate their privacy rights.

I wonder how many establishments will put anti-Google Glass signs in their shops when the feature and app go live?


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