Vibrant Knitwear Tricks Facial Recognition Cameras Into Thinking You’re A Zebra
An Italian apparel company called Cap_able is fighting the eye in the sky watching us all with, um, knitwear. What seems like a traditional form of clothing can now shield you with privacy while staying in style.
What sets Cap_able’s sweaters apart from the rest is its vibrant print. At first glance, it might look like a mess of colors, swirls, and patterns, but it is not without purpose. These sweaters confuse facial recognition cameras when trying to identify a person.
The print on the sweater can trick the system into thinking that you could be a zebra or a giraffe, not a human.
The idea came from co-founder Rachele Didero’s Ph.D. at the University of Milan. She had found a way to incorporate cues that triggered these AI systems into thinking a human body was an animal, all from the print on the clothes.
To test its accuracy, Didero used the YOLO (You Only Look Once) neural net-based object detection system to develop the best patterns for someone to slip under the radar.
According to CNN, Woodrow Hartzog from the Boston University School of Law posits that such an initiative could help spark a conversation around surveillance and encourage lawmakers to create meaningful rules to help keep people safe from facial recognition cameras.
Cap_able touches on the subject on its website and notes that the clothes do not jeopardize the community’s safety and will not work against other security measures such as metal detectors and security cameras. Its main goal is not so much to conceal as it is to unveil privacy problems and protect each person’s rights.
Keen to walk free from the watch of Big Brother? The Manifesto collection features hoodies, sweaters, pants, t-shirts, and dresses. Prices for each begin at US$300.
