
HP computers are racist 	 - jawngee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4DT3tQqgRM&feature=player_embedded
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DaniFong
It's probably because there weren't any black coworkers around to test on.
Otherwise they would have noticed it.

See? As if we didn't already have it, here's proof that diversity = better
software :-)

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rms
Or giving them the benefit of the doubt, they tested on _a_ black person but
someone with lighter skin than the man in the video.

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dchest
Reminds me of the story about Nikon camera's blink detection asking "Did
someone blink?" when taking photos of Asian people
(<http://www.flickr.com/photos/jozjozjoz/3529106844/>).

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rglovejoy
Considering that the camera was designed and tested by Japanese engineers,
there probably is another explanation.

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jawngee
As funny as this is on the surface, I think the underlying causes are
incredibly interesting.

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hristov
Black people's faces obviously reflect less light. This is a much bigger
problem for the cheap computer cameras that are not very good at collecting
light. The software probably could not distinguish his facial features because
there was less contrast due to the lower light.

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mtrimpe
Nonsense, if that were the case we'd heard about it by now. Also, the face
tracking algorithms can already operate in far less optimal conditions than
the one presented here so in _this_ case it shouldn't be a problem.

Forgetting that the algorithm was tuned to a specific color range however
seems like an entirely plausible scenario.

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hristov
You have not heard about dark skin reflecting less light?

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kwamenum86
The same thing happened in early motion pictures. Black actors' faces appeared
washed out because the cameras were optimized for white actors.

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jeromec
I wonder how hard this would be to spoof. At 2:05 the camera "follows" edging
to the left even though Wanda's face has already exited left. Also, the very
last time Wanda comes into frame the camera doesn't pan anymore, but picks up
a last minute zoom.

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snprbob86
I suspect that the tracking is 100% software-based. It would probably be
prohibitively expensive to have optical pan and zoom. I'm so glad that modern
cameras generally have an option to disable digital "zoom". It's really just a
euphemism for premature cropping.

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pmichaud
Interesting. So, I guess they trained the software, and presumably the
training consisted of tracking white developers' faces.

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liuliu
Back for about 5~8 years, it is a known issue in face detection area where the
face of Africa-America people just not so distinguishable than others. But for
today's face detection system, it should be no problem. My only guess is that
the guy in video is the rare "false negative" somehow.

Edit: it should be "false negative".

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rglullis
Off-topic, I know, but still: saying that face detection systems have issues
"faces of African-Americans" is really weird, and wrong. Face detection
systems have issues with the color of the skin of people, and not all people
with dark skin are "African-Americans".

Please, don't be PC when there is no reason to. This is one moment that it is
more correct to say "black people" than anything else.

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maxklein
Many indians are as dark skinned and would probably have the same problem. Do
you also refer to them as "black people"?

In the U.S, "black" is a race, it's not a skin color. About 70% of "black"
people in movies and music have light skin color that would probably not have
the same camera problem.

So technically, saying "black people" would be wrong. The technically correct
term in this particular example would be "dark skinned people".

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kogir
All we have are two data points, and while there is obviously a skin tone
difference between the two samples, that's not the only difference. Without
more information we can't even be sure that skin color is the issue.

For example, the algorithm might just fail for the black man's facial
features, which differ greatly from those of the white woman.

Can anyone test this?

Edit: By "differ greatly" I mean from the point of view of the algorithm. We
don't know what features (as in data extracted from the image, not facial
features) they're using.

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gojomo
Perhaps if you removed the webcam's IR filter the algorithm would have a
better chance of working for faces of all shades.

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anigbrowl
Excellent point, though you might need to take other steps to deal with the
increase in thermal noise (which lowers the color quality somewhat, not that
anyone seriously uses a webcam for its photographic fidelity).

There's a market opportunity here if your theory is correct.

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JMiao
this feels fake in a "viral" kind of way.

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ajaimk
This is why we need diversity in the work environment. That software to track
faces was probably designed by a bunch of white kids and they forgot the
people of color.

This isn't the first time either: the voice recognition software that did not
recognize the female voice at all.

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kwamenum86
I found an excellent solution: [http://www.amazon.com/Hees-Design-MIME-Male-
Mask/dp/B0019L1R...](http://www.amazon.com/Hees-Design-MIME-Male-
Mask/dp/B0019L1R10)

HP should brand this and sell it as a peripheral.

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jasonlbaptiste
Youtube Comment:

"The xbox360's new system had the same issue, "Project Natal" that was the
reason it's release got set back was I believe it was ying yang twins or one
of them were testing it and it couldn't detect their﻿ movements."

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xsmasher
It was Newsweek's N'Gai Croal:

[http://bitmob.com/index.php/mobfeed/Project-Natal-Hands-
Feet...](http://bitmob.com/index.php/mobfeed/Project-Natal-Hands-Feet-Arms-
Legs-Torso-Heads-On-Impressions.html)

>When game consultant and former Newsweek writer N'Gai Croal gave Paradise a
test drive, however, the game had trouble reading his steering actions. The
footwork (gas and brakes) worked fine, but Croal couldn't steer his car at
all. It wasn't clear whether this was a problem of calibration differences
between Tsunoda and Croal's very different body types, or if Croal's crazy
dreadlocks threw Natal off. But it was working just fine when Tsunoda was at
the "wheel."

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ricosroughnecks
Crazy dreadlocks? They look normal to me ;-) .

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nazgulnarsil
if anyone has been following natal development....apparently the infrared
cameras that natal uses for depth information has trouble with darker skin. I
can't wait for the hilarity upon release if they don't fix it.

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snprbob86
Where have you heard this? I've seen a black co-worker use a Natal without any
noticeable difference in skeletal tracking.

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j_baker
Was anyone else reminded of the Better Off Ted episode where they install
motion detectors that can't detect black people?

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andrewcooke
could the problem be the exposure level? to get good contrast for the details
in a face with darker skin you need to use a longer exposure, which would blow
out light areas in the background.

(i agree it could also be that it was trained on white faces)

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blasdel

      (more info)
      
      Uploaded Using HP MediaSmart
    

At least that much works...

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plaes
Why is the image mirrored?

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timdorr
Never taken a photo in Photobooth on the Mac? They mirror the image that shows
to you so it appears like your screen is a...well...mirror. I'm guessing when
they record they save it as you saw it on the screen.

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teilo
Difficulty processing an image with a low contrast ratio != racism. What a
moronic claim.

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Locke1689
I would assume the title is facetious...

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riffer
So you're defending the title by claiming that the title is linkbait?

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DannoHung
It's the same title as the YouTube video.

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riffer
That's right; the title is linkbait

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TheSOB88
You are a great person.

