Cameras are everywhere. Whether they are in the form of security cameras, or simply a friend taking your photo at a party, it's very easy to accidentally get photographed.
Thankfully, however, there's a way to avoid being "auto-tagged" on Facebook. Simply put on a pair of these light-emitting glasses by AVG.
"The idea is to place infrared LEDs inserted around the eyes and the nose areas," said AVG in a blog post. "Since the infrared lights are completely invisible to human eyes, they are only detectable by cameras which are sensitive to the wavelengths of these LEDs. They claim to break face detection when the lights are on."
Of course, these glasses aren't meant to be sold on a mass-market scale. Instead, the glasses being shown off are just a concept design. Instead, it's the idea that the company is showing off, essentially suggesting that the technology could be implemented into more fashionable eyewear.
The frame of the glasses is essentially studded with infrared LEDs, which continuously beam out IR light. Infrared light is invisible to the human eye, however it tampers with the lens of the camera making it look like there is light all over the wearer's face.
If the photographer uses a flash, the situation gets even worse because of the fact that the glasses are covered in a reflective surface that makes for even more light on the wearer's face. These reflective surfaces are designed to specifically reflect light back at the camera.
"While most surfaces reflect light by diffusing or scattering it in all directions, retro-reflective materials are specially designed to reflect light back at the same angle as it arrived," continued AVG. "If caught in flash photography, retro-reflective materials will send most of the light back to the sensor. This will result in an image that will put the Dynamic Range of the camera sensor to test."
The new glasses are decidedly low-tech compared to other eyewear that we might see from tech companies. Google, rather famously, took its Google Glass augmented reality headset off the market last month; however other companies have been releasing their own augmented reality or virtual reality headsets, such as Sony.
As mentioned before, the glasses are currently only a prototype, so if you're that worried about being auto-tagged on Facebook, perhaps you should simply request the photographer to remove the photos. It is likely that the technology being used by AVG will be used in other fashions to aid in the battle for privacy.
Photo: AVG
