CV Dazzle: Camouflage From Face Detection
CV Dazzle, camouflage from face detection
CV Dazzle was developed as my masters’s thesis at the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU. The goal of this ongoing research project is to create a growing catalog of designs that can be employed as camouflage from face detection, both physically and digitally.
CV Dazzle™ is form of expressive interference that takes the form of makeup and hair styling (or other modifications). The name is derived from CV, a common abbreviation for computer vision, and Dazzlea type of camouflage used during WWI. Dazzle camouflage was originally used to break apart the gestalt image of warships, making it hard to discern their directionality, size, and orientation. Likewise, the goal of CV Dazzle is to break apart the gestalt of a face, or object, and make it undetectable to computer vision algorithms, in particular face detection.
And because face detection is the first step in any automated facial recognition system, CV Dazzle can be used in any environment where such systems are in use, including social network platforms like Facebook. For an example of CV Dazzle working against Facebook’s Face.com see CV Dazzle vs PhotoTagger by Face.com on Vimeo.
