The”Biometric Mirror” was unveiled on Tuesday. It works by comparing the
user’s data with thousands of other facial images in it’s database.
The data that biometric mirror uses is based on crowdsourced feedback on
people’s facial appearance, project leader Dr Niels Wouters from the University
of Melbourne’s Centre for Social Natural User Interfaces said.
When someone stands in front of Biometric Mirror, the system detects a
range of facial characteristics in seconds. It then compares the user’s data to
that of thousands of facial photos, which were evaluated for their
psychometrics by a group of crowd-sourced responders.
Biometric Mirror displays 14 characteristics, from gender, age and
ethnicity to attractiveness, weirdness and emotional stability. The longer a
person stands there, the more personal the traits become.
The research project, led by Dr Niels Wouters from the Centre for Social
Natural User Interfaces (SocialNUI) and Science Gallery Melbourne, explores the
concerns this technology raises around consent, data storage and algorithmic
bias.
“With the rise of AI and big data, government and businesses will increasingly
use CCTV cameras and interactive advertising to detect emotions, age, gender
and demographics of people passing by,” Dr Wouters said.
“Our study aims to provoke challenging questions about the boundaries of
AI. It shows users how easy it is to implement AI that discriminates in
unethical or problematic ways which could have societal consequences. By
encouraging debate on privacy and mass-surveillance, we hope to contribute to a
better understanding of the ethics behind AI.”
