14 DAY TRIAL // Everybody has at least one friend whose dream as a child was to be completely invisible and do whatever they wanted, and now, thanks to AVG, this thing is getting one tiny step closer to reality with a technology developed to protect your privacy online.
Called “invisibility glasses,” the new device is specifically aimed at blocking auto face recognition systems employed by online services such as Facebook.
At the same time, AVG says, it could block smartphone cameras being used in public places that could lead to “unsolicited images taken of us and which may end up online,” but it could also make sure that services such as Google Street View do not reveal your identity on the web.
How they work
Believe it or not, but these so-called invisibility glasses are based on a very simple concept that does nothing more than to make your face undetectable on photos taken with a camera.
Basically, the flash light of the camera is redirected straight into the sensor, so it completely breaks face detection and makes online services completely ineffective when it comes to determining the identity of a specific person.
AVG has a bit more detailed and technical description of its technology:
“The idea is to place infrared LEDs inserted around the eyes and the nose areas. 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. 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.”
Still a concept, still with drawbacks
Not that you'd look stupid wearing glasses just because you don't want to have your face posted on Facebook or other online services, but there's one big reason to avoid getting one of the first units that'll hit the market.
Basically, the invisible glasses still have a number of drawbacks that make them pretty ineffective, especially if the camera does not use a flash. This way, the device is not capable of sending back the flash light into the sensor, while in the case of infrared light, many high-end phones already come with filters that can bypass it.
Unfortunately for those who are really keen on buying these glasses, they are still in prototype form, but AVG promises to release them for everyone when all these drawbacks are resolved.
