Google Glass could enable users to recognise people by the clothes that they are wearing, via a new app called InSight.
Currently in development by USC researcher Srihari Nelakuditi with support from Google, the InSight app can create “visual fingerprints” of a person’s clothes based on the colours and patterns they feature. Snapping a selection of shots of the said person’s outfit, Google Glass matches that visual record to a name and uses a spatiogram to find that person in a crowd in a way that facial recognition couldn’t.
Certainly useful if the user has lost their friends or family at a music festival or crowded shopping centre, the InSight app could also help jog their memory of a person’s name at a party.
Of course, this only works up to the point that the person in question puts on a coat or changes clothes, but when tested, the app could recognise the 15 people it had recorded 93 per cent of the time.
The app would not be integrated into the augmented reality glasses. Instead, InSight would run from a smartphone app connected to the camera and display functions of Google Glass, as most other Google Glass features at this point.
Google Glass Features
Google Glass is Google’s augmented reality technology that projects smartphone features in front of the wearer’s eyes. First seen at the Google I/O conference in May last year, Google Glass uses voice recognition as its primary input method, coupled with a small touch pad and button mounted on the side of the glasses.
A selection of pre-set phrases spoken after touching the side of Google Glass allows the user access to the range of augmented reality features. They all start with the phrase “Okay Glass”, followed by instructions to take a picture, record a video, start a Google+ hangout, send messages or ask for directions using Google Maps.
All of these features are projected in the user’s field of vision via a small glass panel set in the top right hand corner of Google Glass, allowing the user to capture everything they see or come into contact with daily. Understandably, this has caused much debate about the potential privacy invading capabilities of the technology.
InSight could be just one of a host of Google Glass features to launch alongside the augmented reality technology when it launches, which, according to Google co-founder Sergey Brin, could be sometime later this year.
Do you think Google Glass is a smart device step too far? Or is the augmented reality technology bound to be the way of the future? Drop us a line at the TrustedReviews Facebook and Twitter pages or the comments section below.
Via: The Verge
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
