In the grand scheme of frustrations related to the pandemic, this one's small: you hold your phone up so Face ID can unlock it. You sit there for a few seconds before realizing, oh right, you’ve got a mask on! Your phone doesn't recognize you.
The reason? For facial recognition to work, it has to be able to detect what makes your face unique. The technology turns that information into numbers. Yep, hate to break it to you, but each of our lovely faces can be represented through something like a massive spreadsheet filled with digits. Meanwhile, long before you’re sitting there trying in vain to get past your phone’s pesky password screen, tech companies have already converted millions and millions of other faces into number-sets to create a humongous database for comparison. If your mask blocks enough of your distinctive facial information, even the best algorithms in the world can’t figure out who you are.
Facial recognition takes various forms ranging from seemingly harmless to dystopically disastrous. Some say technology just automates processes that are already in place, but there’s mounting evidence that recognition systems can heighten existing biases and perpetuate systemic racism. This App gives you a chance to try defying recognition yourself. Using your cursor or finger, select a color and draw over the provided image.