Biometrics in Cameras

Now I know I’m on to something! Go back two days to my prior post on Biometrics, now check out this article. Very briefly, it mentions that Fotonation is developing cameras which can automatically detect the people you are taking pictures of in a process they are calling autotagging.

While I do think that they have gotten the general gist of the biometric potential, the article is a bit weak in it’s foreshadow. The article mentions that one problem with the technology is that scanning and recognizing faces is a difficult process that requires substantial processing power. They go on to say that this issue is automatically sidestepped because people usually are photographing the same people – friends and family, their social network.

This comment, I find, is a bit short sighted. Let’s take a look at the big picture.

Firstly cameras will, at one point, cease to exist as stand alone devices. This convergence is pretty well accepted. The fact that we have cameras on our phones is fairly compelling trend evidence. Just give this time.

Secondly, hard drives will cease to exist on cameras, and phones for that matter. As mobile broadband matures it makes more sense to store everything remotely. As such, it will make no sense to have the facial recognition software embedded in your camera. The biometric programs will be hosted centrally, and therefore the problem of not having sufficient processing power to run these programs goes away. In fact, people who opt in will be recognized in all pictures, including those of strangers.

People might find this spooky, or a violation of their privacy, similarly to how they reacted when the news of the 3-D Google truck came out. My belief is that, as more data is acquired in the internet, identities (and private information) actually become more diluted – they become part of the background, so to speak. Information proliferation is not something we should be worried about. Let me know if you disagree.