Face Swapping 2.0 - Now Mostly Prettier

In July, I made a post regarding new technology from Columbia University that swapped faces in photos and videos with generic amalgems drived from a photo database. The technique, which had potential privacy benefits...and even certain Hollywood applications...suffered from one major drawback. The modified faces were really really really ugly.

See below (From Columbia University Research Paper):



Tough to stomach, I know, but these results were bound to be approved someday, and thankfully that day is here. The New York Times is reporting that computer scientists in Israel have taken a more beauty-centric approach to face swapping that simply replaces faces in images and video with more idealized representations of the same faces. Their software applies an algorithm covering over 200 different facial measurements that brings a target face closer to the ideal. In most cases, this approach goes well beyond simple airbrushing, dramatically altering a person's appearance and perceived identity.

See below (From Lars Klove for the NYT):



I am not sure either technology is perfectly suitable for privacy protection in video surveillance just yet, but given the choice between the two approaches above, for aesthetic reasons, I'd go with the latter.

More from the Folks at Image Metrics

This video is impressive...and a bit creepy:

Face Swapping Still Not Pretty

Not since John Travolta and Nicolas Cage swapped mugs in the 1997 non-hit Face/Off, have I been so intrigued/disturbed by the prospect of changing faces. Researchers at Columbia University have developed a system capable of quickly replacing and/or obscuring faces in photographs with new composite or synthetically generated images. Unlike our technology at 3VR and that at Google, which only blurs faces, this technology actually changes them...with mixed results.

Here is an example:

The authors see several applications to this technology from protecting privacy in public images to Hollywood special effects. But, as you can see above, the researchers' favorite application seems to focus on making famous faces less attractive.

My New Guard Dog

Surveillance Rocks

This is a pretty clever idea and sort of cool, but on a more serious note, it brings up some interesting aspects of the freedom of information act. I think I'd rather that surveillance just be more targeted, rather than something that rock bands and divorce lawyers can use to get footage.

Surveillance as Voyeurism

I knew it was bound to happen - the security industry finally found a way to hobnob with celebrities and artists.

Danger Will Robinson

The latest in a seemingly endless line of ever creepier face recognizing robots.

Sex on the Beach

In addition to sand flies and the occasional tsunami, devotees of beach-front-fornication in Palm Beach have something else to worry about… talking surveillance cameras.

Lights, Camera, Surfs Up

Brett Williamson, the CEO of Surf Life Saving in Australia plans to triple the number of cameras on the beaches his organization patrols. The new surveillance measures will have little to do with public safety, however. Instead their focus will be on protecting Surf Life’s swimsuit-clad employees from ‘frivolous legal actions.’ No word yet on whether a lifeguard-themed TV series is also in the works.

Thief Targets Surveillance Company

A Charleston surveillance technology company was robbed yesterday morning despite cameras and bustling office activity.

"It's very brazen. He came in like 9:38 in the morning with people all over the place," said co-owner Grady Crunk. Crunk says the thief came in through the front door, sat on a couch, apparently plotting his next move. He then got up, went into a nearby room, grabbed a computer monitor and went outside. The burglar hid the monitor under some outside steps, then went back inside to look for more stuff to steal.

I guess not everyone is deterred by video cameras…that, of course, is why we elected to deploy armed robot sentries at 3VR.

McDonalds Using Surveillance to Control Shrinkage

If only their customers could do the same thing.

Worlds Dumbest Criminals (Liquor Store Edition)