It’s been hard to escape talk of Coronavirus over the past few weeks and, as a result, we’ve seen a surge in people wearing protective masks as they go about their everyday business.
But in a society more technologically advanced than ever before, the masks are proving to be a problem for one key thing – phone facial recognition.
Does one simply abandon the mask and risk infection, or does one ignore their smartphone?
Well, it seems there’s no need to worry about this rather niche problem.
San Francisco-based artist Danielle Baskin has thought up an ingenious – not to mention incredibly creepy – solution for this specific dilemma.
She’s come up with the idea for respirator masks which are compatible with a smartphone’s Face ID. Simply put, her software creates a custom print of an individual’s face and puts it on a mask.
On Saturday, Danielle tweeted: ‘Made this service that prints your face on an N95 mask, so you can protect people from viral epidemics while still being able to unlock your phone.’
Made this service that prints your face on an N95 mask, so you can protect people from viral epidemics while still being able to unlock your phone.
😷+👃ðŸ»ðŸ‘ƒðŸ½ðŸ‘ƒðŸ¿ðŸ‘„=🔓https://t.co/SXslSjoiMz pic.twitter.com/rByMBwdPB8
— Danielle Baskin (@djbaskin) February 15, 2020
Resting Risk Face, a design firm from San Francisco that specialises in dystopian products, is now advertising Danielle’s product on its website.
It says customers will be asked to upload an image of their face using the company’s web app. Then their face will be printed on a mask and an elastic band will be chosen to match the skin colour.
But just how exactly does the software transfer a life-like human face onto a mask?
According to the company website, it uses ‘computational mapping to convert your facial features into an image printed onto the surface of N95 surgical masks without distortion.’
Masks are made with natural dyes, too – so there’s no need to worry about breathing in toxic chemicals (just in case that was your main concern).
However, it’s worth mentioning that no such masks exist as of yet, and it’s unclear whether they will ever actually be developed, or whether this is a total joke.
But people can sign up with their email to be notified of the launch… if it ever happens.
The Resting Risk Face website cryptically reads: ‘Is this a joke? Yes. No. We’re not sure. Viruses are not a joke. Wash your hands when you can. And get vaccines when you can.’
Likewise, Danielle herself has said that she has no plans to actually make the masks anytime soon.
On Twitter, she added: ‘To all those inquiring: No, I don’t have plans to produce these *during* the global mask shortage. There’s a waitlist and no launch date.’
Naturally, the unique idea has caused quite the stir on Twitter.
One user joked: ‘Personally I’m looking forward to seeing people mixing other peoples faces with their own, like some sort of Mr potato head game.’
While another commented: ‘This is so dystopian I want off the planet immediately.’
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/02/18/12255355face-id-recognition-masks-12255355/
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