Designers offer clothing that can protect against facial recognition

Facial recognition systems are becoming increasingly widespread. Thanks to artificial intelligence, they are capable of identifying individuals in a crowd, tracking people's routes through the city, and even determining their emotions. In response to this total control, a new direction in design has begun to form — clothing that makes a person "invisible" to machine vision.

The essence of the technology lies in the use of so-called "adversarial patterns" — specially designed combinations of shapes, colors, and ornaments that are intended to exploit weaknesses in specific computer vision systems.

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Публикация от URBAN PRIVACY (@urbnprvcy)

Daniel Preuss, co-founder of the Urban Privacy brand, claims that modern technologies allow for combining distinctive design with elements that can complicate the work of facial recognition systems.

According to him, the company uses large prints, asymmetrical cuts, and loose silhouettes inspired by street fashion. One of the models — the Urban Ghost coat — has infrared LEDs built into the hood, which, the company claims, can blind night vision cameras.

Preuss says he became interested in this topic after publications about Edward Snowden's revelations. According to him, the clothing design relies on the fact that facial recognition systems can become confused when they "see" multiple faces simultaneously.

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Публикация от Cap_able (@capable.design)

Designers note that until recently, such clothing was perceived as exotic. Raquel Didera, founder of the Cap_able brand, recalls that in 2018, many did not understand her ideas and even accused her of aiding criminals. Now, she says, the situation has changed: more and more people, especially young ones, are concerned about the development of artificial intelligence and privacy issues, and interest in such items is growing.

According to the creators of such projects, it was difficult to transfer "adversarial patterns" into ordinary clothing until recently. Now, the development of computer technologies allows them to be used in models designed for mass production. As a result, such clothing is becoming more affordable. Celebrities appearing in such attire in public could give an additional boost to the trend.

How effective is it?

However, security experts urge not to rely on such clothing as a foolproof guarantee. Surveillance systems are constantly improving, and what might have confused a camera yesterday could easily be bypassed by a new update today. Moreover, the effectiveness of "camouflage" heavily depends on the lighting and the angle from which the lens views you.

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Публикация от K I C K H A B I T (@kickhabit)

At the same time, designers emphasize that such items have not only a practical function. In their opinion, it is also a way to publicly declare the importance of the right to privacy and to draw attention to the public discussion about the limits of using surveillance technologies.

According to designers, today such clothing is primarily worn by those who are among the first to pay attention to privacy issues. But with growing interest in these questions and the entry of major brands into the market, it could become much more widespread.

At the same time, concerns are also being raised. If such clothing indeed starts to effectively hinder recognition systems, in dictatorial countries this could lead to a ban on wearing it and punishment for those who do.

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