Facial recognition will find your disappointing sex-cam double

Using your face to unlock your smartphone, or seeing Google or Facebook’s algorithms identify your friends and family proves that facial recognition tech can be useful. But where there’s a will, there’s a way to… repurpose technology for the adult entertainment industry. On webcam show hub Megacams, you can upload a picture of yourself and it uses machine-learning facial recognition magic to find your sex-cam lookalike. I’m not sure why you’re looking for someone that’s pleasing themselves on camera when they look just like you. Regardless, the technology is here — although the site is (obviously) not at all safe for work-time browsing. I warned you.

Out of morbid curiosity. I sent my photo into the site’s webform to see if I had any exhibitionist clones out there. The summary: nope. No-one looked anything like me, and I’m not being subjective — or at least don’t think I am.

This is me:

Wholesome, fully clothed, not-smiling Brit that I am. Disregarding the lookalikes that had their junk out, here are my apparent doppelbangers:

The percentage match here was 46, 42 and 40 percent respectively, with other 40-percenters looking even less like me. And let me repeat: these people do not look like me either. The biggest similarity here is that I’m showing a bit of arm (risque!) as seen in Doppelgangers #2 (“fat gamer Mat,” according to a colleague) and #3.

The site isn’t revealing exactly which face algorithm tech it’s using, although TechCrunch points to Microsoft’s Face API recognition software as a possible culprit. There’s no shortage of options: it could even be using open source tools like openCV, used in everything from cars, to smile-spotting apps, to virtual pottery wheels.

Natasha Lomas at TechCrunch had a similar experience with her matched webcam artists, noting most of her webcam “twins” that scored under 40 percent looked nothing like her. Results are more disheartening than Microsoft’s age-guessing bot getting it wrong. I think I’ll tape up my webcam. Forever.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Megacams