Japanese scientists are developing a pair of glasses that can protect against facial recognition software used by social networks and in hidden cameras. To obscure a person’s face, the “privacy visor” uses a near-infrared light source that human vision cannot see, but a camera can. The small lights around your eyes and nose inhibits facial recognition software from registering your features when your photo is taken. The prototype’s creator, Isao Echizen of the National Institute of Informatics in Japan, says the glasses would be reasonably priced. Companies have expressed interest in commercializing the product since it was broadcast on TV Tokyo last year. On the down side, they’re not quite as fashionable as Google Glasses, and require lugging around a pocket power supply. BBC
