Computer vision dazzle, also known as CV dazzle, dazzle makeup, or anti-surveillance makeup, is a type of
camouflage
Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...
used to hamper
facial recognition software, inspired by
dazzle camouflage used by vehicles such as ships and planes.
Methods
CV dazzle combines stylized makeup, asymmetric hair, and sometimes infrared lights built in to glasses or clothing to break up detectable facial patterns recognized by computer vision algorithms in much the same way that warships contrasted color and used sloping lines and curves to distort the structure of a vessel.
It has been shown to be somewhat successful at defeating
face detection software in common use, including that employed by
Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
. CV dazzle attempts to block detection by facial recognition technologies such as
DeepFace "by creating an 'anti-face'". It uses occlusion, covering certain facial features; transformation, altering the shape or colour of parts of the face; and a combination of the two. Prominent artists employing this technique include Adam Harvey and
Jillian Mayer.
Use in protests
Computer vision dazzle makeup has been used by rioters in several different protest movements. Its use as a protesting aid has often been found ineffective. It may be effective to thwart computer technology, but draws human attention, is easy for human monitors to spot on security cameras, and makes it hard for rioters to blend in within a crowd. Advances in facial recognition technology make dazzle makeup increasingly ineffective.
See also
*
Adversarial machine learning
References
{{Camouflage
Camouflage mechanisms
Computer vision