Whoop Whoop, y’all! Does the thought of facial recognition surveillance scare you? Are you also looking to join an eccentric group of music fans? But most importantly—are you down to clown? It looks like becoming a Juggalo might be your best bet. Turns out, facial recognition software isn’t great at recognizing fans of the Insane Clown Posse.
i made a breakthrough. it turns out juggalo makeup defeats facial recognition successfully. if you want to avoid surveillance, become a juggalo i guess pic.twitter.com/kEh7fUQeXq
— TAHKION (@tahkion) July 1, 2018
ICP’s devoted fan group, the Juggalos, are known best (second to drinking Faygo) for their black and white clown-style makeup. This specific look obviously creates stark areas of contrast on the face. This is important, since most facial recognition software uses areas of contrast to locate a person’s features and identify them. You know, like their eyes, mouth, nose, etc.
Ticketmaster and LiveNation, who currently use this type of software, learned its limitations, thanks to the Juggalos. Turns out, the black patterns that usually outline the eyes and mouth regions of a Juggalo get mistaken as a person’s features. So, a person can’t be recognized because their features have been redefined by the makeup. Basically, you’re a different person when you’re a Juggalo. It almost works like a digital plastic surgery makeover.
for anyone wondering why some face changes evade facial recognition and others don’t, here’s a visualization of how landmarks are placed on a few examples. juggalo makeup is particularly effective as it basically totally redefines what is interpreted as the jawline pic.twitter.com/dFSx5FEGc9
— TAHKION (@tahkion) July 1, 2018
So, if you don’t want our digital overlords keeping track of you, you might want to sport some clown makeup when you go to the mall or movies. This also means you’re virtually indistinguishable at an ICP concert, which is pretty cool. However, there is one piece of software that can recognize you in your Juggalo makeup: Apple’s Face ID. Instead of using areas of contrast, Apple uses depth perception to recognize a person. So, don’t worry—you can still unlock your phone in full Juggalo attire.
Now, if Apple begins to collaborate with other venues seeking facial recognition software, then you might be in trouble. Until then, you can still get away with digital anonymity by joining the Juggalo fam. Whoop Whoop!
Images: FXX Networks