Place Avoider software can Embarrassing Photos disappear – Germany radio

By Holger Bruns

“When the data Eyewear is also a risk that you take pictures, you do not really want to share with the world,” said David Crandall from Indiana University. (Dpa / picture alliance / Jens Kalaene)

data eyeglasses can shoot a lot of pictures in a short time and upload them to social networks – it could if the pictures pictures with embarrassing his motives, or ones that violate the privacy of others. Researchers at Indiana University in the US have developed a software to solve the problem.

Data glasses are portable monitors on a spectacle frame – still fairly new to the market and cost accordingly lot of money. Nevertheless, it is foreseeable that there are several interested parties for, especially since these data glasses are not only monitor, but also as a life-logging system. It shoots at intervals of seconds a flood of thousands of photos that can see through and sort out any more clever man. This is definitely not risk-free, says David Crandall, a professor at the US Indiana University:

“two or three months ago I attended my nephew, he is only six months old, something like that and I was wearing.. Data glasses. There was a lot of fun because I saw behind all these great pictures with me and the child. I had these images can never get otherwise. But there is of course using this information goggles also a risk that you take pictures, you do not really want to share with the world. “

These images are problematic because they are absorbed inconspicuous and may thus violate the privacy of others. But not only that. Even in the life of the wearer of data glasses very private things can suddenly appear as a photo or video that you actually want to show anyone.

“They provide quality information with everything you send to Facebook , or look at what site for your e-mail, and her lyrics. So there is a lot of personal information. It’s not about the physical place, but really to your communication. And in this sense, we also understand computer monitors. You know what makes an image tricky. Most people will find it useful I hope that we can identify some important situations, “says Apu Kapadia, also a professor at Indiana University. Together with his colleague David Crandall and another colleague, he developed a software called Place Avoider the embarrassing pictures before forwarding sorted out, for example, in the social networks. For this purpose, participated in the project involved students en masse images, which are evaluated automatically. David Crandall:

“Based on these images is building the system, a kind of visual model on how the place looks like, or looks every room And there is the idea that if the data glasses throughout the day. receives over images while someone running around in the area to take these images and compare them with one of these models, to find out where the picture was taken in the house. “

Even a purely academic project

This is a practical solution for the case that after a day of data glasses as a flood of images exists that would overwhelm the people. Place Avoider proceeds on machine learning methods for the examination. Is this software once trained, they can, for example, differ from the bedroom and the bathroom and other rooms yet.

“The first approach is an algorithm that tries to look for very specific details of a place. So he looks for specific objects and certain properties that can be found in a room, but not so often in other rooms. “

In this way it is possible to exclude photos that were taken in certain areas. But that alone is not enough. Very often the images are blurry, poorly focused and properly exposed. So regardless of the Place Avoider not only on bedsteads and sanitary ware, but also interior paint, tiles and wallpaper patterns.

“The reason to do this is that cameras often provide very blurry images in data glasses. They get pictures when the camera is on a random wall without really interesting objects are visible. then here we still want to find out to which room it is. “

So embarrassing pictures can be quite drop them, but of course you can also turn the tables and consciously pick out compromising photos, then land on any network. But as the Place Avoider is not meant to be used, and out of Indiana University, the software no one has tried. David Crandall sees his place Avoider the moment anyhow still a purely academic project.

“I mean, the moment it’s mainly from internal meaning. Not because we are trying to protect. But it is still a complicated thing that has been written in many different programming languages. Maybe I’ll publish it as open source software. However, we still need some time for all clean up. “