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The Earth’s Many Faces Spotted On Google Maps

Considering all the concern out there about privacy implications of facial recognition technology, it’s nice to see the technology being put to more creative, less troublesome uses. Design lab o...
The Earth’s Many Faces Spotted On Google Maps
Written by Chris Crum
  • Considering all the concern out there about privacy implications of facial recognition technology, it’s nice to see the technology being put to more creative, less troublesome uses.

    Design lab onformative has used its facial recognition algorithm to scan the Earth using Google Maps to uncover parts of the planet that appear to make human-like (or monster-like in some cases) faces. Here it is in action:

    Google Faces – searching for faces on Google Maps using face recognition from onformative on Vimeo.

    “One of human’s most characteristic features is our desire to detect patterns. We use this ability to penetrate into the detailed secrets of nature. However we also tend to use this ability to enrich our imagination. Hence we recognize meaningful shapes in clouds or detect a great bear upon astrological observations,” explains onformative. “Objective investigations and subjective imagination collide to one inseparable process. The tendency to detect meaning in vague visual stimuli is a psychological phenomenon called Pareidolia, and captures the core interest of this project.”

    Here are a few more examples of faces the algorithm has spotted:

    Earth Face

    Earth face

    Earth Face

    [via Geek.com]

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