Voodoo Blog

[#1]

It’s no secret that I feel privileged to work with one of the largest and most innovative teams in the technology industry. On any given day, I might collaborate with HP employees in regions ranging from Japan to India and Latin America to Europe.

Everything we do is focused on ensuring that we provide a high-quality experience for all our customers, who are ethnically diverse and live and work around the world. That’s why when issues surface, we take them seriously and work hard to understand the root causes.

Some of you may have seen or heard of a YouTube video in which the facial-tracking software didn’t work for a customer. We thank Desi, and the people who have seen and commented on his video, for bringing this subject to our attention.

We are working with our partners to learn more. The technology we use is built on standard algorithms that measure the difference in intensity of contrast between the eyes and the upper cheek and nose. We believe that the camera might have difficulty “seeing” contrast in conditions where there is insufficient foreground lighting. While we work on this, take a look here for more information on the impact of lighting on facial tracking software, and how to optimize your webcam experience:  http://bit.ly/7HsZHD

We will continue to listen to you and work to deliver great experiences. We invite you to connect with us on the discussion boards and forums here on The Next Bench or on Twitter at @HP_PC.

Update: 12/24/09 from Frosty

Please see the followup post "A Word from Desi and Wanda"

[#2]

That's too bad... At least HP webcams follows Latin-American Asian... ^_^

That's soo weird!!

[#3]

Note: Never buy HP computer for the White House.

[#4]

Hi, HP is a great company i used to work for HP but Unfortunately because the market situation now i got laid off , I am sure that this is not intentional from HP, HP has always offered good products to the market if it is PSG, IPG, or TSG. Its just because of the lighting and there is a way to fix it, and the problem has been dealt with and solved before. if you need any help from my side i'll glad to offer it P.S. just make sure that the product managers knows about it because i am sure they don't.

[#5]

This is what happens when the creator of a standard algorithm doesn't have any Brown friends. For decades Kodak didn't consider making film stock that properly captured non-white skin. It's not personal, it's structural. @tahero

[#6]

Take some photography classes dude!  Look at that Photo! The lighting is horrible of course it's not going to recognize your face you schmoe! Stop trying to get a free ride!!!

[#7]

"Take some photography classes dude!  Look at that Photo! The lighting is horrible of course it's not going to recognize your face you schmoe! Stop trying to get a free ride!!!"

He shouldn't have to take photography lessons to get a feature that comes with the computer to work without having to fiddle around. He shouldn't have to do anything extra that a white person wouldn't have to do. The lighting is apparently just fine for the software to find his white coworker.

Also, at no point in the video did Desi ask for a "free ride."  I'm not really sure what led you to believe that was the case, but the video I saw showcased a man being justifiably astonished at a flaw in software that just does not recognize black faces.  Come on.

[#8]

Insufficient lighting IronMonk? I'm a photographer and even I can see that there's plenty of light in that room. Didn't you see those rows of fluorescent lighting hanging from the ceilings in the video? I could see both faces just fine in the video.  I'm sure this is just a mistake...a mistake HP probably should've caught with further testing before sending it out on the market.

[#9]

@Ironmonk. Desi also mentions that he BOUGHT the same computer for his wife (which doesn't sound like a free ride to me). If anything thing this is a humorous attempt to let HP know about an oversight. Brown people have the right to complain about shoddy workmanship too.

[#10]

I agree with Tahero.  This is very much structural.  What this says to me is that there are so few people of color working at HP that it didn't even occur to them to test something like this.  There are several layers of development and testing that any product goes through before reaching the market.  Even if you only have a small handful of darker skinned people working in these areas, this would be caught.  I've never been a fan of HP anyway, but if ever I were to consider buying their products, this would definitely give me pause to rethink that decision.  This is definitely not good PR for them, even though the Youtube video is funny.

[#11]

Yeah, a lighting problem. Racist lighting. Or maybe it's a racist algorithm. And a racist response from HP. White Wanda didn't have any recognition problems with the same lighting and algorithm.