Critics of H-P Software Soften Their Stance
Two people named Desi and Wanda recently set off an uproar with a YouTube video claiming that Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) computers are racist, based on the performance of the company’s facial-recognition software. After a discussion with the company, they seem to be backing down a bit.
Desi is black and Wanda is white. Their video shows H-P’s software making a Web cam follow Wanda’s face, zooming in and out as she moved near or away from the computer. But when “black Desi gets in there, no face recognition anymore,” Desi says onscreen. Indeed, the camera does appear to stop moving when his face shows up.
In response, H-P issued a statement that “proper foreground lighting is required for the product to effectively track any person and their movements.” A spokeswoman for the company declined to comment on why lighting that was okay for Wanda was apparently insufficient for Desi.
