from the mustachioed-ventriloquists-vs-HAL dept.
Back in the 16th century, a Spanish Benedictine monk called Pietro Ponce pioneered the seemingly magical art of lip reading. Although the technique probably predates him, Ponce was the first successful lip reading teacher.
The technique was primarily used to help people with hearing difficulties interpret speech. But it is also used by others to eavesdrop on conversations. Indeed, various experiments show that our ability to interpret speech improves when we can see the moving lips of the speaker. In other words, almost everybody uses lip reading to a certain extent.
That raises an interesting question. Can the process of lip reading be automated and performed by computer? And if so, how successful can this approach be and what kind of threat does it pose to privacy?
The article also notes:
And that raises a whole set of other privacy-related issues. For example, it may be that videos of conversations without sound are impossible to interpret now but may be easy to interpret in future. How might politicians, business leaders and popular figures fair under that kind of future analysis?
Something to think about next time you see a CCTV camera.
Abstract can be found at Visual Speech Recognition with a link to a PDF of the full paper.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 13 2014, @04:00PM
I guess technically Hal was a robot, not a computer, but his lip-reading skills were more than adequate back in 1968:
http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0002900/quotes [imdb.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 13 2014, @04:42PM
I will just leave these here then...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQkKAD3jYx0 [youtube.com]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSCm8yAxBr8 [youtube.com]
(Score: 5, Funny) by looorg on Saturday September 13 2014, @04:03PM
The future is going to be so weird; everyone walking around in giant hats so the cameras can't see your face, you'll have something to cover your mouth so your lips can't be read and you'll have to walk funny or random so the cameras can't detect your walking pattern and discern who you are that way. The future is basically a live action monty python sketch.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 13 2014, @04:09PM
Or like NFL coordinators [faniq.com] calling the offensive plays...
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Saturday September 13 2014, @04:23PM
Coming to an iphone near you: lip reading camera near receiver, so even if you encrypt your conversation, they can still record what you say!
G'day, Bruce!
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by tathra on Saturday September 13 2014, @04:33PM
thats ridiculous. the most elegant solution is mass-produced generic makeup prosthetics (think movie monster latex prosthetics), to make everybody look the same. anybody who can make them easy to apply and cheap will be both a millionaire and a savior to millions. scarves will become extremely popular too, but those already exist. anybody worried about their walk being used to identify them just needs to find any soldier anywhere and learn how to march.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 13 2014, @07:39PM
> the most elegant solution is mass-produced generic makeup prosthetics
Easier than that - wrap-around sunglasses that are skin colored instead of metalic/smoked.
They can't do automated facial recognition if you don't even look like a face.
(Score: 2) by tonyPick on Sunday September 14 2014, @11:39AM
That reminds me of Philip K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly, where the undercover police wear Scramble Suits, which basically project a constantly changing appearance to fool any attempt to identify the officers...
http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?Bnum=997 [technovelgy.com]
'"Let's hear it for the vague blur!" the host said loudly...' I'm going to have to re-read that book soon...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 14 2014, @04:55PM
And people think those wearing these are crazy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burqa [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 2) by Tork on Saturday September 13 2014, @09:09PM
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Sunday September 14 2014, @12:54AM
I think you're right, but I've always imagined gait as being solved by the Fremen arrhythmic step.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 3, Funny) by frojack on Saturday September 13 2014, @04:03PM
If you know you're being video recorded lip reading is easily Defeated. You can practice being the guy on the left or the guy on the right. [glaadblog.org]
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday September 13 2014, @05:18PM
Or you can move your mouth like how they do in classic Japanese cartoons or vintage video games. All the camera or eavesdropper will see is "mamamamamamamamamamamama."
(Score: 1) by jbWolf on Saturday September 13 2014, @07:55PM
No, that won't work either [singularityhub.com]. (Here's a small blurb [schneier.com] by even Bruce Schneier.) It's old news, but I still find it rather fascinating. Basically, it's a microphone array and it allows individuals to be singled out in a crowd so that the conversation can be heard.
www.jb-wolf.com [jb-wolf.com]
(Score: 4, Interesting) by TheLink on Saturday September 13 2014, @05:29PM
(Score: 3, Interesting) by TheLink on Saturday September 13 2014, @05:32PM
Proof that most of us lip read: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-lN8vWm3m0#t=0m35s [youtube.com]
(Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday September 13 2014, @08:49PM
Amazing.
Even when you know what's going on, you can't over-ride what you hear.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by bugamn on Saturday September 13 2014, @10:12PM
I must be an exception, because I don't really notice a difference. I've noticed this before in interaction with other people, sometimes people mouth the words instead of shouting when it's hard to listen, but I can't make sense of it.
(Score: 2) by PinkyGigglebrain on Saturday September 13 2014, @05:44PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQzni6JZuGw [youtube.com]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRqKYXcL-2U [youtube.com]
for a perfect example of how this can go really, if amusingly wrong, wrong.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 13 2014, @09:27PM
BLR is great. I love their dubs of politicians.
Newt Gingrich: Can't think when you're fucking high. [youtube.com]
(Score: 2) by TheLink on Sunday September 14 2014, @05:01PM
I like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Krz-dyD-UQ [youtube.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 13 2014, @06:53PM
Just wear a cheap germ guard you can pick up at most discount stores.
Adding random coughs, sneezes, rubbing of eyes and clearing your throat should suffice.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Sunday September 14 2014, @11:14AM
Then they'll identify you using your coughs and sneezes.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.