http://tech.slashdot.org/story/15/02/18/0024203/breakthrough-in-face-recogni... Face recognition software underwent a revolution in 2001 with the creation of the Viola-Jones algorithm. Now, the field looks set to dramatically improve once again: computer scientists from Stanford and Yahoo Labs have published a new, simple approach that can find faces turned at an angle and those that are partially blocked by something else. The researchers "capitalize on the advances made in recent years on a type of machine learning known as a deep convolutional neural network. The idea is to train a many-layered neural network using a vast database of annotated examples, in this case pictures of faces from many angles. To that end, Farfade and co created a database of 200,000 images that included faces at various angles and orientations and a further 20 million images without faces. They then trained their neural net in batches of 128 images over 50,000 iterations. ... What's more, their algorithm is significantly better at spotting faces when upside down, something other approaches haven't perfected." ... Why, like nukes, does society insist on developing tech whose primary purpose upon analysis seems only to be destructive, or of control, or in removing rights from individuals and groups, or just plain [ab]using them for profit? What possible quantifiable significant individualized benefit would a single human have from such things, when in fact they are pointed at them, instead of being wielded in their own hands? This isn't crypto or a weapon a human can also use to protect themselves beforehand. Do you really need to facial recognize your friends, your boss, doctor, or even to seek justice [aka: revenge] after someone's already done damage to you? Do you really care if another face has your name so long as if the cops come, society, laws and process are done right such that you are declared as innocent error and formally expunged from all db's and news and even compensated? Where is the FR in your hands? For that matter, do any individuals in your network really need to FR you either? In individual paired contexts, FR seems pointless. And any benefit when used to say hunt in a group seems thoroughly washed out by negatives on balance. When the camera comes to your face, instinct tells to put a mask to protect yourself. So there's something obviously wrong with the "picture" being developed here. Maybe it is the developers that need more cameras in their face to get a feel for the more likely uses.