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Google has adopted a strict policy of not offering any facial-recognition apps on its Glass devices, over privacy concerns. That wouldn’t stop a third-party developer who has now created a facial-recognition app which will run on rooted Google Glass units.

Stephen Balaban is not thwarted by the numerous limitations that come with Google Glass. He has not only developed the facial recognition app for the gadget but also has revealed a number of tricks which will help users overcome the limitations on Glass.

The first problem is that of the audience: Google Glass is currently available with a very limited number of users. Since rooting the gadget is not exactly endorsed by Google, not many Glass users will opt for it. Even if a user roots his Glass unit and loads Balaban’s app, he will be required to create his own image database which will be used to cross-match faces from real life.

Finally, since Google Glass has a rather brief battery life, running a facial recognition app on it will further trim down the battery timings. To overcome this, Balaban has created a ‘Lambda Hat‘ which turns Google Glass into a standalone device dedicated to facial recognition.

Balaban plans to unveil the app at Chaos Communications Conference in Berlin come December 27. The app is sure to stir privacy concerns of many stakeholders who have previously objected to the very existence of Google Glass. A face-recognizing Google Glass is certainly a nightmarish concept for most people since it violates a person’s privacy in the public sphere.

Imagine walking down the street and being able to not only recognize every person but also pull up his or her social media profiles. This may sound great to the person wearing the Glass headgear but for the rest, it is a huge no-no. Such a feature may get social acceptance in the distant feature only if Google officially accepts it on Glass and then imposes carefully crafted restrictions on it. Will that even be possible, only time will tell.

Courtesy: PC World

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