HP Responds To Viral Video Showing Product Malfunction

By Joe Ciarallo on Dec 21, 2009 04:57 PM

The above video posted on YouTube on December 10th is making the rounds online. In the video, two retail employees highlight a big problem with HP's new facial recognition feature: it only recognizes white folks.

As of now the video only has 86,000 views, but is picking up steam. That being said, HP has acted fast, posting a response on a company blog which reads in part:

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.

As our sibling blog AgencySpy notes, "Isn't that what product testing is for?" Read the full response and let us know what you think.

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