Technologies used

The mobile phone application is going to combine different types of technologies including, face and object recognition soft wares, as well as simple Location based services and social networks. This application will only work on smart phones with internet access and GPS support.

For the Object recognition the technology used, is a location-based service (LBS). LBS is a modern technology combining geographic locations, using GPS in this case, in combination with a provided service. LBS technology enables the user to locate its position via their mobile phone, then passing on the spatial coordinates to a service or system providers, in example a portable car navigation system or simply Google maps. It is a very wide-ranged term that includes a list of services such as weather updates, tourist information and digital mapping. It is used in all sorts of fields including tourism, healthcare or education. The service relevant to my product is GPS, standing for Global Positioning System, and is a “space-based radio navigation system providing reliable positioning, navigation and timing services to civilian users on a continuous worldwide basis-- freely available to all” (gps.gov) is available on all sort of technological gadgets. GPS works in three steps; satellites locate your position

sending the information to control stations, then passing it on to the GPS receivers (gps.gov) who use trilateration, a method using measurements of distance, to find the exact location, in this case where the photo has been taken. In that way Google maps can tell the sight at the located coordinates, given they are saved in their system. Google Maps is a mapping service created by Google providing directions, 3D imagery and important for this application; location information. (Google maps)

For the person recognition, the application would use the much more complex system of a facial recognition software. This software use individual biometric data of the human face. The software measures features in the human face using nodal points (different points in your face). A face recognition soft ware measures for example the distance between the eyes the shape of the cheeks or the distance between nose and mouth. Using this data the soft ware creates a numerical code called a face print (Howstuffworks.com). In order to find the person you are looking for, the software has to connect to various social networks and find a photo of a person with a similar or matching face print narrowing the numbers of possibilities down to a more manageable number, enabling the user to find the person manually. As there are many existing social networks nowadays, the application is designed to only use the networks with the highest numbers of members like for example Myspace, Facebook and Twitter, providing that the user is registered in all of them. The chances of the person you’re looking for being in any of these networks are enormously high, considering the huge numbers of members in any of the above mentioned networks

Unfortunately this idea comes across various technical and ethical issues. The main problem is that face recognition only works accurately with a frontal face image, whereas holiday photos or profile pictures often aren’t full frontals. This Problem could be minimized by using 3D images, giving it more accuracy and also working with darker images; given your mobile phone has 3D software. Still factors like sunglasses, hair falling into the face or poor lighting influence the accuracy of the recognition and make it nearly impossible for the soft ware to work (Howstuffworks.com). There are also a number of ethical and security issues caused in the connection to the social networks, possibly abusing the privacy law (2007, In the face of danger: Facial recognition and the limits of privacy law).