黑人難對焦？ HP被笑種族歧視

黑人難對焦？ HP被笑種族歧視

【聯合報╱編譯莊蕙嘉／報導】

2009.12.25 03:59 am

電腦製造商惠普（HP）一款電腦上的網路攝影機，號稱具有「臉部追蹤對焦」功能，但是兩名一黑一白的電子產品店店員發現，該攝影機只對白人有反應，兩人拍下使用過程放上網路，開玩笑地指控惠普產品有種族歧視之嫌。

這款惠普Media Smart電腦附有網路攝影機，且具有和數位相機一樣的臉部追蹤對焦功能，不但能跟著入鏡者移動鏡頭，也能拉近或拉遠。但是非洲裔店員克萊爾（Desi Cryer）發現，這個攝影機對他毫無反應，不會移動鏡頭跟拍。

然而換成克萊爾的白人同事汪妲‧札曼（Wanda Zamen）入鏡後，攝影機馬上跟著她移動。但克萊爾一加入畫面，鏡頭嘎然而止。他說：「顯然我的黑皮膚影響電腦追蹤我的能力。」

兩名店員拍下這個實驗影片，放上 YouTube（影片連結），短短數天便吸引逾100萬人次點閱。媒體向惠普求證時，該公司還不知道旗下商品有此種狀況。惠普迅速回應，這個問題可能肇因於攝影機前景的光源不足，以致無法有效追蹤使用者，並且感謝兩人發現這個問題。

札曼說，她和克萊爾拍下這段影片純為博君一笑，並非真的指控惠普種族歧視。「但若這段影片促使惠普改良產品，那也不錯。」克萊爾則開玩笑地說，很不幸地他買了一台該款電腦，要是太太看到這段影片，發現電腦對主人竟無反應，肯定會生氣。

【2009/12/25 聯合報】

HP camera 'can't see' black faces

"Black Desi" in the YouTube video

A YouTube video suggesting that face recognition cameras installed in HP laptops cannot detect black faces has had over one million views.

The short movie, uploaded earlier this month, features "Black Desi" and his colleague "White Wanda".

When Wanda, a white woman, is in front of the screen, the camera zooms to her face and moves as she moves.

But when Desi, a black man, does the same, the camera does not respond by tracking him.

The clip is light-hearted in tone but is titled "HP computers are racist".

"HP has been informed of a potential issue with the facial-tracking software included on some of its systems, which appears to occur when insufficient foreground lighting is available," an HP spokesman told BBC News.

"We take this seriously and are looking into it with our partners."

Source: BBC News

iPhone orchestra ready for debut

By Zoe Kleinman
Technology reporter, BBC News

A group of US students has created an entire orchestra out of separate iPhone applications.

As part of their studies, the group from the University of Michigan built the applications themselves and composed music for them.

While some of the applications sound similar to traditional instruments, others make unique noises.

The iPhone handsets are attached to speakers which the performers wear around their wrists.

A live concert of the students' original compositions is planned for 9 December. It will mark the end of their three-month course, run by Austrian computer scientist and musician Georg Essl.

He told BBC News that while the concept of using computers to make music was not new, the rise of smartphones had made the idea more practical.

"I come from this community of people who work on sophisticated ways of making sounds," he said, "but they tend to be very handcrafted prototypes. I realised that few people end up using them."

"Now everybody has a smartphone, the question of how you get an instrument into people's hands has disappeared."

Starting from scratch

Unlike traditional instruments, iPhones do not have to be physically modified for sound, Mr Essl said.

The in-built microphone can be transformed into a non-speech sensor, enabling students to blow into it in order to mimic a wind instrument.

The motion sensors can also be used musically - an application can be programmed to sound different when the device is tilted, for example - but the desired effect is down to the individual designer.

"In many ways, composition for us means composing the instrument as well as the music," said Mr Essl. "We can choose what a tilt will mean."

He admitted that the new technology was a work in progress that would advance as the devices themselves became more sophisticated.

"It's about playing with what you're given," he said. "The piccolo is never going to play the bass line."

Back to basics

Some traditional orchestras agree that smartphones have a part to play in making professional music.

"There are lots of applications that are incredibly useful to musicians - our piano tuner uses the iPhone tuner application to tune Steinway pianos for our performances at City Hall," said Stephen Duffy, spokesperson for the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

"Every musician I know who has an iPhone uses that application."

However, he added that most classical musicians did not take the instrument applications particularly seriously.

"Let's face it, you're not going to play a concerto on an iPhone. It would be interesting to see what people do as a group - but applications will never replace the real thing."

Source: BBC News

Indonesian eyes record for world's tallest man

Wed, Dec 02, 2009 AFP

JAKARTA - A 25-year-old Indonesian labourer could be a contender for the title of world's tallest man, currently held by Turkish farmer Sultan Kosen, a local archivist said.

Suparwono, who like many Indonesians goes by just one name, stands 2.71 metres (8.89 feet) tall according to unofficial measurements, compared to Kosen's record height of 2.47 metres.

He shot to fame this week after one of his relatives in his home village of Tri Tunggal Jaya, in Sumatra island's southern Lampung province, invited neighbours to take pictures of him.

Within days he was appearing on television talk shows in Jakarta as the "Giant of Lampung".

"Our team will name him today as Indonesia's tallest man, breaking a previous record of 2.21 metres," Indonesia's Museum of Records manager Ngadri said.

"We will make some approaches for him to be registered (with Guinness World Records) as the tallest man in the world," he added.

Suparwono said sometimes he felt "proud" of his height but "it also gives me problems because I can't live like normal people", citing the difficulty of fitting into public buses and finding clothes large enough for his frame.

"I started to realise my exceptional height when I was 10 years old. At that time, I was already the tallest at my school and in my village," he told AFP between television appearances.

"I eat three kilograms (6.61 pounds) of rice every day and at least 15 eggs," he added.

One of five children, he hoped as a teenager to be a basketball star but his body couldn't stand the stress of elite sport, according to his former coach, Willy Winoto.

"After two years of training we found that he was unable to become a national athlete because of his bone problems. His anatomical structure isn't good enough to be an athlete," Winoto said.

Suparwono lives with his parents and earns money doing odd jobs around the village.

But Lampung Governor Sjachroedin Zainal promised to give him a "proper job" and make him an ambassador for the province.

"He's one of our provincial assets. In 2010 we'll name him as the 'Visit Lampung Year' icon," he said.

Source: AsianOne News