Sure, you’ve heard about discrimination at the workplace, but never like this. Here two employees are testing the webcam from a brand new Hewlett Packard only to discover that the facial tracking software doesn’t work for one of them. Why not?
“I’m black. I think my blackness is interfering with the computer’s ability to follow me… I welcome responses as to why the HP web cam does not pick up Negros.”
Obviously, Hewlett Packard isn’t really a racist company- it just wouldn’t be profitable. This flaw in the MediaSmart webcams probably resulted from not testing the product on, dare I say it, any black people.
As expected, a statement from the company was released regarding the glitch in the software. And, as expected, they really don’t have any good explanation:
“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.”
