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I-XRAY in action: from a stranger to a dossier in seconds.
Two Harvard students have developed a device that major tech companies have avoided making available to the public because of its high risks and threats: facial recognition smart glasses that automatically detect a person's identity. What's more, the students added to the technology the ability to extract other information about a person from the internet, including their home address, phone number, and family members.
The project was created to draw attention to the possibilities of such technologies. Anfu Nguyen and Kane Ardaifio, the creators of this device, decided not to distribute the source code of their project, as Nguyen told 404 Media. However, experiments conducted with the use of glasses in real conditions have shown that outsiders can instantly gain access to a person's personal information, violating his anonymity.
The project is called I-XRAY and is based on the use of smart glasses from Meta* - Ray Ban, which are available for commercial sale. According to Nguyen, the device allows you to "go from person to name" in just a few seconds. In a demo video posted on social media, the developers showed how the technology works in practice: Ardaifio walks past a person at whom the glasses are pointed, and a few seconds later the phone receives information about him. The video also shows how the glasses recognize the face of a random woman on the subway, and then Ardaifio walks up to her and addresses her by name, mentioning details from the search results.
Nguyen explained that the video specifically added reactions from people the students met on the Boston subway, giving the impression that they knew these people. Although the video hides the name of one of the women, journalists were able to identify her using data obtained during the demonstration. The woman did not respond to requests from reporters, and her name was not published, as it is not clear whether she consented to participate in the experiment.
Students claim to have been able to recognize dozens of people without their consent or notification. In some cases, the data turned out to be incorrect, for example, the wrong name was indicated. The main motive of the project was to explore the possibilities of technology, according to Nguyen. At first, the project gained attention as a fun way for pranks and videos, but later some feared that such technology could be used for harassment. One of the examples given by Nguyen concerns a situation where someone could find out the home address of a person on a train and follow him.
Ardaifio also noted that some people at the project's presentation at Harvard were shocked by how the technology allows them to find out the phone numbers of their relatives. The ability to instantly reveal information about a person through the camera of a smartphone or glasses has been considered a dangerous feature of technology for many years. In her book, The New York Times reporter Kashmir Hill described how Facebook and Google developed facial recognition technologies, but decided not to implement them because of the risks. Google CEO Eric Schmidt mentioned more than a decade ago that the company "developed the technology, but abandoned it".
Although Nguyen and Ardaifio have no plans to publish their code, they have clearly demonstrated that the creation of such glasses is possible using commercially available technology. During the demonstration, Nguyen took a photo of Ardaifio, and the system sent the photo to a facial recognition website, after which information about him was collected from various sites on the Internet.
To search for faces, I-XRAY uses the Pimeyes service, which, unlike Clearview AI, is available to any user. As a result of uploading a photo, the system provides a list of links where an image with a similar face occurs. During the demo, the developers used these links to automatically retrieve data such as name, place of work, and other information.
With a name, the technology searches personal data aggregator sites, which often contain a wide range of personal information, including phone numbers, home addresses, and social media profiles. In the demo, Nguyen mentioned that they had removed Ardaifio's home address from the results to prevent potential threats.
One of the most surprising moments, according to Ardaifio, was that people were shown pictures of them from kindergarten that they had never seen themselves. This project shows how much data about a person can be found in the public domain on the Internet.
I-XRAY glasses use the Meta Ray Bans 2 model. A Meta spokesperson commented that Pimeyes' facial recognition technology can be used with any camera, not just Meta's smart glasses. According to the students, they chose these glasses because of their external similarity to ordinary glasses, which makes them less noticeable. However, Meta noted that their devices are equipped with an LED that lights up when recording to alert others to the shooting.
Pimeyes, in turn, said that their system is not designed to identify people, but only provides a list of sources with similar images. However, being able to find a link to a source with a similar face actually makes it possible to identify a person.
Earlier, 404 Media reported on a TikTok user who used similar technologies to publicly "doxx" random people online for entertainment, which caused some victims to feel that their personal space was violated.
Ardaifio said he hoped the project would raise awareness of how to protect their data online, despite the potential negative consequences of using it.
Source
Two Harvard students have developed a device that major tech companies have avoided making available to the public because of its high risks and threats: facial recognition smart glasses that automatically detect a person's identity. What's more, the students added to the technology the ability to extract other information about a person from the internet, including their home address, phone number, and family members.
The project was created to draw attention to the possibilities of such technologies. Anfu Nguyen and Kane Ardaifio, the creators of this device, decided not to distribute the source code of their project, as Nguyen told 404 Media. However, experiments conducted with the use of glasses in real conditions have shown that outsiders can instantly gain access to a person's personal information, violating his anonymity.
The project is called I-XRAY and is based on the use of smart glasses from Meta* - Ray Ban, which are available for commercial sale. According to Nguyen, the device allows you to "go from person to name" in just a few seconds. In a demo video posted on social media, the developers showed how the technology works in practice: Ardaifio walks past a person at whom the glasses are pointed, and a few seconds later the phone receives information about him. The video also shows how the glasses recognize the face of a random woman on the subway, and then Ardaifio walks up to her and addresses her by name, mentioning details from the search results.
Nguyen explained that the video specifically added reactions from people the students met on the Boston subway, giving the impression that they knew these people. Although the video hides the name of one of the women, journalists were able to identify her using data obtained during the demonstration. The woman did not respond to requests from reporters, and her name was not published, as it is not clear whether she consented to participate in the experiment.
Students claim to have been able to recognize dozens of people without their consent or notification. In some cases, the data turned out to be incorrect, for example, the wrong name was indicated. The main motive of the project was to explore the possibilities of technology, according to Nguyen. At first, the project gained attention as a fun way for pranks and videos, but later some feared that such technology could be used for harassment. One of the examples given by Nguyen concerns a situation where someone could find out the home address of a person on a train and follow him.
Ardaifio also noted that some people at the project's presentation at Harvard were shocked by how the technology allows them to find out the phone numbers of their relatives. The ability to instantly reveal information about a person through the camera of a smartphone or glasses has been considered a dangerous feature of technology for many years. In her book, The New York Times reporter Kashmir Hill described how Facebook and Google developed facial recognition technologies, but decided not to implement them because of the risks. Google CEO Eric Schmidt mentioned more than a decade ago that the company "developed the technology, but abandoned it".
Although Nguyen and Ardaifio have no plans to publish their code, they have clearly demonstrated that the creation of such glasses is possible using commercially available technology. During the demonstration, Nguyen took a photo of Ardaifio, and the system sent the photo to a facial recognition website, after which information about him was collected from various sites on the Internet.
To search for faces, I-XRAY uses the Pimeyes service, which, unlike Clearview AI, is available to any user. As a result of uploading a photo, the system provides a list of links where an image with a similar face occurs. During the demo, the developers used these links to automatically retrieve data such as name, place of work, and other information.
With a name, the technology searches personal data aggregator sites, which often contain a wide range of personal information, including phone numbers, home addresses, and social media profiles. In the demo, Nguyen mentioned that they had removed Ardaifio's home address from the results to prevent potential threats.
One of the most surprising moments, according to Ardaifio, was that people were shown pictures of them from kindergarten that they had never seen themselves. This project shows how much data about a person can be found in the public domain on the Internet.
I-XRAY glasses use the Meta Ray Bans 2 model. A Meta spokesperson commented that Pimeyes' facial recognition technology can be used with any camera, not just Meta's smart glasses. According to the students, they chose these glasses because of their external similarity to ordinary glasses, which makes them less noticeable. However, Meta noted that their devices are equipped with an LED that lights up when recording to alert others to the shooting.
Pimeyes, in turn, said that their system is not designed to identify people, but only provides a list of sources with similar images. However, being able to find a link to a source with a similar face actually makes it possible to identify a person.
Earlier, 404 Media reported on a TikTok user who used similar technologies to publicly "doxx" random people online for entertainment, which caused some victims to feel that their personal space was violated.
Ardaifio said he hoped the project would raise awareness of how to protect their data online, despite the potential negative consequences of using it.
Source
