HP web cams might be a little bit racist

HP is looking into a claim that its head-tracking Web cams fail to detect the faces of black people.

The complaint comes from a YouTube video entitled "HP computers are racist." In the video, Desi Cryer, who is black, moves his head around the frame to no effect. As soon as his co-worker, Wanda, who is white, jumps into the frame, the camera's head tracking springs into action, panning and zooming as she moves her head.

ADVERTISEMENT

"As soon as white Wanda appears, the camera moves," he says. "Black Desi gets in there, uh, nope, no face recognition anymore, buddy. I'm going on record and I'm saying it: Hewlett-Packard computers are racist. I said it."

racisthp

The co-workers are chuckling and smiling throughout the video, obviously amused by the idea of a discriminatory Web cam, but HP says it's taking the matter very seriously. "We thank Desi, and the people who have seen and commented on his video, for bringing this subject to our attention," Community Manager Tony Welch said on HP's The Next Bench blog.

ADVERTISEMENT

Welch said HP is working with its partners to learn more. The technology in question measures the difference in contrast between the subject's eyes, upper cheek and nose, he said, and "the camera might have difficulty 'seeing' contrast in conditions where there is insufficient foreground lighting." You can see in the video that the camera is pointing into ceiling lights, which could have contributed to the problem.

I'm impressed that HP has responded to the video, which was posted on December 10 and has been viewed over 86,000 times. If this is more than an isolated incidenct, hopefully it can be fixed with a firmware update, but in the meantime, HP has directed people to a help page that discusses the impact of lighting on facial tracking software.

Earlier this year, Bitmob reported that gaming consultant N'Gai Croal, who is black, experienced detection problems when trying Microsoft's Project Natal motion-sensing camera. An IGN forum poster alleged that this was due to Croal's skin color, but Microsoft debunked that claim, pointing to a video of former boxer Sugar Ray Leonard playing with Project Natal without incident.

ADVERTISEMENT

No posts to display