Let’s go to the facial recognition comedy club. It’s not the name of a sketch or local play. It’s not a science fiction movie plot. This isn’t even about a celebrity getting recognized. The truth is far more bizarre.
In Barcelona, Spain, there is a comedy club called Teatreneu. Unlike most entertainment venues, you don’t pay up front. You pay by how much you laugh. It’s .30 Euros (that’s about 38 cents in US) per laugh with an 18 Euro maximum (about 23 dollars in US). How do they measure the laughs? They do so by facial recognition. There are tablets installed to every seat and each tablet is equipped with software that monitors facial expression. If you laugh, the tablet picks it up and charges the consumer per laugh. You would think this would creep many out. On the contrary. Facial recognition has driven attendance up and revenue has risen 6 Euros per customer. It’s so popular that it’s being popular through other parts of Spain, and maybe even other parts of Europe. One London, England comedy club owner joked she wouldn’t mind having such a system, so long as the faces being recognized aren’t leaked to the NSA.
That joke is so funny because there’s a lot of truth to it. In airports, there are using facial recognition to determine if you even make your flight or are considered a terrorist risk. It’s also been a key factor in the technology vs. privacy debate. So while this does sound cool and convenient on the surface, there is some concern here. What if facial recognition technology is used to abuse others of their civil liberties? I’m not saying they will, but can we guarantee, that major corporations and governments won’t? Can we really trust the entities of the world to do the right thing when it comes to facial recognition?