Guilty classes

I was browsing through a few of the technology sites and blogs I visit regularly and came across a story that I found pretty fascinating and wanted to share with NetGuide readers. If you thought the body scanner machine at airports was advanced, check out the latest development in law enforcement technology! Apparently, police officers in Brazil are in the process of adding a layer of cyborg tech to their law enforcement and security toolboxes in the form of "RoboCop" sunglasses. These amazing shades have been engineered using facial recognition technology, which allows the user to scan faces in a crowd and check them against a criminal database. How cool is that! The local police forces in Rio de Jeneiro and Sao Paolo have been quick to jump on board, already having completed demos with the technology. The glasses work at up to 50 yards distance from the subject and can reportedly scan 400 faces per second, comparing 46,000 biometric points on a person's face against a database of terrorists and other criminals. If a match is made, a red light will pop up in theof the glasses, notifying the officer of their target. This technology is said to make more efficient use of both police and citizens' time by eliminating the need to administer random ID checks. The glasses will be especially handy for crowd security, and with Brazil having no shortage of big crowds (particularly in the next few years, with Rio set to host the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016), it seems to be the perfect place for the RoboCop shades to make their debut. As cool as the technology is, one has to wonder how accurate it will actually be. It could be pretty unfortunate for any criminal look-a-likes out there if the technology is flawed! Drop us a line at rebeccar@techday.co.nz