Facebook's ability to know all things about all people is, let's face it, unsettling. When you upload a photo, it can immediately tell (based on biometrics) who it is, meaning it's got your face — and your friends' — on lockdown. What if you just threw its algorithms off a bit? Simone C. Niquille, an Amsterdam grad student with a subversive streak, is making sci-fi-worthy clothes designed to outsmart facial-recognition technology.
Niquille's REALFACE Glamouflage T-shirts — a collection of disorienting, face-covered garments designed to confuse Facebook — are simply surreal. Featuring the melting, swirling visages of Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, and Barack Obama (albeit celebrity impersonators), its "face recognition dazzle" ploy is in full effect here. The shirts are already generating a buzz on their own, but also serve as part of Niquille's larger FaceValue project, which explores how privacy, digital tracking, and the human face as a commodity might lead to disruptive-design solutions in the future. Right now, though, you can kick off your own chaotic Facebook tag game by purchasing a Glamouflage shirt for $65 on Niquille's site. And if nothing else, you can always make this an early tech trick for (online) mischief night? So meta! (Wired)