Some silicone masks are now so realistic they can easily be mistaken for real faces, new research suggests.
Hyper-realistic masks are made from flexible materials such as silicone and are designed to imitate real human faces – down to every last freckle, wrinkle and strand of real human hair.
In a study by the Universities of York and Kyoto, researchers asked participants to look at pairs of photographs and decide which showed a normal face and which showed a person wearing a mask.
Surprisingly, participants made the wrong call in one-in-five cases.
Everyday life
The 20% error rate observed in the study likely underestimates the extent to which people would struggle to tell an artificial face from the real thing outside of the lab, the researchers say
The researchers collected data from participants from both the UK and Japan to establish any differences according to race. When asked to choose between photographs depicting faces of a different race to the trial participant, response times were slower and selections were 5% less accurate.
Dr Rob Jenkins from the Department of Psychology at the University of York, said: “In our study participants had several advantages over ordinary people in everyday life. We made it clear to participants that their task was to identify the mask in each pair of images and we showed them example masks before the test began.
“The real-world error rate is likely to be much higher because many people may not even be aware hyper-realistic masks exist and are unlikely to be looking out for them.
“The current generation of masks is very realistic indeed with most people struggling to tell an artificial face from the real thing.”
Criminal cases
There are now dozens of criminal cases in which culprits have passed themselves off as people of a different age, race or gender, sending police investigations down the wrong path.
In one recent case, an international gang used a hyper-realistic mask to impersonate a French minister, defrauding business executives out of millions of pounds.
Dr Jet Sanders, who worked on the study while a PhD student at the University of York, said: “Failure to detect synthetic faces may have important implications for security and crime prevention as hyper-realistic masks may allow the key characteristics of a persons’ appearance to be incorrectly identified.
“These masks currently cost around £1000 each and we expect them to become more widely used as advances in manufacturing make them more affordable.”
Learn more: Some hyper-realistic masks more believable than human faces, study suggests
The Latest Google Headlines on:
Synthetic faces
[google_news title=”” keyword=”synthetic faces” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
The Latest Bing News on:
Synthetic faces
- Mailbag: Larger issues face Surf City than books a few people dislikeon May 2, 2024 at 3:53 pm
The city is well aware of this, but so far nothing has been done. I guess that takes backbone and determination to resolve, whereas books in the library are easier to regulate. Huntington Beach is ...
- Neanderthal woman's face brought to life in stunning reconstructionon May 2, 2024 at 11:51 am
With her long, brown hair and determined gaze, the new facial reconstruction lets us peek into the world of an archaic human who lived tens of thousands of years ago.
- Mother-of-two, 46, died after her synthetic hair extensions caught fire, dripped on her clothes and set her bedding alight while she was drunk, inquest toldon May 2, 2024 at 8:16 am
A woman died from severe burns after her synthetic hair extensions caught fire ... I was unable to see my hand in front of my face so I thought for my own safety I should get out.' Firefighters ...
- 2024 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup to switch to synthetic fuelon May 1, 2024 at 5:00 pm
He also said all of Porsche's current internal-combustion engines could use synthetic fuel without modifications. The automaker has also floated synthetic fuels as a way to keep classic cars on the ...
- 'I just want to be soaking in this stuff': Drew Barrymore's favorite face oil is on sale for just $14on May 1, 2024 at 1:48 pm
The celeb's go-to vitamin E serum moisturizes and helps minimize the appearance of fine lines, scars and stretch marks.
- Tire toxicity faces fresh scrutiny after salmon die-offson May 1, 2024 at 10:32 am
We need to pay more attention to toxic emissions from tires as vehicles roll down the road, researchers and regulators say.
- A 4-year-old overdosed on fentanyl in a Tri-Cities motel. Her mom now faces prison timeon May 1, 2024 at 4:00 am
Our community has one less child with a bright future and one more grieving mother who lost a loved one to fentanyl.” ...
- AI and publicity rights – who owns your face?on April 26, 2024 at 6:24 pm
Attorney William Meyer joins producer/host Coralie Chun Matayoshi to discuss how Hawaii laws protect the commercial use of your voice, likeness and other attributes even post-mortem, how AI issues ...
- UBS Weighs Synthetic Risk Transfer Amid Capital Boost Proposalson April 26, 2024 at 10:45 am
UBS Group AG is considering bringing a synthetic credit risk transfer to the market, according to people with knowledge of the matter, amid Swiss reform proposals that could see the bank face higher ...
- Synthetic Reality Can Generate Worlds and Drive Innovative Solutionson April 24, 2024 at 6:30 am
What is a synthetic reality and what are Deepfakes? Discover more about the good and bad of the emergence of synthetic realities.
The Latest Google Headlines on:
Hyper-realistic masks
[google_news title=”” keyword=”hyper-realistic masks” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
The Latest Bing News on:
Hyper-realistic masks
- When is the Gray Zone Warfare Steam release date? Everything you need to knowon April 30, 2024 at 7:11 am
Gray Zone Warfare released on PC Early Access today. It promises hyper-realistic, team-based gameplay with authentic bullet mechanics and enemy behavior Gray Zone Warfare is powered by the Unreal ...
- VFX artist sparks viral sensation by seamlessly editing Hugh Jackman’s iconic Wolverine mask into ‘Deadpool and Wolverine’ trailer, creating a hyper-realistic video that ...on April 29, 2024 at 2:38 am
A viral sensation has taken the internet by storm, courtesy of a talented VFX artist who seamlessly edited Hugh Jackman’s iconic Wolverine mask into the “Deadpool and Wolverine” trailer, creating a ...
- Bizarre find in passenger seat after car pulled over by policeon April 28, 2024 at 3:21 am
The post included a snapshot of the dummy, which featured a hyper-realistic rubber mask complete with a goatee and sunglasses, plus a makeshift sweatshirt torso, the New York Post reports.
- Bizarre find in passenger seat after car pulled over by policeon April 27, 2024 at 5:20 pm
A California driver learned their lesson the hard way when police pulled them over in the carpool lane — only to find that their “passenger” was a realistic-looking mannequin.
- California carpool lane violator caught trying to pass realistic dummy off as passenger: ‘Gotta give it to them’on April 27, 2024 at 4:08 pm
A California driver learned their lesson when police pulled them over in the carpool lane, only to find that their passenger was actually a mannequin.
- How to create realistic game interiors in Unreal Engine 5on April 26, 2024 at 6:00 am
Maxim Dorokhov shows how to make realistic gaming interiors in Unreal Engine 5, using the apartment from Silent Hill 4.
- NAWCAD Brings Hyper-Realistic Flight Test and Training Simulators to Navy, Air Forceon April 22, 2024 at 10:25 am
In addition to testing, the cockpits also allow for realistic training, he said. They can provide the most lifelike situations with threat environments, Greer said. An F-35B Lightning II aircraft ...
- Microsoft’s VASA-1: The End of Face ID and the New Era of Deepfakes?on April 19, 2024 at 7:03 pm
Microsoft VASA-1 can generate hyper-realistic deep fake videos with just a single image and audio file. Is this farewell to Face ID?
- Is it cake? Charleston baker makes ‘hyper-realistic’ desserts on new Netflix serieson April 3, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Bakers are given eight hours to create a hyper-realistic cake that will fool the judges, who are tasked with picking out the cake among a lineup of objects in 30 seconds. The lighthearted show is ...