Screen grab from the YouTube video

If you’re looking for a great last minute Christmas gift idea for your favorite racist, look no further. A new face-tracking webcam from Hewlett-Packard may be just the thing.

A video was posted to YouTube the other day by two co-workers who were testing a new HP webcam. The video shows a demonstration of the webcam’s facial tracking capabilities when attempting to follow the face of a white woman. It performs admirably. The problem arises when the same camera tries to track the face of the other tester – an African-American man. The camera doesn’t move an inch, with absolutely no detectable facial tracking happening. This prompts the man to firmly declare that the HP webcam is racist. And really, how can you argue?

The video quickly went viral (it has over 500,000 views on YouTube, and counting) and prompted a whole lot of those intelligent and reasonable user comments that YouTube is so famous for. The popularity of the video went a bit further though… as in all the way back to HP HQ. It prompted a quick reply from the company, wherein they declare they really aren’t racist, and the whole problem is the result of a lighting issue. Their reply states, in part:

“The technology we use is built on standard (racist) algorithms that measure the (racist) difference in intensity of contrast between the eyes and the upper cheek and nose. We believe that the (racist) camera might have difficulty “seeing” contrast in conditions where there is insufficient foreground lighting.” (the notes in brackets are mine, by the way)

And while this may be the first example of an actual recent computer technology being perceived as racist, it’s certainly not the first time a tech company has gotten some bad press. From a Google Image Search controversy, to a variety of questionable (to some) iPhone apps, there have been more than a few situations where stereotypes were used and abused.