[Blindmath] Facial recognition -- food for thought

[Dasha Radford]

Wilson explained to me what this has to do with math? It is a fine topic and I don't mind it but it's a little bit different from what one might expect from a math listserv
Thanks,
D

Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 28, 2012, at 19:06, "Michael Whapples" <mwhapples at aim.com> wrote:

> I think I agree with that in general as to the priorities and needs I have.
> 
> There is may be one thing I would say though, if there is anything I would really want from sight, it would be to appreciate nice things (eg. beautiful things, sunsets, art, etc), however I don't believe these synthetic sight systems will ever give pleasure in observing them. As I have big doubts on this being achieved and as Steve pointed out there are other ways in which I experience pleasure and know other people's reactions, then I am more interested in finding solutions to things which help me lead a full life.
> 
> Michael Whapples
> 
> -----Original Message----- From: Steve Jacobson
> Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2012 4:30 PM
> To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics
> Subject: Re: [Blindmath] Facial recognition -- food for thought
> 
> Dick,
> 
> I realize this discussion could spin off topic here, but I think there is another perspective to this.
> First, I would not object in the least if some people spent some time developing object and facial
> recognition software.  There are some times when this could be useful.  I believe that some work has
> been done by Kurzweil, for example, and I am aware of some other similar projects.  That doesn't mean
> that more couldn't or shouldn't be done.
> 
> If I had just lost my sight, this might be something I would miss more than I do.  However, it isn't as
> though I have no picture at all of people with whom I interact.  Voices are very unique and work well to
> recognize someone I have previously met and there are other techniques that can fill in the gaps.  In
> your note below you said in part, "I wouldn't be sitting around waiting for Microsoft, Google, Apple, or
> some other large company to solve my problems. I would be working to solve those problems myself."