Desi (African-American) and Wanda (Caucasian) appear to be workers in some sort of consumer electronics store.
We're using the face-tracking software. So, it's supposed to follow me as I move. I'm black. I think my blackness is interfering with the computer's ability to follow me. [...]It's pretty clear that the software seems to think Desi is invisible. At least Desi and Wanda seem to have a good sense of humor about the issue.
I'm going on record, and I'm sayin' it. Hewlett-Packard computers are racist. I said it. And the worst part is, I bought one for Christmas.
Some might wonder if this is a stunt. Or at least, those who remember the "Racial Sensitivity" episode from "Better Off Ted's" first season might. "Better Off Ted" is a comedy that lampoons corporate life, and stars Jay Harrington as Ted Crisp, Portia de Rossi as the evilly corporated lackey (and Ted's boss) Veronica Palmer, and Andrea Anders as goofy (and crushing on Ted) Linda Zwordling.
In that episode, Veridian Dynamics, their company, "installs new motion-sensor devices for lights and other uses that are unable to recognize black people." Thus, employees are locked into rooms, elevators, etc.
In reality, this seems to not be a joke, but rather, just a bug, albeit a hilarious one. HP believes its software is having "difficulty 'seeing' contrast in conditions where there is insufficient foreground lighting. At any rate, watch the video:
2 comments:
Viewing every thing through your racist filter is getting very tiresome. It seems that the people of color no longer want equality but instead an advantage. Can we all just get along?
HP did end up looking into the matter. HP e-mailed a statement that acknowledged that the webcam “may have issues with contrast recognition in certain lighting situations”. There were tests conducted by various sites that indicated that given the appropriate lighting conditions, the webcam worked just fine.
Racist HP Webcam: Tracks White People Only?
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