A forbidden Google Glass app is the next step toward a device that can scan people's faces to know everything about them.
FaceRec, an app from startup Lambda Labs that is not condoned by tech giant Google, works by storing a record of every face the Google Glass wearer meets, refreshing every 10 seconds to capture new faces, TechCrunch reported.
Still in a beta testing phase, FaceRec can't yet identify faces in real time and it doesn't have a reference database. Users can tag pictures with names so they can be recognized next time.
The app is intended for a small subset of Google Glass users, Lambda recently told Forbes. While building Facebook into the product would violate Facebook's rules of use, app users can roll their own scripts to use Facebook data for identification, according to TechCrunch.
Lambda, which is helmed by 24-year-old founder Stephen Balaban, is also creating an Android-based wearable device called the "Lambda Hat," which will be available for pre-order on Friday.
"Facial recognition is only going to get better, and soon you'll be able to not only look at someone you've met once, but people you've never met before, and immediately see what you have in common," Balaban told Forbes.
Google spokespeople have made it clear that the company won't be approving any Facial Recognition Software.
TechCrunch notes that while the recognition technology is a cause for concern, it isn't the first technology to meet with resistance.
"[O]ver time we've proven ourselves to be quite changeable on the definition of what is and isn't acceptable when it comes to how much information we share with others via the web, and facial recognition could become something that people grow more comfortable with time," the outlet said.
Google Glass seems to be the unintentional cause of controversy lately. A man in Seattle was recently ejected from a restaurant for refusing to remove the device, which other customers claimed made them feel uncomfortable, while a California woman was pulled over for speeding in November and given a ticket for wearing the device while driving.
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