In the beauty world, facial recognition technology is a welcome innovation. It means beauty apps can detect exactly where your lips are, for example, which allows app users to swipe on virtual shades and find the perfect shade. More and more makeup brands are embracing virtual try-ons, but out there in the world beyond beauty, facial recognition technology is controversial. China uses the technology for mass surveillance, and here in the United States, black bloc protesters cover their faces to avoid being recognized. But as Yahoo! Lifestyle reports, there's a far more fun way to avoid Big Brother's watchful eye: Juggalo makeup.
Insane Clown Posse fans, called Juggalos, have long cosplayed as band members Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope, showing up to concerts and the annual Gathering of the Juggalos in the signature full face of clown-like makeup. Recently, Twitter user @tahkion, a computer science blogger for WonderHowTo, discovered that the trademark makeup defeats facial recognition tech.
i made a breakthrough. it turns out juggalo makeup defeats facial recognition successfully. if you want to avoid surveillance, become a juggalo i guess pic.twitter.com/kEh7fUQeXq
— TAHKION (@tahkion) July 1, 2018
Facial recognition technology needs to pinpoint the eyes, nose, and jawline to work successfully. But Juggalo makeup involves redrawing the eyebrows and jawline, which confuses the tech and evades recognition in the process.
for anyone wondering why some face changes evade facial recognition and others don't, here's a visualization of how landmarks are placed on a few examples. juggalo makeup is particularly effective as it basically totally redefines what is interpreted as the jawline pic.twitter.com/dFSx5FEGc9
— TAHKION (@tahkion) July 1, 2018
Juggalo makeup is already considered a way of opting out of social standards, self-identified Juggalo Solana Patterson-Ramos told Allure. "I don't fit into this society, I'm not wanting to fit into this society, I'm me," she says. "Being a Juggalo is about embracing who you are."
For ICP fans, Juggalo makeup is an art and a lifestyle, so if you're going to attempt to evade some high-tech cameras, at least get the lewk right. According to Patterson-Ramos, the best way to define your own Juggalo look is to let go and "think about makeup that you always wanted to do, but you didn't do because you're at work or in society." Now, it comes with an extra bonus: taking down The Man and his cameras.
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