A Nest doorbell locks door when it confuses homeowner with his Batman shirt

[Carla_Sinclair]

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/09/18/a-nest-doorbell-locks-a-man-ou.html

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[cannibalpeas]

@Carla_Sinclair

It was no biggie, I just thought the face recognition fail was funny.

Sounds pretty successful to me, actually. It identified an image of a human face, just not the right one. So what happens when someone has a picture of someone who is authorized? Does it have backup features like the iPhone?

[mjb86]

I think Nest made the right call with that face. Batman looks pissed. I wouldn’t want anyone in that emotional state near my family, let alone the Dark Knight.

[Melz2]

[anon41977465]

Stupid Hal doesn’t even know Batman’s real name is Bruce.

[ejeffrey]

@cannibalpeas

@Carla_Sinclair

It was no biggie, I just thought the face recognition fail was funny.

Sounds pretty successful to me, actually. It identified an image of a human face, just not the right one. So what happens when someone has a picture of someone who is authorized? Does it have backup features like the iPhone?

In this particular case the issue is that the door was unlocked and the nest system locked the door when it saw an unidentified person. It sounds to me like it was not configured to do the opposite: unlock a locked door for an identified person. When you look at the full frame it seems likely that the face recognizer identified both the man and the bat man, but only flagged the latter as unknown and triggered the lock.

[FGD135]

Secret identity is supposed to be secret.

[Sqyntz]

Good to know Nest stops Batman. You know, just in case.

[hastur]

corollary: it is probably sufficient to have the home owner’s face on your shirt to gain entry.

[GiantRobotPilot]

Agreed. I was going to say they should be programmed to always let in Batman, but not when he’s freaking out like that.

[Auld_Lang_Syne]

B.J. May (bjmay)

[GulliverFoyle]

[Boundegar]

So those villains’ lairs, with their crooked floors, should all invest in Nest?

[MadLibrarian]

@ejeffrey

When you look at the full frame it seems likely that the face recognizer identified both the man and the bat man, but only flagged the latter as unknown and triggered the lock.

I can see it now: kid brings over new friend or date. Hilarity ensues.

[Mindysan33]

[white_noise]

Unlike Superman, where the hero is the mask, Bruce Wayne is the mask and Batman the identity.

[capnjimbo]

[VenTatsu]

I’m frankly amazed it locked the door fast enough to mater.

I own a Nest door bell (but not the door lock, I may be dumb enough to put my door bell online, but I’m no where close to wanting my door locks online), and I regularly don’t get the notices that I am at the door until I’ve manually unlocked it, walked inside, re-locked it, and made it half way up the stairs.

[anon72705028]

I would hope that it would instantly open up a secret cave entrance with a miffed Alfred Pennyworth tired of looking for the garage door opener glitch.