Production Manager Eddie Sabatini and Senior Producer Christopher McGraw try to fool the facial recognition system on the 2019 Subaru Forester. Will our simple hack reveal a flaw in the system or will it pass our test? Learn more at Autoblog.com
TranscriptEDDIE SABATINI: Hey guys, Eddie Sabatini for Autoblog here inside the Subaru Forester we're touring. Behind the camera is Senior Producer Christopher McGraw. And we've got a fun video for you guys today. What we want to try to do is trick the DriverFocus assist technology that's in this Subaru.
What this technology does is use an infrared camera to recognize a user who has a profile set up in the car, which both Chris and I have done. And what the technology does-- you know, it's primarily a safety technology, but it also has some convenience functions.
So if you set up your profile, you set your seat where you want it, you set the side mirrors how you want them, and also it's got some infotainment media functions that it'll do like pull up your last navigation setting, stuff like that.
So what we want to do try to do is trick it and see if, you know, we come in with a photo of McGraw here and see if the car will recognize me as Chris and move the seat back to where he had it. Right now it's set to where I have it. So I'm gonna start the car, put the mask-- forgive the hat hair. Start the car.
[BEEPING]
And will the camera read me as McGraw or will it just not work? Since it's an infrared camera, I don't think it's gonna work, right, because it reads the heat signature? That's what infrared does, right? We're gonna have to look that up.
CHRISTOPHER MCGRAW: [LAUGHING]
EDDIE SABATINI: [LAUGHING] All right, let's see-- [LAUGHING] Nothing. Nothing's happening. Nothing's happening. I can't mess with your seat settings, Chris. So I guess it doesn't work. Should we switch places to show them how it works?
All right, we're gonna-- he's gonna pass the camera off. Then McGraw is gonna come around. There he is. Nothing. Driver mon-- it's scanning. Scan in progress, it's reading. OK.
CHRISTOPHER MCGRAW: This is weird. [LAUGHING]
EDDIE SABATINI: All right, drop the mask. Let's see what happens.
CHRISTOPHER MCGRAW: User recognition stopped. Now let's see if I turn it off and turn it back on if it'll recognize me right away, even with the hat on. I didn't do this with the hat earlier.
EDDIE SABATINI: You didn't set your profile with the hat on?
CHRISTOPHER MCGRAW: Nope.
EDDIE SABATINI: OK, so-- nothing. Nothing yet.
CHRISTOPHER MCGRAW: So now it's not even recognizing anything.
EDDIE SABATINI: Interesting. Maybe try taking the hat off.
CHRISTOPHER MCGRAW: Talk about hat hair. Oh my gosh. All right, let me get out and get back in and see if it'll--
EDDIE SABATINI: We've stumped the system.
CHRISTOPHER MCGRAW: And there it goes.
EDDIE SABATINI: There it goes.
CHRISTOPHER MCGRAW: Hello, McG.
EDDIE SABATINI: Hello, McG. OK.
CHRISTOPHER MCGRAW: So yeah.
EDDIE SABATINI: All right, seat's forward.
CHRISTOPHER MCGRAW: Can't steal my identity in this Subaru.
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