美国国家公共电台 NPR Covert Fashion Provides Camouflage Against Surveillance Software

 

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

South by Southwest also showcases art, the type of art you'd expect at a tech-focused conference. One installation features counter-surveillance fashion by a group of women of color. They first caught the eye of NPR arts correspondent Mandalit del Barco at the Sundance Film Festival a couple of months ago. Here, she introduces us to them and to their protective wearables.

MANDALIT DEL BARCO, BYLINE¹: "NeuroSpeculative AfroFeminism" is a virtual reality experience. It's a science fiction-like beauty salon² for black women. Inside this virtual world, beauticians braid the client's hair with electrodes meant to boost brain power.

CARMEN AGUILAR Y WEDGE: What we're projecting here is that black women are the pioneers of brain optimization³.

DEL BARCO: Carmen Aguilar y Wedge is a structural⁴ engineer turned experience designer. She's co-captain of an international collective known as Hyphen-Labs along with Ashley Backus Clark, who is trained as a molecular⁵ biologist.

AGUILAR Y WEDGE: We are a group of scientists, architects and engineers turned artists creating critical work for critical times.

DEL BARCO: Not all of their inventions are as abstract and theoretical as the VR salon they introduced at this year's Sundance Film Festival. They also showcased a small line of covert⁶ fashion products designed to protect identities, particularly for people of color. Among the fashion prototypes they showed is an incandescent⁷ sun visor.

AGUILAR Y WEDGE: You can put it in front of your face to deflect⁸ any malicious⁹ gaze and control your identity.

ASHLEY BACKUS CLARK: Whomever you're looking at can't see in. What they see is a reflection of themselves. So if they're saying something to you that isn't nice, then they're forced to view their own maliciousness¹⁰ in the mirror.

DEL BARCO: They also introduced oversized gold hip-hop-style door knocker earrings¹¹ with hidden cameras and microphones. Clark says they could be useful during police stops.

CLARK: To begin recording¹² any sort of altercation¹³ or ambiguous interaction at the touch of a button.

DEL BARCO: Hyphen-Labs also unveiled a purple and pink silk scarf that camouflages¹⁵ the wearer from facial recognition software, the kind used by social media, online retailers¹⁶, law enforcement and the military. The scarf's fabric¹⁷ is designed with 1,200 pixelated faces meant to mislead computer algorithms.

CLARK: We're looking at, like, what if people were to wear this to protests? When you have so many faces on a garment, you can ultimately, if enough people are wearing it, break the surveillance system entirely¹⁸.

DEL BARCO: The so-called HyperFace scarf was designed by Adam Harvey, an American artist living in Berlin.

ADAM HARVEY: The idea here is that you're misleading the face detection algorithm by providing false positives. And the way that would work in practice is if you're able to reduce the confidence score of your true face, then you blend into the background of fake faces.

DEL BARCO: A few years ago, Harvey began working on designs like this when he was a student at NYU. Now, he has a whole line of nouveau camouflage¹⁴, including what he calls Stealth Wear - anti-drone burqas and hijabs. They're made from textiles fabricated with silver, which makes them very expensive. They're meant to thwart¹⁹ thermal²⁰ detecting drones and spyware.

HARVEY: If you introduce a barrier between your body's radiation of heat, which is equivalent to about a 100-watt light bulb, then you disappear. So it's a little bit magical. I wouldn't go as far to say that it's a Harry²¹ Potter cloak, which people seem to really want it to be sometimes.

DEL BARCO: Harvey says a 99 cent Mylar blanket could do the same but it isn't as fashionable. He's now working with Hyphen-Labs to come up with even more covert designs. Mandalit del Barco, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF FLYING LOTUS SONG, "NEVER CATCH ME")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 salon   

n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室

参考例句：

• Do you go to the hairdresser or beauty salon more than twice a week?你每周去美容院或美容沙龙多过两次吗？
• You can hear a lot of dirt at a salon.你在沙龙上会听到很多流言蜚语。

3 optimization   

n.最佳化，最优化；优选法；优化组合

参考例句：

• Development of detergents has required optimization of the surfactants structure. 发展洗涤剂时，要求使用最恰当的表面活性剂结构。 来自辞典例句
• In the case of productivity tools and other non-entertainment-oriented products, this optimization means minimizing work. 对于生产工具和其他非娱乐导向的产品而言，这意味着将工作负荷降至最低。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

4 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

5 molecular   

adj.分子的；克分子的

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms.这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。
• For the pressure to become zero, molecular bombardment must cease.当压强趋近于零时，分子的碰撞就停止了。

6 covert   

adj.隐藏的；暗地里的

参考例句：

• We should learn to fight with enemy in an overt and covert way.我们应学会同敌人做公开和隐蔽的斗争。
• The army carried out covert surveillance of the building for several months.军队对这座建筑物进行了数月的秘密监视。

7 incandescent   

adj.遇热发光的， 白炽的，感情强烈的

参考例句：

• The incandescent lamp we use in daily life was invented by Edison.我们日常生活中用的白炽灯，是爱迪生发明的。
• The incandescent quality of his words illuminated the courage of his countrymen.他炽热的语言点燃了他本国同胞的勇气。

8 deflect   

v.(使)偏斜，(使)偏离，(使)转向

参考例句：

• Never let a little problem deflect you.决不要因一点小问题就半途而废。
• They decided to deflect from the original plan.他们决定改变原计划。

9 malicious   

adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的

参考例句：

• You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
• Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。

10 maliciousness   

[法] 恶意

参考例句：

11 earrings   

n.耳环( earring的名词复数 )；耳坠子

参考例句：

• a pair of earrings 一对耳环
• These earrings snap on with special fastener. 这付耳环是用特制的按扣扣上去的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

13 altercation   

n.争吵，争论

参考例句：

• Throughout the entire altercation,not one sensible word was uttered.争了半天，没有一句话是切合实际的。
• The boys had an altercation over the umpire's decision.男孩子们对裁判的判决颇有争议。

14 camouflage   

n./v.掩饰，伪装

参考例句：

• The white fur of the polar bear is a natural camouflage.北极熊身上的白色的浓密软毛是一种天然的伪装。
• The animal's markings provide effective camouflage.这种动物身上的斑纹是很有效的伪装。

15 camouflages   

v.隐蔽( camouflage的第三人称单数 )；掩盖；伪装，掩饰

参考例句：

• The newest wrinkle in the $2.5 billion cosmetics business is a lotion that camouflages creases. 二十五亿化妆品生意中最新的一招是一种能够掩饰皱纹的润肤液。 来自辞典例句
• The block glue color camouflages very likely when uses black tape. 胶条颜色很像伪装时使用的黑色胶带。 来自互联网

16 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

17 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

18 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

19 thwart   

v.阻挠，妨碍，反对；adj.横(断的)

参考例句：

• We must thwart his malevolent schemes.我们决不能让他的恶毒阴谋得逞。
• I don't think that will thwart our purposes.我认为那不会使我们的目的受到挫折。

20 thermal   

adj.热的，由热造成的；保暖的

参考例句：

• They will build another thermal power station.他们要另外建一座热能发电站。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

21 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。