HP Creates a Webcam That Can't See Black People

If you're considering getting an HP computer with a built-in Webcam as a holiday gift, you might have to get out a paper bag first and check your complexion. Turns out the HP TouchSmart Webcams won't track dark faces, or at least that's what the video below appears to demonstrate.

This YouTube video would be funny if what it revealed wasn't so pathetic. Shot with a generous amount of good humor by two coworkers -- a black man named Desi and a white woman named Wanda -- it demonstrates that the new face-tracking technology for HP TouchSmart Webcams won't track dark faces.

DESI: Hewlett Packard computers are racist. I said it! And the worst part is, I bought one for Christmas. I hope my wife doesn't see this YouTube video, but I bought the same computer, and we can't even use it. (Moves back in forth, attempting in vain to get the Webcam to track him.) Look, it's not following me. But Wanda, get back in the frame.

WANDA: (Giggles as she moves back and forth and the Webcam follows her face.) It follows me wherever I go.

According to Black Web 2.0, a faulty software algorithm is to blame for giving melanin-rich folk the cold shoulder. More details are available on HP's Voodoo Blog:

The technology we use is built on standard algorithms that measure the difference in intensity of contrast between the eyes and the upper cheek and nose. We believe that the camera might have difficulty "seeing" contrast in conditions where there is insufficient foreground lighting. [SOURCE: HP's Voodoo Blog]

HP is working with its "partners" to look into the matter. In the meantime, the company suggests that people who are slighted by the color-struck Webcam check out tips for optimizing their Webcam experience.

All of this begs the question: Why would HP send a product to market based on the assumption that the customer's face is going to be light in complexion? Most likely it wasn't an intentional slight, but in some ways a thoughtless oversight is an even bigger slap in the face to the darker-skin people who buy these computers.

As the video demonstrates, we are literally invisible to HP.

What do you think?

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Sheryl Huggins Salomon is contributing editor of Black Voices, where she writes about politics and society. She is co-editor of the 'Nia Guide for Black Women' series of self-improvement books and the former publisher of Shade magazine. Follow her on Twitter or contact her at BVCEditor@aol.com.