As AI detection systems become more prominent, German designer Simon Weckert has created a shirt to interrupt the how digital surveillance systems recognise people. The first glance the bright patterned shirt resembles a green, pink and orange geometric form but layered in the bright aesthetic is a mathematically optimised pattern designed to confuse AI detection systems. AI detection systems identify objects by analysing statistical relationships between elements such as edges, textures and colours, a process Weckert interrupts through his pattern design. Tested against the open-source YOLO object-detection system, the shirt can interfere with its ability to identify the wearer as a person.
Creating a conversation between real world and digital experiences, the garment communicates differently depending on who or what is looking at it, to humans it represents and express fashion choice and to digital algorithms it is visual noise. Design as a provocation instead of a universal solution, the shirt design ‘Digital Camouflage’ turns clothing into a tool for questioning machine vision and privacy.
