"SceneTap" App Scans Faces Of Bar-Goers To Guess Age, Gender

"SceneTap's" ability to guess how old people are and whether they're men or women relies on advances in a field known as biometrics. A camera at the door snaps your picture, and software maps your features to a grid. By measuring distances such as the length between the nose and the eyes and the eyes and the ears, an algorithm matches your dimensions to a database of averages for age and gender.  Seems a little creepy to say the least but according the Scene Taps CEO, Cole Harper, the app doesn't invade patrons privacy because the only data it stores is their estimated ages and genders and the time that they arrived, not their images or measurements.  One can only imagine what the future will hold and whether or not camera-equipped smartphones will have the ability to recognize faces with a click of the virtual shutter.

"SceneTap" Article worth Reading

http://allthingsd.com/20120518/scenetap-interview-san-franciscos-least-welcome-start-up-explains-itself-video/

"SceneTap" Interview: San Francisco’s Least Welcome Start-Up Explains Itself (Video)

An interview conducted by Liz Gannes with Cole Harper can make some social media users hesitant about installing a popular new networking tool known as "SceenTap"

This interview was not so kind when dealing with an almost apologetic Harper.

"Every single bar that we’re working with already had surveillance systems and cameras recording and other things that were extremely intrusive, in the general opinion,” Harper said. “What we’re adding on is really just a layer that helps from a marketing and social element.”

Is "SceneTap" Capable of Face Recognition

"SceneTap" is on track to support thousands of venues across 20 markets by the end of 2012, and has already begun franchising abroad. This makes some bar goers uneasy because "SceneTap" states they will install face recognition cameras in participating bars. Supposedly these cameras are capable of face recognition that will allow the down loadable app to detect and provide information of when "SceneTap" participants enter a bar. This scares some bar goers because they do not wish to have their where-abouts  instantly known.

Free for iPhone and Android Users

"SceneTap" is free via the web for iPhone and Android devices. "SceneTap" has more than 50 participating nightspots in Chicago and Austin. There are plans to expand to New York, Boston, Las Vegas, and other cities across the United States in the coming months "SceneTap" is watching closely to find out if current demand will increase due to new joiner interest.

"SceneTap" combining many moble applications

When thinking about the application "SceneTap" it struck me that we may have too many applications already on our smart phones?  Like many people out there when they want a night out on the town they will search through all of their social media applications and a few others before they settle on a single location.  This can be frustrating and time consuming. The idea behind "Scene Tap" is good because it takes this time consuming process and eliminates it. You can find your friends, rate the bar, check the band, and play games all in one centralized application.

"SceneTap" like all other mobile applications already?

While thinking about "SceneTap" I started wondering if it was more like fiction radio or just like everything already available? The application seemed new at first, but upon a second viewing it reminded me of so many other things available combined. One can rate the bar like the preexisting "Yelp," they can also see if their friends are in that location like the preexisting "foursquare," and finally can play games and buy virtual drinks like any virtual Facebook game. The idea of "Social Tap" is good where it combines all of these existing ideas together, but upon second look it seems like less fiction and more of like just like the same old same old.