Clothing invented to trick CCTV into believing humans are animals

It’s garish, spooky and in your face… but at least the fashion police never find you. An Italian company has invented clothing that makes security cameras think you’re an animal.

Start-up Cap-able describes its Manifesto collection – which includes a £252 t-shirt, £370 jumper and £245 joggers – as “a wearable algorithm designed to protect our Identity”.

The knit fabric is woven with “enemy patches” that protect facial biometrics and trick AI computers into misidentifying the wearer as a dog, zebra or giraffe.

Despite fears that the gear could be worn by criminals to disguise their identities, CEO Rachele Didero said: “In a world where data is the new oil, Cap-able addresses the issue of privacy and opens the conversation about the importance of protecting against misuse biometric recognition cameras.

“The problem is increasingly occurring in everyday life, affecting citizens around the world. If neglected, it could freeze the rights of individuals, including freedom of expression, association and freedom of movement in public.”

Previously, adversarial patches were only printed. Cap-able patented a process to weave the algorithm into fabric.

The clothes are said to have been tested on YOLO – the best-selling real-time object recognition system. “People wearing Cap-able clothing are not recognized as such by the software, which instead identifies dogs, zebras or giraffes in the fabric,” it says.

Metro style expert Nicole Mowbray said: “These aren’t good looking or affordable. But the punk spirit of fashion has always been about challenging the status quo, defending the rights of the individual and holding up the finger of authority. These pieces certainly fit that bill.”

Our Connect editor Lucy Hedges said Cap-able could help people feel their data is protected. “If they get it right, they could be on to something groundbreaking,” she said. “If not, all you see is really overpriced, ugly knitwear.”

And one prankster pointed out that the gear is a boon for shoplifters…

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