Project Aria 'Digital Twin' Dataset by Meta

[dustypotato]

First thing I notice while browsing from EU is that there's only one option regarding cookies. Accept all! Even if I click "Learn more" there's no "accept necessary cookies" or "Reject cookies". First time I encounter something like this.

[nightpool]

This is common on many, many sites like this because they do not have any tracking cookies or anything else that they would need consent for, but they're still required to display a cookie banner "notifying" you that cookies are "in use" as per the terms of the old 2009 ePrivacy Directive. In this case, it appears that projectaria.com sets 1) one cookie for the user's DPR (1 or 2) so that the backend can serve optimized images, 2) one cookie for the user's locale, and 3) one cookie for a CSRF token for form submission.

[coldpie]

I have to admit, for technical folks like ourselves, I don't understand why you care what options the dialog presents. Just use a "Kill Sticky" plugin to nuke the stupid dialog so you can read the page, or even Accept them, and then instruct your browser to do whatever you like with the cookies the site creates (i.e. delete them). It's all in your hands, the popup dialog doesn't do anything you can't do yourself.

[mensetmanusman]

It’s amazing how much worse browsing the web has gotten after all these pop-ups everywhere.

[WhackyIdeas]

Noticed the same thing as I always select ‘necessary only’ or something like that.

Instead, I just closed the page and clicked on HN comments to see what it was about.

[cutler]

This one is tame compared with a whole industry of "data privacy" popups which hide "Legitimate Interest" opt-outs within Vendor lists containing hundreds of entries. Someone needs to slap some serious lawsuits on these gangsters.

[Dirak]

This is a perfect example of how GDPR can present challenges to innovation. The fact the top comment in this announcement revolves around GDPR compliance and associated fines raises questions about whether companies will be motivated to share research and open source datasets in the future.

[marcinzm]

Isn't that a GDPR violation since they're not allowed to prevent access if you refuse to share data not necessary for the service to function? Since it's from Meta I suspect regulators would enjoy another thing to add to the list for future fine calculations.

[littlestymaar]

> First time I encounter something like this.

Facebook itself use to have this exact banner with no alternative until they were strong-armed to properly comply with GDPR.

[anthonyskipper]

That's a common dark pattern.

[otikik]

Yep, closed it down immediately. IANAL but that might not be legal in Europe

[germinalphrase]

While acknowledging the utility of this kind of object/environment mapping in AR applications - the privacy obliteration is stark.

[KaiserPro]

Yes, and it scares the shit out of me.

Now. Facebook, the company that nobody trusts to do this sort of thing, is going to have to really work hard to demonstrate that they are to be trusted with this data. Apple, and to a lesser extent google, don't.

That cool startup could get away with lots of things, so long as people like the product.

Fortunately for us, AR glasses are limited by power consumption, this means that they can't really do always on realtime streaming of data to the backend for mining. Sure you could have always on mm accurate location, but you can't have video recording at the same time. If you want facial recognition, you'll have to stop the music playing.

Now, what would help is a decent set of privacy laws, ie:

Any cameras smaller than x, must only allow recording of data from persons that expressly allow it, unless in the public domain. People attempting to re-create personally identifiable data from such sensors will be liable to 5 years in jail and or an unlimited fine. (insert carveouts for legitimate research and persons working towards providing evidence for court cases)

This isnt perfect, but its a lot better than what we have now.

[quietthrow]

Genuine question: What is an egocentric data set? Eli5 please? What can this be used for?

[ikhatri]

Egocentric means that the sensors frame of reference is the same as the ego (self). The person walking around is wearing the sensors/glasses themselves & their pose is given as “ego pose”.

This dataset is clearly targeted for research on AR/XR/VR applications.

[KaiserPro]

As you know, to make machine learning work, it needs loads of data.

Most picture and videos are taken from a camera at arm's length, not attached to someone's face.

so if you want to make AR glasses "see" and "understand" the world from the point of view of a human (ie navigation, where is x, etc etc) then you need to make a dataset with that sensor configuration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vnZCwf5_QE has a simple example from CMU, rather than facebook

[phyzome]

This will be complementary to the SecondSelf Skinset Pro: https://samkriss.substack.com/p/how-to-enjoy-your-secondself...

[machinekob]

Non-commercial licence :[

[optymizer]

"I can't use this to make money". Sad face.

If I had a company, which is a for-profit entity, I wouldn't want competitors to use my company's tech for free either.

[Roark66]

I wonder, let's say one uses it on an open source project that accepts donations. Is that non-commercial enough? Or is it a no-no because money is involved? I'm just curious.

I'm glad such free datasets exist even if they are restricted to educational/hobby use.

[zombiwoof]

love Meta. they fell face first into the "Metaverse" and now are just releasing all their AI related work to juice their stock and be "innovative".

[achr2]

> All sequences within the Aria Digital Twin Dataset have been captured using fully consented researchers in controlled environments in Meta offices.

The requirement and boastful nature of this heading is a frightening tell against the company/industry's perceived practices.