Yesterday's waves got me thinking about faces. Normally Pinterest shows me wreaths, Christmas trees, gardens, and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. In between these cute pictures are a sprinkling of weird ads and yesterday's was for hyper realistic silicone headgear masks. These masks are made from a flexible silicone material and are designed to imitate real human features, including wrinkles, spots and facial hair.
What if there was a headgear mask that was so light and comfortable - maybe like wearing glasses - that you could look however you wanted to look. I wonder if that might be the case already and the "AI response" is that masks are purchased by collectors, for film projects, and for the haunt industry.
Here's the showcase image at the website - old, mean, almost criminal looking men. The other masks include aliens and zombies.
I had thought that disguising horrible facial scars might be of interests to those who have facial scarring. That would be like people wearing wigs where there is hair loss. This likely is the noblest version of how they might be used.
I can imagine there could be social media influencers who want to have a disguise and be more attractive when posting.
As we move down the chain to lesser motives, we find examples of headgear used in crimes. One article outlined the case of more than 9 bank robberies where the camera showed an old man in his 70s or 80s committing the crime. I think he was called the geezer bandit. There are lots of pictures of him. On the last heist, he was escaping on foot and ran very fast. The mismatch of age and agility made the police aware that this was likely a young person with a head mask on. There are a few more accounts of hyper realistic masks. A Brazilian drug cartel member tried to impersonate his daughter in order to escape from prison. One that made the headlines was a fraud scam where a person impersonated a French minister and scammed millions of dollars.
Are there more legitimate uses? Sort of, I guess. The website Smitizen outlines markets for their product: cross-dressing, for disguise and performances, for Halloween costumes, for medical training (simulating geriatric patients). They conclude their page with this question:
Are you ready to buy your first silicone realistic mask? Consider checking our store now for high-quality and realistic masks, muscle suits, and more!
It might be startling to realize how much we prize our facial identity. People may not like their appearance, but it isn't that likely they want to trade it in.
I took this image at the Portland Oregon Market many years ago. It is so compelling to see masks of people - and made this image very memorable.
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