AI camera turns portraits into nude photos

Two Berlin artists have developed a camera that virtually takes people's clothes off. Mathias Vef and Benedikt Gross call the prototype of their provocative project "NUCA". It is intended to encourage reflection on generative artificial intelligence (AI) and the potential for misuse of deep fakes. The camera is not intended as a commercial product.

According to the website, NUCA analyses portraits of clothed people according to 45 parameters - for example gender, age, ethnicity, hair and body shape. This results in a prompt for the Stable Diffusion image generator, which then spits out a "source photo" (e.g. the left and right photos in the Header image). In the final step, the AI image is individualised with the face and pose of the real person. The result: fake nude pictures within a few seconds. They match the real people differently from case to case.

The camera's hardware is simple: a small sensor in a 3D-printed housing and a lens with a focal length of 37 millimetres (35 mm equivalent). In addition to the final result, the rear display also shows the original image and the parameters determined.

"Speculative consumer product"

The art project plays with the old science fiction dream of Superman's X-ray vision and shows both its fascination and its dangers. Fake nude images are already a reality on the internet. For example, deepfakes of Taylor Swift circulated on X in February. In contrast to such non-consensual images, NUCA is intended to remove anonymity from the artists according to the process: Photographer and subject are physically in the same place and see the result directly.

Vef and Gross clarify: "NUCA is a speculative consumer product and is not intended to be used uncontrolled in the wild. The images generated will not be used in any way unless explicit consent is given. To ensure the safety of minors, the project is intended for adults only."

To draw attention to their project, the pair launched a disguised TikTok campaign in which they posed as a tech start-up. In the short video, NUCA is described as a "new kind of camera" that "undresses everyone". Reactions ranged from fear of the potential for abuse to enthusiasm for a fun new gadget. <p