But some researchers at Penn State University have developed a next generation CAPTCHA system that asks users to actually use their noggin a bit. There are two tests. The first requires you to click the center of a composite image, while the second presents you with a list of ten words and asks you to pick the right one to describe a randomly generated image.
The test is difficult for computers to solve because the images have a bunch of random colors, textures, and other features designed to confuse an automated program. But human being should have no problem deciphering the visual information in the images.
The test page is partially down today thanks to a Slashdot mention, but you can still see screenshots of the tests.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-23-2008 @ 5:35PM
Vipralion said...
Hmm... I wonder how robot-proof Microsoft Research's Asirra is considering they don't use the noise filters to distort the image. It's definitely more human friendly! If you can't tell the difference between a dog and a cat then how could you be human or even from this planet?
(Btw, dogs rool, cats dr00l!)
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4-23-2008 @ 6:06PM
Adam said...
Well I hope it will continue to work and become accepted. I can't stand trying to decipher some of the CAPTCHAs out there knowing that robots are probably getting it faster than me anyways.
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4-23-2008 @ 10:41PM
dukemang said...
I can see it now, there will be a web site where people can post cool captcha images they saw.
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4-24-2008 @ 7:30AM
B said...
I would be more concerned with end users being able to complete a task on a site before I would be concerned with spiders. These solutions appear as though they would be difficult to explain to common users and might have a negative impact on completion rates.
I work on a popular website that sells software to a diverse audience (gender, age, educational background) and we find it hard to implement features that everyone can use correctly and maintain a high completion rate.
I'm all for reducing spider-spawned spam, but if it affects the user's ability to interact with the site it's of little use to me.
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4-24-2008 @ 10:19AM
Transcontinental said...
I just love it, when a kid is able whereas a Cray is not!
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4-24-2008 @ 11:18AM
kingkool68 said...
This is a blessing and a curse. A Blessing because it will help keep evil spam baddies out but a curse because where are we going to get these funny CAPTCHA moments like this -> http://www.russellheimlich.com/blog/did-wikipedia-just-insult-me/
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4-24-2008 @ 12:24PM
Jeebus said...
How do blind people navigate CAPTCHAs?
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4-25-2008 @ 1:44PM
Rocketboy said...
That's bloody awful. Unless the image had a clear center (like where the corners of four stamps touch), I couldn't get past the first stage.
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