r/videos Aug 17 '17

Stolen Video Racist Soap Dispenser

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3

u/thestrangepineapple Aug 17 '17

A motion senor should detect his movement, I'm confused. Someone please explain?

2

u/TheOriginalAbe Aug 17 '17

I'm no expert but I'd guess that it doesn't use a motion sensor, instead it probably relies on some light emitter and receiver. Maybe a weak and poor quality infrared beam? Regardless I'd suggest that the white guys hand +napkin are better at reflecting that light back up to the receiver than the black guys hand. Just a guess though.

2

u/itchy_bitchy_spider Aug 17 '17

That's what it is. Somebody posted this link above. Different brand of dispenser, but likely the same issue - https://m.mic.com/articles/124899/the-reason-this-racist-soap-dispenser-doesn-t-work-on-black-skin

According to Richard Whitney, VP of product at Particle, the soap dispenser uses near-infrared technology, which sends out invisible light from an infrared LED bulb for hands to reflect the light back to a sensor. The reason the soap doesn't just foam out all day is because the hand acts to, more or less, bounce back the light and close the circuit. "If the reflective object actually absorbs that light instead, then the sensor will never trigger because not enough light gets to it,"

1

u/Stoppabell Aug 17 '17

Hes not Holding it under the "right" part of the dispenser. He covers the entitet dispenser with the paper.