Facial recognition is the fastest-growing biometric solution for access control, time and attendance, and security applications across the world. Unlike card-based systems, facial recognition uses a person’s facial structure to grant access, something that cannot be stolen or lost like a card, and provides increased authentication accuracy as a result. On top of this obvious benefit, facial recognition devices allow for touchless access, greatly reducing the spread of germs and keeping both visitors and employees safe. Best of all, for financially-savvy business owners, facial recognition solutions have a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) over 10 years than their card-based counterparts. Enterprises with 20,000 employees can spend up to $40,000 per year on issuing new cards and system maintenance for card-based systems, whereas biometric options need far less money to maintain after the initial setup cost.
Despite all these benefits, many businesses that could improve their operations with facial recognition choose not to because of myths they have heard surrounding the technology. In this blog, we hope to dispel unfounded rumors about facial recognition so that you too can benefit from its incredible capabilities.
Myth 1: All Facial Recognition is the Same
Face recognition technology is used for a variety of applications, including law enforcement, marketing, user profiling, airport boarding, access control, and workforce management. But while the core technology remains the same across these applications, it would be incorrect to call them identical. The way the biometric data is captured in the first place and how it is used dramatically changes how the facial recognition tool should be defined. For example, some products used by law enforcement capture user data without consent and use it as they please. Other products, like a kiosk in an airport, only capture and utilize data when a user willingly presents themselves to it. This major distinction of user consent, along with many other smaller ones, proves that not every facial recognition device or method is the same.
Myth 2: Facial Recognition is Invasive
No one wants to feel like their privacy is being invaded, and a long-standing myth about facial recognition is that it crosses this line. In reality, facial recognition is the least invasive biometric. While fingerprint or finger vein scans are highly specific and impossible for passersby to see, your face is captured and used constantly, from identification cards to online profiles. Beyond this fact, Invixium face recognition devices don’t use a picture of your face, but a template based on it. When a new user is enrolled and has their photo taken, a mathematical representation of their face is created and stored in a completely encrypted and secure fashion. In the future, when this user presents themselves to the device for authentication, it will compare their face to the saved template to quickly authenticate them. On top of speed and accuracy, this template-based system ensures that even if a worst-case scenario like a hack occurs, any captured data will be impossible to re-engineer back to the original.
Myth 3: Facial Recognition is Outlawed in Some States and Cities
Facial recognition is a type of technology that should be monitored closely, especially in the context of passive identification. While some states like California, Illinois, and Texas have passed laws regarding face recognition, they are all framed around protecting citizens from unwarranted identification from CCTV cameras and other similar devices used by the government. Face recognition as a whole has certainly not been outlawed, and it probably never will be in cases where users give their consent to have their data captured and utilized for access control, workforce management, and security purposes. In these types of scenarios, facial recognition is performed with a user’s full cooperation and understanding, eliminating the fears that normally exist surrounding its use.
Myth 4: Facial Recognition Can’t Properly Identify Some Individuals
A few years ago, articles began to appear across the internet, accusing facial recognition technology of being racist, sexist, and ageist for its inability to properly identify certain groups of people. In reality, situations like this had everything to do with the algorithms and not the tools themselves. Behind every facial recognition device is a learning algorithm that defines how it will identify people. These algorithms are only as good as the data fed into them and can be limited by poor data variety. Since many manufacturers feed Caucasian data into their algorithms, it led to poor results for people from other backgrounds. A more seasoned biometric company like Invixium uses reliable AI that can be deployed worldwide and performs with equal accuracy in any setting, compatible with all skin tones, beard types, glasses, hats, and even masks. This stems from a commitment to provide diverse data to our algorithm, creating a far more accurate experience for end-users.
Facial recognition is an incredible tool that can make locations safer and more efficient simultaneously. For companies already using card-based systems, facial recognition can save time and money, all while providing more accuracy than ever before. While myths swirl around this tool like all forms of burgeoning technology when they gain widespread appeal, facial recognition has proven itself as not just a new and helpful solution, but a lasting part of modern society that should be used by businesses of all shapes and sizes across various industries.
For people looking to start using facial recognition for their applications, Invixium provides industry-leading performance in two form factors. Our flagship model, IXM TITAN, is the most rugged face recognition access control device on the market, built-with a solid metal exterior. TITAN delivers touchless, accurate face recognition with liveness detection and optional no-mask detection for unparalleled security and convenience, at a remarkably fast throughput of 15-18 users per minute. Our IXM TFACE model, inspired by TITAN but with a smaller form factor, uses two Sony 8MP cameras (RGB and IR) in tandem to offer superior and similar performance.
For more information about facial recognition technology or any of the biometric solutions provided by Invixium, contact us today at sales@invixium.com.
