New Meaning of Face Time

originally posted at The Trends and Foresight blog by Mike Vidikan and Elizabeth Cook

In our Technology Foresight series, we recently wrote about the status and prospects of Facial Recognition as more powerful computers and the advent of increasingly sophisticated algorithms for facial analysis have driven the technology forward.

While spy flicks and police shows depict scenes with facial recognition software as a means to catching the bad guys or used to access secret vaults, these technologies are actually making wider appearances and could have some interesting benefits.

picture by Marice Cohn Band, Miami Herald 9/14/11

Lathem’s FaceIN system changes how employees clock in. They have developed a face recognition time clock that takes the biometrics of an employee’s face and saves it, so that they when they check in all they have to do is look at the camera. And one of the interesting benefits being touted is the purpose it serves in the food and medical industry - being hygienic - preventing cross contamination. Using facial recognition reduces touching, which reduces germs.

And facial recognition technology has reached a stage that it is now being expanded from legacy applications in biometric security, to a wider range of consumer and commercial applications. Two recent examples of this are:

1. Motorola’s new solution for retailers which it announced yesterday at the Asia-Pacific Retailer’s Convention and Exhibition (APRCE). “A store camera recognizes the customer as he enters the shop and pushes a list of his likes and last purchase log to the ET1," its new enterprise android tablet.

2. Kraft and Adidas have both announced plans to integrate facial recognition technologies into their campaigns according to the Digital Signage Federation. Adidas is reportedly working with Intel “to install and test digital walls… that would identify gender and age groups to tailor… advertising for running shoes and other products.” While Kraft will place “face-scanning kiosks in grocery stores to offer product recipe suggestions geared to particular age groups.”

Concerns with these new technologies are bound to come up, but will consumers continue the trend of trading privacy for convenience? Or will they push back against more invasive forms of the technology?