Facial recognition technology has a lot of applications that can be advantageous and disadvantageous.
Learn about the pros and cons of facial recognition.
Face recognition technology has always been a concept that lived in fictional worlds, whether it was a tool to solve a crime or open doors. Today, our technology has developed this field significantly as we are seeing it become more common in our everyday lives. From Apple’s iPhone X’s Face ID technology to Amazon’s Rekognition, facial recognition seems to slowly become more of a reality than a fictional concept.
What exactly is facial recognition and how does it work? Facial recognition is a type of biometric software that is able to identify or verify a person from a digital image by mapping out their features mathematically and saving the information as a fingerprint. This technology uses deep learning algorithms to compare these images to ensure that it is the correct individual’s identity, making it very similar to other identifying technologies such as fingerprint matching, retina scanning and voice recognition.
Facial recognition technology is able to perform this task in three steps: detecting the face, scanning and creating fingerprints/targets, and finally matching and verifying. Like a visual search engine tool, this technology is able to identify key factors within a very busy visual environment, making it very useful in picking out individuals even in crowded places. There are many different applications for face recognition technology, however, depending on how you use it can come with many advantages and disadvantages. Here are the pros and cons of facial recognition technology:
Pros of Face Recognition Technology
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Improved Security
A facial biometric security system can drastically improve your security because every individual who enters your premise will be accounted for. Any trespassers will be quickly captured by the recognition system and you would be alerted promptly. With a facial recognition security system, you can potentially reduce costs of hiring a security staff.
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High Accuracy
With today’s technology, face ID technology is becoming more and more reliable. The success rate is currently at a high due to the developments of 3D facial recognition technologies and infrared cameras. The combination of these technologies make it very hard to trick the system. With such accuracy, you can have confidence that the premise is more secure and safe for you and your peers.
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Fully Automated
Before, in order to confirm a match, security guards were needed to ensure that the system was correct. As previously stated, the technology is now so developed that this will no longer be necessary. The facial recognition technology can now fully automate the process and ensure its accuracy at a very high rate. This means that convenience and lower costs.
Cons of Face Recognition Technology
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Data Storage
In today’s world of data, data storage is gold since there is so much data in the world. Whether it may be a very high quality movie or 100,000 faces to store, everything requires space. This means that in order for facial recognition systems to be efficient, they only process about 10-25% of videos. To combat this, many companies use many computers to process everything and to cut the time it takes to do so. However; until technology significantly develops, this obstacle is here to stay.
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Camera Angle
The camera angle has a very strong influence on whether or a not a face is processed. In order for a facial recognition system to completely identify a face, it needs multiple angles, including profile, frontal, 45 degree and more, to ensure the most accurate resulting matches. Also, any obstructions, such as facial hair or hats, can definitely cause some trouble. To prevent any setbacks or failures, it’s best to ensure that the database is constantly updated and up to date with its data.
All facial recognition technology emerges into the market with both promises and challenges. It is possible that in just a few years, such systems will be so advanced so as to process expressions and hand gestures within a matter of seconds. While the pros will advance, most of the cons can be reduced by human tweaking.
