No Smiling On Your Drivers License. It Makes Our Software Sad

from the the-computer-makes-me-frown dept

We've discussed in the past how absolutely useless most facial recognition systems are. Their error rates (both types of errors) are way too high to be even remotely useful. At best, they're potentially (though, not definitely) useful for advertising purposes, where a false read isn't that big of a deal. However, apparently some states are using facial recognition software to try to make sure the photo on the license matches with other photos of the individual -- but the software sucks so bad that it can't recognize faces when you smile. So, the states using the software, Arkansas, Indiana, Virginia, or Nevada are supposedly telling people they can no longer smile on their driver's license photos. Apparently finding software that actually works wasn't an option.

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Hotels Get Facial-Recognition Sales Pitch

from the who's-there? dept

Facial-recognition technology has long been touted as a magic bullet for law enforcement and surveillance, though most such systems have proven to be essentially useless. Vendors have been trying to extend their reach outside of surveillance, though, into areas like advertising. One is now pitching its wares to the hospitality industry, saying that the roughly $30,000 system can help hotels recognize repeat customers. The system still has shortcomings: it's only 80 to 90 percent effective when people "move through a chokepoint facing the camera - ideally looking up into it and well lit", such as an escalator. That's the same sort of issue that's dogged facial recognition in law enforcement and surveillance: it just doesn't work that well. And for $30,000, it seems doubtful that many hotels will want to buy the systems, when, if they really wanted to get to know their most valued customers, they could do so for free.

Carlo Longino is an expert at the Insight Community. To get insight and analysis from Carlo Longino and other experts on challenges your company faces, click here.

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Face Scanning Vending Machine Fooled By Photos

from the like-we-couldn't-see-that-coming dept

Last year, we wrote about how cigarette vending machines in Japan were using facial recognition software to make sure the buyer was of an appropriate age. As we noted at the time, it seemed unlikely that such a system would work very well, and, indeed, The Raw Feed lets us know that it's easily fooled by a magazine photo of an older person. Not too surprising, of course, but you would think that someone would have tested for such things before putting the machines into practice. Unless, of course, they really don't care about the age of the buyers.

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Facial Recognition Finds A Purpose... And It's Advertising, Not Surveillance

from the i-spy-you,-i-advertise-to-you dept

After 9/11, there was all sorts of talk about how there would be a boom in the markets for security and surveillance technology, with facial recognition technology seen as a key area. That sounded great... except for the simple fact that the technology doesn't work. Various tests of the technology for security purposes found that it not only didn't catch any criminals, but it couldn't even catch the control "tester" criminals. Basically, the technology isn't good at seeing someone walk by and identifying exactly who it is -- which is necessary for such security purposes. However, if you dial back the requirements, the technology is probably at least decent for recognizing if someone is male or female, young or old. That's why we see it being used for age verification in Japan, and now it's starting to get used for customized billboards around the world. The billboards include small hidden cameras that try to determine general demographic, and then the billboard will play a video add targeted to you. It's not quite Minority Report where the ads are perfectly targeted -- but unlike in using the technology to search for terrorists, these billboards don't need to be quite as exact. And, of course, the other benefit to all of this is that the billboard companies (in theory) get a better idea of who's actually looking at the billboard -- something that companies have struggled with for years.

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Facial Recognition Software To Tell People They Look Too Young To Smoke

from the prepare-to-show-id-if-you-look-under-30 dept

In the aftermath of 9/11, facial recognition software was a hot topic for a while. The idea was that it could be used to help catch criminals and terrorists as they wandered through cities or airports. There was just one little problem: it didn't work. And, by didn't work, I don't mean it sorta worked some of the time. I mean, it didn't work at all. The places that tested it out soon ditched it as a total waste of time and money. It turns out that making an exact match on faces is not an easy problem, and while the technology may eventually reach that point, it's nowhere near close enough to be useful for things like finding terrorists. That doesn't mean it can't be used in other scenarios, and over in Japan it appears that they're about to put facial recognition to the test as a way of stopping kids from smoking. Yes, one company has integrated facial recognition software with cigarette vending machines, so that it will not sell you your pack of smokes if you happen to have a babyface. You can wonder how effective this might be (my guess: not very effective), but it's still interesting to see those behind facial recognition software looking for different markets where the results don't need to be as perfect.

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