Forget the ID and Credit Card, We Just Need Your Face.
Computers have become increasingly adapt in recognizing facial expressions and identifying people. Face recognition has been long talked about, but a startup company located in Beijing, China named Face+++ (pronounced "face plus plus plus") has figured out how to scan faces in place of employee ids or credit cards. Face+++ has being taking strides towards implementing this new technology in China and hopes to expand their technology to other countries.
Employees at Face+++ don't access their work space by scanning their ids, but rather their face which is recognized by the company's database. An employee at Face+++ states, "One screen video shows the software tracking 83 different points on my face simultaneously. It's a little creepy, but undeniably impressive". Face+++ has already partnered with several apps including Alipay, a mobile payment app used by more than 100 million people in China. Partnering with apps like Alipay has changed the game and users can now use their face as a credential. Another partner, Didi, a ridesharing app similar to America's Uber or Lift is utilizing Face+++ facial recognition to its advantage by allowing passengers to confirm their driver for safety reasons. The facial recognition technology that is being proven to work in China is taking storm because of the citizens' attitudes towards surveillance and privacy especially when it comes to finances and transportation. The company hopes to expand into other countries but will focus on China due to its identifying database.
The concept of facial recognition has existed for a long time but its actual usage is now being seen in countries like China. Facial recognition can now not only be used for identifying people for crime but also in business applications like money transactions. If this facial recognition technology were to be implemented in countries like the United States, the usage of credit cards would be eliminated and the security revolving around identity would forever change. There would be no need to carry a wallet or purse and there would be no need for even house or car keys. It's definitely interesting to see how far technology has come, but to think that people in China are using their faces as a credit card or id now that's pretty cool yet scary.
Posted by Jenny Tran, DePaul University
This is really exciting technology and I'm so glad you wrote about it! I have also heard about larger companies like Visa and Mastercard looking to use an entire palm print in place of credit cards, which it is in the process of developing. Interesting to think we may be a cashless AND a careless society!
ReplyDeleteThis shows how much technology is changing and how it really influencing our society. It's so interesting to see how much technology is impacting the world, especially since now our face is something we could pay with. It makes it unique.
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting in ways this can make life easier. The business applications of facial recognition are immense, but what are we giving up to have such a carefree technology? For one, governments (number one killer of humans throughout history) could utilize this technology to suppress certain political opponents. What is to stop a government from overreach and abuse of this technology. This is potentially more lethal in the governments hands than a national fingerprint database. We as humans who want individual rights and freedoms must not sacrifice these needs fro a desire of simplified technology.
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