Facial recognition technology is one of the latest trends in Artificial Intelligence (AI). It has already been applied in many fields like social media, mobile technology, business marketing and adverts. It has also been implemented in hotels, air travels, education, automobile, biometric systems, health care and banking. You must have noticed that these days, once you upload a picture of you and your friends on your timeline, facebook automatically tags your friends whose faces appeared in the photos. That is face recognition technology at work! You will learn how facial recognition works in various fields, its benefits and how to use it for advertisement purposes.
Facial recognition technology has recently be applied in mobile phones. Your phone unlocks once it recognizes your face. You don’t need to input your password or draw a security pattern. Aside these fields where the Artificial Intelligence has been applied, research is being carried out to increase its application. Companies like Nike, Apple, etc. are already enjoying the benefits of this trending technology.
How Facial Recognition Works
The working principle of facial technology differs a bit based on the field where it is applied. But generally, there is a common concept about this technology.
Sensors, cameras and digital screens are embedded. These components work together to detect a person’s complexion, age, gender, and even emotion. They can also detect external factors like weather condition at a particular time. With these data, it can vary the results it displays to the user based on the field where it is applied.
According to FindFace, the are 4 mechanisms involved in facial recognition:
- Detecting the face and silhouette in the image
- Visual distortion correction
- Retrieval of facial features
- Verification or identification of a face
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Retail Shops
In retail shops face recognition technology can help improve customers shopping experience, by displaying related items they might need at any point in time based on the data it has collected. For example a shopper who comes in to buy drinks when the weather is cold will see cold drinks on the menu screen. All the do is to specify the brands they need.
Banks
Facial recognition technology is applied in banks mainly in their online banking systems. Their customers can login to their account. see their account balance, perform some transaction once their face is recognized. This is possible because their personal data and passports are already in the bank’s database.
Hotels
In hotels, facial recognition has made it possible for someone to book a room either at the hotel’s counter or online. Once your room number is given to you and you arrive at the door at the specified time range, the door open automatically once it recognizes your face.
Automobiles
In automobiles, facial recognition can be used to unlock cars, improve the drivers experience by adjusting the inner temperature of the car based on the past data it has about your likes and the weather condition at that instant. Currently, a project called Project Mobil which is a collaborative work of Ford and Intel, uses facial recognition to identify the primary driver of the car and other authorized driver, such as family members, friends, etc. Anyone whose face is not recognized can never drive the car.
Healthcare
Healthcare companies are using face recognition technology to improve the patient’s health. The system helps them to accurately determine the patient’s emotion, and even identify certain genetic diseases. They also use face recognition technology to reduce fraud in their health insurance sectors.
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Pros and Cons of Face Recognition Technology
Face recognition technology have numerous benefits and few disadvantages.
Pros of Face Recognition Technology
Ease of Fraud Detection: Irrespective of where this technology is applied, it helps to improve the system’s security, since fraud is the main security lapse of many systems. Once the face of the fraudster is not recognized and authenticated, the person cannot gain access.
Improved User Experience: In retail stores, automobiles, hotels, banks and other fields, the technology has greatly improved how users use the system. Shoppers can now easily locate what they want to buy even before they search for them.
Increase in Sales: Since face recognition has improved customers experience, it will probably lead to an increase in sales in retail shops. This is because customers tend to spend more when they enjoy your services.
Cons of Face Recognition
The main drawback in face recognition technology is that users say that it is a threat to their privacy. Some people always avoid systems where face recognition is incorporated in the quest to protect their privacy. But the claim is not always true. In some cases, users data need not to be stored for the face recognition to work efficiently, especially in shopping malls, where new buyers come regularly.
Another challenge in face recognition technology is that a slight change in appearance can make the system deny the rightful user access to their account. For example, someone might register and upload a passport where he or she is dark, then after some time, their complexion can change. Another instance is where some circumstances disfigures the user. Face recognition technology may find it difficult to recognize the user. But this can be reduced if the system is set in such a way that users are asked to update their passport photograph or instantly snap a recent photo using their device camera.
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How Face Recognition Technology can be Used to Improve Business Adverts Performance
Targeted adverts are already in use in many online platforms like Amazon, eBay, Walmarts, and even Facebook and LinkedIn. Certain ads are only seen by users who will probably love the ads. The advert system show these ads to the relevant audience by accessing their interests, pages the like and follow etc.
In the same vein, facial recognition can also be incorporated in business adverts to increase ad conversion. Since facial recognition system can determine the age, sex and emotion of a user, it can determine which ads are relevant to display to them. There are some special face recognition software designed to help improve business marketing. These tools will ensure that the main aim of introducing facial recognition in business marketing and adverts are achieved. An article by Kiely Kuligowski explained more on how facial recognition can be used to target ads to customers.
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Conclusion
Face recognition technology has really helped to make life easier for many companies and individuals in many fields. There are some other fields where this Artificial Intelligence can be very useful which are yet to be discovered. In future, more of them will be discovered. You can also help by finding how facial recognition technology can help you in your business to locate more audience and convert them to customers.
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