Because of its excellent accuracy and safety and security features, facial recognition technology has acquired widespread acceptance. The use of face recognition technology for identification and improved safety is gaining momentum across a variety of sectors. According to Statista’s report on the size of the facial recognition market, the market for this technology is expected to grow from its current level of around $3.8 billion in 2020 to a whopping $8.5 billion by 2025. Facial recognition technology seems to be headed in the right direction. The potential applications of face recognition technology have expanded well beyond ensuring the secure use of mobile devices or personal computers. In the next essay, we’ll look at some of the potential applications of face recognition technology. But first, we’ve defined face recognition in a nutshell for the sake of clarity.
Uses Of Facial Recognition
Here are some of the most interesting and useful applications of face recognition technology:
- Access Control
Facial recognition is useful in locations where admission to restricted areas is prohibited or when authorized personnel are not mandated to use certain pieces of equipment. Facial recognition technology, for instance, may be installed at the entrances of office and apartment buildings to either let in authorized personnel or residents or to keep out unauthorized visitors. Smart elevators, door locks, and entry systems are just a few examples of when this functionality is put to good use. Airports also make use of this technology to improve the passenger experience. For instance, airport boarding times may be cut by 75% when face recognition technology is used at the boarding gates. Facial recognition may also be used to safeguard sensitive materials and machinery by granting access to just those who need it. This may also aid enterprises in protecting their expensive equipment.
- Safety
AI has always taken care of users’ security. You might be familiar with the AI bots like Immediate Edge that allow people to simplify their complex tasks without worrying about their safety and privacy. Likewise, facial recognition technology and other forms of surveillance tool integration may help make industrial settings safer. With the use of face recognition technology, law enforcement officers can keep an eye on the crowd and radio for backup if a wanted or banned individual is seen. Institutions of higher learning, businesses, and other private establishments might benefit greatly from installing such systems to increase safety on the premises. Facial recognition technology is becoming commonplace in home security systems that use smart home protocols. A security system may be set to activate or deactivate itself while the residents are gone, alerting the owners instantly of any attempted break-in. Wherever safety is a top priority is a good place to put up facial recognition cameras.
- Authorities in Charge
When it comes to locating missing individuals or criminals, preventing child abuse or domestic violence, etc., facial recognition technology has the most promising future for helping law enforcement agencies, lawmakers, and governments. Most crimes in the city may be avoided if offenders and criminals are caught in the act at various locations. Facial recognition technology has several potential uses in law enforcement, including but not limited to the detection of criminals and the identification and assistance of lost persons with cognitive impairments such as Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. Facial recognition technology in smartphones allows police to quickly check whether a lost person’s picture is in a government database and connect them with the appropriate resources. Facial recognition has several uses in law enforcement, including locating missing individuals via the use of both previously recorded photos and live-feed video.
- Financial Technology Processes
The use of biometrics and face recognition technologies to conduct financially secure transactions has become more common as technology has advanced. Such as accepting payments made through mobile devices or electronic wallets. The use of face recognition during financial transaction processing has greatly decreased the likelihood of identity theft occurring. Better security, faster authentication, and safer transactions are all benefits of facial recognition technology. A consumer who wishes to create a bank account will have to go through Know Your Consumer (KYC) screening, which includes a facial scan to verify identity. After a successful face recognition authentication, the user is granted full account privileges. One further use case is getting cash from cardless ATMs. The ATM’s camera will take a picture of a customer’s face and compare it to the bank’s database for a match. Once the verification is complete, the user is free to conduct any necessary financial activities.
- Shopping
While first developed for security purposes, facial recognition technology has now expanded to assess and meet the critical needs of the retail industry. The industry is able to build a sustainable connection with its clients with the use of technology. Self-service checkout is where face recognition has the most potential to revolutionise the retail industry. Customers load up their trolleys as usual, but instead of paying with cash, they verify their identities with their facial scans and pay with their digital wallets. As another use case, AI and facial recognition may be put to work in the field of sentiment analysis, which helps shop owners determine which goods consumers find most and least attractive so that they can stock their shelves accordingly. Similarly, the face recognition camera can reliably recognize frequent shoppers or loyal customers, allowing store management to identify them and reward them for their continued patronage.
- Tracking Employees’ Time and Presence
In light of time and attendance monitoring, credentials, pin codes, passwords, and even fingerprints are no longer necessary. One biometrics technique that has mostly superseded more archaic methods of tracking employees’ time in and out of the workplace is facial recognition. Facial recognition algorithms are being implemented into time and attendance devices at many companies.
- Business Promotion
Businesses have figured out how to put face recognition to use in advertising because of the obvious advantages it offers. A thorough face analysis may offer a firm with the information it needs to get to know its customers and make informed marketing and business choices.
During a 2017 marketing push, DiGiorno, a brand of frozen pizza, used facial recognition and emotion detection software. The system was designed to record and evaluate partygoers’ responses to the pizza’s appearance and aroma. Face recognition technologies are being used by major media corporations to gauge viewer engagement with movie trailers, TV pilots, and ad placement.
The ability of facial recognition technology to determine a person’s age, sex, and emotional state has important implications for marketing products to the right demographic of people. Ads based on face recognition may be more specific and tailored to the individual viewer. Such adverts adapt instantly based on the person in front of them. At the moment, only huge chains are using face recognition advertising.
- Medical Care
Facial recognition algorithms have changed the healthcare industry just as they have every other industry. Facial recognition technology is increasingly being used in healthcare processes such as patient entrance verification, treatment planning, and verification of identity. The ability to analyze a person’s face has helped medical professionals better administer medicine, manage pain, and detect genetic disorders at an early stage. This suggests that the applications of face recognition in medicine extend beyond simple patient monitoring. Facial recognition’s most prominent uses in healthcare include patient registration and check-out, disease diagnosis, and robotic caregivers. These advancements have allowed medical professionals to perform thorough examinations of patients and record their identities.
- Hospitality
The hotel industry, which serves thousands of clients every day, must prioritize safety and satisfaction above all else. By facilitating fully automated authorisation processes, personalized face recognition systems save passenger hassle. Hotels that use face recognition technology may more readily verify the identities of their guests at check-in and check-out. In fact, anybody with access to a smartphone camera or a camera given by the hotel’s administration or a restaurant may use face recognition to make an approved payment. This improves the service provided to guests and lessens the amount of physical labour required by hotel staff.
Conclusion
Rapid advances in facial recognition technology promise to further disrupt several sectors in the not-so-distant future. As a cutting-edge technology, face recognition has proved useful in many different fields, thanks to its ability to safeguard businesses, enhance financial processes, enable access control, facilitate identification, and improve the user experience. Many sectors are warming up to face recognition technology as a result of its potential advantages, which is helping to increase its acceptability and implementation.
