Your face – Don’t leave home without it!

Leaving home to go to work, a night out in town, on holiday...? Let’s see, do I have my wallet, credit card, key, mobile phone? Tomorrow, maybe you will only need to take your mobile phone, and... your face. Face recognition will open doors and ATM’s and ensure your favorite brew is ready even before you sit down at the bar. Sounds like science fiction? Just read on.

If you leave home, you at least have to take your key to get back in. With a face recognition scanner at the door, you won’t have to. The system will recognize your face and swing the door open for you. Never worry again about losing your key, because you can’t lose your face. Lost or stolen keys? So 2007-ish! Nobody can steal your face and enter your home to steal your belongings. Forgot your credit card? The face recognition scanner at the bank or ATM will instantly recognize you and your credit balance. No need to take your credit card out of your wallet or sign a slip. Your face is all you need. Going to the bar? The scanner at the door will signal the bar tender to pour your favorite beer or start shaking your favorite cocktail. The bill will be sent right to your bank.

The face of AuthenMetric

Who could be behind this revolutionary technology, which could very well change your daily life? The latest start-up in Silicon Valley? Not in California’s Silicon Valley. AuthenMetric has its headquarters at the other end of the Pacific, in China’s capital Beijing. On the 21st floor of In-Do Mansion, in Beijing’s own Silicon Valley of Zhongguancun, AuthenMetric’s General Manager Kelvin Shen predicts a bright future for face recognition. “Our core technology in the field of biometrics is the most advanced in the world. We can truly be a pioneer on a world scale, but we are only just starting to develop our international business. Face recognition can be used in two main areas: facilitating access and providing security.”

Authenmetric provided the equipment and software for an intelligent face surveillance and identification system at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the first time in Olympic history that biometric technology was used for access control at the opening and closing ceremonies of the games. The company suggests an improved system to be used at the 2012 London Olympics. AuthenMetric’s solution can also be used to control access to subways, railway stations and airports.

Scientific breakthrough

The scientific knowledge on which AuthenMetric’s face recognition technology is based, was developed by a team headed by Chief Scientist Stan Li at CBSR, the biggest and most professional research center for biometrics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). The research center was entrusted by the Chinese government to write the technical standards in the field of biometrics, a crucial task which could only be given to the most professional institute in the field.

“AuthenMetric was founded in 2003,” remembers Kelvin Shen, “but in the first phase we concentrated on doing research, because we can only do business if the technology is properly developed. “Made in China” sometimes equals cheap products. We offer high technology.” The company’s special expertise is in the field of near infrared face recognition, for which it has applied for an international patent. Users of the system know their faces are being scanned because they have to step up to within two meters of the scanner. This means no hidden cameras, which might track you without you being aware of it. Moreover, many surveillance cameras only work in daylight conditions. A near infrared face recognition system can also recognize your face at night. “If linked to a police database, the system might be very useful to the police,” admits Kelvin Shen. It can also be used to combat counterfeiting for example at GMAT-tests or university entrance examinations.

Changing faces

The core technology AuthenMetric is developing is the software to drive the face recognition system. The hardware part can mostly be bought at reasonable prices on the open market. This makes the system very affordable. Its use as an access control system makes keys and badges obsolete. Near Infrared requires specialized NIR cameras from Authenmetric which cost about 300 U.S. dollar. The company has three customers outside mainland China, in Taiwan, Singapore and Turkey, but further details remain confidential.

“Facial changes do not fool the system,” insist Kelvin Shen. “You may grow a beard or cut your hair, wear glasses or take them off, but the system will still recognize you because the distance between your eyes doesn’t change. Moreover, each time the system detects new facial features, they will be recorded and the database will be updated. Only if you haven’t used the system for 10 or 20 years, there might be a problem. We are the near-infrared face recognition pioneer in the world and China is the biggest biometric market.”

Face recognition is not the only biometric technology, but it has many advantages over other technologies. The use of fingerprint recognition for example was not advisable during the period of the SARS epidemic in 2003, when touching anything could inadvertently transmit a deadly virus. Iris recognition is expensive and hard to use. It is different for foreigners and Chinese, but in some cases, such as miners with black faces, iris recognition may be preferable. While many face recognition solutions use common cameras and iris recognition requires specialized cameras which are much more expensive.

Black and white

Kelvin Shen: “Face recognition can be linked to a database containing a blacklist or a whitelist. People on the blacklist will prevented from entering, while people on the whitelist will be received as VIPs. China Merchants Bank is interested to implement a face recognition system for its VIP channel in one branch as a trial. Later, all branches might be equipped with the system. There will no longer be a need for passwords or signatures, because the system will recognize and remember the face of the customer. Golf clubs are also potential users. Faces of club members may be recognized at the entrance to the club and the club manager alerted so he can welcome them in the proper way after quickly viewing personal details of the club member on his monitor.”

AuthenMetric’s software solution for infrared face recognition is already in use at clients’ sites in mainland China and Hong Kong. One foreign client is a company in Turkey which use face recognition to give its employees access to the company. Another customer in Asia uses it for access control with visitor at a prison facility. Kelvin Shen plays a short video on his laptop showing employees walking through turnstiles without having to worry about showing a batch.

AuthenMetric’s major competitors are the American company L1 Identity Solutions and A4Vision, which use 3D face recognition, requiring expensive equipment. Kelvin Shen is confident AuthenMetric’s technology can easily beat it. His company is now ready and eager to step into the world market.

Who is Kelvin Shen? He was born in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province. His mother is from Beijing and his father from Chongqing. He studied information technology at Beijing’s Qinghua University, where he also obtained an MBA. He worked in Chengdu for many years. His first job was in project management.