Facial recognition is a biometric verification category that relies on a “one to many” match. This form of biometric technology detects and locates the image of a face, captures and analyzes it, converts it to data, and compares it against a database of other known faces. Facial recognition has various law enforcement applications; police, for example, deploy facial recognition when seeking a match for a potential witness or suspect out of a crowd of people, or a sea of online photos.
he applications of Facial Recognition are vast and already widely used across several industries and purposes like law enforcement, travel, and more. However, this technology should not be confused with facial authentication, which falls under the same umbrella of facial biometrics, though it applies more to identity verification for individual devices and access control.
What Is Facial Recognition?
Facial Recognition is a biometric verification category that relies on a “one to many” match.
This technology has a broad scope, as it relies on comprehensive databases to identify individuals and is used for surveillance and law enforcement purposes.
How Does Facial Recognition Work?
The basis of Facial Recognition technology, like other biometric verification methods, is that each person possesses their own unique combination of facial features and traits that no one else in the world has.
Thus, each person’s unique facial construction can work as a personal identifier when compared against stored data.
In practice, this form of biometric technology detects and locates the image of a face, captures and analyzes it, converts it to data, and compares it against a database of other known faces.
Some of the key metrics and measurements that Facial Recognition technology utilizes include:
- Distance between the eyes
- Depth of the eye sockets
- Eye shape and size
- Width and curvature of the mouth
- Shape and structure of the jaw
- Shape or prominence of the cheekbones
- Ear positioning
- Hairline shape
- Notable facial landmarks/features
Benefits of Facial Recognition
The known benefits of Facial Recognition continue to grow as there become more applications of the technology across different sectors and industries. Below, we’ll discuss some of the top advantages that this technology provides.
1. Enhanced Security and Surveillance:
Biometric authentication methods like Facial Recognition tend to be more secure than other methods. This is because it is extremely difficult and likely impossible to perfectly replicate someone’s exact facial structure and traits in a way that would get past Facial Recognition security solutions.
The use of facial liveness detection further bolsters the security of Facial Recognition, as this allows computer programs to detect when it’s being presented a live face or a photo or replication.
This technology is also effective in accurately detecting a certain individual’s identity in a crowd of people, making it a valuable resource for law enforcement activities.
2. Public Safety:
There is an argument to be made that the growing use of Facial Recognition technology is helping to keep communities safer, as it’s becoming easier for law enforcement officials to quickly identify and capture criminal suspects.
In general, this helps police officers and other officials enhance overall public safety through real-time monitoring and proactive responses to threats.
3. Convenience and Efficiency:
Facial Recognition technology also allows for quick and easy identification of individuals using a computer system. These systems are based on objective facial geometry, so it reduces a good amount of human error that can be present when officers are trying to surveil in real-time.
Plus, officers and law enforcement officials don’t need to make contact with the suspect in order to identify them, as Facial Recognition technology works off of video footage or photos.