Definition: facial recognition

Detecting people by matching a captured image of their face with a database of faces. Facial recognition is used to detect criminals in democratic societies and political dissidents in autocratic countries. It is also used to grant secure access to a computer, mobile device or e-commerce website simply by looking into the camera.

Various technologies map the characteristics of a person's face into a multidimensional face space. Computers can conduct facial database searches and perform real-time verifications with unprecedented accuracy and split-second processing.

Even With a Change of Appearance
A facial recognition system can distinguish the same person with or without glasses, change of hair style and seasonal change of skin color. State-of-the-art systems cannot be easily fooled by photographs or by someone else who looks similar. See iris recognition, emotion detection, information security and biometrics.

Facial Biometrics

A face is digitized and matched against the face database to determine if the person is authorized to enter a facility or use a system. (Image courtesy of Miros, Inc.)

Facial Surveillance

Cognitec's FaceVACS-VideoScan software tracks multiple faces simultaneously as they walk by. The system provides essential statistics such as people flow, visitor demographics and behavior. It even determines each person's approximate age.

AI Provides the First Step

Before any actual recognition can begin, AI software is used to isolate faces from everything else in a scene (red squares). Then the matching process can proceed.