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Apple Acquires Israeli Firm RealFace Specializing in Facial Recognition
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Kind of don't want to have to see my ugly face looking back at me every time I want to log in.
Facial recognition isn't so much about your face as it is about the distance between your pupils which is even more unique than your fingerprint from what I heard.
Hello facial recognition....
In this first step, the algorithm detects the user’s face in the camera stream and then locates facial landmark points (also known as alignment points), which correspond to eyes, nose, mouth, and so on.
To ensure the algorithm has enough of your face in view to make an authentication decision, it ensures the user is facing towards the device +/- 15 degrees.
Using the landmark locations as anchor points, the algorithm takes thousands of samples from different areas of the face to build a representation. The representation at its most basic form is a histogram representing the light and dark differences around specifics points. No image of the face is ever stored – it is only the representation.
Once there is a representation of the user in front of the sensor, it is compared to the enrolled users on the physical device. The representation must cross a machine-learned threshold before the algorithm will accept it as a correct match. If there are multiple users enrolled on the system, this threshold will increase accordingly to help ensure that security is not compromised.
Yes, MUCH more secure. Enterprise grade security.
I'm wondering if they have the technology to detect when someone just uses a picture of someone to log into the computer?
SP4, Surface Pro 4? I've never really used a device which has facial recognition so you will have to help me out but you hold your Surface up and make contactless payments and authenticate with facial rec? Really?
What kind of distances does this facial rec work at. I used Apple Pay in store yesterday here in the UK and the touch to pay terminal was only slightly about waist height on me (I'm 6ft tall). Surely that would lead to people having to bend down to authenticate the payment?
SP4, Surface Pro 4? I've never really used a device which has facial recognition so you will have to help me out but you hold your Surface up and make contactless payments and authenticate with facial rec? Really?
What kind of distances does this facial rec work at. I used Apple Pay in store yesterday here in the UK and the touch to pay terminal was only slightly about waist height on me (I'm 6ft tall). Surely that would lead to people having to bend down to authenticate the payement?
I just tried it in my shaded room...about 6 feet and i was standing up 5'10" it was 24" off ground, no bending down. Its designed to track faces. You may have to hit "OK" when purchasing...to avoid erroneous charges.
Example: Casually walking down any street or shopping any place and be stopped for unpaid parking tickets.
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Do you have any reason to believe they're going to replace Touch ID rather than augment it? no.
also, there have been a lot of these silly "no buy" posts, yet iphone keeps breaking sales records. oops.
Right, I see. So it is actually possible for them to implement it without it being ridiculous then, interesting. Thanks for that.
I would have been interested to see a more challenging demo, where similar-looking guy with short hair and a dark beard tries to authenticate. A beardless girl is recognized as different? Photos.app already does that well. After all it can sort my photos by face and do a *pretty* fair job of it.
Same thing it uses IR to tell if there is a body with different temps. 1 in 100000 false postive, Enterprise grade biometrics. Of course its yet to be seen if Apl can match it.
My kids Will be using my face for buying games while I'm sleeping
Does not work with eyes closed unless you train it that way. (I just tried it)
Well that's just you isn't it? I personally can't see ever going back to Android. But things change.
Plenty of choice. That's the great thing for everyone. The consumer and complacency among the big players.
Both TouchId and facial recognition would be awesome. In the video the phone unlocks pretty quick.
No, it didn't. This would involve special hardware feature to actually make it secure.
Not convinced the facial recognition tech will appear on the coming gen of iPhones, but if and when it will be introduced, I see it more as an additional layer of security, as in doing the facial scan once a day or after user adjustable intervals such as at slide-to-unlock, after which TouchId will be used for all other forms of authentication such as App purchases, etc. or brick and mortar retail store purchases.
Btw at $2 million, that most recent acquisition of RealFace seems like a relative bargain, if their Tech has any value at all.
They wouldn't get rid of Touch ID less than a year after introducing it to the Mac. It makes no sense.
What makes you think that? Are there any past examples of this add-on redundancy from Apl? With MSFT I could add on a Type Keyboard with fingerprint (For Sp3 users mainly) ...that would be redundant.
In reality they take away and/or replace. Additional layer of security is a given with facial id as it is 4-5x better and the device itself is the other factor of ID. A lesser fingerprint is redundant...hence toast (saves cost, increases margins, creates a differential for older design).. Look at headphone jack loss, same thing.
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I doubt if facial recognition will usurp Touch ID in the immediate future.
Apple's acquisitions rarely result in quick technology redeployment. Siri took a couple of years to emerge as an iOS feature and so did impact of the PA Semi acquisition. Same with the acquisition of mapping technology companies. These acquisitions take years to integrate.
This acquisition could be used in multiple ways, including improving face recognition in Photos. Also, the technology could be adapted for mapping or text recognition to identify businesses, signage, etc.
If it deployed as biometric identification technology, it doesn't necessarily mean the demise of Touch ID. Apple may choose to use it as optional two-factor biometric security: facial recognition + Touch ID combined provide stronger security than either alone.
Also notable is the price tag: $2 million. That's chump change. Apple isn't imminently replacing Touch ID with $2M of acqui-hires and intellectual property.
Those are just some of my quick observations on a Sunday morning. My guess is that Apple's senior management has put more thought into the matter before they chose to acquire this company.
Apple's acquisitions rarely result in quick technology redeployment. Siri took a couple of years to emerge as an iOS feature and so did impact of the PA Semi acquisition. Same with the acquisition of mapping technology companies. These acquisitions take years to integrate.
This acquisition could be used in multiple ways, including improving face recognition in Photos. Also, the technology could be adapted for mapping or text recognition to identify businesses, signage, etc.
If it deployed as biometric identification technology, it doesn't necessarily mean the demise of Touch ID. Apple may choose to use it as optional two-factor biometric security: facial recognition + Touch ID combined provide stronger security than either alone.
Also notable is the price tag: $2 million. That's chump change. Apple isn't imminently replacing Touch ID with $2M of acqui-hires and intellectual property.
Those are just some of my quick observations on a Sunday morning. My guess is that Apple's senior management has put more thought into the matter before they chose to acquire this company.
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