Smart Glasses for Facial Recognition and Public Surveillance

Giving literal meanings to being “seen” and “recognized” with a gadget, this mind-blowing UAE-based new product is going to give a new dimension to tech!

Made by an American company called Vuzix, the glasses are equipped with algorithms for facial recognition by NNTC in Dubai. The company is also dealing with the packaging of the final product. The company has named the technology iFalcon Face Control Mobile. The pricing will be project-based. And these glasses will be available for sale on May 2020.

Facial recognition becoming more of a norm at airports, train stations, sports stadiums, concert halls, and other public spaces! A UAE-based firm, NNTC has developed a pair of revolutionary smart glasses, which are enabled for facial recognition. This new hardware format can make technology impressively ubiquitous!

There was a time not long ago when we considered Contour TV a milestone in technology. being the hub of On-Demand content, live TV, streaming apps, and premium channels, it seemed like something impossible has been made possible. But with the aforementioned new device, everything else seems to go into the background!

The Mechanism of Smart Glasses for Facial Recognition

• These Augmented Reality glasses come equipped with an 8-megapixel camera.
• The camera is subtly embedded in the frame, allowing the wearer of the glasses to scan faces amidst the crowd.
• The scanned face is then compared with a database of over 1 million images.
• With positive matches, the notifications are then sent the see-through display of the glasses that is embedded right in the lens.

Extraordinary Features

• NNTC boasts of the glasses’ incredible ability to accurately identify an individual’s face in a matter of less than a second.
• It is able to detect as many as 15 faces per second per frame.
• NNTC also claims that their algorithms for facial recognition are ranked among the top 3 for accuracy.
• This result is according to the Face Recognition Vendor Test developed by the US government.
• Its algorithms can detect the gender, age, and emotions of an individual.

That being said, remember that the performance varies when the product is actually being used. So far, NNTC has produced around 50 pairs of these glasses. Currently, they are deployed into various security operations in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi. The company emphasizes that the glasses are only to be sold to law and security enforcement agencies and authorities.

A Peak in the History

Although the technology feels like ultra-futuristic and dystopian, it has been used before. Only last year, facial recognition glasses have been used by police in China to catch suspects in crowds of train stations. The said technology has also been used during the annual gathering of National People’s Congress in China to keep away blacklisted individuals. This included political dissidents, human rights activists, and journalists.

In the United States too, functionally similar gadgets have already been deployed. Images gathered via CCTV and body cameras as well as face recognition software are used to search suspects. In the UK too, facial recognition cameras are often deployed in equipped vans on events like soccer tournaments.

How are iFalcon Face Control Glasses Different?

NNTC claims to streamline the entire procedure. Users will be capable of carrying or wearing a portable base station that connects effortlessly to the glasses. And then the database of targets can be stored. They will not need an active internet connection for the said software to function. This allows users to have more mobility. The notifications are conveniently sent to the built-in display of the glasses. These glasses will let fewer distractions and less hassle. It is likely to be used more widely.

Some Concerns

This kind of gadgets with discreet information gathering features do invite some concerns. These concerns are mainly related to civil rights and privacy. The algorithms powering this technology are prone to discrimination and bias. In China, for instance, facial recognition was used to oppress certain minorities. Therefore, problems like false arrests, imprisonments, and other such things can give police a brand new tool to discriminate.

Also, on a macro level, this technology will bring the concept of public anonymity to an end. And this goes way beyond asking Cox Internet prices as an anonymous caller. Or, making an anonymous profile on social media. This is serious! NNTC believes that if used under careful supervision by law-enforcement authorities, the technology can be very useful.

We cannot deny the advantages that this technology offers. From public surveillance to monitoring immigrants and preventing terrorism, it offers a lot!

Originally published at https://technoutter.com on August 30, 2019.