AI Facial Recognition: from Cats to Coins

Facial recognition technology finds more and more applications. Ecns.cn reports that Baidu Brain engineer has incorporated AI into a nearly two-meter-tall shelter for abandoned cats. The multi-level cat shelter includes a camera at the entrance that only opens the door when it recognizes the approaching animal is a cat. The shelter's facial recognition software can identify the faces of 174 different cats, report on the cat's state of health and whether the feline has been spayed or neutered.

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation IFF developed a scanner and analysis software in collaboration with the Saxony-Anhalt State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology, which digitally capture the visual features of coins and recognize them in a matter of seconds. The scanning system can be used to identify and recognize coin finds. The novel scanner O.S.C.A.R., short for Optical System for Coin Analysis and Recognition, not only scans coins’ visual features but also the minutest signs of wear such as scratching, clipping, contours, edges, pitting and denting, which render an object unique.

Coin surface scan

CNA Insider publishes 3 more use cases for facial recognition:



Oleksii Kharkovyna publishes many more facial recognition use cases in his Medium post "Facial Recognition And AI: Latest Developments And Future Directions," such as:

• Usage for workflow. In Japan, AI-equipped cameras will continuously analyze facial expressions of workers to improve their productivity. If they are caught sleeping during the work, they could be blasted with freezing air.
• At the Dubai Airport, a virtual aquarium is fitted with 80 facial recognition cameras that examine people as they walk through the aquarium. The system will identify a person who has problems with the law, even without his/her knowing.

BiometricUpdate reports that UK and France have made it illegal to hide your face to avoid facial recognition.