Qualcomm and ams partner to bring 3D facial biometrics to Android

Global high-performance sensor solutions provider ams and Qualcomm Technologies have partnered to jointly engineer a 3D depth-sensing camera solution for biometric face authentication and other mobile phone applications.

VCSEL light sources and optical IR pattern technology will be provided by ams, while Qualcomm will contribute its Snapdragon Mobile Platform to a reference design for a cost-efficient, active 3D stereo camera solution for Android phones, according to the announcement. In addition to biometrics, the solution is intended for a range of 3D imaging and scanning applications.

“Qualcomm Technologies is committed to providing active depth camera solutions to our customers,” says Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. Senior Vice President of Product Management Keith Kressin. “We’re excited to work with ams on the development and commercialization of this reference design with the goal of bringing these depth sensing solutions to consumers in the future.”

“ams provides the full range of IR illumination devices specifically designed to address the three 3D technologies Active Stereo Vision, Structured Light and Time-of-Flight (ToF),” comments ams CEO Alexander Everke. “Utilizing this leading capability together with Qualcomm Technologies’ mobile application processors for active stereo camera solutions is an exciting opportunity. We want to enable fast time-to-commercialization and broad-based availability of high-quality 3D sensing solutions for Android-based smartphones and mobile devices, and this is a step towards this goal.”

Megvii recently partnered with a pair of semiconductor companies to build a reference design for an Active Stereo Camera with 3D sensing for facial recognition, soon after the companies algorithms were integrated with the OPPO Find X smartphone to provide it with 3D facial recognition. Samsung’s forthcoming Galaxy S10 flagship is also expected to feature 3D facial recognition.

Article Topics

3D face recognition  |  AMS  |  Android  |  biometrics  |  Qualcomm