New LG flagship smartphone features 3D facial biometrics powered by Infineon

The new flagship smartphone from LG will feature 3D facial recognition for device unlocking, powered by Infineon Technologies REAL3 image sensor chip.

The LG G8 ThinQ will be introduced at the upcoming Mobile World Congress 2019, with time-of-flight infrared technology and algorithms from Infineon and pmdtechnologies integrated with the front-facing camera. The technology provides an excellent recognition rate, indoors and outdoors, and is ideal for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) applications, according to the announcement from LG.

“Infineon is poised to revolutionize the market,” says Infineon Power Management & Multimarket Division President Andreas Urschitz. “We have demonstrated service beyond the mere product level – specifically catering to phone OEMs, associated reference design houses and camera module manufacturers. Within five years, we expect 3D cameras to be found in most smartphones and Infineon will contribute a significant share.”

Infineon launched a 3D image sensor for its REAL3 product line a year ago for integration in smaller modules, including those with VCSEL illumination.

“Keeping in mind LG’s goal to provide real value to its mobile customers, our newest flagship was designed with ToF technology from inception to give users a unique and secure verification system without sacrificing camera capabilities,” said Chang Ma, senior vice president and head of Product Strategy at LG Mobile Communications Company.

A lack of integration options has been rumored as a cause for the delay in 3D facial recognition reaching Android devices, but Sony has been ramping up 3D camera chip production to meet growing demand for the technology, and early glimpses at Android Q code suggest that 3D facial recognition will be natively supported when the new OS version is released.

Article Topics

3D face recognition  |  biometrics  |  Infineon  |  LG  |  smartphones