Iflexion examines ‘cautious adoption curve’ of facial recognition in blog post

Biometric facial recognition adoption is increasing, but impacted by multiple privacy concerns across different application areas, according to an extensive blog post on the technology’s market outlook from web development and software customization company Iflexion.

The post examines general trends in facial recognition adoption, with particular emphasis on the retail, travel and hospitality, and health care verticals. It cites surveys indicating 14 percent of business in North America and Europe use Apple’s Face ID, while 13 percent use Windows Hello for facial recognition logins, 7 percent use Android Face Unlock (Trusted Face), and 4 percent use Samsung’s iris recognition technology. It also refers to market research from Markets&Markets, Research and Markets, and Variant Market Research, which project the market to reach $7.76 billion by 2022, $14.95 billion by 2024, and $15.4 billion by 2024, respectively. Statistics MRC has also forecast the global facial recognition market to grow to $14.95 billion by 2026.

Surveys indicate that the public wants governments to regulate the use of facial recognition, particularly in retail settings and airports. Efforts from companies like ModiFace, which was recently acquired by L’Oreal, and has curated a dataset of 250,000 images including people from different ethnic groups, may further improve consistency of different algorithms matching people with darker skin, and alleviate some concerns with the technology. Meanwhile, Iflexion says prominent law firm Drinker Biddle & Reath has warned companies adopting the technology to be aware of changing regulations.

In retail, facial recognition could mitigate shoplifting and employee theft, which account for 37 and 30 percent, respectively, of retail shrinkage. Iflexion notes a range of possible applications of facial recognition in the travel and hospitality sectors, including authorization and access control for air travel and hotels, as well as events. It also notes that 70 percent of consumers say they prefer human interactions, according to Site Group research. Healthcare applications of facial recognition are led by patient management and self-medication technologies, but novel applications ranging from wheelchair control to diagnostics present significant growth potential for facial recognition.

The public sector in China and the U.S. are major adopters of facial biometrics, but racial bias and accuracy remain an unresolved issue that could present a barrier to emerging facial recognition solutions, Iflexion says, among its key takeaways for this year.

Gemalto Commercial Markets Manager Mary Probst wrote in a recent guest post for Biometric Update that careful construction of pilot projects can encourage public trust and benefit the commercial future of facial biometrics.

Article Topics

best practices  |  biometric dataset  |  biometrics  |  consumer adoption  |  ethics  |  facial recognition  |  legislation  |  privacy