Facial recognition giants unveil new technologies at World AI Conference

Facial biometrics unicorn SenseTime is opening a new Chinese headquarters in Shanghai, the company announced at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) 2019, Shine reports.

Tencent also launched a collaborative platform at WAIC 2019, joining forces with Intel to offer a visual recognition module to third party software developers.

In addition to facial recognition, SenseTime makes algorithms for medical image recognition and smart driving. The company’s CEO and Co-founder Xu Li told the conference that it will develop applications for transportation, retail, and payment systems in line with China’s traditions and culture.

Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology Chairman Wu Jincheng says there are more than 1,000 AI firms in the city, drawn by its talent pool and investment environment.

The Asia Design Management Forum is also a participant in Tencent’s project, according to Shine. Also at the conference, Tencent WeChat Pay showed off an open platform for its new device for facial recognition payments, making it available to more smart device manufacturers and software developers.

The company demonstrated its facial recognition POS terminal, WeChat robotic dialogue software, and AI-powered robot for patrol and detection assistance.

“AI can not only help with industrial upgrading such as retailing and health care, but can also serve greater causes such as helping with those with visual impairments or hearing losses by allowing machines to read sign language,” comments Tencent Youtu Lab General Manager Wu Yunsheng.

Insurance giant Ping An has launched its biometric FACE KYD (know your driver) and DRVR (Driving Risk Video Recognition) technologies at WAIC 2019. The company says FACE KYD’s algorithm differs from face recognition algorithms in that it can estimate driving risk for different individuals, while keeping risk scores for each user stable with the innovative ‘tetrad ranking’ algorithm, according to a company announcement. DRVR combines FACE KYD and DMS technology for identification and analysis of driving behavior.

The head of the company’s technology entrepreneurs division Yu Ning told the South China Morning Post that Ping An plans to have fully developed and mature smart city technologies implemented in various cities in mainland China next year. Ping An began developing smart city technology at the beginning of last year, and has pledged to invest over a billion dollars a year to expand its technology businesses.

More than 100 cities have committed to smart cities projects with Ping An. Most of the technologies are intended for financial controls.

Ping An affiliate OneConnect showcased its micro-expression identification technology, Shine reports, which it offers banks to detect lies made by loan applicants.

Article Topics

artificial intelligence  |  biometric payments  |  biometrics  |  China  |  facial recognition  |  PING AN Tech  |  SenseTime  |  smart cities  |  Tencent