New deployments, products, and conference for biometrics in casinos

Casino group Novomatic has launched the Casino FlaminGo Skopje with fingerprint access control from its in-house developed Novomatic Biometric System (NBS) to meet North Macedonian regulatory requirements, according to a company announcement.

Gaming regulations in the country require visitors to a casino to register on their initial visit, and have their identity confirmed on subsequent visits. The fingerprint recognition system, which the company says is the first of its kind in a North Macedonia casino, enables identification of gamblers, as well as denial of access for underage guests and those who are blocked for problematic gaming behavior, the company says.

The casino is located on the main square of the North Macedonian capital.

ITL adds recognition to age verification

ITL has been developing its ICU age verification technology to include facial biometrics, and plans to show off its results at the Entertainment, Attractions & Gaming International Expo (EAG), Yogonet reports.

In addition to verifying the user’s age, biometrics enable the identification of barred or self-excluded gamblers, to help support responsible gambling practices.

ICU can help ensure compliance with age restrictions to safeguard children and prevent underage gambling plus provide easy implementation of the self-exclusion scheme,” says ITL Senior Business Manager Andy Bullock.

ICU has a success rate of 96 percent at detecting people under 18 years old, compared to only 69 percent human accuracy, the company says. The technology is also listed in first on the Labelled Faces in the Wild benchmark with 99.8 percent accuracy, according to Yogonet.

The company is also showcasing a line of payout kiosks with advanced image capture capabilities for note recycling.

Melco ready to expand deployment

Melco Resorts is ready to deploy facial recognition to its Macau casinos beyond its security system, when the regulations allow it, Casino.buzz reports.

Referring to a Bloomberg report from earlier this year that Macau casinos are using facial recognition, along with RFID-implanted casino chips and smart tables to analyze the risk profile of gamblers, and tailor their services accordingly, the article notes that Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) has directed casinos to only use facial recognition as an access security control.

It has been speculated, however, that the rules will change in 2022, and Melco announced an investment in the technology earlier this year. Now the casino operator has gantry systems equipped with facial recognition cameras “ready to be deployed when we have a jurisdiction that says that’s what they want,” according to a company representative.

The DCIJ has reportedly clamped down on unapproved security camera installations, and denied allegations of customer profiling.

UNLV to sponsor conference on AI and biometrics for gaming market

The use of AI and facial recognition for marketing and commercial purposes stood out to a gaming law professor from UNLV at the recent Global Gaming Expo, according to CDC Gaming Reports.

UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law Distinguished Fellow of Gaming Law Anthony Cabot says helping regulators and casino operators understand the technology is one reason the school is sponsoring a one-day conference on AI, biometrics, and big data in the gaming industry on January 17.

Those topics will “seismically alter” how casinos deal with security, responsible gaming, problem gambling, marketing and customer retention, Cabot says.

He notes that in Japan, there are proposals to limit casino entry for gaming to three days a week.

Sessions at the conference will include a presentation on how faces can be monitored to determine when an individual is developing a gambling problem, and examinations of the data security responsibilities advanced technologies impose.

RealNetworks Vice President and General Manager of Computer Vision Dan Grimm recently told Biometric Update that the casino market is a key target for the company’s SAFR facial biometrics.

Article Topics

access management  |  age verification  |  artificial intelligence  |  biometric identification  |  biometrics  |  casinos  |  facial recognition  |  fingerprint biometrics  |  identity verification