NXP Semiconductors launches turnkey face biometrics for edge IoT

NXP Semiconductors has announced a new solution for developers to secure IoT devices and systems with facial recognition for inexpensive and easily-implemented touchless access control.

The new NXP EdgeReady IoT turnkey solution provides the i.MX RT106F crossover microcontroller and a license for facial recognition software based on artificial intelligence and machine learning. Together, they enable face biometrics with liveness checking using infrared or RGB cameras with flash and SDRAM memories, with a total cost below $10, according to the announcement.

The features of the EdgeReady IoT solution include liveness detection without the cost of a specialized 3D structured light or time-of-flight (ToF) camera through the combination of infrared and visible light, and response and completed matching at the edge including face detection quality check and liveness detection within 500 milliseconds. Because data is not sent to the cloud, biometric data remains on the edge device, which can help address privacy and regulatory concerns.

The MCU has a fast boot time, allowing it to remain in power-saving mode when not in use, and combining with low active power requirements and fast processing to maximize battery life. Biometrics can also be registered to IoT devices remotely from a smartphone or PC application, to increase the convenience of access control.

NXP recommends the solution for implementing biometric authentication to operate secure machines, equipment, and access points for hotels, public facilities, and homes. Devices integrating the facial recognition capabilities could include doors, locks, amenities, elevators, garage doors, and security systems.

The software development kit based on the i.MX RT106F, dubbed SLN-VIZNAS-IOT, can help reduce time to market to as little as six months with schematics, bill of materials (BOM), board layout for turnkey design processes, and the face biometric registration application.

Developers can license the SLN-VIZNAS-IOT secure face recognition development kit from NXP and authorized distributors for an MSRP of $199. The i.MX RT106F MCU also includes a license for the NXP facial recognition SDK. The MCU is available in consumer and industrial temperature grades, with a suggested price starting at $4.00 each for 10,000-unit orders.

NXP added support for Glow’s machine learning software earlier this year to boost facial and voice recognition performance on edge devices.

Article Topics

access control  |  biometric liveness detection  |  biometrics  |  biometrics at the edge  |  facial recognition  |  IoT  |  microcontroller  |  NXP Semiconductors  |  SDK