NEC targets major sales year for biometrics and touchless interactions in 2021

With mask-wearing relatively common among those with allergies in Japan even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, NEC  was already working on making its face biometric algorithms capable of identifying those individuals, Reuters reports.

In a blog post, meanwhile, NEC reviews its prioritization of ‘touchless’ interactions and biometric technologies that can help reduce the spread of infectious diseases and could fuel growth for the company while helping businesses and society re-open.

NEC announced in September that it had upgraded its facial recognition technology to identify people wearing masks with 99.9 percent accuracy in internal 1:1 testing.

The company is now targeting sales of 100 billion yen (US$962.5 million) from its biometrics and video analysis business in 2021, according to Reuters.

Customers like Lufthansa and Swiss Air have already selected NEC’s new biometric system NEC I:Delight, which Director of Marketing Communications John Wise points to as an example of its prioritization of touchless technologies for digital transformation.

“Although we began our journey toward touchless technology long before the current crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic reinforces our commitment to continue advancing our biometric and AI solutions for aviation, immigration, retail and hospitality industries, healthcare, education and more,” Wise writes.

Other new products developed over the past year by NEC include NeoFace Thermal Express and Advanced Identity Matcher – Edge Source (AIM-ES).

Subsidiary buys police software maker

NEC subsidiary Northgate Public Services (NPS) has reached an agreement to acquire law enforcement covert operations software supplier Charter Systems Ltd.

Charter Systems provides software for undercover officers to 60 percent of police forces in the UK, as well as police services in Canada.

Half of all UK police forces already use NPS Connect, a crime, custody and intelligence management system for data on victims and crimes, such as biometrics.

NEC acquired NPS for over $650 million in 2018, giving the subsidiary access to the parent company’s facial recognition technology.

Article Topics

biometric identification  |  biometrics  |  contactless biometrics  |  facial recognition  |  mask detection  |  NEC  |  police  |  stocks