Clearview moves into AR facial recognition with US Air Force glasses research contract

Clearview AI has signed a contract with the U.S. Air Force for “Protecting Airfields with Augmented Reality Facial Recognition Glasses,” according to the U.S. government’s Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS). The firm is using a different approach to its social media scraping technique which has led to bans and legal issues around the world.

The contract was first spotted by Tech Insider’s Jack Poulson who tweeted about it:

Clearview AI has expanded into Augmented Reality.

The company has a newly public contract with the US Air Force for “protecting airfields with augmented reality facial recognition glasses”.https://t.co/zDYfGxtmym pic.twitter.com/4ZjmGynpmN

— Jack Poulson (@_jack_poulson) February 3, 2022

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract is worth $49,847 and was signed in November 2021. Gizmodo reports that this means the contract is to determine whether the concept of AR glasses with facial recognition is feasible for airfield protection.

Gizmodo has been informed by the Air Force Research Laboratory Public Affairs that Clearview will conduct a three-month study but that no glasses or units will be delivered nor any prototypes. Clearview’s stance is that hands-free approaches to proving and checking ID would make personnel less vulnerable. It would also allow personnel to increase standoff and social distance.

It could also translate into a cost saving if there is no need to have a permanent camera installation. Similar points are made in publicity material posted to Scribd purportedly from Clearview AI, for an AR facial recognition solution.

Clearview AI CEO, Hoan Ton-That, told Vice’s Motherboard that the technology, still at the R&D stage, would not work off the company’s existing biometric dataset. He did not specify what dataset it would work with.

Article Topics

augmented reality  |  biometrics  |  Clearview AI  |  contactless biometrics  |  facial recognition  |  government purchasing  |  research and development  |  smart glasses  |  U.S. Air Force