Nviso, Privately partner to integrate age verification solution into emotion-sensing Japanese retail kiosks

Behavioral biometrics company Nviso Japan and age verification firm Privately have agreed to bring forth an innovative age verification solution that will be integrated into digital kiosks to verify customers buying age-restricted products in Japan.

The solution is designed with facial analysis algorithms and voice analysis systems capable of determining the age of the customer in a process which does not require the collection and storage of personal information, the release notes.

According to the deal, Privately will make available its age verification solution to Nviso’s platform with attributes including full preservation of privacy, multi-modal biometrics support with anti-spoofing and liveness, continuous improvement for system accuracy, as well as independent certification and regulatory approvals obtained in the UK and Germany.

The companies, both headquartered in Switzerland, say the solution is designed for industries involving age-restricted sales happen and is meant to help businesses ensure that they sell restricted products only to customers who meet the legal age. The solution will also solve the problem of people using stolen or borrowed ID cards to buy age-restricted items.

According to the agreement, Nviso will access Privately’s software development kit (SDK) for building integrations into the former’s holistic platform which features predictive analytics tied to emotional and transactional outcomes.

Kiosk shoppers will interact with a digital avatar that is using eye-tracking, facial and behavior detection to determine their emotions.

The technology can also track and analyze customer behavior to allow businesses to offer tailored interactions through recommendations and promotions.

Commenting on the partnership, Privately CEO Deepak Tewari said Nviso’s presence and expertise in Japan brings significant added value in terms of it being able to address the market for deployment of digital avatars for customer interactions.

“Deploying Privately’s privacy-preserving age verification technology with digital avatars humanized with behavioral detection brings powerful AI-based automation into digital kiosks enabling a complete range of retail transactions from customized age-appropriate interaction with customers to those needing the ability to facilitate or restrict access to restricted goods and services. Of course, the applicability of similar age-verified transactions extends to many other sectors beyond retail.”

Colin Mason, country manager of Nviso Japan, said “Increasing efforts by customer-centric firms to provide emotionally engaging experiences to customers is a key factor driving adoption of digital human avatars globally in systems such as digital kiosks.

“There is strong demand to provide enhanced age verification during automated transaction processes for those products and services where age restrictions apply in order to protect vulnerable users, while at the same time providing strict privacy protection to all users.”

Last month, the Privately CEO told Biometric Update they were expanding their edge computing expertise by introducing on-device and age estimation solutions to different market sectors.

Article Topics

age verification  |  facial analysis  |  Japan  |  kiosk  |  nViso  |  Privately  |  retail biometrics  |  voice analysis