NEC launches facial recognition system for simultaneous authentication in motion

Sep 3, 2024, 5:40 pm EDT | Abhishek Jadhav

NEC launches facial recognition system for simultaneous authentication in motion

NEC Corporation has launched a new biometric system so customers can utilize its facial recognition to authenticate individuals even while they are moving, addressing an increasingly common requirement for crowded places like airports. The system can authenticate a large number of people, processing up to 100 individuals per minute, according to the company announcement. NEC says it decreases the necessity for physical barriers, thereby reducing congestion and waiting times.

According to IATA Sustainability and Economics data, Japan’s airport traffic is expected to double by 2041. The implementation of the face biometrics system is scheduled for September 2024. NEC’s intention is to introduce this system globally, beginning with initial deployments in Japan, the United States, and Singapore.

NEC is a major supplier of airport biometrics around the world, with launches at Japan’s Haneda Airport among recent examples. The company’s American subsidiary NEC NSS also scored high marks in the 2022 DHS Biometric Technology Rally, which assessed biometric matching for groups of people in airport environments.

The new facial recognition system incorporates features that consider movement patterns and clothing characteristics. This approach is designed to enhance the system’s accuracy in identifying and confirming individuals in dynamic environments. The system can generate visual alerts through overhead displays, enabling immediate attention to unauthorized attempts. It also supports integration with AR glasses and projection mapping systems.

NEC states that the system can be implemented with minimal hardware requirements, utilizing only a single camera and a “palm-sized” edge terminal. The terminal is equipped with hardware acceleration for facial recognition processing and can manage computations for real-time biometric authentication on-site.

NEC also emphasizes its strong performance in NIST’s 1:N facial recognition performance evaluations in the announcement.

The company introduced this system to its employees at the Tokyo headquarters in July 2024. Earlier this year, NEC implemented its facial recognition identification access control system for its 20,000 employees in Japan. The employees will be able to use this technology to access office multifunction printers and lockers.