A facial recognition system [ 1 ] is a technology potentially capable of matching a human face from a digital image or a video frame against a database of faces. Such a system is typically employed to authenticate users through ID verification services , and works by pinpointing and measuring facial features from a given image. Development began on similar systems in the s, beginning as a form of computer application.
Since their inception, facial recognition systems have seen wider uses in recent times on smartphones and in other forms of technology, such as robotics. Because computerized facial recognition involves the measurement of a human's physiological characteristics, facial recognition systems are categorized as biometrics. Although the accuracy of facial recognition systems as a biometric technology is lower than iris recognition , fingerprint image acquisition , palm recognition or voice recognition , it is widely adopted due to its contactless process.
Facial recognition systems are employed throughout the world today by governments and private companies. The use of facial recognition systems has also raised controversy, with claims that the systems violate citizens' privacy, commonly make incorrect identifications, encourage gender norms [ 7 ] [ 8 ] and racial profiling , [ 9 ] and do not protect important biometric data. The appearance of synthetic media such as deepfakes has also raised concerns about its security.
IBM also stopped offering facial recognition technology due to similar concerns. Automated facial recognition was pioneered in the s by Woody Bledsoe , Helen Chan Wolf , and Charles Bisson, whose work focused on teaching computers to recognize human faces. Using a graphics tablet , a human would pinpoint facial features coordinates, such as the pupil centers, the inside and outside corners of eyes, and the widows peak in the hairline.
The coordinates were used to calculate 20 individual distances, including the width of the mouth and of the eyes. A human could process about 40 pictures an hour, building a database of these computed distances. A computer would then automatically compare the distances for each photograph, calculate the difference between the distances, and return the closed records as a possible match.
