Intel announced today that it will make its RealSense 3D cameras available to customers hoping to use the technology for faster facial recognition in the form of a RealSense ID. The move comes months after competitor Amazon withdrew from its own facial recognition program, accused of perpetuating dangerous racial biases and endangering people of color.
Intel’s move is a little different. Amazon previously sold its recognition program to police departments and government organizations. The program was famous for provoke false positives and endanger minorities. Intel’s RealSense is not simply an algorithm applied to data recorded from traditional cameras. It is a camera combined with a depth sensor capable of recording data in three dimensions, and Intel claims that much of the data that could affect privacy advocates will be stored directly on the device, which uses algorithms to positively identify users. That means that unique images of you should not go beyond the limits of the device.
RealSense cameras have been around for over half a decade and gamers love them for their ability to scan 3D spaces while capturing video data. However, the popularity of alternative products, such as Apple facial identification, which also combines the data from a camera with the data collected by infrared lasers, have increased in popularity and have left RealSense without much to do.
Uses found by Intel. At CES, the company did me a scan in a matter of seconds that became a laser-sculpted clipboard. One more year showed the capability of RealSense to control a wheelchair with facial gestures. However, laptop manufacturers don’t usually use RealSense to open laptops through facial recognition, most rely on other cameras running Windows Hello. Nor is it often found in phones or devices intended for gesture-based computing.
Intel will now sell RealSense cameras as a RealSense ID and will be available on a dashboard or in an all-in-one plug-and-play package. Intel says it has been tested on various skin types and nationalities on every continent and should not cause false positives or negatives—Although I’m sure we’ll hear more from privacy advocates if RealSense ID starts to take off. It also states that it will work around masks that are normally used to protect against covid-19, with glasses, and even if the subject ages or grows considerable facial hair. In a demonstration for reporters, Intel showed the camera positively identifying someone regardless of what they wore on or around the face, but failed when an image of the person was used on the phone. Intel claims it is more waterproof than competing facial recognition technology, with the possibility that fake detections are one million, just like the claimed Face ID fee.
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Although Intel has repeatedly compared the RealSense camera obliquely with those found on consumer devices, the new module and board are not expected to be used on a laptop or phone. Intel was reluctant to talk about possible integration with Windows Hello, but instead said the camera could be used next to a smart lock to open doors, or even with an ATM instead. of a debit card.
Apparently, Intel considers RealSense ID as a solution for fast real-world authentication. Which makes me a little suspicious. Are there enough chances of a million to one million fake IDs to make you comfortable withdrawing money from your bank account with just your face or getting security at the airport? Intel says facial identification data has no images and can only be read by the RealSense ID algorithm and the system built into the chip built into the product. and it doesn’t look like it will be used like Amazon Recognition and some other facial recognition technology that has increased the anger of privacy advocates (although there are there is still no word on whether the police are interested or how they would even use it). Still, Intel and its partners will have to go a long, long way to make consumers feel comfortable scanning their face to open a door.