face recognition
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NEC rolls out LaVie laptops with "face pass"
It looks like NEC is keeping all its bases covered today, backing up those water-cooled desktops with a range of new laptops boasting some less-than-common specs of their own. Likely to attract the most attention in that regard is the laptops' "face pass" feature, which makes use of the integrated 2.0 megapixel camera to ensure that only you (or someone that looks an awfully lot like you) can access the laptop. Otherwise, the laptops boast a range of fairly standard specs, including your choice of Core 2 Duo processors on the top-end LaVie C model or your choice of Core 2 Duo or Celeron processors on the LaVie L model. Both models also pack 15.4-inch displays, with a Blu-ray drive reserved for the very top-end laptop. Look for the whole lot to hit Japan later this month, with prices ranging from ¥150,000 to ¥310,000 (or about $1,300 to $2,675).
Speecys shows of SPC-101C face-recognizing robot
After letting its MI-RAI-RT (a.k.a SPC-101) robot wander around aimlessly for a while, Speecys has now finally decided to let the bot have a look at the world, adding a cyclops-style camera to its new SPC-101C model. That'll apparently not only let it recognize faces, but expressions as well (we presume that's what's going on in the picture above). Otherwise, the robot appears to be same singing, dancing, and e-mail-reading bot we've come to know and fear. Those willing to let the thing in their house will apparently be able to get one (in Japan) on September 1st for ¥336,000, or just under $3,000. Be sure to check out the read link below for some more pics and a few videos.
FujiFilm's FinePix F45fd: an F40fd in Argos clothing
Attention Argos shoppers, their "only available at Argos" exclusive on the FujiFilm FinePix F45fd is not all that exclusive. Spec for spec, the F45fd is none other than the F40fd rolled up special for the on-line UK and Republic of Ireland retailer. Your 200 Quid ($407) takes home an 8.3 megapixel CCD, 3x optical zoom, 2.5-inch LCD, 300 shot battery, ISO 2000 sensitivity, and storage on xD or SD cards. Not bad but no reason to get uppity with your mates about an "exclusive." [Via LetsGoDigital, thanks David]
Emotion recognition software knows you want ice cream
Dutch researchers Theo Gevers and Nicu Sebe, known mostly for their work deciphering the Mona Lisa's smile, have created a face recognition system which can gauge a person's level of happiness. The scientists, working with the multinational goods-manufacturer Unilever, created a face-tracking algorithm which maps video of a subject's face into 3D regions, and then uses those regions to determine their level of pleasure. The tests followed European women's reactions to eating five different foods: vanilla ice cream, chocolate, cereal bars, yogurt and apples. Unsurprisingly, the scientists discovered that women enjoyed eating ice cream and chocolate far more than an apple or yogurt -- the latter even evoking "sad" expressions from 28% of test subjects. Unilever hopes to put the technology to work in creating products such as reduced-fat ice creams which elicit the same response as their full-fat counterparts, while the researchers will be launching a consumer version of the software sometime in August, as well as a website to analyze up to 1,000 user-provided photos daily.
Fujifilm's IS Pro DSLR lends a hand in forensics
Fujifilm has been lending a helping hand in the realm of investigative photography for quite some time, and the firm's latest picks up where the S3 Pro UVIR and IS-1 left off. Featuring Fujifilm's Super CCD Pro and Real Photo Processor Pro technology to see light from the ultraviolet, visible, and infrared portions of the spectrum, this 12.3-megapixel gem also sports face detection, password protected lockouts, optional "rubber body armor," CF / Microdrive slots, RAW support, and a live image preview LCD to boot. Moreover, it's fully compatible with Nikon F mount lenses and iTTL flash systems, which should ease the burden of switching costs if you've already sunk way too much into Nikon accessories. No word just yet on how much coinage this will demand, but look for it to land in precincts (okay, store shelves too) next month.
KornTech's Rogun robot recognizes faces and intruders
While KornTech's Rogun won't go down as the first humanoid that sports both face recognition and intruder alerting functions, it does one-up many of the other prototypes by actually being available for purchase. The Korean startup has developed a kid-friendly one-meter-tall robot that "recognizes people through embedded cameras and high-end face-tracking software." Additionally, the bot can walk on its own and "perform various functions suitable for a security guard or nanny" such as pace the floors at night and give its master a cellphone warning if it recognizes any suspicious behavior. Rogun can even use its camera to show parents what mischief their kids are getting into at home by beaming video via its integrated WiFi chipset, and if watching the big screen is just too 2006, the youngsters can focus on the seven-inch LCD set within the device's chest. Of course, video telephony, internet browsing, and priceless companionship also come bundled in, and while the company hopes to sell these fellows for a mere $5,000 in time, snapping up your own Rogun at the moment will run you a whopping $100,000 or so considering the current BTO nature of production.[Via I4U]
Your face is your password with Bioscrypt's VisionAccess 3D DeskCam
Being touted in what sounds like patent-speak as the "world's first 3D face recognition camera for use in authenticating individuals accessing a computer," security firm Bioscrypt Inc's upcoming VisionAccess 3D DeskCam promises to enable sub-second logins to applications, networks, and websites with just a quick glance at your ugly mug. The webcam-looking device (which we assume can also be used as an, um, webcam) looks for 40,000 identification points to verify authenticity, and is said to be capable of not just accounting for facial hair (or the lack thereof), but actually distinguishing between identical twins. That nose job you're planning, however, will require you to re-register. While the system -- which is scheduled to ship in the second half of the year -- sounds fairly promising and convenient, for safety's sake we'll be sticking with our trusty fingerprint scanners; after all, we still have seven fingers left, but only one head. [Via DailyTech]
Beauty-rating software could spell trouble for Hot or Not
Facial recognition software has been used in a smorgasbord of positive applications, aiding our soldiers in detecting baddies, keeping weirdos out of clubs, barring maniacs from entering football arenas, and even helping parents know when their infant is truly in a bad way, but the latest usage of the technology could indeed hurt the feelings of the less-than-attractive. A pair of controversy-lovin' Australian scientists have devised a software program that actually rates one's face "from one to ten" in terms of most ugly to most beautiful, and uses a sophisticated database of facial proportions borrowed from some 200 stunning women across the globe in order to give you a very honest answer when questioning your attractivity. Of course, we all know that real beauty lies within (right?), and if your idea of sexy doesn't match up with the generally accepted supermodel "look," the results could indeed conflict with your own beliefs. Currently, the program is designed to work solely with women, but adopting a male iteration could definitely be in the cards, and while we doubt this stuff would be particularly beneficial for your image-obsessed teen, it's primarily intended for use in the cosmetic surgery realm to judge just how effective that ridiculously expensive nose job really was.[Via Digg]
RFID staples, omnipotent pens to grace offices of the future?
We already know just how snazzy your office's bizhub will be in a decade or so, and we think we've even got your desk and kitchen nailed down too, but a recent brainstorming in Popular Science brushed a few less sensational, albeit quite intriguing, office mainstays for 2017. Although we've got a few years yet before we can definitively say whether or not these folks will pull a psychic-AT&T on us, but if Swingline has its way, the traditional red stapler that continually jams and collects more dust than it does anything else will be quite controversial. Sure to enrage pro-privacy employees who've already been unknowingly chipped with an RFID tag upon agreement to come on board, the staples of the future could actually contain micro-RFID tags; these chips could then be traced to find out just how long it really sits in one's "to do" stack, or if "inexplicably missing" really means "intentionally destroyed." As cruel as we know that sounds, at least you can pen all the curses you wish on even the most ink-resistant material in your manager's suite, as the future-generation Staedtler pen is being designed to "write on almost anything by optimizing molecular bonds with a surface" in order to produce the right mixtures needed to adhere to a given medium. Of course, the transparent monitors that will come with your 2015 upgrade kit will effectively kill your ability to surf Engadget while being guarded by the plastic backing of your current LCD, but the face recognizing desk locks should at least keep Gary from snagging your chocolate when you're out on break. Click on through for a few more mockups of tomorrow's office gizmos.
IWARD nursebot looks to clean hospitals, fend off intruders
We all know security gets a little heavy eyed when the wee hours of the morning roll around, and we highly doubt the janitorial staff is humming along at maximum efficiency when the residents are snoozing away, so implementing a robot to tackle both tasks seems quite practical. The IWARD project hopes to develop a "nursebot" that wears several hats, and can handle cleaning up spills, utilizing face and voice recognition technology to "communicate with patients and spot unauthorized visitors," and even working in "swarms" to distribute tasks between the robotic crew. Researchers are aiming to have a three bot prototype ready to rock by 2010, and want to integrate sensors and camera to avoid collisions whilst "traveling along high-speed lanes in the hospital corridors." Better steer grandma's wheelchair clear of the robotic raceway, eh?[Via TechieDiva]
Fujifilm FinePix S5 Pro previewed, inspected
Although Fujifilm's S3 Pro UVIR DSLR isn't exactly antiquated, the company's next rendition has been anticipated for quite some time, and now LetsGoDigital has had a chance to open 'er up, snap some shots of it, and let us know what this thing's all about. While not delving into specifics, the preview does showcase the S5 Pro's frame, features, and expectations of the February-bound digicam, and harps on the magnesium casing which favors the one found on the Nikon D200. It was also noted that the current edition can only handle up to 4GB flash cards, but hopefully a firmware update will allow larger cards to take part in the fun. As expected, the Super CCD SR Pro image sensor was highly regarded, and the firm's well-known face-finding technology is alive and well on this unit too. Overall, the company felt that this unit did the Fujifilm brand justice, as it paid close attention to the minutiae that makes Fujifilm cameras "unique," so be sure and hit the read link for closeups of crannies that you didn't even know this €1,895 ($2,448) monster had.
Samsung's 7.2-megapixel VLUU i70 brings HSDPA / texting
Yeah, it'd be nice if every swank HSDPA-equipped cameraphone that you felt comfortable texting on boasted a 7.2-megapixel CCD sensor, 3x optical zoom, and a three-inch LCD monitor to hold down the photography end of the spectrum, but unless you happened to throw down for Samsung's own SCH-B600 and get the bulk of those niceties, you're currently out of luck. Enter the VLUU i70, which is designed to presumably tackle the niche market of folks who'd rather communicate via text than spoken word and simply have image quality as a slightly higher priority than cellphone capability. The device sports the aforementioned features and also touts up to ISO 1600, 30fps VGA movie mode, Advanced Shake Reduction (ASR), and face recognition technology. Furthermore, you'll find MP3 / MPEG4 playback support as well as a text viewer, and just in case you didn't take the hint, the onboard HSDPA allows users to beam photos wherever they please (and hastily, too) right after snapping them. Oddly, there's no mention of a memory card format, and not so surprisingly, we're left in the dark regarding price and availability as well, but we don't envision this here runnin' ya cheap whenever it does hit shelves.[Via TrustedReviews]
NCTU's Vision One domesticated servant bot knows your face, follows enemies
Hopefully sooner rather than later, all these domesticated, master-serving robots will be able to handle even the most mundane of tasks for us without botching our reputations, like holding down the 9-5 for us while we tee it up. Until then, however, we'll have to be satisfied with a household bot that not only recognizes our face, understands hand gestures, and follows us around to see if we need help, but chases foes away too. A team of researchers at Hsinchu-based National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) has developed just the companion, and this motorized fellow (or dame, whichever you prefer) sports a unique "digital vision system" that gives it the ability to "not only to remember the master, but also recognize his or her gestures and offer services accordingly." Moreover, it can reportedly judge the person's current health condition by analyzing facial expressions, and can then proceed to fetch medicine, a telephone, or another person in the home to provide aid. Clearly designed to assist the elderly, which could have difficultly caring entirely for themselves, the NCTU Vision One can reportedly distinguish between intruders and family members, and it can even be set to chase away the baddies while taking pictures of him / her for future prosecution purposes. While we've no idea if this classroom invention will ever hit the production line, this thing is a kitchen sink away from being the whole enchilada, and the whole "chasing function" simply makes this a must-have if it eventually comes to market.[Via RobotGossip]
Face recognition system identifies terrorists so soldiers don't have to
It's not often that we come across new technology that physically makes us sick to write about, but when we do encounter such morally questionable tech, nine times out of ten it's something to do with facilitating the killing of other human beings. A small company specializing in visual image processing called ACAGI Inc., in partnership with researchers at the University of Maryland, has developed a portable face recognition system called the Image Acquisition and Exploitation Camera System which is intended to help soldiers recall faces in crowded areas. The system, which can run over video cameras in the gun barrel or on the soldier's helmet, will notify users when someone who was present previously turns up at the soldiers current location, which should help them identify trouble makers. In ACAGI CEO Peter Spatharis' own words: "If our system sees somebody it knows, it tells you, and it tells others so quick decisions can be made" -- and let's just say that those "quick decisions" he refers to aren't spur of the moment invitations to tea parties back at the barracks. Possibly the scariest "feature" of the face recognition system is that it can be hooked up to an existing hit list database of naughty people's mugs which can then be referenced against real world data from a camera. Just what we need: software telling us which people live and which ones die. Um, hasn't anyone ever heard of Skynet?[Via The Raw Feed]
Fujifilm's FinePix S5 Pro DSLR and F31fd
Photokina is about to get started and with it, a couple of new shooters from Fujifilm. The FinePix S5 Pro DSLR pictured above is their followup to the S3 Pro and incorporates the same 12.3 megapixel Super CCD SR Pro sensor only now featuring Fujifilm's new RP (Real Photo) Processor Pro. So check it wedding photographers 'cause Fujifilm claims the new S5 provides an ever greater dynamic range with smoother tonality from highlight to shadow said to rival that of 35mm film. Improvements are also announced in the aufo-focus, i-TTL flash, metering, battery-life, DR control, and ISO 3200 sensitivity. We'll have to wait and see since the S5 Pro won't be out until February 2007. Also announced is the 6.3 megpaixel FinePix F31fd which is just the F30 with a bit of a cosmetic lift to pack-in their hardware-based face recognitation technology we've seen before. Look for the F31fd to drop (in the UK anyway) starting late November. Expect pricing on both closer to their respective launch dates. Pics of the F31fd after the break.Read -- FinePix S5 ProRead -- FinePix F31fd
Oki to provide face recognition for Pantech handsets
Okay, okay, maybe we went a little rough on Pantech's SKY IM-R100 on the first go around, panning it for offering nothing of particular value in its bizarre pivot-slide form factor. It turns out we missed one important detail: the IM-R100 will be Pantech's first handset to integrate Oki's FaceSensingEngine, a relatively lightweight face recognition system that's supposedly well-suited to devices with limited memory and processor power. Oki claims that faces can be locked onto in 115 milliseconds and tracked in just 35 in a variety of indoor and outdoor lighting situations. For their part, Pantech is initially using the system to automatically center the camera when taking pictures, but we have to assume there are some gaming applications to be found here as well. So again, IM-R100, we're sorry for beating up on ya the first time around; lesson learned.[Via Slashphone]
Fujifilm's face-finding FinePix: the S6000fd
With some extreme ISO action, and a flashy face-recognizing auto focus feature, Fujifilm has quite an alluring offering in their new FinePix S6000fd (known as the S6500fd globally). The 2.5-inch LCD and 6.3 megapixel CCD shouldn't turn too many heads, but the wide-angle manual control 10.7x zoom lens and the 100-3200 ISO sensitivity is nothing to sneeze at. Fujiflim's hardware-based Face Detection tech allows the camera to zero in on the sentient humans in frame -- instead of that wall behind them -- and does its focusing mojo in a mere 0.04 seconds. This, combined with other automatic enhancements, allows Joe Hobbyist to take advantage of the camera's advanced optics without having to fiddle with manual controls, promising better lighting and less blurring in more situations. Unfortunately, "Picture Stabilization," which merely bumps the ISO automatically is a lame substitute for actual optical image stabilization, but there aren't many other cut corners, and Fujifilm has managed to get the price pretty low. The S6000fd should be out in September for around $500.
Tokyo train station gets facial scan payment systems
First they want to scan our brains for passwords, now they want to scan our faces as train passes? Privacy advocates, get on your tin foil hats facemasks, we've received report that Tokyo's Kasumigaseki Station will be shutting down their totally antiquated FeliCa RFID / NFC payment systems for an hour or two daily for a couple weeks, and switching on biometric cameras that snap faces, match them to train passes, and grant entry (or deny it if your train fare's depleted or late, or you, you know, are a terrorist). Despite lawyers calling it of questionable or outright dubious legality, it's gonna happen over there alright -- at least at Kasumigaseki Station -- so if you're in Tokyo and use this station, we have two suggestions: first is to wear a rubber mask of your pal so as to get on free and avoid detection. Second is to go to the next stop down the road in a show of protest for this system and in support of basic civil liberties and rights to privacy. You know, either works.[Via Smart Mobs]
