Thanks to new technology, Chinese businessmen are making you put your money where your mouth is - at least, near to it anyway! Much to the delight of patrons in the world's most populated nation, Ant Financial unveiled a new service on Friday, in the Chinese eastern city of Hangzhou. The latest use of facial recognition allows customers to settle their KFC bill with just their face. KFC in China is part of the American fast food restaurant chain. Whether the technology will ever be introduced into the food chain at U.S outlets remains to be seen.
Face scanning technology is not totally new thing. Back in April, The Verge reported that U.S Customs and Border Protection began testing facial recognition at International Airports.
Make a purchase through facial recognition
The company assured users that the technology is secure, adding that it's their dream that customers will be able to leave their homes one day without worrying about cell phones, Credit Cards, or cash. The platform currently being used is Alipay, which is already used by more than half a billion users worldwide. As with everything else, users may try to find a way to scam the system by uploading a fake photo, but Ant says the software uses a 3D camera and a "liveness" algorithm to analyze more than 600 facial features.
Such technology has already been used at a KFC in Beijing, where customers' faces are scanned in order to predict what they'll order. This test uses mood, age, and gender to determine their preferences. It is expected that it's just a matter of time before such facial scanners are also introduced to regular retail stores to make shopping a more enjoyable and convenient experience.
As cool as this is, it's not the first type of technology to be used in China. Just last year in the historic town of Wuzhen, tech company Baidu began testing facial recognition software to manage its tourist admissions. Staff members at the company restaurant are already allowed to use their faces to pay for various meals.
Feedback has been positive so far and wait times have been drastically reduced, not to mention how convenient it is for consumers. Less time needs to be wasted by just sitting around.
Face scanners to identify thieves
It seems that this facial recognition technology is becoming very popular at other places in China and is proving to be very helpful. Face scanners at toilet stalls in parks in Beijing have picked up on those trying to steal toilet paper! At a beer festival, suspects involved in petty crimes were identified by police, who are getting in on the action as well. Citizens are being well monitored by the network of surveillance cameras that are outfitted in thousands of places. But, is there such a thing as too much monitoring and where is the line between safety and an invasion of privacy being drawn? Too much of a good thing can often turn into something bad, but in this case, only time will tell.
