Apple Patents A New Face Recognition Feature

Apple has been given a patent called “Personal computing device control using face detection and recognition” by the US Patent and Trademark, a feature that allows access to your iPhone and other devices with the help of facial detection and recognition. This means users will be able to unlock their Apple devices by just looking at them in the future.

The technology would start by scanning your face in order to record all of its unique features, such as texture, color, size, and shape. You could run the same process for any other person whom you want to use your iPhone. In response to an incoming call, your phone would scan your face to make sure it matches that of an authorized user. If so, the call goes through, and your iPhone displays the usual incoming call screen. If not, the device remains in lock mode.

The same security could apply for incoming e-mails. Looking at the iPhone would alert you to and display an e-mail. An authorized face would prevent the e-mail alert and hide or block the actual message. The technology seems most at home on a mobile phone. But Apple’s patent points to its use on other devices, including TVs, PDAs, and personal computers. As one example, your PC’s screensaver could react to your face rather than to a preset period of inactivity.

Given that Apple already implemented the TouchID feature on the iPhoen 5S, it would be logical for them to look into other security features. Facial recognition is already used by other products, such as Microsoft’s Kinect, Sony’s PlayStation and also Face Unlock is a feature offered on Android phones.

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