The world of face recognition has emerged as a useful and versatile business tool, particularly in the fields of retail sales and warehouse management. Today, any brand that uses a closed-circuit TV system (CCTV) has one half of the technology needed to take advantage of all the aspects that face recognition can offer.
There are three elements to a facial recognition system. You need a camera to record images, and facial recognition software to perform the work of matching faces on the camera images to digital images stored in a database. You also need a server that will house the database. For smaller businesses, a software provider can use the cloud to store your images and create the database, saving even more on the costs of installing a system of facial recognition.
Of course, the more high-resolution the images, the better the recognition software can perform. Suppose you don’t have a camera system in your store or warehouse, or the cameras you have are old and offer too low of a resolution to be compatible with the software. In that case, a software provider can install high-definition scanners that are connected to the software system.
How to Face Recognition Works
Facial recognition works by plotting facial features and assigning a digital value to various human features of the face. The width of the eyes, the prominence of cheekbones, the size of the lips, etc. are all transformed into a digital code. This digital code is then automatically compared to images stored in your database until a match is found.
This means that each database has to be added to continuously for facial recognition to fulfill its capabilities. But the software works on its own. As long as the system is on, and people are walking in view of the camera or scanners, the software is compiling images of them.
Different Applications for Face Recognition
Many people know about the capabilities of facial recognition as a security tool. But as the technology has been refined and become much less expensive to own and operate, other applications have emerged that help company’s cut costs, improve employee performance, and even contribute to marketing campaigns.
HR departments are using this technology instead of a time clock to ensure that employees are on the job when they are supposed to be. Building a database of employee images is easy to do and makes common sense. Warehouse and store managers are also using facial recognition systems to manage their employee’s work habits and to place them where they need to be to deal with customers.
But one of the most exciting uses of technology is in the field of marketing. Face recognition can be used to identify high-value customers when they enter a store and provide them with an extra level of service. It can also be used to trigger video screens offering welcome messages or information about store special sales.
As technology continues to be refined and becomes less expensive to implement, facial recognition may become an everyday tool for every brand.