Google’s Next Play: Facial Recognition Smartphones

Four digit, PIN-based passwords might soon be a thing of past on Android phones, as Google is developing its facial recognition technology to authenticate users and grant access.

The company is working with semiconductor startup Movidius, a Silicon Valley based chip designer, to develop facial authentication technology on its Android platform, which would essentially rely on its internal computing to recognize and authenticate users without relying on cloud support.

Google’s moves in the space align with the vision of Tony Chew, Citibank’s global head of cybersecurity regulatory strategy, who recently spoke about biometric authentication and mobile security at the EMTech Asia 2016 conference.

“By working with Movidius, we’re able to expand this technology beyond the data center and out into the real world, giving people the benefits of machine intelligence on their personal devices,” said Blaise Agϋera y Arcas, head of Google’s machine intelligence group.

The initiative is an extension of Google’s pre-existing image recognition technology, which is capable of distinguishing between images by identifying faces and objects in them. Thereby, the tech allows users to look up images by typing in keywords or using a photo to find other pictures containing the same face, as The Wall Street Journal pointed out.

While its image recognition technology relies on data support to function, its advanced facial recognition version would be capable of searching and recognizing an authorized user without data support so as to provide smooth operation even in areas of poor signal reception.

The use cases of the technology, as The WSJ pointed out, won’t be just limited to unlocking a phone. It could also be applied as an authentication layer for authorizing payment transactions and supporting visually challenged users.

“This collaboration is going to lead to a new generation of devices that Google will be launching,” said Movidius CEO Remi El-Ouazzane. “And they will launch in the not-too-distant future.”