Tag: facial recognition

Hawaii Tourism Taps Facial Recognition For Personalized Travel Recommendations

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
The Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) launched an online campaign that leverages facial recognition technology to gauge prospective travelers’ interests and offer personalized recommendations. Working with travel booking site Expedia, the HTA created a “Discover Your Aloha” microsite with video content showcasing the natural beauty and vacation activities that Hawaii has to offer. With users’ permissions, the custom-built facial recognition software tracks viewers’ reactions as the videos play, pinpointing the sights and activities toward which they respond positively. The algorithm identifies the personal preferences of each viewer and presents them with a personalized, discounted Hawaii vacation package that they can book directly via Expedia.

What Brands Should Do
This interesting campaign showcases how brands can leverage facial recognition technology to gather real-time feedback and provide customized offers accordingly in their digital campaigns. Increasingly we are seeing brand marketers incorporate the use of camera input in their campaigns. Whether it’s the kind of social media campaigns that reward selfies with special offers or an OOH campaign that uses camera input as the source for behavioral targeting, more brands should start thinking about how they can leverage the ubiquitousness of cameras to learn more about their audience.

 

Source: Expedia Blog

New Facebook Tech Can ID You Without Seeing Your Face

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: The Next Web

Facebook’s facial recognition algorithm was first developed to enable easier “tagging” in photos to facilitate party photo sharing on the social network. Fast forward to now, however, the tool has become so powerful that it can recognize users in pictures when their face is not in shot. Instead, it identifies people based on their hair, clothing style, and other physical traits that it compares with old images already stored in its database, all to an astonishing 83% accuracy.

Facial recognition has been receiving a lot of press lately. The news comes a week after several prominent privacy groups terminated negotiations with the U.S. government and the tech industry after failing to agree on even basic privacy protections around facial recognition. Moreover, dozens of churches worldwide are reportedly using facial recognition to track if its members are attending their services.

Here at the Lab, we have always been interested in the development of facial recognition technology, believing in its potential in enabling more personalized consumer experiences. But we also firmly believe that this technology should only be applied with clear consent from the consumers, preferably on an opt-in basis. Anything less would be a violation of consumer privacy, and should not be tolerated.

Would You Pay With Your Face?

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: Re/Code

Forget mobile payment—in the near future, customers may be able to complete a transaction with a selfie. At the recent CeBit Conference in Germany, Alibaba CEO Jack Ma demonstrated a payment system using facial recognition technology on a smartphone.

Currently being tested by Ant Financial, an Alibaba affiliate that also runs its Alipay payment service, this pay-with-your-face system is reported to be aiming for a 2017 public release.  No word yet on whether it could differentiate photos from a real person, but Ma did express his firm belief in the system replacing passwords and fingerprints as the preferred mobile payment method.

New Goggles Fight Facial Recognition

Posted on by Lab Team

Japanese researchers have developed a new accessory to build immunity to what they consider a disease of the modern age— facial recognition technology.  The somewhat absurd looking prototype goggles include near infrared emitting lights that block face recognition cameras. For those willing to choose privacy over fashion, the glasses are getting significant attention in Japan and may retail for as low as $1 if and when they hit the market.