Leave it to Apple (AAPL) to solve all of our problems and make our lives easier. For most of us, passwords are a hassle. Now Apple is about to make passwords obsolete.
On Dec 29, 2011, the United States Patent and Trademark Office published a patent application by Apple titled Low Threshold Face Recognition.
As an electrical engineer with a long background in patents, I recognize that most patents do not amount to anything. But this patent is different. In my opinion, Apple is once again about to change how we function in our daily lives.
Imagine no more passwords. Imagine our devices recognizing our faces and touches.
Facial recognition is nothing new, but to date mass application, especially in mobile devices has been difficult. Here is background from Apple’s own words:
Most face recognition systems fall into one of two categories. A first category system tends to be robust and can tackle various lighting conditions, orientations, scale and the like, and tends to be computationally expensive. A second category system is specialized for security-type applications and can work under controlled lighting conditions. Adopting the first category systems for face recognition on consumer operated portable appliances that are equipped with a camera would unnecessarily use an appliance’s computing resources and drain its power. Moreover, as the consumer portable appliances tend to be used both indoor and outdoor, the second category systems for face recognition may be ineffective…Read More at Forbes
