Facial scanning technology isn’t new, and we have seen it employed for use in Android devices in the past, although for the most part it seems that they can be bypassed easily using photos of the user. This has many wondering about Apple’s upcoming iPhone X, in which it is rumored that it will sport facial recognition in place of Touch ID.
For those curious about the feature, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has published a note to investors that was obtained by AppleInsider that details how the system will work. According to the note, the system will rely on four main components which includes a structured light transmitter, a structured light receiver, a front camera, and a time of flight/proximity sensor.
The light transmitter and receiver will be used to help collect depth information and is integrated with 2D image data taken with the front-facing camera. Together with the use of an algorithm, it will be combined to help create a 3D composite of the user’s face. Now you might have heard that one of the rumored features of the system is that it can apparently be used even when the phone is flat on the table, and according to Kuo, the facial recognition system has a hard cap estimated to be between 50-100 centimeters, so there is still a bit of leeway in terms of how close you have to be to the phone for it to work.
So far there have been claims that Apple’s facial recognition system will be somewhat revolutionary compared to existing systems. It is said to work in millionths of a second, and that the competition is still years away from being able to offer up something similar, but whether or not these claims are true remains to be seen.
Filed in . Read more about iPhone, iPhone 8, iPhone X and Security.