Top 7 Facial Recognition Technologies

In recent years, biometric tools like facial recognition technologies have witnessed some groundbreaking innovations. From unlocking your mobile phone to automatically tagging photographs to diagnosing patients with genetic conditions, the possibilities are now endless.

The research firm Markets and Market expects the global facial recognition market to be worth $8.5 billion by 2025. However, the success of all these face recognition tools depends largely on adequate training data. In this scenario, the more extensive and more inclusive the data is, the better.

But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s first define it.

What Is Facial Recognition Technology?

At its most basic, face detection tools match faces in photographs and video stills to existing identities saved in a database. This technology essentially detects or finds a face in an image, maps it for analysis, and recognizes or confirms an individual’s identity. An excellent example of this in action is photo tagging (which most of us have encountered).

As facial features are far more complex than other biometric technologies like fingerprints and iris scanners, face detection tools require highly sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms.

You can also use these smart algorithms with complex AI-powered analytics tools to do more with them. For example, Google’s Derm Assist can identify skin conditions by leveraging AI and machine learning (ML).

Tip:

Data for training your facial recognition technology such as photos and videos can be obtained quickly and individually from clickworker.

More about Photo Data Sets More about Video Data Sets

So, what are the top seven face detection tools available today? Let’s take a closer look.

1. Amazon Rekognition

Amazon Rekognition is a leading name in the face recognition software game. Rekognition can be used to engage in facial analysis, face search for verification, and to identify people and objects by labeling them.

This facial recognition tool can recognize as many as 100 people in a single image. One of the reasons for this is the fact that it can perform face matches against databases with millions of faces.

As the company already has massive datasets at its disposal, AI and ML algorithms are able to learn and then accurately identify them. Users can also extend their recognition capabilities through custom labeling.

Amazon Rekognition: Pricing depends on usage, and a free tier is available.

2. DeepFace

Facebook announced its DeepFace program way back in 2014. This face detection tool can determine if faces in two photographs are the same with a 97.35% rate of accuracy. This turned out better than the tools used by the FBI that had an accuracy rate of 85%.

While there isn’t a commercial rollout of this facial identification software, a framework exists on GitHub with the same name. This library also supports more accurate technologies like Google’s FaceNet.

While you can leverage its robust REST API, it only supports verification methods. This means that you can’t put together your own face collection and expect it to pick your face out of it. However, it could prove to be a lot of fun if you’re a Python developer.

DeepFace pricing: free and open source.

3. Face++

China’s Megvii Technology’s Face++ facial recognition platform can not only recognize faces but also provide what they call a “Beauty Score.” However, the company hasn’t revealed how it all works. Other services include age estimation, emotion recognition, gender recognition, and landmark detection.

Companies can add Face++ to their technology stack, but it’s important to note that it cost twice more than other leading services. But the good news is that it supports the widest variety of software development kits (SDKs), including:

• C++
• Java
• Javascript
• iOS
• Matlab
• PHP
• Python
• Ruby

Face++ pricing: Starts at USD 100 per day, and a free version is available.

4. Microsoft Azure Cognitive Services Face API

Microsoft’s Face API allows businesses to embed facial recognition into their apps. This approach helps companies provide seamless access and secured user experiences without reinventing the wheel or breaking the bank.

What’s great about this face detection tool is its ability to perceive facial features and attributes like beards, facemasks, and glasses. Microsoft Azure’s Face API SDK supports Go, Java, Node.js, .NET, and Python.

For additional features like age estimation, emotion recognition, and more, Microsoft offers both a self-hosted version and a software-as-a-service option.

Microsoft Face API pricing: depends on usage, and a free plan with 30,000 free requests per month is available.

5. Kairos

Kairos developed this AI-powered facial recognition tool to enable safe and enhanced customer experiences. The company provides both web services and an SDK that businesses can integrate into their own solutions.

What’s different about Kairos is the fact it can also track important demographic data. As a result, it has been quite popular among industries like automotive, banking, capital management, healthcare, and market research.

Kairos is best for enterprises looking to optimize the facial recognition features of their mobile applications. This is because you’ll need significant expertise to get the most out of this smart solution.

Kairos pricing: Plans start at $19 per month for students, and a free 14-day trial is available.

6. SenseTime

SenseTime is another powerful face detection software developed in China. Besides face recognition, SenseTime also provides body analyzing technology. It can use 14 body feature points and recognize different body parts, and it can also do it while someone is moving.

The liveness detection feature in SenseTime helps improve user verification protocols. Whenever companies use it, they have a better chance of preventing spoofing attacks.

This AI-powered tool is also better suited for companies that have more video-based facial recognition needs.

SenseTime pricing: available upon request.

7. Trueface.ai

Trueface.ai offers face detection in three different modes like container, plug-and-play, and SDK. Beyond identifying faces, Trueface.ai can also detect weapons, perform live verifications and space analytics.

As such, this tool is popular in education, fintech, hospitality, retail, and security, where safety and security are paramount. You can also use this tool for temperature detection, which can be vital during times like the recent COIVD-19 pandemic.

Trueface.ai provides robust solutions for different government agencies around the world. While this face identification software required a lot of coding expertise in the beginning, the latest plug-and-play option makes it accessible to everyone.

Trueface.ai pricing: Available upon request.

There are more facial recognition technologies available in the marketplace. As the industry evolves, you can bet that there will be an explosion of similar tools. However, to engage in accurate face detection, you must train AI and ML algorithms using large datasets representing different races, genders, age groups, emotions, and more.

Dieser Artikel wurde am 21.October 2021 von Andrew Zola geschrieben.

Andrew Zola