- Casinos already make extensive use of facial recognition technology to identify and classify customers by risk and preferences, allowing them to prevent the entry of known gambling addicts or troublesome customers while offering preferred customers special perks.
- One system Jonas developed for casinos more than a decade ago uses facial recognition technology to quickly compare suspected cheaters with mug shots and uncover fake identities. But for all the.
- Do Casinos Have Facial Recognition Systems
- Do Casinos Have Facial Recognition
- Do Casinos Use Facial Recognition
Facial recognition from FindFace for gambling industry recognize VIP guests or unwanted visitor in the casino. Best-in-class face recognition solution. To make it the best user experience for you to work with the website, select your language.
We all know how rapidly technology has been developing over the past couple of years. Some of this benefits the punters at casinos (big networked mega jackpots come to mind), but other technology – used by casinos secretly, particularly in the US and Macau- is bordering on Big Brother.
We are talking about surveillance technology, of course, and one of the reasons that we (personally) prefer playing online these days, is down to the increase in the use of facial recognition software and surveillance techniques at land based casinos. The argument goes that is you are doing nothing wrong, then there should be no concern is a valid one, but still……..we find it a little creepy.
One of the biggest players and suppliers of this advanced tracking technology (in the fight against fraud – eg blackjack card counters and past posters who play roulette) is Imagis Technologies Inc. ('Imagis') who have developed a sophisticated facial tracking system called CASINO-ID with a biometric Facial Recognition Software.
They take hi-res images of their customers and network the information across multiple casinos in an attempt to thwart the fraudsters.
CASINO-ID uses biometric technology to capture images using a property´s existing CCTVs, and then to create databases and compare images based on facial features only. The technology allows casinos to spot 'barred' players as they enter the casino rather than creating a scene at the tables. Scary stuff.
Imagis Technologies Inc. is a pretty big player- it is a member of the International Biometric Industry Association ('IBIA') located in Washington, D.C. and markets its systems to casino networks worldwide.
How Does Casino Facial Recognition Software Work?
Well, you might have seen it in the movies (Mission Impossible?) or on the telly, but how do facial recognition systems actually work?
Video surveillance systems capture images of casino players (including the targetted card counter, thief or fraudster). It then breaks the image up into code and runs a search to find a match and identify the player. Scarily enough, Google has started to develop a pretty sophisticated version for its Picasa photo service. And Facebook, of course, is pretty good at this sort of stuff and getting better.
Facial recognition, is of course, on of the key talents that we all have. Think about it- it´s pretty amazing how you can so quickly recognise a person through their looks alone- a skill that has taken us millions of years to develop. Computers have only recently been developing the same ability.
For a guide to how they actually work, let´s take Identix as an example- one of the big players in this market, who have developed facial recognition software called FaceIt. FaceIt, can pick a face out of a crowd, isolate the face from the rest of the background and compare it to a database of stored faces. The software measures various arrtibutes of the face to generate a match.
Everyone´s face has unique characteristics: FaceIt defines these as nodal points. There are around 80 nodal points in the FaceIt system, including:
– Distance between the eyes
– Width of the nose
– Depth of the eye sockets
– The shape of the cheekbones
– The length of the jaw line
These nodal points are converted into 0´s and 1´s and stored in the database.
Historically, facial recognition software was based on 2D images which had constraints on the angle of the image and the amount of light available when the picture was taken.
Nowadays, 3D mapping is used and the systems have got very sophisticated.
So- the next time you head into a land based casino- make sure you have brushed your hair! You are on camera!
The adoption of facial recognition technology has increased in the past two or three years and is expected to boom in the following decade. Although still considered quite controversial, this technology is spreading across casinos, airports and stores across the country, while proponents claim it helps vendors identify problem gamblers or any kind of criminal behaviour.
Facial recognition is a complex digital technology that can identify individuals based on specific characteristics of their faces. For years, experts claimed that there were too many flaws in it that made it practically non-viable. However, the technology constantly improves and is now being adopted by some of the largest retailers, airports and casinos in New Zealand. According to media reports, police in the country is now working in partnership with U.S.-based company DataWorks Plus to introduce such a system in the near future.
SkyCity Entertainment Group, one of the largest casino operators in the country, is now using facial recognition technology in its venues in Auckland, Hamilton and Queenstown. It helps casino staff identify problem gamblers and block their access to the gaming floors. The technology has also been adopted in SkyCity Adelaide, which is one of the few venues to have facial recognition in Australia. The system was designed by Kiwi company Torutek and went live in November.
According to a recent Adelaide Now news report, the complex technology has improved capabilities – it can identify even individuals who try to disguise themselves using hats and sunglasses. It will be extremely useful in preventing self-excluded and barred gamblers from entering gambling venues. The technology works via cameras on the entry pick visitors' faces and a special algorithm compares them to the faces in a database.
The same system is now under a trial in Christchurch Casino and it does not just identify self-excluded patrons but also tracks the amount of time patrons are spending at the casino – spending more than 8 hours on the gaming floor is a clear sign of problem gambling. Meanwhile, casinos in Macau have been using facial recognition technology for security purposes for several years. Paired with advanced artificial intelligence that tracks customer behaviour, Macau casinos are known for their detailed customer profiling, as well. This goes beyond security, of course, and has raised concerns that these systems invade patrons' privacy.
Privacy Concerns
The benefits of using facial recognition technology in casinos to block problem gamblers are undeniable. In terms of security, such systems are also invaluable. However, many people are concerned with another aspect of facial recognition – the invasion of privacy. While many do agree that the technology must be implemented at airports, country borders, etc., the enhanced surveillance at casinos and stores is widely considered to be limiting personal freedoms.
Do Casinos Have Facial Recognition Systems
In 2018, supermarket group Foodstuffs announced it had been using facial recognition technology in some of its stores. However, it did not clarify which stores it had adopted it in. According to the company, which controls around 53 per cent of the New Zealand grocery market, it uses facial recognition only for identifying potential shoplifters. It is unclear, however, how many stores in New Zealand have adopted such systems and what they are using them for – for security purposes or for tracking customers and customer behaviour.
Beyond the ethical aspect of facial recognition technology, further concerns have been raised regarding the efficiency of such systems. According to a Forbes report, after a trial of the technology by the London Metropolitan Police, it became clear that the system had a success rate of only 19 per cent.
- Author
Olivia Cole
Do Casinos Have Facial Recognition
Do Casinos Use Facial Recognition
