Cellphones learn to recognize their owners' faces

. . . tomorrow's device technology today

Home | News

Keywords: Match:

Oct. 19, 2005

Oki Electric Industry Co. Ltd. this week began marketing a technology that inexpensively adds face recognition to camera-equipped cellphones. Oki's "Face Sensing Engine" (FSE) "middleware" decodes facial images within 280mS on a 100MHz ARM9 processor, and can restrict access to mobile devices by recognizing their owners, the company says.

Oki says its FSE technology can help protect sensitive personal information such as phone numbers and email addresses from unwanted access, in the event of loss or theft of a mobile device. The use of face recognition, based on the mobile device's built-in digital camera, eliminates the need for users to enter passwords to use their devices, and provides a faster and more natural method of authentication. Oki points out.

FSE can acquire facial images from within a larger image. It works by locating and mapping key facial features -- such as eyes, eyebrows, and mouth -- and adapts to changing facial conditions such as winking and smiling, according to Oki.

Oki lists the following key features of its FSE technology:

Compact system footprint -- requires approximately 260KB on an ARM9 processor
Fast image processing -- requires approximately 280mS on a 100MHz ARM9 processor
Face recognition algorithm automatically adjusts to ambient lighting conditions
Supported processor architectures -- ARM9, SH Mobile, and others
Supported software platforms -- Symbian, uITRON, Linux, BREW, WIPI, Windows, Solaris, and others

Earlier this year, Omron, another Japanese company, announced that it had developed an imaging technology for camera-equipped handheld devices that uses face recognition to authenticate users. Like Oki, Omron said its "Okao Vision Face Recognition Sensor" technology aims to increase the security of mobile devices such as camera phones and PDAs, and protect the data they contain.

Oki says its FSE technology can be applied to other embedded applications, such as games, not just to mobile phones. The company's goal is to sign up at least 500 10,000-unit licensees within the next two years.

(Click here for further information)

7 Advantages of D2D Backup
For decades, tape has been the backup medium of choice. But, now, disk-to-disk (D2D) backup is gaining in favor. Learn why you should make the move in this whitepaper.

4 Legal Reasons to Control Internet Access
The Internet is obviously a valuable resource for many organizations. However, many are exposed to legal liability concerns because they fail to control Internet access. Learn if you're safe in this white paper.

Rapidly Resolve J2EE Application Problems
Whether you are in the process of building J2EE applications or have J2EE applications already running in production, you must ensure that they deliver the expected ROI. Learn how in this white paper.

Load Testing 2.0 for Web 2.0
There are many unknowns in stress testing Web 2.0 applications. Find out how to test the performance of Web 2.0 in this white paper.

Build Better Games Online
For the game infrastructure providers, life is complex. Making money from games has become more complicated. Why? Find out in this white paper.

Building a Virtual Infrastructure from Servers to Storage
This white paper discusses the virtual storage solutions that reduce cost, increase storage utilization, and address the challenges of backing up and restoring Server environments.

Gaining Faster Wireless Connections with WiMAX
Welcome to what is quickly becoming the hyperconnected world where anything that would benefit from being connected to the network will be connected. Learn more in this white paper.

Is Your Desktop a Security Threat?
The new wave of sophisticated crimeware not only targets specific companies, but also targets desktops and laptops as backdoor entryways into those business’ operations and resources. Learn how to stay safe in this white paper.

Increasing SAN Reliability by 100 Percent
Storage area networks (SAN) are a strong part of storage plans. Learn how to increase your reliability and uptime by 100 percent in this case study.

Got a HOT TIP? please tell us!

ADVERTISEMENT
(Advertise here)

LinuxDevices headlines:
• Linux video camera geo-tags, writes to SATA drives
• Garmin Nav devices run Gnome Linux
• Ten LiMo phones this month?
• It's a Yankee Doodle Linux phone
• Wind River to host "Developer Day"
• Dev boards gain Linux support
• 802.11n zooms ahead
• Low-power mini-ITX board runs Linux
• Pico-ITX board bears twins
• Mass-market WiFi router invites Linux hackers

WindowsForDevices headlines:
• Upated JVM supports Windows CE
• Windows Mobile 6.1 phone has GPS
• Windows CE thin client hides in wall sockets
• Portable spectrum analyzer runs Windows CE
• VoIP client gains add-ons, API
• Windows Mobile phone has dual active SIMs
• Access gives away Windows Mobile utilities
• Intel's Atom powers mini-ITX board
• Microsoft revamps Windows Mobile website
• Low-cost phone bundles IM client

news feed

Home \| News \| About \| Contact

	Ziff Davis Enterprise Home \| Contact Us \| Advertise \| Link to Us \| Reprints \| Magazine Subscriptions \| Newsletters Tech RSS Feeds \| White Papers \| ROI Calculators \| Tech Podcasts \| Tech Video \| VARs \| Channel News
	Baseline \| Careers \| Channel Insider \| CIO Insight \| DesktopLinux \| DeviceForge \| DevSource \| eSeminars \| eWEEK \| Enterprise Network Security \| LinuxDevices \| Linux Watch \| Microsoft Watch \| Mid-market \| Networking \| PDF Zone \| Publish \| Security IT Hub \| Strategic Partner \| Web Buyer's Guide \| Windows for Devices
	Developer Shed \| Dev Shed \| ASP Free \| Dev Articles \| Dev Hardware \| SEO Chat \| Tutorialized \| Scripts \| Code Walkers \| Web Hosters \| Dev Mechanic \| Dev Archives \| igrep
Use of this site is governed by our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Except where otherwise specified, the contents of this site are copyright © 1999-2008 Ziff Davis Enterprise Holdings Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Ziff Davis Enterprise is prohibited.

Home \| News \| About \| Contact

	Ziff Davis Enterprise Home \| Contact Us \| Advertise \| Link to Us \| Reprints \| Magazine Subscriptions \| Newsletters Tech RSS Feeds \| White Papers \| ROI Calculators \| Tech Podcasts \| Tech Video \| VARs \| Channel News
	Baseline \| Careers \| Channel Insider \| CIO Insight \| DesktopLinux \| DeviceForge \| DevSource \| eSeminars \| eWEEK \| Enterprise Network Security \| LinuxDevices \| Linux Watch \| Microsoft Watch \| Mid-market \| Networking \| PDF Zone \| Publish \| Security IT Hub \| Strategic Partner \| Web Buyer's Guide \| Windows for Devices
	Developer Shed \| Dev Shed \| ASP Free \| Dev Articles \| Dev Hardware \| SEO Chat \| Tutorialized \| Scripts \| Code Walkers \| Web Hosters \| Dev Mechanic \| Dev Archives \| igrep
Use of this site is governed by our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Except where otherwise specified, the contents of this site are copyright © 1999-2008 Ziff Davis Enterprise Holdings Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Ziff Davis Enterprise is prohibited.