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Digitimes Research: Growing use of facial recognition increases demand for IR LED devices

Chen Yuo-heng, DIGITIMES Research, Taipei

Among biometrics technologies, facial recognition is in growing application due to its being contactless, quick recognition and easy to use, and this is expected to increase demand for infrared (IR) LED devices which are used to enhance accuracy of facial recognition, according to Digitimes Research.

Although fingerprint recognition is the most popular biometrics technology, it entails contact of fingers and thus is mostly applied to personal mobile devices, Digitimes Research indicated. In comparison, facial recognition is not only applied to mobile devices but also widely used for personal identification at public facilities such as airports.

In order to hike accuracy of facial recognition, facial images have been upgraded from 2D level to 3D level and 3D images necessitate IR LED devices for depth scanning of faces to build 3D facial models. In addition, many vendors have developed image sensing software applications to hike capability of recognizing algorithms, such as Facebook-developed DeepFace, Apple-developed iPhoto and Microsoft-developed facial recognition API.

Global market value for biometrics will increase from US$14.6 billion to US$31.4 billion in 2020, and that for facial recognition alone will increase from US$3.8 billion to US$10.1 billion, with the proportion to rise from 26.0% to 32.2%.