One of the latest technologies to enter the biometrics market is facial recognition. The earliest versions were used in law enforcement and airport security and in general facial recognition system they were a complete failure. in essence this was because facial recognition only works well for those who want to be recognized.

When you understand the principles used in facial recognition it become very apparent why the technology is unreliable for clandestine identification. Facial recognition technology uses the geometry of the individual’s face to create a representative algorithm. A camera, and a light source are used to map the size, and distance between the most prominent features of the face ( generally the eyes, nose and mouth) and these are used to construct this mathematical representation. To make yourself unidentifiable all you need to do is wear sunglasses or a scarf.

In 2004 authorities installed surveillance cameras in the streets in New york in an attempt to identify the whereabouts of known felons thought to be active in the area. Aside form the outcry from civil libertarians the two year trial failed to identify a single criminal. Still other tests at airports where were abandoned due to failure to perform anywhere near expectations.

More recently the technology is showing considerable promise in less security focused applications such as time and attendance. In time and attendance applications time clocks fitted with facial recognition technology are proving to be quite reliable and this is essentially because the operating environment is controlled and the individual cooperates in the process.

Body geometry identification is not new – hand scan technology has been available for nearly 20 years. It relies on the geometry of the hand rather than the geometry of the face and is one of the most reliable biometric products available. Incidentally, when we talk about reliability in biometric circles we mean, in simple terms, that it nearly always recognises you first time and it never mistakes you for someone else.

The latest generation of facial recognition time clocks are quite reliable. Recognition speed is very quick – it is faster than a fingerprint reader and almost as fast as an RFID card. The pricing is very competitive in comparison with fingerprint and RFID and certainly much cheaper than hand scan, iris scan and vein scan.

The downside at the moment is that facial recognition time clocks are in the main being exported from China and they reflect the immaturity of the product and its lack of penetration into western business environment. At this stage there are only one or two products which have been integrated into mainstream time and attendance products suitable for implementation in the more complex award structures found in the us, UK, Europe and Australia for example.

If you are looking for a reliable facial recognition time clock it would be well worth your effort to find a local supplier with a good track record in facial recognition products. Edit this text supplier will have all the integration and software options available to you. Don’t take this choice lightly as the greatest advantage for you business usually lies in the what comes out of the time clock in labor reports.