Telepower Communication

Facial recognition seems to be emerging as the new way to travel. Recently, Moscow trialed the facial recognition payment system called Face Pay at 240 metro stations, once again aroused controversy. How does the facial recognition payment system work? What is the feasibility of it?

How does the facial recognition payment system work?

Passengers are required to upload their facial information in advance. When they reach the facial recognition gate, the 3D face camera will capture passenger’s facial features and compare them with the facial information stored in the system. Once success verification, the gate will automatically open. When passengers are ready to leave the station, and the facial recognition payment system will deduct the money from the linked payment account after confirmation.

In virtue of the liveness detection, the facial recognition gate can distinguish photos, videos, masks, and other disguised attacks, and accurately identify the identity of passengers. It greatly reduces the waiting time of passengers and provides a convenient and intelligent metro experience.

What is the feasibility of face payment on the metro?

The industry expert predicted that facial recognition payment will become more and more popular in transportation in a few years, not merely on the metro. That’s because the mature development of facial recognition technology and increasing commercial applications and even bidding projects require facial recognition. In the long term, the proportion of face payment transactions might exceed QR code payment and other transactions in the subway.

In addition, we can analyze its feasibility from the user, metro operator, and technology perspectives.

1. Satisfy the target user group demand. Nowadays, young people take the proportion of 70% on the metro, who have stronger recognition and acceptance of new technology, particularly facial recognition. Besides, the on-and-go fast pace of life and their pursuit of convenient travel also drive the development of face payment. The rapid development of contactless payment technology has significantly reduced ticket queuing and shortened the queue time by 3.3 times, data reported.

2. Improve metro operational efficiency. For metro operators, facial recognition gate can improve operational efficiency and provide a more convenient way for all groups to pass through, even the elderly. The application of the head city will have a demonstration effect on other cities and accelerate more metro operators to take part in it. Moreover, subway operation is transforming towards diversification and digitalization, and user portraits brought by face recognition can provide data support for the commercial operation of the subway.

3. Provide a variety of payment options. Based on QR code payment, NFC card, and mobile wallet, the addition of face payment will provide a new payment method to improve the passage experience. Whether pay by QR code, traffic card, or mobile wallet, use should focus on the scanner or sensor and cause a slightly inferior experience. However, pay with the face can solve this issue and allow users to pass through more naturally. It will greatly reduce the waiting time for passengers, and comprehensively improve the sense of technology experience, speed and happiness when taking the subway.

4. The optimization of artificial intelligence algorithm. The facial recognition gate covers a variety of artificial intelligence technologies include biometric matching, neural network learning, speed enhancement algorithm, and so on. With the development of the algorithm, multi-modal recognition technology can improve the accuracy of recognition and user experience. In addition, judging whether the target object is alive or not through 3D modeling can further enhance the living body judgment ability and ensure the accuracy of bus billing.

How to ensure the security of face data?

First, 3D vision full-stack technology should be promoted. From the technical principle, traditional 2D face information is easy to obtain and copy with a lower technical threshold, while 3D face information technology has higher access and application threshold and stringent demand on the manufacturer. In this way, encouraging the development of vision full-stack technology can better protect the security of face information from the source of the application.

Secondly, the demand for product testing certificates should be improved as testing and certification are the necessary methods for the development of industry compliance. Last but not least, the formulation of industry norms and standards should be promoted.
The users' pursuit of a better travel experience and the continuous improvement of artificial intelligence algorithms jointly drive the face payment development in the transportation industry. With the mission of creating a colorful future, Telpo has developed a series of face payment devices and face recognition gates. If you want to know more details, welcome to contact us.

Tag: facial recognition payment system, facial recognition gate, metro