Your face may be your next iPhone password
Apple betting on better face-recognition tech in push for bigger screens.
One of the major new features expected in the next iPhone is a new way to unlock the smartphone: with your face.
At first blush, this may not sound like a big deal. Android has had a version of facial recognition in its operating system, called Face Unlock, since 2011. Samsung, Apple’s chief smartphone rival, has its own version of facial recognition — as well as iris-scanning and the standard fingerprint reader.
But, thanks to major advances in face-scanning technology, this method is on the rise — and Apple is not the only company interested in taking a new look at the technology. Several companies, including Delta Airlines, JetBlue Airways and Citibank have piloted or launched programs in the past year that use the technology as a means of verification.
Companies have been pitching facial recognition as an easier and more efficient way for consumers to verify their identity. Yes, you may have to hold a phone at an odd angle to line up your head just right. But there are no pins, no passwords. Unlike with fingerprints, you will never forget which face you’ve programmed into your phone.
In the past, there have been limitations. Hackers thwarted facial recognition sensors with photos or videos of a phone’s owner. Hats or even certain skin tones bewildered sensors. And, of course, there’s the problem of identical twins, a relatively rare but real authentication problem that could come up.
But recent advances in facial recognition technology have addressed some of these issues. Depth-sensing cameras, which are used in advanced scans, are able to map a sort of three-dimensional map of a face, rather than simply relying on images. That makes it harder to fool. Even twins often have slight differences in their bone structure or head shape, which make for