The iPhone 8’s facial recognition feature will work “within a few hundred milliseconds,” be more secure than the existing Touch ID sensor, and even work in the dark, a pair of new reports claim.
In addition to the regular iPhone sensors you’d expect to find, the upcoming handset will reportedly boast a new “structured light” sensor, which uses bounced infrared light to work out the depth of different points on the face.
That information is then used to build a 3D mesh of objects, which is compared to the one recorded when setting up the new iPhone. Calculating the timing between when infrared light is sent out and recorded coming back will let the iPhone work out accurate depth measurements. This, in turn, means you won’t be able to trick the handset using a 2D photo.
iPhone 8 facial recognition tech
The iPhone 8’s advanced facial recognition capabilities will reportedly let Apple do away with the physical Home button and its built-in Touch ID sensor. That means iPhone 8 owners won’t need to use a fingerprint to unlock their devices or conduct Apple Pay transactions
The facial recognition is reportedly powered by tech Apple acquired when it bought Kinect motion sensor maker PrimeSense several years ago. At the time, the deal was valued at being between $300 million and $360 million.
The speed that the iPhone 8 facial recognition sensor will reportedly work is particularly impressive. The new handset will allegedly be able to do all of this within “a few hundred milliseconds,” which would make it a faster means of unlocking your iPhone than the current-generation Touch ID, Apple has been using Touch ID since 2013’s iPhone 5s.
Are you convinced that facial recognition is a worthy substitute for Touch ID? Leave your comments below.
Source: Korea Herald and Wall Street Journal
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
10 responses to “iPhone 8’s amazing facial recognition is super quick, works in the dark”
Uh, a few hundred milliseconds equals a couple of tenths of a second.
No, I don’t think it is suitable for a complete replacement of Touch ID.
Your subjective assessment clearly makes this official.
A few hundred milliseconds is just a fact way of saying less than a second which is already how fast all facial and iris recognition works. Why would it take any longer?
They need to convince its as fast as Touch ID if not faster.
That makes sense. I wonder how long they brain stormed of the weird choice. Under a second, a split second, a few hundred milliseconds. A few thousandths of a minute. A few millionths of an hour. A few billionths of a day.
Hope it still works during masked parties, or wearing scarves in the winter..
Or gloves in the winter for Touch ID?
Wet finger tip scanning needs to get better too lol
Will it work when I’m wearing sunglasses? Or if I don’t shave for a week?