Facial recognition control solution hits ANZ

A new facial recognition entrance control solution has hit Australian and New Zealand shores.

Security solutions specialist Centaman Entrance Control is offering a new facial recognition technology add-on for its access gates used in corporate offices, government buildings and leisure centres across the Australia and New Zealand region.

The new EasyAccess facial recognition reader scans users' faces to identify them before providing fast, easy access through an access gate or door, the company explains.

It can be set up to scan the temperature of visitors to help prevent against the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses, or even configured to scan whether visitors are wearing masks and prevent entry to any who are not, if required.

Centaman Entrance Control general manager Michael Bystram says facial recognition technology was already used in some corporate offices in Australasia but the functionality and price point was sometimes prohibitive.

"The new EasyAccess reader is an effective system available at an accessible price point," he says.

"It is an ideal way for facility managers to provide secure contactless entry during the global COVID-19 pandemic and it also removes the need for authorised visitors to carry an access card with them at all times.

One of the advantages of the new EasyAccess facial recognition reader was that it worked with almost any gate or door and could be retrofitted to many existing Centaman Entrance Control gates, Bystram says.

Each EasyAccess reader can store up to 50,000 faces in its internal database. Faces can be scanned from up to three meters away, and the reader includes anti-spoofing detection support that enables it to distinguish live faces from pictures and videos.

Options were also available to link multiple readers and to allow staff to manage a secure database of visitor and member faces from one central location, Bystram says.

Centaman Entrance Control is a specialist in security and entrance control technology. Other contactless solutions include the EasyGate SG 1000 – a gate with a built-in thermal camera that can be used to reduce the risk of visitors with COVID-19 entering retail stores – and the IDEMIA MorphoWave biometric scanner, which can identify people using a 3D scan of their fingerprints.

According to a survey released by Monash University in May, half of Australians believe that their privacy is being invaded by the presence of facial recognition technology in public spaces.

The study, which examined the varied attitudes towards the biometric technology, also found only moderate awareness among Australians about the potential applications of the technology.