REAL LIFE NEWS: FACIAL RECOGNITION USED BY CHINESE UNIVERSITY TO CHECK STUDENTS ARE PRESENT
by Hazed
The days of calling out names and ticking them off on a register when pupils say “Here, miss!” may soon be over, because a Chinese university is using facial recognition technology to check the attendance of students in a bid to deter absenteeism.
The Communications University of China in Nanjing has told students attending six of its classes to stand in front of an interactive screen when they show up for lectures. Their photos are taken and then matched against pictures in the university’s database, which takes a couple of seconds. Apparently the device is highly accurate and can recognise students even if they change their hair or wear makeup.
Professor Shen Hao said, “The new system saves time and reduces the workload of teachers.”
Students using this new system seem to be in favour, with one saying that it is “a novel idea” and another that “it’s quite convenient; our teacher doesn’t need to do a register.”
I would be very interesting to see some actual figures about how often it is unable to identify a student – saying it’s “highly accurate” doesn’t mean much. Like many such systems, while it may work with small numbers in controlled situations, if its use becomes widespread I would expect many more problems to show up!
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-41749929
