Telecom Lead America: By the end of 2012, almost 20
percent of annual smartphone shipments will include facial recognition
capabilities.
In five years’ time, shipments of smartphones and tablets
with the technology will increase to 665 million annually.
Currently, only Google’s Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly
Bean mobile operating systems support the technology in significant volumes.
The Samsung Galaxy SIII is one of the most notable smartphones to feature this
technology. Over the next two to three years, many more operating systems and
mobile OEMs will incorporate the technology.
Facial recognition technology has improved drastically
over the last 10 years and accuracy is almost always above 90 percent.
ABI Research senior analyst Josh Flood said lighting
conditions and facial expressions can sometimes cause problems with the
recognition. However, the improvements in camera resolution and processing
power utilized by mobile devices has helped greatly.
The technology is already being actively marketed and
implemented in smart TVs with the ability to identify the user (watcher) having
numerous advantages in this sector.
Furthermore, more advanced 3D cameras that are larger
than the 2D cameras typically used in mobile devices can be used, while power
consumption is not such a critical factor either. Nevertheless, ABI Research
projects a steady adoption of the technology in mobile devices and numerous
mobile device application processor makers have begun drawing plans and
benefits for the technology.
