"The digital cameras fitted to many modern cellphones already provide a nifty way to capture and share low resolution images with others. But Omron, based in Kyoto, Japan, has developed software that it hopes could turn these built-in cameras into a useful security tool," reports New Scientist.
"The OKAO Vision Face Recognition Sensor software was created for existing phones with a digital camera fitted. After taking a picture of their face for reference, a user can configure their handset to lock itself or limit its functionality until another picture is taken.
"The software works by measuring key parameters, such as the distance between the eyes, nose and mouth. Omron says the software takes up just 370 Kb of a cellphone's memory, and takes about one second to perform the check. In testing, it correctly recognised its owner's face in 99 out of 100 attempts, the company claims."
