Face masks are the normal since the Covid pandemic. Apple’s patent signal the end of pulling down the mask to unlock the iPhone. Face masks evolving the users currently to either puncture the security codes every time. If users want to check the messages, they have to lift their masks to use FaceID.
FaceID leads to biometric face recognition technology with the company winning a crucial patent for facial recognition utilizing the use of heat maps to authenticate a user’s face.
The patent filing includes the technology of the user in images during the facial recognition process. Occlusion is described as the barrier of a user’s face, making it unavailable to the facial recognition scanner like hair, bandannas, scarves, and face masks to reduce the accuracy of a biometric scanner like Apple’s FaceID.
The challenges confronted by occlusion, Apple wants to generate heat maps to assess hidden landmarks on a user’s face. The system on a grid will estimate the facial landmarks. It refers to a diagram from Apple’s patent filing which shows landmark shapes along with a heat map to get past an obstruction on the lower right side of the face, near the mouth.
The app shows the landmarks placed on top of a human face that is obscured on one side. This Apple’s facial recognition is crucial, as the pandemic affected users of the iPhone X and upward. The new patent help Apple accurately authenticate masked users. Users currently punch their security codes every time they check their messages or lift their masks to quickly use FaceID.
Apple might be considered the in-screen fingerprint sensor for the upcoming iPhone 13. The authenticating images of users with obscured facial features mean that Apple simply continues with the use of facial biometric authentication on their next flagship device.
