英国公司研发贵宾人脸识别技术

Facial recognition: Retailers are trying new technology that will allow them to identify VIP shoppers, celebrities and big spenders in order to offer a more personalized service

The technology ensures that staff members can offer a more personalized service - and don't unwittingly miss out on potentially lucrative sales - by flagging up famous or wealthy big spenders.

The Sunday Times reports that the system, created by Cambridge-based company NEC IT Solutions, works by scanning the faces of customers as they enter a store and checking them against a database.

The staff can then be alerted via computer, iPad or smartphone - along with details such as clothes size, favorite buys and spending history.

The system is currently being tried out in unnamed designer boutiques and hotels in the UK, the US and the Far East. Previously, the company has designed software to help identify terrorists and criminals for security services.

'We're trialling the system in general retail, which would include hotels and anything where the public are walking in,' NEC IT Solutions vice president explained to the paper.

'The luxury end of the market is quite interested in it - they're interested in VIPs.'

De Silva also added that they've addressed privacy concerns and found that most high-profile customers would be 'quite happy to have their information available because they want a quicker service, a better-tailored service or a more personally tailored service'.

But some shoppers are fighting back against unwanted surveillance.

The New York Times reports that Nordstrom had been testing technology that would allow them to track customers' Wi-Fi signals from their smartphones. This allowed the company to analyse how long a shopper spent in a particular area and to track shopper movements, as well as how many people that walked past the store decided to enter.

But the retailer reportedly stopped the pilot in May after customer complaints became too numerous. Other stores, however, continue to experiment with using new technology to target customers.

Synqera, a start-up in St. Petersburg, Russia, is selling software for checkout devices or computers that tailors marketing messages to a customer’s gender, age and mood, measured by facial recognition.

'If you are an angry man of 30, and it is Friday evening, it may offer you a bottle of whiskey,' said Ekaterina Savchenko, the company’s head of marketing.

据美国媒体21日报道，日前一家英国IT公司声称研发出一项贵宾身份识别技术，能够通过分析人脸数据，确认身份，并根据其历史记录提供相应服务。

据称，这项技术由NEC IT Solutions公司研发，已经在美国、英国以及远东地区等一系列高级商场与酒店投入测试。

相关软件通过分析顾客进入商场大门摄像头拍摄下来的视频片段，测量人脸数据并创建一系列名为“人脸模板”的数字代码，并将其与数据库资料比对。

在零售情境下，顾客人脸的数据库通常有名人与贵宾之分。如果顾客人脸信息在数据库中得到确认，该软件会通过电脑、iPad或智能手机向员工发送一条提醒信息，提供该顾客的衣着号码，喜爱产品以及购物历史等信息。

近期测试表明，即便顾客佩戴太阳镜、帽子或围巾，甚至面部毛发、年龄、体重以及发色等都不会影响到该系统的准确性。

据悉，该公司已经开始提供相似软件用于安全领域，协助辨认恐怖分子与罪犯。但与此同时，相关业界人士表达了对隐私问题的担忧。

该公司副总裁克里斯德席尔瓦表示隐私问题已经得到解决，称大部分高端顾客很喜欢这项快捷而量身定做的服务。