Ford patents in-vehicle facial recognition system that can identify the driver and unlock the door within sight

Biometric technology may deepen people's feelings for vehicles. According to foreign media reports, Ford Global Technologies, the technical department of Ford Motor, announced that it has obtained a patent for a facial recognition system built into the vehicle. The system can identify the driver and unlock the door within the line of sight. The patent number is US 2022/0041134 A1.

(Image source: Ford)

The underlying technology is relatively simple by the standards of facial biometrics and surveillance, and is a follow-up to vehicles that have or are planning to have facial recognition systems installed, according to trade publisher Ford Authority.

But according to Ford Global, the research and development arm of Ford, the patent not only describes a range of new features enabled by facial biometric technology, but also describes a way to reduce the power loss caused by such systems to the car's battery.

Michigan inventors Ali Hassani and Ryan Edwin Hanson believe that once the recognized face is close to a face saved during the day or night, the system can start the vehicle and keep it idling "safely."

In addition, the system can also monitor some health conditions of humans and pets, including body temperature, so vehicles equipped with the system can ensure that pets waiting in the car get the appropriate temperature to ensure safety.

The system can also monitor animals outside the vehicle. The infrared camera can identify various wild animals through the bushes and analyze the threat level by the animal's gait and perceived stress.

The real-time online biometric system is energy-hungry, and even a large truck may not be able to support it, so Hassani and Hanson designed a two-tier backend, a low-power, low-resolution, and low-brightness classification subsystem that runs continuously, much like a nearsighted person sees the world. Pixels are verified and nearby locations are mapped using ID techniques such as support vector machines.

Once the threshold signal is reached, the biometric key power mode function is activated. A secondary classification algorithm with secure biometric identification and "latent liveness verification" takes over. The second subsystem is fully functional and can open the door, start the engine or perform "payment authentication."