MediaTek Aims to Transcend iPhone via Use 3D Facial Recognition

By Carrie Tsai,  Last Updated: 12 September, 2018

The emergence of iPhone X has enabled more and more smartphones to be added to face recognition technology, but for cost reasons, most mobile phones use only front-facing cameras to analyze faces, and security is far less than 3D structured light technology.

3D structured light is a combination of a series of components such as a dot matrix projector and an infrared camera to identify a human face. It is one of the highest security features of face recognition technology.

At present, in the domestic cellphones, Millet 8 transparent exploration version, OPPO Find X have adopted this technology, although some details and iPhone X still have a difference, but the security can be comparable with the fingerprint. For cost reasons, it only exists in high-end products, but MediaTek seems to want to change this situation.

Last week, MediaTek announced launch the first Active Stereo with Structured Light reference design for smartphones of the industry, using infrared projectors, two infrared lenses, and AI face recognition algorithms. The hardware-level depth of field acceleration system provided by the chip constitutes face recognition.

Officials say that mobile phones using this solution can achieve the same level of face modeling accuracy and payment level security as iPhone X, while the cost is relatively cheaper than 3D structured light, and this solution basically does not require additional DSP in operation. Components, so there is no additional power consumption.

In addition, binocular structured light has a high resistance to environmental interference and has a good user experience in a variety of light and climate environments. The 3D structured light (or monocular structured light) used in the iPhone X needs to be matched with a high-cost dot-matrix infrared projector, while the binocular structured light module uses a general random texture (Infrared Projector) infrared projector and a general dual lens assembly process. It greatly simplifies the calibration process, improves yield and mass production, and has a cost advantage.

MediaTek has tied up with Himax for building the supported IR (infrared) projector and lenses to enable 3D facial recognition on future devices powered by Helio P60 and Helio P22 SoCs. Also, the software part is said to be developed by Vision Technology Face++.

A simple face unlock feature that is available on a large number of Android devices nowadays uses the standard front-facing camera sensor and a software application to enable facial recognition. But since it doesn't record facial features in detail, the present devices with a face unlock feature aren't as secure as the Face ID technology offered by Apple, which does have some loopholes as well.

Millet attempted to mimic Apple's technology and integrated structured-light 3D sensors on the Mi 8 Explorer. Similarly, Oppo earlier this year brought the Find X with an array of sensors at the front to offer 3D facial recognition out-of-the-box. Nonetheless, the Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer and Oppo Find X both come as the premium Android models.

Compared with other low-cost unstructured light face recognition technologies, the binocular structured light scheme has the advantages of higher precision and difficulty in failing in a dark environment.