What’s In Store: How 3D Facial Recognition Can Transform Retail
Throughout human history, a universal challenge has been the easy transfer of value. The first step in making this possible was the coin, which was introduced in the 6th century BC. For the first time, there was a portable item that could be exchanged for goods and services. Over the next several thousand years, innovations such as the banking system and (much later) the Pony Express made it even easier for individuals and businesses to transfer assets. In 1887 a novelist named Edward Bellamy coined the term “credit card,” and by 1950 charge cards were a common feature of American life.
Why are these cards still so popular? In simple terms, they allow people to buy things without having to carry cash. But the fundamental flaw is that users still have to carry a physical object with them. That means that consumers looking to buy things are required to wait in lines to complete their transactions, just as if they were carrying cash. Lines are a significant choke point for retailers, costing the industry $37.7 billion in lost sales last year, with 86 percent of consumers saying they left a store because of long waits.
What if there was a way to let shoppers breeze out of stores without having to wait in line at all? That’s not possible with a physical credit card...but with AI-driven 3D facial recognition technology, it’s a snap. Qualified shoppers could actually connect their faces with their preferred bank or credit card account so their purchases would be automatically registered without the need to spend a single second in a queue, being asked to present a card.
This could be a terrific windfall for retailers - making the buying experience for customers as quick, convenient and painless as possible would drive sales and brand recognition, especially as they struggle to not lose business to online merchants. But 3D face recognition is also good news for credit card companies. That’s because it gives them a clear competitive advantage in the marketplace. All they need to do is think beyond the plastic rectangle and look at the broader opportunities for using 3D authentication technology to enhance their role in American retail commerce.
Here’s what it might look like:
Depth sensing 3D face recognition systems could be deployed near exit points in a store, similar to the way Point of Sale kiosks are placed today. The key difference is that as people check out, the opt-in technology transparently and securely recognizes enrolled users and automatically completes their purchases. It ties their logged face profile to their confirmed payment method. When it’s time to leave the store, shoppers simply walk out with their items; multifactor authentication adds another layer of security to ensure a positive affirmation. Since they’ve already been identified, they’ve already paid. It really is that easy. And the user's privacy is maintained because their biometric information is unique and basically unreproducible. No one’s selling faces as far as I know.
(image: Will Fisher CC BY-SA 2.0 face recognition modifications by SensibleVision https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ )