Most people interested in technology have at least a passing familiarity with the concept of facial recognition software, especially since the latest iteration of the iPhone has added a form of this technology as a means of bio metric protection. However, the uses for this advancement have gone far beyond simply unlocking phones for users.
Car manufacturers are experimenting with this technology for unlocking and even starting vehicles. It is also being used by law enforcement agencies for purposes such as security, identifying and tracking criminals, preventing voter fraud, and more. Facial recognition software is being tested and used by banks, casinos, hotels, bars and restaurants, social media outlets (for tagging), and even dating apps (to match people based on similar facial characteristics).
Anyone planning meetings or working in event management should know that there are also applications for facial recognition software that fall within their wheelhouse. This technology can increase convenience for event attendees and allow the host or event company to improve security and measure the attendee experience throughout the event.
If you didn’t know all of this was possible, it’s time to learn how you can employ facial recognition software to your benefit at upcoming events. A good place to start is by partnering with a renowned meeting services and event company like American Meetings, Inc. (AMI) that can help to connect you to the right technologies for your event needs. Here are just a few of the incredible ways this particular technology can enhance and improve your meetings and events.
First, you have to choose an appropriate destination, one that offers the exciting and adventurous vibe vacationers expect. From there you can find ways to work the destination into the theme of your event to make every aspect of the affair unified and add the vacation aesthetic to what would otherwise be just another industry event.
Streamline On-Site Event Management
The main benefit of facial recognition software to date is the ability to use it as a means of identification. For the purposes of event management, this can mean streamlining all kinds of common headaches and adding speed and convenience for attendees. This is especially true when it comes to traditionally lengthy processes like registration, check-in, and lines for activities at events.
The trick is finding the right facial recognition software, one that can improve processes without putting event attendees at risk. The ever-present threat of identity theft makes it imperative to protect any sensitive data provided by guests, and some software solutions have safeguards in place to negate this potential.
For example, some software has features that encrypt data gathered from images and then delete the actual images after relevant facial geometry has been captured. This way, event attendees can feel safe providing a photo online during the registration process.
At the event, check-in can run a lot more smoothly with the use of smartphones, tablets, or other mobile devices that scan faces, quickly access information, and automatically print out badges on connected hardware, ensuring a much quicker process than checking paper or digital lists and trying to verify identities manually.
According to Tarique Stanley, Director of Technology at AMI, “An event company might reasonably expect to spend a minute or more checking in each event attendee by traditional methods, and that’s if everything goes smoothly. With facial recognition software, the time to scan and check-in an attendee could be cut down to as little as about a second.”
Improve Security
Facial recognition software today is incredibly sophisticated and reliable. It is generally estimated to be about 99% accurate, delivering very few false positives. This can help to tighten event security by making it nearly impossible for anyone not registered for the event to fake their way through check-in or sneak past attendants checking identification and matching up faces with IDs, for example.
Go Interactive
There is no shortage of ways to get creative when it comes to implementing new technologies at events, and facial recognition software is no exception. It can be used in a variety of ways interactively. For example, some software can recognize facial expressions like smiles and frowns.
Some companies have used this to set up kiosks around events that supply prizes to event attendees that smile at the camera. Your event management company can help you come up with clever ways to capitalize on the technologies at your disposal.
Improve Event Company Response to Attendee Experience
When you know that facial recognition software can be used to identify facial expressions, it should come as no surprise that it is also being used to track emotions. This means you could place cameras throughout your events to track attendees and determine whether they’re having a good experience or not. This gives you the opportunity to follow up with attendees exhibiting negative responses, or alternately reward those with positive responses or behaviors.
It’s a lot to wrap your head around, but with assistance from the experts at a reputable event management organization like AMI, you can determine the best ways to use facial recognition software and other technologies to your advantage at upcoming events.
