Facial Recognition

[patseguin Global Moderator]

I only just found out in passing that Android devices can be unlocked through facial recognition. I set it up on my phone and it works pretty good. I use the "blink" feature. Sometimes though it doesn't work and I have to key in my pin. Can this work better if I take more pictures of myself in the setup? For instance, sometimes I wear contacts and sometimes glasses. Regardless, the way I set it up today with 1 picture it doesn't always work. I set it up on my Nexus 10 and get the same mixed results. I'm guessing it needs to "learn" better. Does Android use multiple images of you to make it work better?

[bmdixon]

You can improve the chances of it matching by taking more pictures. I think if you go to the lock settings you should see an option to improve the matching. I decided (after a small amount of testing) that i preferred a pattern unlock as the facial recognition was awkward in some situations. It works quite well when you have good lighting and get your head in the right place!

[Detection]

I wouldn't use it as a real type of security in place of a password or pin though, it's been shown you can unlock them using photos of the person too

[bmdixon]

I wouldn't use it as a real type of security in place of a password or pin though, it's been shown you can unlock them using photos of the person too

That's why they added the blink detection, and how many thieves have a photo of the person who owns the phone? I'm not saying it's foolproof but it's a lot better now than it was they originally added it.

[MarkusDarkus]

I wouldn't use it as a real type of security in place of a password or pin though, it's been shown you can unlock them using photos of the person too

Well I've used it breifly and don'r know all it's capabilities but I would think that's what the Blink feature is designed to prevent.

[Detection]

That's why they added the blink detection, and how many thieves have a photo of the person who owns the phone? I'm not saying it's foolproof but it's a lot better now than it was they originally added it.

Well I've used it breifly and don'r know all it's capabilities but I would think that's what the Blink feature is designed to prevent.

Ah right, never heard of blink detection before, might have a play around and see if I can get it running on my transformer :)

[Jeston Veteran]

Unfortunately even the liveness check can be bypassed if someone puts a little time into editing a photo. Here's a video showing how easy it is to bypass it from when the feature first went live:

Still cool though :)

[Shadrack]

Maybe I'm being naive or am unimportant enough for it not to matter... but I seriously doubt a thief is going to go through so much effort for the BS data I have on my phone. Probably just want to wipe it and resell it or w/e.

I think when it comes to facial recognition to unlock a device, I'd be more concerned about my co-workers pranking me with my phone somehow than a thief accessing my data.

[Jeston Veteran]

Maybe I'm being naive or am unimportant enough for it not to matter... but I seriously doubt a thief is going to go through so much effort for the BS data I have on my phone. Probably just want to wipe it and resell it or w/e.

I think when it comes to facial recognition to unlock a device, I'd be more concerned about my co-workers pranking me with my phone somehow than a thief accessing my data.

I agree, I have absolutely nothing of interest to others on my phone, hence why I still use slide to unlock. It is good to know for people who have company phones that might have sensitive material or emails, though.