Altek, CyberLink Collaborate on Chip for Face ID-style Authentication

A new collaboration between two Taiwanese companies could help to foster the proliferation of 3D facial recognition systems in consumer devices.

One of the partners, Altek, specializes in sophisticated camera technologies. The other, CyberLink, is a facial recognition specialist. And the two have essentially put their heads together, with Altek integrating CyberLink’s biometric technology into its AL6100 3D depth sensing chip.

News of the partnership comes after CyberLink’s announcement last month that it would showcase its FaceMe biometric engine at the Consumer Electronics Show, where it would highlight its retail applications. A pivot into mobile authentication could ultimately prove more lucrative, given the growing enthusiasm for facial recognition systems in the wake of Apple’s launch of its Face ID system.

In a statement announcing Altek’s integration of the FaceMe technology, CyberLink CEO Jau Huang emphasized its utility in thwarting presentation attacks, asserting that FaceMe “is capable of accurate anti-spoofing by utilizing an array of inputs including 2D & 3D cameras, human head motions, voice, structured light scanners, time-of-flight (ToF) cameras, and other mainstream 3D imaging technologies.”

Huang also gestured to broader applications of the technology, asserting that in collaborating with Altek, his team hopes “to deliver safer and more reliable facial recognition capabilities to hardware manufacturers of mobile phones, door access control systems, and a number of other applications.”

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January 21, 2019 – by Alex Perala