New ‘Race Blind’ Biometric Access Control System Aimed at Agriculture Sector

Florida-based biometrics specialist SensibleVision has announced a new access control solution developed in collaboration with NoveTechnologies, a Nebraska-based agricultural technology firm. Called Protocol, the solution is based on 3D facial recognition, and is currently being offered in beta form to production facilities based on a monthly subscription model.

In a statement announcing the solution, SensibleVision explained that it’s aimed primarily at swine and poultry facilities, and is meant “to improve the safety and wellbeing of animals, people, and food production.” The company also alluded to the possibility of bioterrorism, adding, “By reducing the potential for access by possible intruders, the food supply is dramatically safer.”

Weighing in the biometric technology itself, NoveTechnologies founder Anthony Novero praised it for its “near-instantaneous 3D face recognition in any lighting conditions” as well as its “race blind” functionality, with SensibleVision proclaiming that Protocol does not assess skin tone “and therefore does not discriminate based on ethnicity or race.”

This has been a selling point for SensibleVision for the past year, with the company having highlighted an MIT and Stanford University study last March that found significant discrepancies in accuracy concerning face scans of different demographic groups by other commercial facial recognition systems. Sensible Vision asserted at the time that its 3DVerify system had been developed using databases of men and women with “a wide range of complexions,” which helped to eliminate its potential for such racial bias in biometric scans.

Concerning Protocol, Novero asserted that this technology means “we’re able to be fair and equitable to all of our employees, regardless of their skin tone.”

–

March 7, 2019 – by Alex Perala