NEC facial recognition system offers 99.9% accuracy with mask on

Upgraded technology extracts features around eyes for better authentication

A security gate at NEC headquarters in Tokyo: The company's new face authentication system recognizes masked faces with accuracy of more than 99.9%. (Photo by Niki Mizuguchi)

NIKI MIZUGUCHI, Nikkei staff writer

September 24, 2020 22:34 JST

TOKYO -- NEC said Thursday it has developed technology that can almost completely recognize people's faces even when they are wearing masks.

The new method extracts features around the eyes and recognizes faces with accuracy of more than 99.9%, the Japanese electronics group said. NEC plans to begin offering the technology in early October and says it works with various types of masks.