Face recognition & face masksA Face-Recognition Tech that Works Even for Masked Faces

By Abigail Klein Leichman

In these corona days, face-recognition technologies — used for a variety of security purposes — are severely challenged by the fact that everyone’s wearing protective masks.

The Israeli company Corsight says it has solved that problem with autonomous artificial intelligence. It claims that its camera-based technology can identify people in real time with only half their face showing, even in low light conditions.

The technology’s many possible uses in the current crisis include enabling medical personnel to open locked hospital doors through facial recognition without removing protective gear or touching any buttons.

Tel Aviv-based Corsight’s technology can detect real-time corona isolation violators within population concentrations even if their faces are covered with a mask. It can also identify people who were near a coronavirus patient and should be quarantined.

Corsight was established at the end of 2019 as a subsidiary of the high-tech company Cortica, which develops artificial intelligence technologies. It has just raised $5 million from Canadian fund Awz Ventures.

Backed by more than 200 patents, Corsight’s unique technology is based on neuroscience and biological research to mimic the way humans interpret signals, predict and understand their surroundings.

The startup’s varied target markets are industries including homeland security, transportation, law enforcement and banking. But with the Covid-19 pandemic came a whole new vertical.

“The strong capabilities that we built for government use and to fight terror, enabling us to recognize a person from just part of their face, now provides a solution to recognize people during the coronavirus crisis,” said Ofer Ronen, head of homeland security at Cortica.

Abigail Klein Leichman is a writer and associate editor at ISRAEL21c. This article  is published courtesy of ISRAEL21c.