Panasonic has partnered with Japanese retail chain FamilyMart to launch a pilot project to test biometric contactless payment technology based on face recognition.
The store where the new technology is being tested is located next to Panasonic's factory in Yokohama, a city south of Tokyo, and is operated directly by the electronics manufacturer through a franchise agreement with FamilyMart. For now, the new payment system is only available to Panasonic employees who need to go through a registration process that includes scanning their faces and adding bank card information.
The technology is implemented using Panasonic's developments in the field of image analysis and using a special terminal with a set of cameras for scanning the buyer. Additionally, within the framework of cooperation between FamilyMart and Panasonic, an automated system for accounting and notification of the availability of goods in stock was developed. FamilyMart President Takashi Sawada highly appreciated the innovations and hopes that soon these technologies will be implemented in all stores of the network.
However, the future of biometric payments is still in doubt. So, for example, a survey conducted by Oracle showed that a significant number of consumers are wary of retail chains receiving their biometric data. And, apparently, this is the main reason why in developed markets, large retail chains are not yet taking any steps in this direction, while in emerging markets, interest in new technologies is constantly growing and their future is estimated quite optimistically.
Source: 3dnews.ru