Apple ponders facial recognition features for iOS

From CNET News.com: Instead of sliding to unlock your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, you could one day simply point it at your face.

That future, which already exists on some devices running Google's latest version of Android, may end up on Apple's mobile software platform too.

A patent application, published today by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and picked up by Apple Insider, details a system of using on-board cameras to recognize when faces are in the frame, as well as recognizing whose face it is. It could then set up the device for each particular user's individual profile, or do something as simple as turning the screen back on.

Apple argues that its proposed solution runs counter to two existing classifications of facial recognition tools: "robust" ones that are "computationally expensive" (read: will grind your phone to a halt), and ones designed with security in mind but that happen to be mighty particular about the ambient lighting conditions.

Apple's system, which it calls "low threshold face recognition" claims to fall into its own category, handling various types of lighting conditions, and without over-taxing the hardware. The patent describes it as being nimble enough to work on "smart phones, tablet computers, laptops and the like."

Tech rival Google introduced facial recognition technology for its Android OS earlier this month with the release of the Galaxy Nexus phone. It uses the front-facing camera on the device to scan a user's face and cross reference it with what it has on file, unlocking the device for use when it finds a match.

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