FACE SCANNING CAMERAS

The technology works by converting a photograph or video image of a face into an equation that describes the geometric characteristics of a person's face, said Dr Joseph Atick, president and CEO of Visionics, one of the companies that produces face recognition as well as other biometric technologies.

Software converts the facial images into an 84-byte file called a face print. The software then does a mathematical comparison with the face prints it collects through the cameras against a database of known face prints, such as criminals or terrorists, Dr Atick said.