be in your face

JUNE 26 2011 Page 11

So if you’re smart, act now. This special introductory rate is available for a limited time only.

To pay less and own your own home sooner,

call 13 29 30, visit qtcu.com.au or your local branch.

QTCU’s Intro Rate Home Loan offer now just 6.87%p.a.

(7.63%p.a. Comparison Rate)*

NOW THAT’S CLEVER THINKING.

Lending criteria, terms, conditions, fees and charges apply. *Discount available on new borrowings and not in conjunction with any other offers or discounts and is for first 12 months after loan funded, then rate reverts to Variable Rate. Product is Mortgage Breaker Home Loan. Rates current at 20 June 2011 and subject to change. Comparison rate calculated on loan amount of $150,000 for a term of 25 years based on monthly repayments. WARNING: This comparison rate is true only for the example given and may not include all fees and charges. Different terms, fees or other loan amounts might result in a different comparison rate. ACL 241195. #Saving based on $350,000 home loan.

POINTS OF RECOGNITION

Searches for shadows and wrinkles to help

determine age.

Software reads shape of lips to determine mood

and gender.

Eyebrow shape key to determining mood

of person.

Jewellery can help software determine

gender.

Shadows cast by hair used to determine

gender.

WHAT FACIAL RECOGNITION FOUND

Gender: Female

Age: Young Adult

Angry: 0

Happy: About 85 per cent

Sad: 0

Surprised: 0

Facial recognition software uses an

algorithm, or mathematical process, to

produce a “face print’’ that can be matched

against a database or used to collect

statistics, such as by a retailer wanting to

know the demographic of its shoppers.

More than 20 nodal points,

based on facial features,

are selected. The distance

between nodal points is

then measured to produce a

matrix of numbers.

More than

400 metrics

are used to

interpret

gender, age

and mood.

WHAT THE TECHNOLOGY WILL BE USED FOR

Facial recognition is already in use at major airports

and there are plans for it to be used for public

surveillance to reduce crime and to improve border

security. Queensland’s new smart licences are

equipped with facial recognition. The technology is

also being used to improve customer service in the

retail sector. Future uses could see it used instead or

as well as a PIN number at ATMs to reduce fraud.

Computer software can assess the overall texture of skin to help determine

age. Can also detect moles and other features.

Cameras willfollow ourevery moodKelmeny FraserConsumer affairs

Face facts: John Anderson.Picture: Mark Cranitch

A GROUP of teenage girlsenter a shop. As they passthrough the doors, a camera isactivated.

Their images are not re-corded, but facial recognitionsoftware linked to the shop’scamera fires up, spitting out astream of interpretive data.

The girl on the left with thebraces is recorded as female,young and slightly sad. Thesmiling girl beside her rateshigh on the happy chart.

As the group moves aroundthe shop, the readings areused to change the digital in-store advertising to target theshoppers.

And the retailer at the endof the week has a concise setof demographic data of itsshoppers, with an accuracyrate of higher than 85 percent.

Sound like a vision forshopping in the future? It’salready in use and could sooncome to a store near you.

The brainchild behind thefacial recognition software isBrisbane-based firm Yeah-point, which has already at-tracted the attention of lead-ing top-five technology com-pany Toshiba, which this yearbought a 12 per cent stake.

Yeahpoint CEO JohnAnderson said the improvedreliability of facial recognitiontechnology had opened uppossibilities in retail.

‘‘It is now coming of ageand a cost where it is becom-ing commercially viable,’’ MrAnderson said.

One Yeahpoint applicationbeing trialled in New South

Wales can interpret the moodof shoppers as they moveabout a store.

Mathematical formulasbased on the distance be-tween and shape of facialfeatures are used to collectvaluable data, giving infor-mation about a shopper’sgender, mood and age.

Another application aboutto be rolled out in clothingoutlets across the country canbe used to help shopperschoose outfits.

The MiMirror terminal en-ables shoppers to try a seriesof outfits, save pictures ofeach and share them withfriends via Facebook forfeedback.

When the MiMirrorsession expires, usually after15 minutes, the images areerased from the system.

Facial recognition couldalso help shoppers avoid thedeli counter queue by using atouch-screen to make an or-der, which is then linked to aphotograph of their face.

Another camera at thecheckout scans faces to matchorders so they’re deliveredbefore it’s time to pay.

Crookstargetrich forscamsKay DibbenCrime

FOREIGN criminals havebeen caught with ‘‘target lists’’of Queensland scam victims,compiled from marketing in-formation bought from Aust-ralian companies.

Queensland fraud detec-tives are tracking down themultiple victims of a cell ofNigerian fraudsters who re-cently were arrested in Spain.

The Nigerian crooks werefound with target lists, includ-ing extensive details of Aust-ralians, purchased fromdatabase companies.

Superintendent Brian Hayof Queensland’s Fraud andCorporate Crime Group saidthe crooks in some cases posedas lawyers buying marketinglists ‘‘for charitable reasons’’.

‘‘Some of the lists I saw hadpeople’s age, earning potential,occupation, addresses, emailaddresses and phone num-bers,’’ he said.

Supt Hay said that in onecase lists of Australians overthe age of 50, with investmentportfolios worth more than$250,000, were wanted. Inanother case lists of seniormining industry executiveswere sought.

‘‘If they have informationabout a person’s occupation,age, earning capacity, invest-ment portfolio and demo-graphics, they can then see ifthe person is in a good or badarea by doing a Google search.

‘‘They then can go toFacebook and LinkedIn andprepare a dossier and developa story they know will appealto a person and send them anemail or letter or phone themto scam money.’’

Queensland University ofTechnology senior lecturer inbusiness Dr Larry Neale saidthere was a huge business inselling marketing lists, createdfrom personal informationprovided when people filled inlifestyle surveys, entered com-petitions or bought products.

thesundaymail.com.au 11NEWSthesundaymail.com.au SPECIAL INVESTIGATION