Industry News

Facial recognition to allow ticketless entry at a London stadium

An undisclosed London stadium is set to deploy facial recognition software to allow for ticketless entry via a partnership with AnyVision.

The system uses artificial intelligence to scan the whole face, rather than record only metrics, such as the distance between the eyes, nose, mouth and jawline.

Eylon Etshtein, the founder, has revealed that the technology “will be available at a London stadium this summer, but we can’t say where just yet,” according to the Evening Standard. 

Last month the Metropolitan police’s use of crowd-scanning facial recognition technology, which uses biometrics, was dropped by the Notting Hill Carnival for its 98 per cent “false positive” results.

Speaking at the Ifsec International Security Show at the ExCel in Newham, Etshtein reportedly dismissed concerns from campaigners about his technology being invasive, saying people were increasingly open to trading their privacy for convenience, according to the Evening Standard. In this case the scanners could help sports or music fans get to their seats quicker, he said.

Etshtein claims that cameras can get a reading up to three metres away in 0.3 seconds, adding that the chance of a false-positive was “once in a million”.

The software also comes with a “privacy mode” for operators to pixelate faces and bodies.

“People want seamless access to a stadium and for everything to be super-simple,” he said. “They want to enter without stopping, without waiting to scan a barcode or for the card reader to work. Using your face means no one can fake it.”

Image: AnyVision