By Wang Xinxin
Recently, Guo Mingqi from KGI Securities pointed out that since the iPhone X adopted the TrueDepth camera and Face ID, Android manufacturers have begun to shift their focus from under-screen fingerprint recognition to 3D sensing technology, especially on Face ID.
Guo Mingqi noted in this research report that since the iPhone X adopted the TrueDepth camera and Face ID, inquiries from Android manufacturers about possible 3D sensing solutions have increased by at least more than two times.
As early as 2010, after Apple released the iPhone 4, they acquired the Swedish company Polar Rose, which had unique facial recognition technology. At that time, no one could have imagined that Apple would apply this technology to smartphones today. After acquiring PrimeSense, Apple has been continuously promoting the miniaturization of 3D sensors, increasing investment and patent layout.
From the perspective of this year’s iPhone X equipped with Face ID technology, Apple has been laying the groundwork for this technology for many years.
Replacing fingerprint recognition with Face ID, facial recognition will replace the past Touch ID as the only security encryption method on the iPhone X, marking Apple’s disruption with a new technology. The iPhone X has eight components installed in the notch at the top of the screen, including infrared lenses, flood illuminators, and dot projectors specifically for supporting Face ID.
We know that to ensure the security of facial recognition for identity verification, Apple employs 3D structured light technology. Through the front infrared camera and dot projector components, the iPhone X can quickly scan a person’s face and create 30,000 invisible IR dots on the facial surface, similar to 3D modeling. The accuracy of recognition is significantly higher.
Currently, it seems that Apple has sufficient technical confidence to replace fingerprint recognition with Face ID; otherwise, they would not proceed with this change.
The Application Scenarios of Face ID Extend More to Traditional Offline Industries: Apple May Seek Growth Space in the B-End Market
Essentially, facial recognition, fingerprint, palm print, and iris recognition are all biometric technologies with unique attributes. However, facial recognition has a broader range of applications, especially in offline scenarios involving identity verification, although the technical difficulty is much higher.
Although smartphones like Samsung S8 and Xiaomi Note 3 also have facial unlocking features, the difference is that the iPhone X’s facial recognition is 3D. With the support of 3D structured light dual cameras, every frame of data can reconstruct a complete 3D model, significantly enhancing the richness of information in the 3D reconstructed face compared to a 2D face, capturing all facial details very accurately. The structured light solution has its own light source, allowing it to work even in the dark, making recognition evidently more accurate.
Apple mentioned that Face ID data (including various mathematical representations of your face) will be encrypted and protected through the Secure Enclave. This data will be continuously optimized and updated during your use of Face ID (including when authentication is successful) to improve your experience. If Face ID detects a close match but the user subsequently unlocks the device by entering a password, it will also update this data.
Currently, manufacturers have two approaches to identity recognition technology: one is facial recognition, and the other is under-screen fingerprint recognition. The reason why Android manufacturers should follow up on Face ID technology is that the 3D sensing technology used is compatible with LCD screens, while under-screen fingerprint recognition systems are primarily suitable for OLED screens.
Currently, OLED screens are dominated by Samsung, and manufacturers are still constrained by supply chain capacity. Rapidly advancing the research and development of Face ID technology can break through the limitations of screens.
Moreover, Apple’s decision to use Face ID instead of supplementing fingerprint recognition may not be that simple. Many analysts previously believed that under-screen fingerprint recognition technology was immature, forcing Apple to adopt Face ID, considering it merely a transitional solution. However, the fact is that the application scenarios for Face ID are not limited to just unlocking the phone.
Firstly, the application scenarios for Face ID can extend to offline retail, catering, and supermarket face payment, as well as offline unlocking payment scenarios that require personal identity verification. If facial recognition can be used to monitor consumers, it would be highly sought after by retailers, and Apple could use Face ID to track user consumption behavior and patterns in their offline retail stores.
Secondly, airports, attendance systems, and financial security are already using facial recognition to establish data, with a substantial amount of facial modeling data and a wide range of application scenarios.
Thirdly, there is also potential for application expansion in less common fields such as banking, security, and transportation. Apple can penetrate these areas with its technology and influence. Apple’s Face ID technology means that the company has a facial recognition system capable of managing a vast amount of global user data and has the most hardware devices in the world for scanning and recognizing faces.
From the various scenarios above, we find that the potential for Face ID technology is more about penetrating traditional industries that are relatively distant from Apple’s online ecosystem and providing foundational technical support. This strategic direction suggests that Apple may seek new growth space in the B-end market across traditional offline industries.
The Threshold for 3D Modeling Has Been Lowered: Technical Dividends of AR, VR, and New Retail Industries
On the other hand, the integration of Face ID technology with VR and AR functions may bring about new applications. Apple’s 3D visual system is related to AR applications, 3D expression animations, and various experiences. The integration of Apple’s AI chip is also aimed at enhancing the intelligence of the 3D visual system.
Moreover, AR and VR inherently require modeling technology to describe interactive 3D objects and scenes, enabling interactions between various actions of people or animals and 3D models through a variety of sensors, large visual ranges, high-resolution screens, special lenses, and stereo audio.
For instance, Apple previously showcased the interesting Animoji application (3D dynamic emojis), and there are many interactive applications developed based on AR, including AR custom interactive products and AR custom games. In AR games, the facial data collected by the phone can be combined with the game character’s body, allowing consumers to interact closely with various game IPs, stimulating consumption and increasing user engagement and spending time. Therefore, the application of Face ID’s 3D modeling technology in the AR and VR fields is a natural progression.
In the past, 3D modeling was a high-threshold technical task, but with Face ID technology, it may mean that a simple photo can be used to create a 3D model of the objects in the photo, aided by appropriate curve connections to create three-dimensional graphics of real people, animals, and buildings—thus significantly lowering the barrier for 3D modeling.
Industry insiders have noted that the facial 3D models that once took designers several hours or even days to create can now be automatically generated in less than a second by simply pointing an iPhone X at oneself. In the VR field, there is currently a shortage of content. However, Apple tells you: just take your iPhone X, point it, and save the photo.
Ultimately, Face ID is not just a recognition tool; it is a door that Apple opens to the VR and AR world.
In the AR field, the relevant industrial chain, from underlying platforms and technologies, hardware, content, to industry applications, has been gradually developing. The process of developing AR applications on mobile devices has become standardized, allowing developers to focus less on the underlying implementation. Many AR games similar to Pokemon Go have already been developed, and Face ID technology has excellent support for AR/VR applications, which will encourage a large number of developers to enter the AR/XR gaming and application fields, allowing Apple to build an AR/VR application and game content platform.
Moreover, the three-dimensional data based on human faces can be applied to scenarios such as virtual fitting and medical aesthetics. Alibaba has previously made attempts in the VR/AR shopping field. If Face ID technology can enable online virtual fitting, it would enhance user purchasing experience and retention, providing significant technological benefits for various e-commerce giants.
Clearly, this is a trend. This year, Taobao has launched the AR Buy+ feature. As 3D modeling and AR technologies increasingly provide technical support for new retail layouts both online and offline, it indicates a certain commercial space and dividend behind it.
Time is Running Out for Android Manufacturers
It is worth mentioning that in the mobile payment field, Apple’s Face ID face payment is a disruption to the current fingerprint payment method, and it may be an effective way to break the homogenization competition in the current mobile payment market. Face ID could potentially enhance the share of Apple Pay in the mobile payment market.
Of course, Face ID also has significant negative implications regarding privacy and security. The possibility of unlocking a phone without permission will increase, as it only requires holding the phone up to the target’s face.
This brings Apple into a continuous game with government regulators, and it needs to seek a more transparent way to build and maintain user trust.
Face ID could be one of the key technologies that can drive multiple industries, and Android manufacturers should be alert, as Face ID may become a standard feature in flagship phones in the coming years. Proactively laying out Face ID technology can ensure that they do not fall behind in the competition for mobile payment and various future online and offline scenarios.
Earlier, analysts pointed out that since the 3D sensing system consists of structured light systems, time-of-flight systems, and front cameras, the structure is overly complex, resulting in a low yield rate of less than 10%. The production of the first one million iPhone X units had to be delayed until December. Overall, the time left for Android manufacturers is not much.
If Android manufacturers fall behind in the battle over 3D facial recognition and payment scenarios online and offline, this wave of technological dividends may be captured solely by Apple. For Apple’s Face ID technology this year, it should not be overestimated in the short term, but it cannot be underestimated in the long term.
To some extent, Apple’s technological layout essentially serves as a weapon to guide a product development trend and harvest industry dividends. Thus, Android manufacturers should quickly transition to the Face ID track to avoid missing the time window and losing the market dividends in this field and the first-mover advantage in the next round of scenario competition.
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Author: Wang Xinxin Tencent Technology’s Most Influential Self-Media of 2015 2016 Technology Self-Media Insight Star
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