Wednesday, January 04, 2012

Does Facial Recognition Software REALLY Pick Casino and Poker Cheats out of a Crowd?

Hypothetical Situation:

Yours truly, Richard Marcus, EX-casino cheat extraordinaire, decides to take a stroll through Caesars Palace casino in Las Vegas, which just happens to be my favorite casino of all-time where I made bundles of cash through a variety of casino-cheat moves.

As I am walking through the blackjack and roulette pit, I am suddenly accosted by two young and burly security guards who whisk me right off the casino floor and into the back room (security office). I am handcuffed to a chair, all the while screaming that I didn't do ANYTHING! Then I ask the head of casino surveillance, who rushed down from the eye-in-the-sky (the surveillance room with all the screen hosting images from the bubbled-up cameras covering the casino ceiling) to greet me.

I say, "How the hell did you recognize me? I haven't walked through here in fifteen years!" I have long since retired."

He says, "But you've heard of facial recognition technology, haven't you?

I nod, and he says, "IT recognized you."

Do I believe this?...that some gizmo software program can pick me out of a thousand-strong throng in a jam-packed casino?...that, according to some casino security experts, this facial-rec technology is so advanced that it could have ID'd me even if I'd had plastic surgery to purposely change my facial appearance?

In a short word, NO! I do not believe this. I believe that someone already believing he saw me can get an agreeing nod from the software. But this stuff about recognizing Richard Marcus in the blind...NO WAY, JOSE!