China customs use smart specs

SHENZHEN (深圳) customs offi cers are now equipped with intelligent spectacles hat have facial-recognition features powered by 5G, to inspect travellers crossing the boundary checkpoints.

The spectacles can recognise faces and highlight suspicious or high-risk travellers that need further inspection.

First used at the Shenzhen Bay Port (深圳灣口岸) checkpoint for two weeks, the spectacles proved to be useful in helping officers identify high-risk travellers. In one case, it helped officers detect multiple people who were smuggling expensive electronics.

When a high-risk traveller passes by a customs checkpoint, an offi cer wearing the spectacles will hear a siren emitting from the arms of the glasses, while a red frame will be projected around the face of the targeted traveller on the screen of a tablet. Officers will then stop them for enhanced body and luggage checks to prevent smuggling.

The name, travel documents and history of a person will also pop up to help customs seize and search these high-risk travellers.

Every day, around 600,000 people cross the boundary between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. The large cross-border traffic means Shenzhen customs face higher risks of smuggling and more difficulties in identifying these cases.

Shenzhen customs said the spectacles use 5G technology, which allows for an extremely rapid transmission of information, so that a smart camera and big data analysing tools can examine the information transmitted from its database

（This article is published on Junior Standard on 17 December 2019）

Facial recognition – Interpol

http：bit.ly/2Pc9o4F

Facial recognition technology:

pros and cons – Forbes

http：bit.ly/2PBv9tm