When I wake up, one of the first things I usually do is go check my email. Sometimes my hair is a complete rat’s nest (picture a sleepy five year old), sometimes it’s piled on top of my head in a clip, and sometimes it looks nice because I actually showered and dressed first.

Now imagine if your computer could tell you that you couldn’t check anything until you look “right”?

I realize that isn’t quite what Toshiba is aiming to do with their new Facial Recognition Technology, but I can see where such a feature might be a good incentive to get “presentable” earlier…for me, at least.

picture courtesy of ICT Nuggets

Here’s how the Toshiba version will work:

The TOSHIBA Face Recognition software is a technology that harnesses the Satellite’s built-in Webcam to grant or deny access by quickly referencing a database of stored digital images of a registered user’s face. This database is created during a short setup process, where a user is prompted to move their head from side-to-side and up-and-down until their face has been adequately profiled with a series of still images.

The software also provides flexibility by allowing periodic image updates to ensure that the latest user photos are available in order to account for changes in a user’s physical appearance, such as the growing or shaving of a beard or mustache.

Do you think that this would be a good security feature? Or do you think that there are times when the computer wouldn’t even recognize you?

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