InsideJapan News Network

An electronics store in the Chiyoda district of Tokyo has installed a new camera system which logs and analyses the faces of visitors as part of a pilot security scheme.

The Hitachi-developed technology aims to identify criminals by matching their face against a database of logged security photos, reports the Daily Yomiuri.

Possible matches can be isolated by the system from a list of around 10,000 in less than a second with recognition accuracy of around 90 per cent.

Hitachi hopes that the trial will allow them to gauge the effect of practical variables such as lighting and positioning on the accuracy of the system.

Shigeru Hagiya, head engineer of Hitachi, said: "We also need to consider how we can protect individuals' privacy before it's rolled out widely."

Earlier this week, the Japanese government ratified Google's Street View utility as being in compliance with privacy laws, provided that the internet company takes measures to censor personal information from its imagery.

Written by Mark Smith


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