Innovative Technology, che fornisce una gamma di soluzioni biometriche progettate per stimare l’età, è stata approvata come partecipante ad un programma del governo britannico che pilota la tecnologia di verifica dell'età per la vendita al dettaglio di alcolici. Il Ministero dell'Interno ha invitato le organizzazioni a proporre metodi digitali per verificare l'età dei clienti durante l'acquisto di alcolici. La sperimentazione "Sandbox", che si svolgerà tra gennaio e maggio 2022, richiederà ancora l'intervento umano per controllare l'età dei clienti, ma la tecnologia sarà usata per aiutare i negozianti a rispettare la legge attualmente in vigore per evitare che l'alcol venga venduto ai minorenni.

Il Dr. Andrew O'Brien, Product Manager di ICU ha detto: "Siamo lieti di essere stati accettati nello schema Sandbox del governo Britannico e vedere che tutto il nostro duro lavoro intrapreso negli ultimi mesi è arrivato a compimento. Il nostro team ha collaborato con le autorità locali per le licenze, agenti di polizia locale e consigli comunali per garantire che la nostra soluzione (ICU) sia sicura, legale e soddisfi i criteri del sistema. La tecnologia di verifica dell'età ICU sarà ora sperimentata in diversi minimarket nel nord-ovest dell'Inghilterra, e noi monitoreremo da vicino i nostri siti di prova per assicurarci di sostenere i rivenditori e raccogliere i dati pertinenti per tutta la durata del test".

"ICU esegue la stima anonima dell'età completamente offline, quindi nessuna immagine o dato viene memorizzato,  mantenendo la privacy. Progettiamo e addestriamo i nostri algoritmi per controllare l'età e l'accuratezza della nostra soluzione è stata testata indipendentemente dall'Age Check Certification Service (ACCS) che ha scoperto che ICU sottostima l'età di soli 0,19 anni, il che stabilisce che ICU è il sistema testato indipendentemente più accurato al mondo".

Tony Allen, fondatore e amministratore delegato dell'ACCS ha detto: "Il software di analisi facciale utilizza essenzialmente diverse caratteristiche del viso di un cliente per valutare e stabilire la sua età. La tecnologia dietro il dispositivo di verifica dell'età ICU ha ottenuto un riconoscimento indipendente da parte dell'ACCS durante una serie di test di precisione che hanno avuto luogo nell'aprile 2021, concludendo che la loro soluzione è adatta all'implementazione in un'area secondo la policy “Challenge 25".

La prova “Sandbox” fornisce un'opportunità per gli standard industriali approvati dall'ACCS di essere testati in un ambiente piccolo e controllato. Verificherà l'uso pratico della tecnologia di verifica dell'età in situazioni del mondo reale per ottenere una migliore comprensione delle implicazioni.

Andrew ha continuato: "Un obiettivo fondamentale per noi durante questa prova è quello di capire l'impatto che tale tecnologia può avere nell'aiutare a ridurre qualsiasi potenziale abuso e aggressione diretta al personale che rifiuta di servire i clienti minorenni che tentano di acquistare alcolici. Noi crediamo che questo semplice strumento avrà un impatto significativo per supportare i negozianti nell'aderire alla 2003 Licensing Act che prevede la regolamentazione della vendita di alcolici nei locali. Dalle grandi catene di supermercati ai negozi all'angolo, ci siamo assicurati che il nostro prodotto sia accessibile a tutti con una semplice implementazione e con risorse minime richieste.

Inoltre, ICU non ha costi di transazione ricorrenti, non facciamo pagare per la stima dell'età rendendola una soluzione  efficace dal punto di vista dei costi".

L'anno scorso il British Retail Consortium (Consorzio Britannico del commercio al dettaglio) ha scritto al primo ministro Boris Johnson, evidenziando un aumento del 76% degli abusi al personale durante la pandemia e citando i controlli di identità come innesco di tali abusi.

Innovative Technology, who provide a range of biometric solutions designed to estimate age, have been approved as a participant in a UK Government programme piloting age verification technology for the retail sale of alcohol. The Home Office invited organisations to propose digital methods of checking customers’ ages while purchasing alcohol. The regulatory ‘Sandbox’ trial which will run between January and May 2022, will still require humans to check customers ages, but the technology will be used to help retailers abide by the law currently in place to prevent alcohol being mis-sold to anyone underage.

Dr. Andrew O’Brien, ICU Product Manager said, “We are delighted to be accepted into the UK Government Sandbox scheme and see all our hard work undertaken over the past few months come to fruition. Our team have liaised with local licensing authorities, local police officers and local councils to ensure our solution (ICU) is both safe, legal and meets the criteria of the scheme. ICU age verification technology will now be piloted in several convenience stores in the Northwest of England, and we will closely monitor our test sites to ensure we support the retailers’ and collate the relevant data throughout the trial.”

“ICU performs anonymous age estimation completely offline, so no images or data are stored, maintaining privacy. We design and train our own algorithms to check age and the accuracy of our solution has been independently tested by the Age Check Certification Service (ACCS) who found that it underestimates age by only 0.19 years, which establishes ICU as the most accurate independently tested system worldwide.”

Tony Allen, Founder and Chief Executive of ACCS said, “Facial analysis software essentially uses different features of a customer’s face to evaluate and establish their age. The technology behind the ICU age verification device earned independent recognition from the ACCS during a series of accuracy tests which took place in April 2021, concluding that their solution is fit for deployment in a Challenge 25 policy area.”

The Sandbox trial provides an opportunity for industry standards approved by the ACCS to be tested in a small, controlled environment. It will test the practical use of age verification technology in real world situations to gain a better understanding of the implications.

Andrew continued, “A core objective for us during this trial is to understand the impact such technology can have in helping to reduce any potential abuse and aggression directed at staff who refuse underage customers attempting to buy alcohol. We believe this simple tool will have a significant impact to support retailers in adhering to the 2003 Licensing Act. From large supermarket chains to corner shops, we have ensured our product is accessible for all with simple deployment and minimal resources required. Plus, ICU has no recurring transaction fees, we do not charge per age estimation making it a cost-effective solution.”

Last year, the British Retail Consortium wrote to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, highlighting a 76% rise in abuse to staff during the pandemic, and citing identity checks as a trigger point.

By Dr. Andrew O’Brien, ICU Product Manager

St Alban's Catholic Primary School in Warrington have successfully trialled our ICU Pro biometric solution, utilising it to automate staff access.

The system was implemented on a trial basis at the primary school last year in order to make entry to the school building quick, easy and safe for the teaching staff.  

It’s fantastic to see our facial analysis technology being used to ensure only authorised staff can gain access via a hygienic contactless entry system, keeping both staff and pupils safe in the school setting.

The headteacher valued how the entry system helped towards their COVID risk assessment as staff do not have to touch the keypad to gain access to the school. And teaching staff are finding the system convenient too as there is no need for them to try and locate their staff card especially when arriving with their hands full!

This trial was set up for staff access purposes only, so no images of pupils are saved or stored.

So how does it all work?

ICU developed by Innovative Technology uses facial analysis to control access to buildings.  Facial analysis is a non-contact form of biometrics which can be used to identify and allow access for authorised persons. It can be used to replace or enhance the use of RFID cards/keys etc.

The concept is very simple – authorised FaceIDs are first added to a database.   A FaceID is a very large number which is used to represent a real face.  A FaceID cannot be converted back into a real face and as such in this sense can be deemed anonymous.

A camera is connected to the ICU, which will acquire an image of the person attempting to gain access. It will convert that image to a FaceID and compare it with the authorised database.  If a match occurs, the person is authorised, and the door will automatically open.  If there is no match, then the door will not open.  All data related to that process is then automatically deleted.

All processing is done on the ICU hardware, therefore no internet connection is required.  The only data saved is that of the authorised FaceIDs, no other personal data or identifying data is stored.  No unauthorised images are ever stored on the device.

Interested to learn more and see how ICU can help with authorised access to your place of work? Visit https://www.intelligent-identification.com or email us at Questo indirizzo email è protetto dagli spambots. È necessario abilitare JavaScript per vederlo.

Innovative Technology have announced a new Business Development Manager for the UK.  The position has been filled internally by Chris Wright who has been with the cash handling business for 5 years. Chris previously held the role of technical support engineer and was promoted to a dedicated sales role at the start of the year.

Commenting on Chris’ promotion, Andy Bullock, Senior Business Development Manager said, “Since Chris joined ITL in 2017 he has gained extensive product knowledge and experience as a support engineer, as well as in-depth expertise in customer training, configuration and software installations. I have worked closely with Chris over the years during his time in customer support and I am delighted that he will be working with me, together taking responsibility for our gaming and retail customers in the UK. He is fantastic with customers; has great communication skills and really gets to know their requirements, so I am confident he will flourish in this new business development role where customer satisfaction is key. Although our traditional focus in the past has been cash handling for gaming and amusement, we are also now established in the retail and kiosk marketplace plus provide age verification and facial analysis solutions with many new products on the way - Chris will play a key role in furthering our market share in these exciting, ever-changing sectors.”

Commenting on his new role, Chris said, “I already know many of our customers from my five years working in technical support.  For the past year I have been doing a cross over dual technical support/sales role which has enabled me to get to know some of our key retail customers and gain a better understanding of their needs. I am looking forward to attending the retail focussed exhibitions that we have planned throughout the year and heading up the Retail Technology Show in London, which will allow me to meet our existing retail customer base and new clients too. I am keen to get started and look forward to working closely with Andy to ensure we offer our UK customers the best possible automated transaction products, to help them generate cost savings and efficiencies.”