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 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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.”