RealNetworks launched a website today that allows schools in North America to download and implement its facial recognition software for free. The trial: Called SAFR, the tech is currently being tested at a school in Seattle that the kids of the founder, Rob Glaser, attend. A pilot program is also being planned for the state of Wyoming later this year. What it does: The program helps administrators monitor who is coming onto campus. For the trial in Seattle, parents of children at the school registered their faces with the software. They can unlock a gate at the school by smiling at a surveillance camera. The controversy: Glaser sees his software as a way to improve safety in schools without getting into the touchy subject of gun control legislation. But it’s likely to find itself in the middle of another hot-button debate, over whether face recognition tech needs to be regulated and perhaps reined in. “I personally agree you can overdo school surveillance,” Glaser told Wired. “But I also agree that, in a country where there have been so many tragic incidents in schools, technology that makes it easier to keep schools safer is fundamentally a good thing.”
RealNetworks is offering US schools free downloads and use of its SAFR facial recognition software, which is aimed at improving campus security and is being trialled at a school in Seattle. The software helps administrators to monitor those coming on to campus and lets parents who are registered on the system unlock a gate by smiling at a security camera. There are also plans to roll out a pilot programme in Wyoming today.