Face Recognition in 0.3 Seconds... "Meal Payment Completed Just by Looking"

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] "You don't carry your face anywhere. You can leave your employee ID or wallet behind, though." Park Siyoung, an employee of LG CNS's technology team, left this cryptic remark and entered the cafeteria. A long line had already formed at the serving counter. After grabbing a tray, Park stood in front of a device installed at the counter. When the camera recognized Park's face, a blue light turned on, and the screen displayed the message "Payment completed." It took only 0.3 seconds for Park to complete the payment. The lunch payment was finished instantly without any face-to-face contact.

◆ Face recognition and payment in just 0.3 seconds = On the 23rd during lunchtime at the LG CNS headquarters cafeteria in Magok, Seoul, employees held trays and showed their faces to the camera before receiving food. Shorter women leaned their bodies close to the camera or stood on tiptoes to have their faces recognized. This unusual scene is because LG CNS introduced a "facial recognition payment service" in the cafeteria.

On the 23rd, an LG CNS employee is ordering food using the 'facial recognition payment service' at the Magok headquarters cafeteria.

The facial recognition camera uses near-infrared scanning and a 3D camera to identify facial features. This information is transmitted in real-time to a cloud server, where artificial intelligence (AI) verifies whether the face matches the pre-registered employee's facial data. If it matches, money is deducted from the individual's linked account within the cloud system. An LGCNS official said, "Currently, it is used internally, but we plan to launch it in the B2B (business-to-business) market in the future."

Due to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), contactless services have gained popularity, and the facial recognition payment service market is also booming. According to the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information, the domestic facial recognition market size is expected to grow from 126 billion KRW in 2018 to 151.4 billion KRW in 2020. The unmanned payment kiosk market has also grown by 14% annually, expanding from 250 billion KRW in 2017 to 329.4 billion KRW last year.

◆ Experts say "Unmanned payment services are rapidly growing" = In line with this trend, domestic IT giants have entered the contactless ordering business since last year. These services allow ordering and payment without contact with staff in stores.

NHN operates a mobile unmanned ordering and payment service called "Payco Order." Stores that have adopted Payco Order do not require calling staff. Customers simply scan the QR code on the table, place their order, and make payment. This reduces the employment burden on store owners, and the number of franchise stores exceeded 10,000 as of December last year, with a monthly average growth rate of 140%. Naver's "Table Order" service, launched last year, is also gaining attention. A Naver official said, "The number of franchise stores is increasing every month, and we plan to continue expanding partnerships with large franchise stores."

Kakao is operating a beta version of its unmanned payment service "Chatbot Order" based on KakaoTalk in 247 stores. When visiting participating stores, customers enter menu items in the KakaoTalk chat window to order and pay. When the ordered menu is ready, KakaoTalk notifies the customer. A Kakao official stated, "The service is mainly provided in cafes, but there is interest in the food service industry as well."

Experts predict that the contactless ordering market will accelerate its growth due to COVID-19. Professor Lee Kyungwon of Dongguk University's Department of Economics said, "Until now, store owners wanted the service to reduce labor costs, but due to COVID-19, consumers also prefer contactless ordering, creating a situation where supply and demand align," adding, "The market growth rate will accelerate."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.