Since facial recognition today has become extremely mainstream in new age smartphones, India has experimented its use on a completely different platform, the airports. In a very first initiative from India, facial recognition will be adopted in the Hyderabad airport to scan through travelers, providing them with a facility of paperless travel and avoiding identity checks at multiple points in an airport. And very soon, passengers flying from the Rajiv Gandhi Hyderabad International Airport will be free from the hassle of showing their tickets and ID cards at the airport.
Currently, in a testing stage, the authorities believe that facial recognition technology will provide faster and seamless check-ins, making it hassle-free and quicker than ever before for the passengers. The airport is currently testing the technology while running staff trials and is expected to be completed soon for the flyers to avail thereafter. In December 2018, the Aviation Ministry announced a DigiYatra platform, that facilitates paperless travel and avoids identity checks at multiple points in the airport and has been exploring the use of facial recognition technology in bustling airports with quick check-ins ever since. The ‘DigiYatra’ is an industry-led initiative co-ordinated by the Ministry in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India’s vision to transform the nation into a digitally empowered society.
How does it Work?
The facial recognition system will be installed at multiple checkpoints in the airport such as entry gate, security check, and aircraft boarding point. It will also be facilitated in the self-bag drop and check-in to identify the passengers. A passenger can enroll at the registration kiosk placed at the terminal entry for registering the passenger”s face ID along with specified government-issued photo Identification proof. The passenger has to then scan the boarding pass at the designated E-gate that will automatically verify the boarding pass information and map passenger”s face.
Below is the demo of the testing conducted at the Hyderabad airport:
Trials for facial recognition technology for faster and seamless check-in are underway at @RGIAHyd Checking in will soon be easier than ever before.#HyderabadAirport #RGIA #GMRRGIA #FacialRecognition @MoCA_GoI @sureshpprabhu @jayantsinha @HiHyderabad pic.twitter.com/R9dgc8WAGc
— RGIA Hyderabad (@RGIAHyd) March 26, 2019
Additionally, this also facilitates self-bag Drop and check-in, using facial recognition to identify passengers. The system will ease up the process and bring convenience to the passengers improving the overall customer experience. Hyderabad airport has already been using QR code based e-boarding for the past two years to bring a seamless and paperless journey for domestic passengers. If the testing goes successful, it may be the first in India to go live with such a facility. Other Indian airports such as Bengaluru, Kolkata, Pune, Varanasi, and Vijayawada are in talks to be rolling out similar schemes later in the year.
Well, now we agree that India is finally ready for taking the Digital world by a storm!
