Apple’s iPhone X is currently the hot discussion in the world of technology. Most Android OEMs want their flagship offerings to sport some of the iPhone X’s flagship, especially the notched display. However, the facial recognition-based biometric verification has captured the fancy of manufacturers as well as users, and most of them have been implementing them using software tricks. However, none of them has been as good as Apple’s reliable FaceID, which is why several of them have been looking to bring in 3D facial recognition systems, albeit for a lesser price tag.
Renowned Apple special tipster Ming-Chi Kuo has written in one of his notes to AppleInsider that Huawei is working on a 3D facial recognition system. However, Huawei’s system will utilise cheaper Time of Flight (ToF) sensors which are also known to take lesser space than the ones that Apple uses in its TrueDepth system. The system will be ready for implementation in commercial smartphones by early 2019.
The ToF system generates depth maps by calculating the time it takes laser light to bounce off an object's surface and use the time difference to calculate the data. In contrast, Apple’s TrueDepth system utilises an infrared dot projector and an illuminator to light up the user’s face, which is captured by an infrared camera. Apple’s system relies on more sensors and therefore is expensive to manufacture.
Kuo goes on to claim that Apple could be considering the ToF setup for its FaceID on its 2019 flagship iPhone. The new system is expected to liberate more space inside the device and could result in the notch getting a tad smaller, liberating more real estate in the display.
Apple’s 2018 range of iPhones is expected to be launched at a price slightly lower than 2017’s iPhone X, where the cost reduction is expected to be credited to compromised internals.
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