Beijing KFC Uses Facial Recognition to Predict Food Orders
By Justine Lopez
Ordering fried chicken in Beijing just got a whole lot easier. (Not that it was all that difficult in the first place.) At one Beijing-based KFC you no longer even have to say your order out loud. A super high-tech facial recognition system will predict it for you by simply scanning your face, TechCrunch reports.
We’re not sure if this is really cool or really creepy.
The machine scans customers' faces to detect things like age, gender and facial expression. By analyzing these features and inferring a person's mood the system is said to be able to predict orders.
According to a Baidu press release, the technology will likely instruct a man in his early 20s to order “a set meal of crispy chicken hamburger, roasted chicken wings and Coke for lunch," whereas a woman in her 50s will be offered a “porridge and soybean milk for breakfast.”
Sounds a bit iffy if you ask us.
Once a customer has used the new ordering system a database will store previous orders in order to better predict ordering behavior during future visits.
“If the consumer visits the store again and takes a picture with the machine, it will be able to recognize his or her face and show the previous purchase history, remember the customer’s dining habits, and help to place an order faster,” said Wu Zhongqin, deputy director of the Institute of Deep Learning of Baidu Inc.
KFC has grand plans to roll out the AI technology to other stores around China in order to provide customers with a more exciting dining experience.
[Image via TechCrunch.com]
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