MANILA, Philippines – Facial recognition technology reaches the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics as it will be used to identify athletes, officials and reporters entering game venues according to the Japan Times. 

The organizing committee will outsource the services to NEC Corp. – known to create one of the world’s most accurate systems – with its capacity to recognize individuals who have undergone cosmetic surgery and distinguish identical twins. 

While this system will not be implemented on the spectators, the committee still expects around 300,000 to 400,000 participants will be given these facial recognition-enabled ID cards, allowing the person’s face to be automatically scanned and analyzed against a registered photo.

Spectators will continue the same process of showing their tickets and undergoing baggage checks upon entry to the venue. 

Due to concerns of terrorism, this new approach aims to strengthen security by preventing the misuse of IDs, including the borrowing and lending of the ID cards. It will also be vital in bolstering the efficiency of the games as it will speed up queueing and prevent logistical delays. 

The technology is not new to the 2020 Summer Olympics as it has already been tested during the 2016 Rio Olympics in managing the entry of registered media personnel to the Japan House information center.

Tokyo Haneda International Airport has been utiltizing facial recognition technology since October 2017 that sped up the immigration process for Japanese citiizens. The technology will also be launched in the Narita, Chubu and Kansai International airports in 2018. 

The tech trend is more popular in the Face ID feature of the Iphone X – Apple’s newest and most advanced Iphone. (WATCH: Meet the iPhone X) – Rappler.com