Apple Face ID facial recognition system to use four sensors to create detailed 3D depth maps of your face

Noted KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has just published a detailed breakdown of the sensors and technology that will make up Apple’s Face ID sensor platform. Face ID is expected to debut in the upcoming, tenth anniversary iPhones. [caption id=“attachment_3877923” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Image Credit: Guilherme Rambo‏, Twitter[/caption] Face ID or Pearl ID, **depending on which leaked Apple firmware** you’re looking at, is supposed to be the name of Apple’s face detection biometric authentication technology. The sensors that make up this feature are meant to sit in a notch at the top of the phone. Given that Apple is supposed to be going for a bezel-less design with the upcoming iPhones, there’s no place for a Touch ID sensor on the front. The Face ID system is meant to replace Touch ID, at least on the front of the device. Samsung adopted a similar approach when it debuted the Galaxy S8, but Samsung’s face recognition tech employs a single camera, so it’s unsafe and easy to fool. The Iris scanning tech that Samsung uses is also inconvenient most of the time. Hopefully, Apple will do a better job with Face ID. Kuo claims that Apple’s Face ID system will use a total of four components to ensure fast, reliable and accurate facial recognition in any lighting conditions. These include a structured light transmitter, structured light receiver, front camera and a time of flight/proximity sensor, says Apple Insider. Apple Insider claims to have taken a close look at Kuo’s report. The structured light emitter is expected to send out an infra-red laser. The structured light sensor will detect the IR reflections when the beams bounce of your face. Together with the proximity sensor, which will apparently limit the distance of operation to between 50 and 100 cm, and front camera, a 3D image of your face will be created. Algorithms will then determine the authenticity of your face and unlock your phone. Apple Insider suggests that the structured light emitter will be made up of vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) arrays. Kuo suggests that to place these four components, an active alignment process will have to be used before assembly. In such a process, the alignment is “actively” adjusted based on errors introduced in the fabrication process. It’s also possible that the 3D mapping technology can be used to bring portrait mode to the front camera. After all, the portrait mode employed by mobile phones requires depth information, which the Face ID system should be able to provide. In total, Kuo expects that there will be five sensors in the front notch. From left to right, one can expect to find a structured light receiver, a proximity sensor, an ambient light sensor (in the centre of the notch), a front camera and a structured light emitter. The earpiece speaker will be present in the centre of the notch, below the ambient light sensor. Finally, the report adds that the front glass will have a black coating to better conceal the notch. The glass will be black regardless of the colour of the phone body.