Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic organizers are confident that security for the games will run smoothly and effectively after unveiling a pioneering face-recognition ID system Tuesday.
The technology, which will be provided by NEC Corp. and used at the Olympics and Paralympics for the first time, allows athletes, officials and others accredited for the games access to restricted areas by identifying their faces, based on images previously collected and stored in a database.
Accredited individuals must hold a card containing a chip with their facial data up to a terminal at each security check point, while also looking into a camera to verify their identity. NEC says that the technology, which will not be used for spectators, performs facial recognition "immediately" and has an accuracy rate of more than 99 percent.