JP7733889B2 - Facial recognition method, facial recognition system, program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a facial recognition method, a facial recognition system, a program, and a recording medium.

Conventionally, a facial authentication system that performs authentication based on facial data is known, which performs identity authentication by comparing input facial data with pre-registered facial data (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

The facial recognition system described in Patent Document 1 authenticates a target person using an image of the face portion in an image captured by a camera. In addition, the facial recognition system described in Patent Document 2, for example, when four facial images are registered, two are designated as facial patterns for ensuring accuracy, one is designated as a facial pattern for absorbing disturbance components, and one is designated as a facial pattern to be updated. When a new facial pattern is registered, the facial pattern to be updated that has the second-lowest similarity to the newly registered facial pattern is deleted from the four pre-registered facial patterns. In other words, by leaving the facial pattern for absorbing disturbance components that has the lowest similarity to the newly registered facial pattern, facial recognition adapts to environmental variations.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2019-197426 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-72540

When a visitor makes an appointment to visit an office staff member in the office, it would be convenient if facial recognition could be used to automatically notify the office staff member that the visitor has arrived at the office, but until now, no such system has existed.

The present invention was made with these points in mind, and aims to provide a highly convenient facial recognition method, facial recognition system, program, and recording medium that utilizes facial recognition to automatically notify office staff that a visitor has arrived at the office.

The face authentication method of the present invention includes:
A face recognition method performed by a face recognition system,
When the visitor information is registered in advance before the visitor visits the office for the first time, and the visitor information includes at least information related to the date and time of the visitor's visit to the office, the visitor's name, and the visitor's email address, the face authentication system sends an email containing initial registration setting information to the visitor's email address included in the visitor information;
When the face authentication system receives visitor registration information including information about the visitor's facial image, the face authentication system records the received visitor registration information in the face authentication system, and the face authentication system transmits registration completion information to a user terminal of an office employee;
When the facial authentication system receives information about a face image of a visitor captured by an imaging device installed at the entrance of the office, the facial authentication system compares the information about the face image of the visitor captured by the imaging device with recorded information about the face image of the visitor, and also compares the date and time when the face image of the visitor was captured by the imaging device with the date and time when the visitor will visit the office that has been registered in advance, thereby authenticating the visitor;
When the visitor is authenticated by the face authentication system, the face authentication system transmits visitor notification information to a user terminal of an office employee;
It is equipped with:

The face authentication system of the present invention comprises:
a visitor information receiving means for receiving visitor information including at least information relating to the date and time when the visitor will visit the office, the visitor's name, and the visitor's email address when the visitor registers the visitor information in advance before the visitor visits the office for the first time;
an initial registration setting information sending means for sending an email containing initial registration setting information to the email address of the visitor included in the visitor information received by the visitor information receiving means;
a visitor registration information receiving means for receiving visitor registration information including information relating to a face image of the visitor;
a face recognition cloud that records the visitor registration information received by the visitor registration information receiving means;
a registration completion information sending means for sending registration completion information to a user terminal of an office employee when the visitor's registration information is recorded in the face recognition cloud;
an authentication means for receiving information about a face image of a visitor captured by an imaging device installed at the entrance of the office, and for authenticating the visitor by comparing the information about the face image of the visitor captured by the imaging device with information about the face image of the visitor recorded in the face recognition cloud, and by comparing the date and time when the face image of the visitor was captured by the imaging device with the date and time when the visitor will visit the office that has been registered in advance;
a visitor notification information transmitting means for transmitting visitor notification information to a user terminal of an office employee when the visitor has been authenticated;
It is equipped with:

The program of the present invention is
A program executed by a processor of a face authentication system,
When the processor executes the program,
When the visitor information is registered in advance before the visitor visits the office for the first time, and the visitor information includes at least information related to the date and time of the visitor's visit to the office, the visitor's name, and the visitor's email address, the face authentication system sends an email containing initial registration setting information to the visitor's email address included in the visitor information;
When the face authentication system receives visitor registration information including information about the visitor's facial image, the face authentication system records the received visitor registration information in the face authentication system, and the face authentication system transmits registration completion information to a user terminal of an office employee;
When the facial authentication system receives information about a face image of a visitor captured by an imaging device installed at the entrance of the office, the facial authentication system compares the information about the face image of the visitor captured by the imaging device with recorded information about the face image of the visitor, and also compares the date and time when the face image of the visitor was captured by the imaging device with the date and time when the visitor will visit the office that has been registered in advance, thereby authenticating the visitor;
When the visitor is authenticated by the face authentication system, the face authentication system transmits visitor notification information to a user terminal of an office employee;
will be carried out.

The recording medium of the present invention comprises:
A recording medium on which a program executed by a processor of a face authentication system is recorded,
When the processor executes the program,
When the visitor information is registered in advance before the visitor visits the office for the first time, and the visitor information includes at least information related to the date and time of the visitor's visit to the office, the visitor's name, and the visitor's email address, the face authentication system sends an email containing initial registration setting information to the visitor's email address included in the visitor information;
When the face authentication system receives visitor registration information including information about the visitor's facial image, the face authentication system records the received visitor registration information in the face authentication system, and the face authentication system transmits registration completion information to a user terminal of an office employee;
When the facial authentication system receives information about a face image of a visitor captured by an imaging device installed at the entrance of the office, the facial authentication system compares the information about the face image of the visitor captured by the imaging device with recorded information about the face image of the visitor, and also compares the date and time when the face image of the visitor was captured by the imaging device with the date and time when the visitor will visit the office that has been registered in advance, thereby authenticating the visitor;
When the visitor is authenticated by the face authentication system, the face authentication system transmits visitor notification information to a user terminal of an office employee;
will be carried out.

The facial recognition method, program, recording medium, and facial recognition system of the present invention utilize facial recognition to automatically notify office staff that a visitor has arrived at the office, thereby increasing convenience.

1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic diagram of a face authentication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing information exchange when visitor information is registered in advance before the visitor visits the office for the first time in the face authentication system shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing information exchange when a visitor visits the office for the first time in the face authentication system shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing information exchange when a visitor visits the office for the second or subsequent time in the face authentication system shown in FIG.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. Figures 1 to 4 show a face authentication system according to this embodiment and a face authentication method using such a face authentication system.

The facial authentication system 10 and facial authentication method according to this embodiment authenticate the face of a visitor when the visitor arrives at the office, and then automatically notifies an office employee that the visitor has arrived at the office entrance. Note that, in this invention, the office entrance is not limited to the entrance of the office itself on each floor of the building, but also includes the general reception desk of the building in which the office is located (generally a reception desk located on the first floor or a lower floor of the building).

As shown in FIG. 1, the facial authentication system 10 according to this embodiment includes an office reception system 12 and a facial authentication cloud 14. An imaging device 40, such as a PC tablet, is installed at the office entrance, allowing facial images of visitors to be captured by the imaging device 40. The office reception system 12 notifies an office employee that the visitor has arrived at the office by performing authentication using the facial image of the visitor captured by the imaging device 40. The facial authentication cloud 14 stores visitor registration information, including information related to the features of the pre-registered facial image of the visitor. The facial authentication system 10 and the imaging device 40 are communicatively connected via a network such as the Internet. A user terminal 30, such as a smartphone carried by the visitor, and a user terminal 20, such as a smartphone carried by the office employee, are each communicatively connected to the facial authentication system 10 via a network such as the Internet. While FIG. 1 illustrates smartphones as the office employee's user terminal 20 and the visitor's user terminal 30, the present invention is not limited to such an example. Other devices such as laptops or desktop computers may be used as the office employee's user terminal 20 and the visitor's user terminal 30. Furthermore, the office employee's user terminal 20 and the visitor's user terminal 30 may be smartphones or other devices that are personally owned, or may be smartphones or other devices loaned by the company.

The office reception system 12 of the facial recognition system 10 is composed of, for example, a computer, and has a processor 12a such as a CPU, and memory 12b (recording medium) that stores programs. The processor 12a executes the programs stored in memory 12b to perform various processes described below. Note that the programs executed by the processor 12a are not limited to those stored in memory 12b. The various processes described below may also be performed by the processor 12a executing a program transmitted to the facial recognition system 10 from an external device or a program stored on a recording medium that is detachably attached to the facial recognition system 10.

Next, the processing steps performed when authenticating a visitor using the face authentication system 10 configured as described above will be explained using Figures 2 to 4.

First, the process of registering visitor information in advance before a visitor visits the office for the first time in the face authentication system 10 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 2. The office employee installs an office reception service program or application on the user terminal 20 in advance. Such a program or application allows the office employee to register visitors. Specifically, once the date, time, and number of visitors are confirmed between the office employee and the visitor via telephone, email, chat, conversation app, or the like, the office employee executes the office reception service program or application on their user terminal 20 and enters the visitor information. Note that the office employee may also register visitors when reserving a conference room using the company's conference room reservation system, rather than using the installed office reception service program or application. Specifically, the functions of accepting visitor visits, registering internal attendees, and reserving conference rooms are linked to a calendar tool used in a system such as Microsoft Office (registered trademark). Possible calendar tools include Outlook (registered trademark) and Gmail (registered trademark). The visitor information entered by the office staff into the user terminal 20 includes information such as the date and time the visitor will visit the office, the visitor's company name, the visitor's name, the visitor's email address, and the number of people visiting the office. In the present invention, the visitor information only needs to include information relating to at least the date and time the visitor will visit the office, the visitor's name, and the visitor's email address.

When an office employee inputs visitor information into the user terminal 20, the input visitor information is sent from the user terminal 20 to the office reception system 12 of the facial authentication system 10 ((1) in Figure 2). The processor 12a of the office reception system 12 receives the visitor information from the user terminal 20 using the visitor information receiving means 50 and stores identification information using an email address or other key. The processor 12a of the office reception system 12 then automatically sends an email containing initial registration setting information to the email address of the visitor included in the visitor information using the initial registration setting information sending means 52 ((2) in Figure 2). The initial registration setting information included in the email includes download information such as a URL for downloading the facial authentication app or a two-dimensional barcode. The email automatically sent by the processor 12a of the office reception system 12 may also include an explanation of the process leading up to the day of the office visit. Additionally, when an office employee reserves a conference room using the company's conference room reservation system, when sending an email to a visitor, they will also notify themselves and other company attendees of their plans by email, etc., and reserve the conference room using the conference room reservation system.

When a visitor receives the email automatically sent by the processor 12a of the office reception system 12 on the user terminal 30, the visitor installs the facial recognition app on the user terminal 30 based on the initial registration setup information contained in the email, specifically, the URL information for downloading the facial recognition app. Alternatively, if the email contains a two-dimensional barcode for download, the visitor installs the facial recognition app on the user terminal 30 by scanning the two-dimensional barcode displayed on the computer screen with the smartphone camera. Once such a facial recognition app is installed on the user terminal 30, the visitor can enter registration information in the facial recognition app. Specifically, the visitor can use the facial recognition app to set up use of the office reception service. When setting up use of the office reception service, the visitor enters registration information such as their name, date of birth, gender, email address, telephone number, and password on the user terminal 30. Furthermore, when setting up use of the office reception service, the visitor enters information indicating their agreement to the terms of use of the office reception service. Note that the setting up of use of the office reception service described above may be performed using the facial recognition app or separately from the facial recognition app. Additionally, the visitor uses the facial recognition app to capture an image of their own face with the camera on the user terminal 30. As a result, facial image data of the visitor is obtained by the user terminal 30.

When a visitor registers for the office reception service using the user terminal 30, the registration information entered by the visitor is sent from the user terminal 30 to the face authentication cloud 14 of the face authentication system 10 ((3) in Figure 2). At this time, identification information is linked to the registration information. Specifically, information entered by the visitor, such as the visitor's name, date of birth, gender, email address, telephone number, password, and facial image data, is sent from the user terminal 30 to the face authentication cloud 14 of the face authentication system 10. The face authentication cloud 14 extracts a hash value using a predetermined hash function based on the facial image data sent from the user terminal 30. This hash value is used as a feature of the visitor's facial image. The face authentication cloud 14 also assigns identification information (e.g., an identification number) to the visitor. Information such as the visitor's name, date of birth, gender, email address, telephone number, and password, as well as information related to the feature of the visitor's facial image, is then associated with the visitor's identification information and recorded in the face authentication cloud 14.

In addition, the visitor's identification information assigned by the facial recognition cloud 14, information related to the visitor's name, and other information is sent to the office reception system 12 ((4) in Figure 2). At this time, the identification information is used as a key to match and update the visitor information sent in (1) in Figure 2. In the memory 12b of the office reception system 12, information such as the name of the office employee who registered, the visitor's name, and the date and time the visitor will visit the office is associated with the visitor's identification information and recorded by the recording means 56. Thereafter, registration completion information is sent from the office reception system 12 to the office employee's user terminal 20 by the registration completion information sending means 58 ((5) in Figure 2). As a result, information indicating that the visitor's face registration has been completed is displayed on the office employee's user terminal 20 (for example, a push notification is displayed if the user terminal 20 is a smartphone).

Then, when the office employee runs the office reception service program or application on the user terminal 20 and taps the date and time when the visitor they registered will visit the office, the visitor's name is displayed on the user terminal 20. When the office employee then further taps the visitor's name displayed on the user terminal 20, confirmation information is sent from the office employee's user terminal 20 to the office reception system 12 ((6) in Figure 2). The processor 12a of the office reception system 12 receives the confirmation information from the office employee's user terminal 20 via the confirmation information receiving means 60. The processor 12a then sends reservation completion information to the visitor's user terminal 30 via the reservation completion information sending means 62 ((7) in Figure 2). This causes a push notification to be sent to the visitor's user terminal 30, containing a reservation completion message and information regarding the date and time the visitor will visit the office. In this way, the process of pre-registering visitor information before the visitor's first visit to the office is completed. After the reservation completion message and information regarding the date and time the visitor will visit the office are push-notified to the visitor's user terminal 30, the visitor may be able to input a confirmation of receipt of the reservation completion message by running a facial recognition app on the user terminal 30. In this case, information regarding the confirmation of receipt of the reservation completion message is sent from the visitor's user terminal 30 to the facial recognition system 10. Then, the processor 12a of the office reception system 12 of the facial recognition system 10 sends information to the office employee's user terminal 20 that the visitor has confirmed receipt of the reservation completion message. This allows the office employee to confirm that the visitor has received the reservation completion message.

Next, the processing details when a visitor visits an office for the first time in the facial authentication system 10 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figure 3. When the visitor arrives at the office entrance, the visitor taps the facial authentication button on the screen of an imaging device 40, such as a PC tablet, located at the entrance. Then, when the visitor holds his or her face over the imaging device 40, the camera of the imaging device 40 captures an image of the visitor's face. Note that the visitor may also be able to capture an image of the visitor's face simply by holding his or her face over the imaging device 40, without having to operate the imaging device 40. The imaging device 40 extracts a hash value using a predetermined hash function based on the facial image data of the visitor captured by the camera. This hash value is used as a feature of the visitor's facial image.

As described above, when the visitor's face is captured by the camera of the imaging device 40, information related to the features of the visitor's facial image is transmitted from the imaging device 40 to the face recognition cloud 14 of the face recognition system 10 ((1) in Figure 3). In addition, information related to the date and time when the visitor's facial image was captured by the imaging device 40 (hereinafter also referred to as the image capture date and time) is also transmitted from the imaging device 40 to the face recognition cloud 14 of the face recognition system 10.

When the facial recognition cloud 14 of the facial recognition system 10 receives information related to the features of the visitor's facial image from the imaging device 40, it compares the features of the visitor's facial image received from the imaging device 40 with the features of the visitor's facial image recorded in the facial recognition cloud 14. If the features of the visitor's facial image received from the imaging device 40 substantially match the features of the visitor's facial image recorded in the facial recognition cloud 14, the visitor's name, visitor identification information, and information related to the date and time of image capture are transmitted from the facial recognition cloud 14 to the office reception system 12 ((2) in Figure 3). Note that if the features of the visitor's facial image received from the imaging device 40 do not substantially match the features of the visitor's facial image recorded in the facial recognition cloud 14, no further processing is performed. Furthermore, if the feature values of the visitor's facial image do not substantially match the feature values of the visitor's facial image recorded in the face recognition cloud 14 even after the imaging device 40 has captured the visitor's facial image a certain number of times, a designated department of the company (for example, the general affairs department) may be notified, or a normal call may be made using a call phone installed at the entrance. This makes it possible to handle situations where a visitor visits the office for a job interview or a delivery person visits the office.

The processor 12a of the office reception system 12 compares the visitor's name, visitor's identification information, and image capture date and time sent from the facial recognition cloud 14 with the visitor's name, visitor's identification information, and the date and time of the visitor's office visit recorded in memory 12b. If the visitor's name, visitor's identification information, and image capture date and time sent from the facial recognition cloud 14 substantially match the visitor's name, visitor's identification information, and the date and time of the visitor's office visit recorded in memory 12b, the processor 12a of the office reception system 12 authenticates the visitor using the authentication means 64. Once the visitor is authenticated by the authentication means 64, the processor 12a of the office reception system 12 transmits visitor notification information to the office employee's user terminal 20 via the visitor notification information transmission means 66 ((3) in Figure 3). Additionally, once the visitor is authenticated by the authentication means 64, the visitor's name and a message such as "Welcome, Mr./Ms. XX" may be displayed on the monitor of the imaging device 40.

Note that "the features of the visitor's facial image approximately match" refers to, for example, when the match rate between the features of the visitor's facial image received from the imaging device 40 and the features of the visitor's facial image recorded in the facial recognition cloud 14 exceeds a predetermined threshold (e.g., 80%). Furthermore, "the date and time of image capture by the imaging device 40 approximately matches the date and time the visitor visits the office" refers to the difference between the date and time the visitor's facial image was captured by the imaging device 40 and the date and time the visitor visits the office, which is recorded in memory 12b of the office reception system 12, being within a predetermined time (e.g., 3 hours).

When the processor 12a of the office reception system 12 sends the visitor notification information to the office employee's user terminal 20 via the visitor notification information sending means 66, an email containing the visitor notification information may be sent to the office employee's user terminal 20. Alternatively, the visitor notification information may be displayed by an office reception service program or application installed on the office employee's user terminal 20. When the office employee receives the visitor notification information from the office reception system 12, they go to the office entrance to greet the visitor. In this way, processing for a visitor's first office visit in the facial authentication system 10 is completed. Note that if the office employee has reserved a conference room in the office for a meeting with the visitor, entry to the conference room may be enabled by performing facial authentication of the office employee or visitor at a specified time (specifically, a time within a specified range from the time the visitor arrives at the office, as recorded in the memory 12b of the office reception system 12).

Next, the processing performed by the face authentication system 10 according to this embodiment when a visitor visits the office for the second or subsequent time will be explained using Figure 4.

Once the date, time, and number of visitors are confirmed between the office employee and the visitor via telephone, email, chat, conversation app, etc., the office employee runs the office reception service program or application on their user terminal 20 and enters visitor information. The visitor information entered by the office employee into the user terminal 20 includes information such as the date and time the visitor will visit the office, the visitor's company name, the visitor's name, the number of people visiting the office, and previously set visitor identification information. Note that if the office employee registers visitor information for the first time, the registered visitor may be called using a call function without having to enter the company name or name. Specifically, a list of visitor names from previously registered visitor information is displayed, allowing the user to select a name by tapping it. Furthermore, when the office employee enters part of the visitor's name, a suggestion function may be used to display previously registered visitor names.

When visitor information is entered into the user terminal 20 by an office employee, this entered visitor information is sent from the user terminal 20 to the office reception system 12 of the face authentication system 10 ((1) in Figure 4). The processor 12a of the office reception system 12 accepts the visitor information from the office employee's user terminal 20 via the visitor information acceptance means 50. This accepted visitor information is recorded in the memory 12b of the office reception system 12. The processor 12a of the office reception system 12 then sends reservation completion information to the visitor's user terminal 30 via the reservation completion information transmission means 62 ((2) in Figure 4). As a result, a reservation completion message and information regarding the date and time the visitor will visit the office are push-notified to the visitor's user terminal 30.

When the visitor then arrives at the office entrance, he or she taps the face recognition button on the screen of an imaging device 40, such as a PC tablet, located at the entrance. When the visitor holds their face over the imaging device 40, the camera of the imaging device 40 captures an image of the visitor's face. As mentioned above, the visitor may be able to capture an image of the visitor's face simply by holding their face over the imaging device 40, without having to operate the imaging device 40. The imaging device 40 extracts a hash value using a predetermined hash function based on the facial image data of the visitor captured by the camera. This hash value is used as a feature of the visitor's facial image.

When the visitor's face is captured by the camera of the imaging device 40, information related to the features of the visitor's facial image is sent from the imaging device 40 to the face recognition cloud 14 of the face recognition system 10 ((3) in Figure 4). Information related to the date and time of the image capture is also sent from the imaging device 40 to the face recognition cloud 14 of the face recognition system 10.

When the facial recognition cloud 14 of the facial recognition system 10 receives information related to the features of the visitor's facial image from the imaging device 40, it compares the features of the visitor's facial image received from the imaging device 40 with the features of the visitor's facial image recorded in the facial recognition cloud 14. If the features of the visitor's facial image received from the imaging device 40 substantially match the features of the visitor's facial image recorded in the facial recognition cloud 14, the visitor's name, visitor's identification information, and information related to the date and time of the image capture are sent from the facial recognition cloud 14 to the office reception system 12 ((4) in Figure 4).

The processor 12a of the office reception system 12 compares the visitor's name, visitor's identification information, and image capture date and time sent from the facial recognition cloud 14 with the visitor's name, visitor's identification information, and the date and time of the visitor's visit to the office recorded in memory 12b. If the visitor's name, visitor's identification information, and image capture date and time sent from the facial recognition cloud 14 approximately match the visitor's name, visitor's identification information, and the date and time of the visitor's visit to the office recorded in memory 12b, the processor 12a of the office reception system 12 authenticates the visitor using the authentication means 64. Once the visitor is authenticated by the authentication means 64, the processor 12a of the office reception system 12 transmits visitor notification information to the office employee's user terminal 20 using the visitor notification information transmission means 66 ((5) in Figure 4). Furthermore, as described above, when the visitor is authenticated by the authentication means 64, the visitor's name and a message such as "Welcome, Mr./Ms. XX" may be displayed on the monitor of the imaging device 40.

When the processor 12a of the office reception system 12 sends the visitor notification information to the office employee's user terminal 20 via the visitor notification information sending means 66, an email containing the visitor notification information may be sent to the office employee's user terminal 20. Alternatively, the visitor notification information may be displayed by an office reception service program or application installed on the office employee's user terminal 20. When the office employee receives the visitor notification information from the office reception system 12, they go to the office entrance to greet the visitor. In this way, processing for the visitor's second or subsequent visits to the office is completed in the face authentication system 10.

According to the facial authentication method performed by facial authentication system 10 according to the present embodiment and configured as described above, when visitor information is registered in advance before a visitor visits the office for the first time, facial authentication system 10 receives visitor information including at least information related to the date and time the visitor will visit the office, the visitor's name, and the visitor's email address. Then, facial authentication system 10 sends an email containing initial registration setup information to the visitor's email address included in the visitor information. Furthermore, when facial authentication system 10 receives visitor registration information including information related to the visitor's facial image, it records the received visitor registration information in facial authentication system 10, and sends registration completion information to the office employee's user terminal. When facial authentication system 10 receives information about a visitor's facial image captured by imaging device 40 installed at the office entrance, facial authentication system 10 compares the information about the visitor's facial image captured by imaging device 40 with recorded information about the visitor's facial image, and also compares the date and time the visitor's facial image was captured by imaging device 40 with the pre-registered date and time the visitor will visit the office, thereby authenticating the visitor. Once the visitor is authenticated by facial authentication system 10, facial authentication system 10 sends visitor notification information to the office employee's user terminal 20. This facial authentication method utilizes facial authentication to automatically notify office employees that a visitor has arrived at the office, thereby improving convenience.

Furthermore, according to the facial recognition method of this embodiment, when a visitor registers visitor information in advance before visiting the office for the first time, the facial recognition system 10 sends registration completion information to the office employee's user terminal 20, and then, when the facial recognition system 10 receives confirmation information, it sends reservation completion information to the visitor's user terminal 30. In this case, by sending the reservation completion information to the visitor's user terminal 30, the visitor can reliably recognize that a visit to the office has been booked.

Furthermore, according to the facial authentication method of this embodiment, when the facial authentication system 10 sends an email containing initial registration setting information to the visitor's email address included in the visitor information, the initial registration setting information included in the email contains information necessary for downloading the facial authentication app (e.g., download URL information and two-dimensional barcode information), and the visitor's registration information, including information about the visitor's facial image, is sent to the facial authentication system 10 by the facial authentication app. In this case, by downloading the facial authentication app to the user terminal 30, the visitor can use the facial authentication app to send the visitor's registration information, including information about the visitor's facial image, to the facial authentication system 10.

Furthermore, according to the facial recognition method of this embodiment, when a visitor visits the office for the second or subsequent time, if the facial recognition system 10 receives visitor information including at least the date and time of the visitor's visit to the office and the visitor's name, the facial recognition system 10 sends reservation completion information to the visitor's user terminal. In this case, when the visitor visits the office for the second or subsequent time, the visitor can make a reservation for a visit to the office in a simple manner.

Furthermore, the facial recognition system 10 according to this embodiment includes a visitor information receiving means 50 that receives visitor information including at least information related to the date and time the visitor will visit the office, the visitor's name, and the visitor's email address when the visitor registers visitor information in advance before the visitor visits the office for the first time; an initial registration setting information sending means 52 that sends an email containing initial registration setting information to the visitor's email address included in the visitor information received by the visitor information receiving means 50; a visitor registration information receiving means 54 that receives visitor registration information including information related to the visitor's facial image; a facial recognition cloud 14 that records the visitor registration information received by the visitor registration information receiving means 54; and a facial recognition system 15 that stores the visitor registration information received by the visitor registration information receiving means 54. The system is equipped with a registration completion information sending means 58 that sends registration completion information to the office employee's user terminal when the visitor's face is recorded in the facial recognition cloud 14; an authentication means 64 that, upon receiving information about a visitor's facial image captured by an imaging device 40 installed at the office entrance, compares the information about the visitor's facial image captured by the imaging device 40 with the information about the visitor's facial image recorded in the facial recognition cloud 14 and authenticates the visitor by comparing the date and time the visitor's facial image was captured by the imaging device 40 with the pre-registered date and time the visitor will visit the office; and a visitor notification information sending means 66 that, once the visitor is authenticated, sends visitor notification information to the office employee's user terminal. This facial recognition system 10 can automatically notify office employees that a visitor has arrived at the office, thereby improving convenience.

In addition, this embodiment uses a program executed by processor 12a for performing a facial authentication method using facial authentication system 10, and a recording medium on which this program is recorded. Here, when visitor information is registered in advance before a visitor visits the office for the first time, by processor 12a executing the program, facial authentication system 10 receives visitor information including at least information related to the date and time the visitor will visit the office, the visitor's name, and the visitor's email address. Then, facial authentication system 10 sends an email containing initial registration setting information to the visitor's email address included in the visitor information. Furthermore, when facial authentication system 10 receives visitor registration information including information related to the visitor's facial image, it records the received visitor registration information in facial authentication system 10, and also sends registration completion information to the office employee's user terminal. When facial authentication system 10 receives information about a visitor's facial image captured by imaging device 40 installed at the office entrance, facial authentication system 10 compares the information about the visitor's facial image captured by imaging device 40 with recorded information about the visitor's facial image, and also compares the date and time the visitor's facial image was captured by imaging device 40 with the pre-registered date and time the visitor will visit the office, thereby authenticating the visitor. Once the visitor is authenticated by facial authentication system 10, facial authentication system 10 sends visitor notification information to the office employee's user terminal 20. Such a program and recording medium can utilize facial authentication to automatically notify office employees that a visitor has arrived at the office, thereby improving convenience.

Note that the face recognition method and face recognition system according to the present invention are not limited to the above-described aspects, and various modifications can be made.

For example, in the above description, the imaging device 40 extracts a hash value using a predetermined hash function based on the facial image data of the visitor captured by the camera, and uses this hash value as a feature of the visitor's facial image. The feature of the visitor's facial image is then transmitted from the imaging device 40 to the face recognition cloud 14 of the face recognition system 10. However, in another aspect, the facial image data of the visitor captured by the imaging device 40 may be transmitted directly from the imaging device 40 to the face recognition cloud 14 of the face recognition system 10. In this case, the face recognition cloud 14 extracts a hash value using a predetermined hash function based on the facial image data of the visitor transmitted from the imaging device 40, and uses this hash value as a feature of the visitor's facial image.

In another embodiment, the facial recognition app used on the visitor's user terminal 30 may extract a hash value as a feature using a predetermined hash function based on the visitor's facial image data captured by the user terminal 30's camera, rather than transmitting the visitor's facial image data captured by the user terminal 30's camera to the face recognition cloud 14 of the face recognition system 10. The extracted feature values of the visitor's facial image may then be transmitted to the face recognition cloud 14 of the face recognition system 10. In this case, upon receiving registration information including the feature values of the visitor's facial image from the user terminal 30, the face recognition cloud 14 assigns identification information (e.g., an identification number) to the visitor. Information such as the visitor's name, date of birth, gender, email address, telephone number, and password, as well as information related to the feature values of the visitor's facial image, are then associated with the visitor's identification information and recorded in the face recognition cloud 14.

In yet another embodiment, when the facial image data of the visitor captured by the imaging device 40 is sent directly from the imaging device 40 to the facial recognition cloud 14, the facial recognition cloud 14 may compare the facial image data of the visitor sent from the imaging device 40 with the facial image data of the visitor recorded in the facial recognition cloud 14. In this case, if the facial image data of the visitor received from the imaging device 40 substantially matches the facial image data of the visitor recorded in the facial recognition cloud 14, the facial recognition cloud 14 will send the visitor's name, visitor identification information, and information related to the date and time of the image capture from the facial recognition cloud 14 to the office reception system 12.

10 Facial authentication system 12 Office reception system 12a Processor 12b Memory 14 Facial authentication cloud 20 Office employee user terminal 30 Visitor user terminal 40 Imaging device 50 Visitor information reception means 52 Initial registration setting information transmission means 54 Visitor registration information reception means 56 Recording means 58 Registration completion information transmission means 60 Confirmation information reception means 62 Reservation completion information transmission means 64 Authentication means 66 Visitor notification information transmission means

Claims (8)

A face recognition method performed by a face recognition system,
a step in which the facial authentication system sends an email containing initial registration setting information to the visitor's email address, the initial registration setting information contained in the email including information necessary for downloading a facial authentication app, and the visitor's registration information including information regarding the visitor's facial image is sent to the facial authentication system by the facial authentication app;
When the face authentication system receives visitor registration information including information on the date and time the visitor visits the office, the visitor's name, and a facial image of the visitor, the received information is recorded in the face authentication system, and the face authentication system transmits registration completion information to the user terminal of the office employee;
When the facial authentication system receives information about a face image of a visitor captured by an imaging device installed at the entrance of the office, the facial authentication system compares the information about the face image of the visitor captured by the imaging device with recorded information about the face image of the visitor, and also compares the date and time when the face image of the visitor was captured by the imaging device with the date and time when the visitor will visit the office that has been registered in advance, thereby authenticating the visitor;
When the visitor is authenticated by the face authentication system, the face authentication system transmits visitor notification information including the visitor's name to a user terminal of an office employee;
A face authentication method comprising: The facial authentication method of claim 1, wherein, when a visitor registers visitor information in advance before visiting the office for the first time, the facial authentication system transmits registration completion information to the office employee's user terminal, and then, upon receiving confirmation information, the facial authentication system transmits reservation completion information to the visitor's user terminal. 3. The face authentication method according to claim 1, wherein when a visitor visits the office for the second or subsequent time, the face authentication system receives visitor information including at least the date and time of the visitor's visit to the office and the visitor's name, and then transmits reservation completion information to the visitor's user terminal. a visitor registration information receiving means for sending an email containing initial registration setting information to the visitor's email address, the initial registration setting information contained in the email including information necessary for downloading a face recognition application, and receiving the visitor's registration information including information regarding the date and time the visitor will visit the office, the visitor's name, and a face image of the visitor using the face recognition application;
a face recognition cloud that records the information received by the visitor registration information receiving means;
a registration completion information sending means for sending registration completion information to a user terminal of an office employee when the visitor's registration information is recorded in the face recognition cloud;
an authentication means for receiving information about a face image of a visitor captured by an imaging device installed at the entrance of the office, and for authenticating the visitor by comparing the information about the face image of the visitor captured by the imaging device with information about the face image of the visitor recorded in the face recognition cloud, and by comparing the date and time when the face image of the visitor was captured by the imaging device with the date and time when the visitor will visit the office that has been registered in advance;
a visitor notification information sending means for sending visitor notification information including the visitor's name to a user terminal of an office employee when the visitor has been authenticated;
Equipped with a facial recognition system. a confirmation information receiving means for receiving confirmation information after the registration completion information transmitting means transmits the registration completion information to the user terminal of the office staff member when the visitor information is registered in advance before the visitor visits the office for the first time;
a reservation completion information sending means for sending reservation completion information to the user terminal of the guest when the confirmation information is received by the confirmation information receiving means;
The face authentication system of claim 4 , further comprising: 6. The face authentication system of claim 5, wherein when a visitor visits the office for the second or subsequent time, the visitor information receiving means receives visitor information including at least the date and time of the visitor's visit to the office and the visitor 's name, and the reservation completion information sending means sends reservation completion information to the visitor's user terminal. A program executed by a processor of a face authentication system,
When the processor executes the program,
a step in which the facial authentication system sends an email containing initial registration setting information to the visitor's email address, the initial registration setting information contained in the email including information necessary for downloading a facial authentication app, and the visitor's registration information including information regarding the visitor's facial image is sent to the facial authentication system by the facial authentication app;
When the face authentication system receives visitor registration information including information on the date and time the visitor visits the office, the visitor's name, and a facial image of the visitor, the received information is recorded in the face authentication system, and the face authentication system transmits registration completion information to the user terminal of the office employee;
When the facial authentication system receives information about a face image of a visitor captured by an imaging device installed at the entrance of the office, the facial authentication system compares the information about the face image of the visitor captured by the imaging device with recorded information about the face image of the visitor, and also compares the date and time when the face image of the visitor was captured by the imaging device with the date and time when the visitor will visit the office that has been registered in advance, thereby authenticating the visitor;
When the visitor is authenticated by the face authentication system, the face authentication system transmits visitor notification information including the visitor's name to a user terminal of an office employee;
The program is carried out. A recording medium on which a program executed by a processor of a face authentication system is recorded,
When the processor executes the program,
a step in which the facial authentication system sends an email containing initial registration setting information to the visitor's email address, the initial registration setting information contained in the email including information necessary for downloading a facial authentication app, and the visitor's registration information including information regarding the visitor's facial image is sent to the facial authentication system by the facial authentication app;
When the face authentication system receives visitor registration information including information on the date and time the visitor visits the office, the visitor's name, and a facial image of the visitor, the received information is recorded in the face authentication system, and the face authentication system transmits registration completion information to the user terminal of the office employee;
When the facial authentication system receives information about a face image of a visitor captured by an imaging device installed at the entrance of the office, the facial authentication system compares the information about the face image of the visitor captured by the imaging device with recorded information about the face image of the visitor, and also compares the date and time when the face image of the visitor was captured by the imaging device with the date and time when the visitor will visit the office that has been registered in advance, thereby authenticating the visitor;
When the visitor is authenticated by the face authentication system, the face authentication system transmits visitor notification information including the visitor's name to a user terminal of an office employee;
A recording medium on which the above is performed.