Israel's Corsight raises $5m. for tech to recognize mask-covered faces

The technology requires less than 50% of the face to be exposed to ensure accurate recognition, solving issues posed by requirements for citizens to wear face masks.

By REUTERS, JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Chief doctor Katja de With puts on a protective mask during a media event in the newly opened coronavirus disease (COVID-19) clearing-up centre in Dresden (photo credit: REUTERS)
Chief doctor Katja de With puts on a protective mask during a media event in the newly opened coronavirus disease (COVID-19) clearing-up centre in Dresden
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Israel’s Corsight AI, which has developed technology to recognize faces concealed by masks, goggles and plastic shields, raised $5 million from Awz Ventures, a Canadian fund focused on intelligence and security technologies.
Corsight said on Sunday it will use the funds to market the platform and to continue development.
In March, China’s Hanwang Technology Ltd said it has come up with technology that can recognize people when they are wearing masks, as many are today because of the coronavirus.
Corsight said it offers a facial recognition system able to process information captured on video cameras and can address difficulties resulting from the outbreak, where a large portion of the population is moving about with faces partially covered.
"The idea is that face recognition will replace many surfaces that require physical touch," explained Ofer Ronen, head of homeland security at Corsight's parent company Cortica. "For example, opening doors in offices, fingerprint timestamps, or for doctors wearing masks who touch door handles when they need to go from room to room, which we now understand is one of the main ways to transfer disease."
The technology developed by the company requires less than 50% of the face to be exposed to ensure accurate recognition, solving issues posed by increasing preferences and even requirements for citizens to wear face masks.
The solution, Ronen said, is capable of recognizing an individual's face from an elevation of up to 60 degrees, and up to a 100 degree profile. Individuals can also be recognized in very low-level light - just two to three lumens.
The technology can be used to issue alerts of people who are in violation of quarantine and have gone outside to public areas while covering their faces with masks, Corsight said.
If a person is found to have COVID-19 within an organization the system can quickly produce a report of people who were near the sick individual, the company said.
Corsight said it has permanent systems installed in European airports and hospitals, Asian cities, South American police departments and border crossings, and African mines and banks.
Tel Aviv-based Corsight was founded in late 2019 and has 15 employees. It is a subsidiary of Cortica Group, which boasts over 250 registered patents in artificial intelligence.