Facial Recognition

Is the $20 facial recognition add on just software? Like could I download it later? Is it just another way to bypass typing in your password everytime??

Thanks for your help.

 

You have to pay for that? DAMN!

 

It shows up as an option when you're choosing your display.

 

It's just a software. It's called Fast Access...

Sensible Vision

 

There are free versions but I don't think facial recognition is worth the extra money. I would be logged in faster by typing the password.

 

Go to User Accounts in Windows 7 and turn off your password.

 

It's a bit slow on reboot, but it is quite fast from sleep or locked. It's not just Windows login, however. It can also fill in passwords in websites (though it is far from perfect here) and it can also watch to see when you aren't looking at the computer and turn off the screen.

You can get a 3-day trial of the non-Dell-specific software to see if it'd be useful to you.

 

Yes it is slow at first but it is always "learning"; if you find that it is slow and are able to enter your password before it "finds you", that will make it learn your face better. This will help to reduce the waiting times when it is trying to log you on.

Although, as you mentioned, it is a bit slow on a re-boot or fresh boot. I think that is due to the priority of the loading of the "Service".

 

Yeah. I asked them about it, and they said they couldn't control how Windows loads everything. I imagine the best thing one could do to improve that is get an SSD.

 

It has been a long time ago but I could have sworn that there was a way to set the priority of a loading service. I had that problem years ago with a desktop PC and if my memory is accurate, :confused2: I was able to make some adjustments. Perhaps it is/was only available with a different OS.

Thanks

 

Well you can set some services to Automatic (Delayed), but I don't think there's an ordering function other than that... at least that I've seen. If you come across it, let us know.

 

$20 nah, I would rather use that towards something else. It came with my 1647, but I was never interested in using.

It's just easier to type in a few keystrokes for the password, IHMO.

 

Gimmick for $20 I agree with the guy that said typing in a password is faster.

 

If you use the Facial Recognition too much, you may forget your password! It's a good thing that you can go into Fast Access on your laptop and see what all your passwords are. Just chose Web Login when you have the Fast Access window open and you will be given the option to "show" the password.
I'm finding myself looking there once in a while when I can't remember my password, then again I also lose my keys sometimes! Is there software for the L702X that will help me find my keys? :laugh:

 

It's actually much more than that - though that's part of it. I work for Sensible Vision - manufacturer of the software. You can also use face tracking to save power/extend battery life (called EcoAware). Likely the most popular feature, however, (certainly the one that I use personally the most) is the ability to save and re-type passwords into websites, but only when your face and your face alone is visible through the webcamera.

 

On some Dell systems it's bundled, on others it's a paid option. Depends on the specific model.

 

Actually very far from a gimmick. Before being offered to consumers, we sold it commercially to hospitals, banks, and other security critical enterprise customers. True, for some people typing the password is faster (depends on your password and your typing skill), but for most people this is far quicker...and also allows for the use of a more secure password.

I should have mentioned in the previous post that in addition to the power savings and web login (a place where I personally find the ability to auto-type passwords a LOT more valuable...I have hundreds), that from a security perspective it can also lock your desktop when you step away. Far more than just a simple auto-login to Windows.

 

In the Windows Task Manager there is an option to "Set Priority" of a running Process. By right clicking on the running process and changing the priority; would doing this make it load any different? Does anyone know what changing the priority of a running process does to it?

Thanks

 

So its available as an option For Dell XPS 17.
If I were to purchase it for $20, can I disable it anytime I don't want to use it anymore ?

All web browsers have some sort of saved login & password , so if your face is not there, will all your forum logins on multiple forums on multiple tabs of the browser be automatically refreshed & back to a non-logged in state ???

 

From what a fellow student was telling me it uses something for depth perception as well. Maybe like the kinect but not as accurate I imagine. They tried using a picture of the same person and it would not accept it. So it should be more secure than a software that just uses the webcam. I'm not 100% it does use anything extra. Anyone go the option and possibly have an extra connector or sensor they can see?

 

I tried it on my 701x but it took me over 3 4 minutes to start up the laptop with it installed. may be there is a camera compatibility issue with my system as it took a long time " Initializing the Camera".

I figured out just typing my password would be 10 times quicker.

 

Yes, of course. As an administrator, you have full control over the level and type of security and power savings that FastAccess provides. It would be very normal to vary the settings according to your environment and/or the type of data that you're working with.

I'm not quite sure that I understand your question, but in general the FastAccess Web Login feature is completely separate from a browser web login feature. It's typically not necessary or beneficial to use both at the same time. The FastAccess version is different (better, IMO) because it will ONLY learn and re-enter credentials when your face is visible.

 

FastAccess is highly photo resistant, it's true. It's not through depth perception, however (it uses several other very effective techniques). As you can imagine, depth is not physically possible with 1 camera.

 

I agree with you that it sounds like you have a significant system or camera problem rather than a problem with FastAccess itself. Sadly, we can't control what other components/software are set to load on bootup or how the camera driver itself works. Try updating the camera driver?

The efficiency and speed of FastAccess by itself (without the confounding variables of all the other stuff that happens at bootup) can been seen by locking the desktop after login and starting the recognition process that way. To lock the desktop manually, step out of view or the camera and hold Windows + "L".

I'd also recommend trying the Web Login feature. That's where most people get the most benefit because logging into a website it typically a far more frequent event than logging into Windows.