Fast Access (face recognition) CPU usage

Is there any way to increase the number of photo logs the fast access can store? Mine is limited to 100 which seems silly seeing as I need my laptop to recognize me in many different places and lighting conditions vary. Only having 100 means that I have to log in with my password much more often, and I really want this FA system to work all the time!

 

Out of curiosity, where are you finding your logs?

I looked in all the four-lettered acronym folders in Sensible Vision/FastAccess, but all the files are "hidden" in weird file extensions like *.x; I used to have images in FAUF and FATF, but now they're full of cryptic looking files.

~Ibrahim~

 

Inside of fast access, you can go: advanced -> view or delete logs. Mine shows a week's worth of pictures.

 

Same for me. In the Help text it says

"The log displays photos for the last 100 accesses or 7 days"

which doesn't seem like enough, especially considering the size of each photo isn't going to be considerable enough to clog up some HDD.

1000 seems like a better figure for me, but that would be so that it definitely knew my face in all sorts of lighting.

 

I agree that more would be better, but there's probably a reason unrelated to hard drive space that it keeps so few.

 

To start this conversation, let's distinguish between photo logs and biometric templates. They're really not the same thing. Photo logs are a visual record/audit trail of the face that was visible when an authentication event happened. They have nothing to do with being recognized.

Biometric templates and the stored versions of how you "look" under different conditions that are used for comparison against incoming video. They're not really photos - just really long numbers. Also, as noted, they are encrypted for security purposes. Clearing the photo log does NOT clear the biometric template database (which you can also do, btw). This is easily demonstrated by clearing the photo log and noting that you can still be recognized.

The central question here is, would having more biometric templates increase your recognition rate under different conditions? Although this might be theoretically possible, in practice increasing beyond the biometric database size limit that we have in place is WAY getting into exponentially diminishing returns with dramatically increasing system demand (in other words we've intentionally over-engineered the system already to provide the best possible performance).

Overall the best advice that I can give is to follow the recognition tips in the help file and note that with any truly accurate biometric, some manual logons will always be required. If you have any specific recognition questions I'd be happy to help further.

Thanks!

 

Hey svrep, I realize this might be the wrong thread to post in, by since you've answered so many questions about how FA works, can you give us an idea of when the version that will work with domains will come out? I recently upgraded from W7 Home Premium to Pro, because I needed access to our domain at work. I really love FA and miss it now that I've connected my laptop to our domain at work. Would be great if you could elaborate on when that function might become active. I would be willing to beta test if necessary too!

 

Good news...domain support has already been released. Update FastAccess to the most recent version (2.004.095).

Glad you like it.

 

Is there a direct download? I can't install FA from the one I got off mydelldownloads site.

 

That should be a full installer. Specifically what error are you seeing?

 

svrep, I couldn't install the latest version since you need a previous version installed, which doesn't work, since the previous version doesn't allow you to install it while joined to a domain.

here was the work around for anyone else who may be in a similar situation:

I downloaded the update, but had the original version downloaded from mydelldownloads or whatever its called.

I had to disjoin my laptop from our domain at work from home. installed original FA. Rebooted, installed update for FA, rebooted again. logged in locally, connected to VPN client.

Joined laptop back to domain. rebooted. logged in locally, connected to VPN. Switched users and logged back into my domain account/retrieved my profile etc.

Switched back to local user, disconnected vpn, logged off local user. turned on FA, logged back into domain account (credientials cached locally)

what a pain.

Is there anyway for you guys to give dell a FULL version to update on their mydownloads site (which requires you to log into your account/tie in your system) that way you could just install the latest/greatest version, if you were in a situation like mine.

 

SVRep .. please mae this suggestion to your company:

Allow fast access to watch for users face X amount of feet from the camera. When reaching a boundry point (face is small enough), automatically force the monitor to powersave mode.

You should allow some quick movement like a wave of my arms in a cross pattern in front of me, to tell FastAccess "YOU WERE VERY WRONG!". I imagine the speed you are teaching FastAccess will allow it to become very good, VERY fast! (Versus only learning if it was correct/incorrect at the log-in screen).

Thanks for your consideration! Don't let me thread hijack. <End>

 

I have a M1330 with 2mp camera.CAn u plz tell me where to get face recog sw.I have dell webcam manager installed and all other webcam drivers installed.Yet i dont have optionof face recognition!
Thnx

 

There are two primary ways to get a replacement copy of FastAccess. You may either call Dell tech support directly and ask for a replacement installation CD (which they should be able to provide upon request) or register at their SmartSource website with your service tag number. If you live in an area where this website is active then it should allow you not only to download FastAccess but also other software that your laptop originally shipped with.

https://smartsource.dell.com

 

when will dell finally provide the update to version 3.0 ? It is already available from fastAccess, is there anyway we can get the update from them?

 

Hopefully soon, though of course that's really up to Dell.

No, the 3.X version available directly from Sensible Vision (FastAccess is the software, Sensible Vision is the company) will not work to update a copy from Dell. The technology is more similar than different, but they are separate.

 

Anyone having problems with using fast access facial recognition? I decided to give it a go and am having what looks like a common problem. Installs fine, there on boot up, but face is never recognised and I can't make any settings adjustments as it keeps saying 'guest account not supported'. I have followed the advice on sensiblevisions faq page on what to do when getting that message, but still no success.

 

If you wish, please contact me directly at any of the publicly available email addresses on our website and I'll be happy to help you diagnose further. Of course any relevant results we can share here. Thanks.

 

Thanks. Here is a bit of an update. I set up a 2nd windows user account on my system, and it works fine in that. It looks like it is the 3rd of the possibilities you list on this page:

FastAccess FAQ - After login I receive a message stating that a ?Guest account is not supported?. Why is this happening?

It now recognises me and logs me in on my main account, but it still won't allow me to access the settings. Still gives the 'guest account not supported' message.

I know you have put on your website that in that scenario it is a windows os issue and that there is nothing you can do to help. Is that still the case, or has any solution since been found?

Many thanks for your help by the way.

 

You're very welcome and thanks for the update. Although fortunately extremely rare, when my team has previously encountered the situation that you're now in it has nearly always proven to be a corruption in the way that your original Windows account is reporting it's "type" to FastAccess. Specifically, it's claiming to be a Guest account when in fact it's not. This explains why you can't reach the FastAccess settings, by the way. FastAccess must have you logged in as an Administrator in order to allow changes that affect the security of the whole PC and Windows is telling FA that you're a "Guest".

Unfortunately, the only solution that we've ever determined is to migrate your data over to the new account that is working correctly. Sorry again - I wish I had better news.

 

I found FastAccess is somehow messing up with utorrent's "Prevent stand by if there are active torrents" . When fastaccess is turned on computer goes to sleep after 15 min no matter what, and when i "Disable fastaccess temporarily" utorrent works fine and computer doesn't go to sleep.
P.S there are always active torrents.

Hope someone will look into that.

 

Are you using a Dell 2.X version or something more current? If the latter, this sounds like the expected current behavior of the EcoAware power saving feature. This feature turns off the display and puts the machine to sleep with a combination of your face being out of view and the lack of keyboard and mouse activity. A future update will "pay attention" to programs that properly inform Windows of their desire to keep the system out of sleep (for example CD burning software and others).

 

FastAccess version 2.4.95, with fast access turned off everything works fine like they should.

Fast access security is set to "Face login"

 

There's an option to disable this. Right click on the fastaccess icon in your taskbar tray and then press configure.. And then click on the tab that says "Power Smart" . Either disable it or set custom settings. I believe this over-rides the OS level setting. When I disabled Power Smart in fastaccess the standby problem did not occur.

P.S I have a new Dell Inspiron 14R, but I think all Dell laptops are loaded with the same software, so I figured I would register and add this here in case someone searched for this "utorrent Prevent stand by if there are active torrents does not work" problem!

 

guys, couple of days ago my FastAccess asked for updated and now it glitches all the time. For example when I leave my XPS 15 alone for an hour - popup emerges asking whether I want to enable SmartPower. But SmartPower is really being enabled at a time!
And the real problem is - whenever I click any button on the popup, my lappy hangs forever - only poweroff (with holding power button for 3 seconds) works.
How can I fix this - help me please?

 

Would you be willing to contact me directly via one of the publicly available email addresses on Sensible Vision's website? This is certainly a symptom that we have not encountered before so I'd like to work with you by phone to get additional details and perhaps to run some diagnostics. We are very happy, as always, to share anything that we learn back here on the forum.

 

OK, I will try to collect symptoms and contact you.

 

Just on a side note, the Fast Access with XPS 15 has a hardware problem...
I figured the camera angle is too high that sometimes even using the laptop, the camera recognizes my face being "out of screen." The laptop locks itself therefore... Then I have to move my face up a little bit for the camera to recognize my face. It's a bit of a burden unless I turn off Fast Access, which I seem to lose the whole point of this software...

 

Disable the power smart features in fast access.

 

just received my xps 15 and it seems it did not include the fast access program

 

It may be installed but not activated. Check under the start menu > FastAccess facial recognition. If it's really not there then you'll need to inquire with Dell. Unfortunately, we have very little control over which systems include our software (or believe me, more of them would!).

 

Sorry to be a bugger about this, but has there any news whatsoever about the facial recognition logins for Firefox? Or we're still waiting on Dell?

~Ibrahim~

 

I believe that many new machines are shipping with FastAccess 3.X which includes Firefox support already. We're still working with Dell (slowed down by the holidays for sure) to determine the proper upgrade path for current 2.X users.

 

thanks for the response, I checked there , did a search under programs etc nothing. I know it was supposed to be included but I guess I will have to contact DELL. Will also look on their website to see if it is offered there for download.

 

Check Dell Downloads site. It requires you to have a Dell account though. For me the site still shows version 2.4.7. I uninstalled the Facial Recognition program a long time ago, in hopes to reinstall it when the Firefox support came. I hope I can get 3.X from somewhere soon, like svrep stated (i.e. I hope the Dell Downloads site changes it to 3.X or something).

 

You're very welcome. I guarantee that a full installer for FastAccess is not available for free download from Dell because it's not free software (sometimes it's bundled at no additional cost to the user but that's very different than being free). I believe they do have an "update only" installer that's publicly available but that will only work to update an existing, valid copy - not to install a new one from scratch.

All hope is not lost, however, as you may be able to download a full installer - depending on what software is "listed" as coming with your machine of course - by registering with your service tag at the Dell's "SmartSource" website (Google it for the address - I can't post a URL directly here).

 

Thanks again for both above responses. I have registered on the Dell site. I also have access to what is supposed to be on my machine. Nowhere on any of the documentations does it mention FastAccess facial recognition. So it looks as though my machine doesnt have it. I bought my machine online from the shopping channel ( Canada ) and on their site it does state that it comes with the facial recognition software. Everything else on that sites description was on my machine.

 

Any update on when/if we'll be able to update to fastaccess v3+?

 

I know it's nothing new, but we continue to work with Dell to figure out when they'll be ready to support this update. Hopefully it will be soon.

 

On the website its listed as $34.99 but when you go to pay its $42.19?? why is that?

 

Taxes? It shows the right price for me.

 

Previous response is correct...taxes. Our payment processor is required by law to charge tax for some locations.

 

WHOA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just reformatted yesterday and installed FastAccess 2.4.7 (from SmartSource/My Dell Downloads).

I knew there was at least one update I was missing, so I hit the update. I'm now on 2.4.97 which has Firefox support (I have FF 4.0.1 and it works great!)!

Woohoo!

I also got this snippet here about maybe upgrading to FastAccess v3 for $15. I have a few questions, svrep, if you wouldn't mind. How long will this "deal" last? And, if possible, can you elaborate on the "one year of support and updates"? How will those "updates" differ from the ones I currently receive? What happens after the first year? Will I then be a "regular" customer or still a Dell OEM customer?



Thanks in advance; so excited to use it!

~Ibrahim~

 

When I try to update the software, it fails and then it seems gone from my system and I have to reinstall it. Never encountered such a problem updating any kind of software in the past. The only solution I can see is never click check for updates again, but that can't be a good solution, can it?

 

I'm happy to help. When you say "update the software", do you mean going from 2.4.95 to 2.4.97? If so then yes, I would recommend trying the update process again. If it still fails, please contact me directly through our website and I can help further.

If you mean upgrading to version 3 then the answer is different. Version 3 will install in "trial mode" with an expired license, meaning that it will be disabled by default. We encourage people to purchase an activation key (by clicking the colorful graphic posted above) before installing version 3 so you have this activation key right away. Entering the activation (Start Menu > All Programs > FastAccess facial recognition > "Licensing") will activate version 3 and you should be off to the races!

Let me know if there's anything else that I can do.

 

We're also quite excited to be able to provide this expanded functionality for free. People have been asking for Firefox support for a long time as I'm sure you're aware.

A brief note for everyone - if you have version 2 already installed you can get the 2.4.97 upgrade at any time by manually clicking the "check for upgrades" link in the "Advanced" section. If you do not do this, you will still receive automatic notification of the upgrade but maybe not right away. We're rolling out the automatic upgrade notification to users one group at a time to limit the strain on our servers.

The offer is good on all Dell machines that shipped with version 2 installed. This is simply the upgrade pricing for such machines and as such, I do not believe that it will expire. Note that having version 2 from Dell is required to qualify for this upgrade pricing. On machines that did not come with version 2, a full license of FastAccess or FastAccess Pro is required at a higher price.

When you upgrade to version 3 you may then contact Sensible Vision directly for support. Both updates (minor bug fixes, etc.) and upgrades (going from version 3 to version 4) will be provided for 90 days from the purchase date. Updates will be provided for 1 year. If a major upgrade is release within one year of purchase, customers who buy this item will receive it for free. Others will be required to pay the normal upgrade price.

Thanks. We're excited to have it released!

 

Awesome news, then!

Sorry for the delay in posting back; I read your response, but then totally forgot to reply with a "thanks"!

I actually came back with another suggestion.... Sorry, right, I'm that guy.

Anyways: is there a way for FastAccess to authenticate logins after you actually have logged in? The way it does it now is that after every attempt it asks if you want to save it. Unfortunately, if you're like me and juggle a few passwords, you have to reauthenticate yourself basically every time you try, adding a somewhat unhappy 3-5 seconds to each attempt.

 

You're most welcome.

Although 3-5 seconds is far faster than most people can type their password, there's actually a really easy answer for you in this case (assuming that you're talking about juggling multiple website passwords of course). Just set FastAccess to "User Switching" or "Continuous Security" mode.

 

Thanks for the reply, svrep! Again, I forgot to check back! School keeps me busy.

Yet another question: is the plugin going to be updated for Firefox 5/6/7/8? Technically, we're on 6, but 7 is coming in two weeks.

Can someone elaborate on this? I have a very similar problem, but I can't seem to find this setting. Any hints?

Thanks,

~Ibrahim~

 

Getting FACredProv2.dll, version : 2.4.95.1 errors, when trying to do RDP connection with my desktop computer, I decided to totally uninstall Fast Access from my computer.
Before it was simply disabled.
I loose to much time with this application.