Estonian Software Firm Launched Book Lending Based on Face Recognition

One of Estonia’s largest software firms Helmes opened a biometric library for its head office employees, where the borrower and the book to be borrowed are identified automatically.

According to the Helmes Machine Learning Specialist Oliver Stimmer, the borrower has to look into the camera, also showing the book and the system registers the event in his or her account. „If the solution were connected with the national database of ID card photos, it would be technically possible to start using face-recognition based lending in public libraries as well. We could do away with the library card and literally hand out books judging by the borrower’s face,” Stimmer enthused and added that face recognition based on the national database was already being tested in Estonia to issue Mobile IDs.

“In Helmes book lending is connected with the development profile of every employee and the mentors can see what people are reading and suggest additional reading to further their knowledge,” Stimmer said.

The machine learning expert explained that there was technical readiness to use face recognition for tens of thousands of new services to make life more convenient and secure for the people. „For example, in Helmes staff will soon be able to get access to the office on the basis of face recognition; however, among the really global possibilities are searching for missing persons or checking whether a person is of legal age. Amazon already has a store where the IT system recognises both the buyer and the goods taken from shelves and automatically charges the person’s back account for the purchases,” Stimmer added.

Read more about Helmes from their webpage www.helmes.com