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Tech Osaka Station ticket gates with facial recognition

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thomas

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Here's a glance into the (near) future: JR West introduced new facial recognition ticket gates and the world's first shifting platform doors.





The new platform is in the "Umekita 2nd phase" redevelopment area on the station's north side. It is connected to the newly constructed west exit ticket gates on Osaka Station's first floor via a dedicated passageway and to the Grand Front Osaka commercial complex via an underground corridor—one of the seven new ticket gates has a tunnel-style facial recognition system. If a photo of the passenger's face is registered in advance, the passenger can go through the gate without passing an IC money card over a reader. The system is still experimental, and JR West is recruiting monitors, hoping to be fully operational by the Osaka Kansai Expo in 2025. The underground platform will be used by the limited express trains "Haruka" and "Kuroshio," which previously did not stop at Osaka Station. As a result, the travel time between Osaka Station and Kansai International Airport will be reduced by 20 to 47 minutes, and the travel time between Osaka and Wakayama stations will be reduced by 33 to 57 minutes.

 
i haven't done any research into this but my "off the bat" thoughts are that this isn't going to last. any modern phone is capable of biometrics so that data has already been sold, the installation of these things, labour, datacentres and whatnot will come at a significant cost too. consumers wont be happy about paying for the premium when it saves them maybe a couple seconds a day and a card slot in their wallet.
there is a case for people that forget their suika cards or whatever but i dont think even the guise of security will outweigh the sentiment that these gates cost more than their worth.
 
Hard to believe it could work at this scale especially since Japanese commonly still wear masks. Delta Airlines has had facial recognition since 2019 but it's optional and their daily volume of passengers is nowhere near Japan Rail's.
 
Yea I don't think it will last either.
On forgetting suica even my watch lets me store my suica so I may forget my wallet but I'll probably have my phone or watch.
In Colorado I have forgotten my wallet several times but we now let you have your drivers license in an app so should I get stopped and my phone has a charge I can be OK.
 
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I hate when I forget my wallet with ID. I feel like I'm out of my house naked.
 
These days are interesting as we can pay (even suica) with our phone or watch. In my state they now have ID on the phone though I don't think it will work if I go to a neigbhoring state.
 
Yea I don't think it will last either.
On forgetting suica even my watch lets me store my suica so I may forget my wallet but I'll probably have my phone or watch.
In Colorado I have forgotten my wallet several times but we now let you have your drivers license in an app so should I get stopped and my phone has a charge I can be OK.
I have linked one card to Apple Pay on my phone so that if I'm in a bind without my wallet and need to buy something like lunch I have an option to avoid having to beg for money on the street.
 
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In the 10 or 15 years I've had a cell phone , only used it twice . My new one is 6 months old and I have yet to turn it on or use it. I lug it around , only to call 911 and I'd probably have to get a passerby to show me how , LOL.
 
I don't like facial recognition software, nor do I like biometrics in general. I think it's really interesting as a technology, but the problem is that it's people using it. People can be wonderful, and they can be very dangerous. Biometric data in the wrong hands has the potential to do great harm. Identity theft is already a terrible problem. If your biometric data is stolen, it's not as simple as changing a password.

I don't think that the people rolling this out have any bad intentions, but they're not the people that I worry about, at least not at this moment in time. I am not impressed with these ticket gates.
 
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