Baidu, China’s largest search engine, announced it would apply facial recognition technology to animals, starting with dogs. According to Baidu’s technician, the concept of SAFI (System of Animal Facial Identification) was put forward last September and iterated four times before it launched. The online “dog facial identification” product was their first attempt, and specially designed for dogs.
The technology will allow dogs to scan their faces to open doors by themselves and assist them in fetching food. When the dogs go shopping without their owners, they can use face-scanning technology to process the payment. Baidu launched a website for the new software called ‘System of Animal Facial Identification’ where a video demonstrates the new technology.
A dog is able to open doors, buy groceries and even collect the post using the company’s Facial Recognition software. Baidu said that in the future animal facial recognition will be applied to more situations, such as searching for lost pets and protecting rare animals.
