The folks at Android Authority have learned about Google’s “Project Toscana,” which appears to be a code word or internal name for facial recognition technology. What’s interesting is that the company is working on integrating the technology on both Pixel phones and Chromebooks.
The publication’s source used the advanced facial recognition technology on a Pixel phone with just a single punch-hole front camera and two Chromebooks (using external cameras) under different lighting conditions.
Hardware puzzle: how does it work?
Unlike the current AI-based facial unlocking on Pixel phones, which isn’t particularly useful in poorly lit environments, Project Toscana appears to work in both good and low light conditions. In fact, the publication even states that the experimental technology works just as “quickly” as Apple’s Face ID.
What confuses me, however, is the fact that the advanced face unlock system was tested on a phone with a punch-hole cutout, which likely houses a single camera sensor. The report does not mention any specific hardware that improves the accuracy of the technology.
In comparison, Apple’s iPhones have a special IR dot projector that projects more than 30,000 IR dots onto the user’s face and an IR camera that reads the dot pattern reflected from the face. To hide all these sensors, the latest iPhones are equipped with a Dynamic Island.
Could it be due to tensor performance and computational security?
From what I can read between the lines, Google’s Project Toscana could use hybrid camera sensors that can potentially detect both visible light and near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths.
Additionally, the mechanism could also include time-of-flight integration and computational liveness checks (via the advanced image signal processor on the proposed Tensor G6 chip).
Since it’s not clear whether the outlet’s source tested the feature on an existing Pixel or an upcoming model, I can’t comment with absolute certainty.
If it’s an unreleased Pixel phone (likely the Pixel 11 launching later this year), it could feature an invisible IR emitter hidden under the screen, which has also been rumored in the past.
Aside from the technical aspect of Project Toscana, it’s great to hear that Google is working on improving its facial recognition technology. We can expect the future Pixels, probably the Pixel 11, to feature this technology.
