Chinese transit cops are wearing glasses with heads-up displays and cameras tied into the country’s facial recognition to spot criminals, people smugglers, and riders who are using high-speed trains in defiance of rules that prohibit indebted people and people from ethnic and religious minorities from traveling.
The glasses’ manufacturers claim that they can match people with a 10,000-face watchlist in 100ms.
So far the glasses have identified people suspected of misdeeds ranging from traffic infringements to crimes like human trafficking.A further 26 people using fake identity documents were also prevented from traveling.
In China, people must use identity documents for train travel. This rule works to prevent people with excessive debt from using high-speed trains, and limit the movement of religious minorities who have had identity documents confiscatedandcan wait years to get a valid passport.
Chinese police are using facial-recognition glasses to scan travelers [Tara Francis Chan/Business Insider]