A university start-up that developed image-sensing technology to measure a person’s blood pressure and heartbeat by looking at their face has started to find commercial success.
FaceHeart, a start-up established by a research team headed by National Chiao Tung University professor Wu Bing-fei (吳炳飛), on Monday said that it has received an order for the technology from Taiwan-based Shanghai Commercial & Savings Bank.
The bank aims to improve its VIP service and shore up its security with FaceHeart’s technology, which documents physiological data such as blood pressure, heart rate and even emotions simply by detecting the flow change of facial blood, Wu said.
Photo: Chien Hui-ju, Taipei Times
The technology would give the bank insight into a customer’s emotions, executive vice president Alex Lin (林志宏) said, adding that if somebody applying for a new account shows abnormal signs, readings from the device could suggest illegal activities, such as an attempt to open a dummy account.
IC designer MediaTek said that it has become one of FaceHeart’s investors and would produce a chip for the device.
The order and investment have pushed FaceHeart’s value to an estimated NT$500 million (US$15.9 million), Wu said.
Unlike traditional cardiovascular monitors that require physical contact, FaceHeart’s device uses a camera to observe facial information, Wu said, adding that the face measured does not have to be fixed in front of the camera, because the device can function from multiple angles.
The device can detect, process and present a user’s physiological information in six seconds, and can even function normally in a dark environment, said Wu, who specializes in facial recognition and processing.
Although Wu did not offer data on the device’s accuracy in measuring blood pressure, he said it can detect heartbeats with a margin of error of two to three beats per minute, in line with the medical standard certified by the US Food and Drug Administration.
As the device “knows your heart by looking at your face,” it has massive potential and a wide range of applications, Wu said, quoting university president Chang Mau-chung (張懋中).
The Ministry of Science and Technology’s Taiwan Startup Institute, which funded Wu’s team, said that the device could also be used to improve safety on the road.
The device could be used as a health management system, monitoring the status and behavior of drivers to identify whether they should be on the road, Wu said in a video released by the institute in December last year.
If there are abnormal signs such as pain, fatigue or indicators of drunk driving, the system could warn the drivers in real time or alert the relevant authorities, Wu said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard