If you are thinking of buying a new iPhone, except for the ‘SE’ of 2020, the others already incorporate Face ID as a biometric security system. If you do not know how it works or you are already a user of an iPhone that has it and you have doubts about it, you will be interested to know how it works with the light off.
And it is that if we put the facial recognition system of other brands as a context, it is common to find ourselves with problems so that they recognize us when there is no light or it is very dim. This is also a clear difference with the fingerprint recognition system, which does not imply difficulties with ambient light. However, Apple‘s system differs greatly from the rest in this area.
Face ID works the same with any type of light
The problems for Face ID to detect you can occur in specific cases such as that you are covering a part of your face or you do not have the iPhone located at a specific distance and at an optimal capture angle. However, it will never give you failures for not recognizing you in low light. What’s more, you may be in a completely dark place and with the device’s brightness to a minimum, since the system will be able to recognize you perfectly.
This happens because the system implemented by iPhones with Face ID is made up of various sensors that Apple calls TrueDepth. These launch a series of infrared rays that, as such, are imperceptible to the human eye, but that the system serves to place a series of points on your face that are capable of recognizing whether it is a face registered in the system or not.
These infrared lights are the only ones that Face ID needs, so it will not matter what type of light in the room you are in and hence it works well in any situation. These infrareds will only cause problems if they encounter an obstacle between your face and the iPhone or, as we already said, if you yourself have some part of your face that is considered essential for recognition covered.
Needless to say, this in the end serves in the same way to unlock the device as to put a password or make payments with Apple Pay. All those situations in which Face ID acts, it does so in the same way.
Face ID is not perfect, but here the battle wins
There are many drawbacks that can be put to Face ID, such as that in certain situations it is more uncomfortable than the classic Touch ID, that it cannot be used yet with the iPhone placed horizontally or that if we wear a mask or polarized glasses it will not be able to recognize us. These drawbacks in the end are usually common in all facial examinations.
These infrared lights that we have been talking about are not only useful for recognition in low light, but also guarantee greater reliability and security in the system. It is for all this that there is always talk that Face ID is the best facial recognition on the market, since despite the existence of good systems in some Android devices, none of them offer as much versatility and reliability as that one. That later alternative methods can be missed as if the competition has it is a different matter.
