Apple has been granted a patent (number 11,113,510) for “virtual templates for facial recognition.” It’s for the Face ID feature on iPhones and iPads — and perhaps, eventually, for the Mac.

About the patent

Per the patent data, templates for facial recognition may be generated from enrollment images of the user obtained by a camera associated with a device. The enrollment images may be captured during an enrollment process on the device. In other words, when you’re setting up your device.

The templates generated from enrollment may be added to a template space in the device for use during a facial recognition authentication process. After enrollment, the user may attempt to gain access to (e.g., unlock) the device using the facial recognition authentication process. During the facial recognition authentication process, a cap

Summary of the invention

Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent: “When a device is successfully unlock using a facial recognition authentication process, feature vectors generated from images obtained during the facial recognition authentication process may be stored as temporary templates on the device. After a period of time, one of the temporary templates may be selected to be used as a “virtual” template for the device. For example, a median temporary template in the temporary templates may be selected as the virtual template. The performance of the virtual template may then be assessed over time and compared to the performance of templates generated from an enrollment process to determine if and how the virtual template is implemented on the device.




Article provided with permission from AppleWorld.Today