This award was presented to the team for its achievements in developing a highly accurate face recognition technology that contributes to the safety and security of the world. But what exactly is it that makes NEC's face recognition technology so remarkable?

The September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001 led to a dramatic increase in demand for facial recognition, most notably the introduction of biometric passports. Now, two decades later, face recognition technology is not only used at airports but also in various other situations, including smartphone personal authentication and entry/exit control at events.

NEC has made significant contributions to the development of face recognition for these and other uses.

According to Hitoshi Imaoka, "NEC's strength lies in the ability of its technology to adapt to both changes over time and face orientation."

NEC has made continuous efforts to improve both the accuracy and speed of its face recognition technology, resulting in it being ranked first in the world five times in benchmark tests conducted by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for face recognition technology. Today, NEC's face recognition technology is used in 45 countries around the world, and it is Mr. Imaoka who has led the way.

Mr. Imaoka explains, saying, "I first became involved in face recognition research at NEC's Biometrics Research Laboratories in 2002. Accuracy was approximately 70% at the time, and at one point the Biometrics Research Laboratories was comprised of just two members. Fast forward to today—we now have an error rate of less than 1%, which is outstanding compared to our competitors around the world. This award is the culmination of those times and the hardships we have experienced along the way. I am delighted that the results of my many years of research have been recognized, and that I was able to receive this award together with the four other members of our team."

Mr. Hayasaka has also been a member of Mr. Imaoka's team for more than ten years, and is in charge of facial feature extraction, which is the step following face detection. This is what makes it possible to determine whether the person in an image is the same person or someone else.

"I actually researched fingerprint recognition back when I was a student, and participated in NIST benchmark tests. I was initially reluctant to do so because the work involved was so demanding.

Participating in benchmark tests at NEC also proved to be tough. There was even a time when we collected face data for 3,000 people over a period of two months. I feel a great sense of accomplishment having contributed to NEC being ranked number one in the world through the improvement of face matching.

Now that I have been involved in this for so long, it is strange to recall how hesitant I was at first. After receiving this award, I would like to work towards a new goal with pride."

Starting in 2021, Mr. Imaoka took a step back from being the direct development leader for the benchmark test, entrusting Mr. Hayasaka with the position of leader and Mr. Morishita with the position of subleader.

While Mr. Hayasaka felt apprehensive at first and wondered if he was really the right person for the job, the team led by himself and Mr. Morishita once again claimed the top spot in the world in 2021. According to Mr. Morishita, "With strong members like Mr. Hashimoto and Mr. Takahashi, I believed that we would do just fine as long as we did what needed to be done."

In face recognition, feature point detection, which analyzes the positioning of feature points (i.e., distinctive features) such as eyes, nose, and mouth, as well as the size of the facial area, is another important step in face recognition. Mr. Takahashi is active in this area.

Mr. Takahashi has been researching feature point detection since he was a student, and was actually scouted by Mr. Imaoka. After entering graduate school and completing an internship, he joined NEC in 2015.

Mr. Morishita, who is Mr. Takahashi's senior, was also in charge of feature point detection at one point. However, he decided to leave this area to Mr. Takahashi because he believed his approach was better.

Mr. Takahashi has demonstrated his abilities in face orientation, one of NEC's strengths, and in recognition from difficult angles, such as from the side. He has also greatly contributed to improving video recognition performance.

"Back when I was a student, it was important for me to be interested in what I was creating. Now, however, I find it more interesting to create things that can be used by various people. Part of what I enjoy about working at NEC is being able to contribute to the world."