It's now way easier to pay for a bucket of fried chicken in China.
A KFC restaurant in Hangzhou, China is testing a new facial recognition payment system that lets you pay for your meal by simply smiling at a camera.
The new payment method called "Smile to Pay" was launched in partnership with Alipay, the popular mobile and online payment platform created by Chinese conglomerate Alibaba.
The company says the facial recognition technology only takes about two seconds to scan someone's face using a 3D camera and a “live-ness detection algorithm” to combat fraud.
Customers who decide to use the new facial payment method must also enter their phone number as a second form of authentication.
Even though it looks silly, this new form of payment is actually something Alibaba has been working on for many years. Company president Jack Ma demonstrated some of the underlying technology two years ago at IFA in Germany. The company that built the underlying technology, Megvii, raised $100 million from investors in December.
This isn't the first time KFC has shown interest in facial-recognition technology, either. Last year, KFC's Chinese division partnered with Baidu to create new tech-infused "smart restaurants" that used similar technology to scan a customer's face and make food order suggestions based on their mood, age, and gender.
It's worth noting that KFC has never been a brand to shy away from an expensive marketing stunt. In the past, the company has launched weird campaigns like a a meal box that charged your phone while you were eating and Bluetooth keyboard trays. It remains to be seen whether facial-recognition payments are something customers actually consider to be useful — but with rumors that the next iPhone will have similar technology, it's easy to imagine a world where everyone is paying for things using their faces, rather than swiping their credit cards.
TopicsFacial Recognition
(责任编辑：焦點)
Wikipedia co
Facebook Messenger's latest attempt to hijack your social life
This mom did all of her holiday shopping without spending a penny
Elon Musk and other fans pay tribute to legendary astronaut John Glenn
PlayStation Now game streaming is coming to PCFlorida hurricane forecast remains uncertain, but trends in state's favor
For days, a war has been raging between two of the premiere computer models used to help predict the
...[详细]Amazon just teased the future of in
Amazon wants to help you shop with just your smartphone. Right. They've already done that. But in ad
...[详细]'Game of Thrones,' 'Stranger Things' score with Golden Globe nominations
The 2017 Golden Globe nominations were announced Monday morning, and the list was a nice mix of dese
...[详细]Why 'La La Land' is exactly the movie we need right now
Do yourself a favor and go see La La Land when it comes to your city. You don't need to be told that
...[详细]Here's George Takei chilling in zero gravity for the 'Star Trek' anniversary
There's nothing like good friends, good memories and zero gravity to celebrate a milestone.
。In honor
...[详细]Meet LiLou, the therapy pig here to make you feel better about flying
Who needs licensed social workers and prescription Xanax when you can have therapy pigs?Meet LiLou,
...[详细]Drones capture first wintry wonderland weekend in the Midwest
'Tis the season for stunning drone footage. SEE ALSO:Watch Hawaii become a winter wonderlandOver the
...[详细]Ikea trolls us all by naming products after Googled relationship questions
The Swedish names of Ikea products can be tricky to pronounce, what with their umlauts and silent co
...[详细]When Honda revealed its stunning and grandparent-scaring Civic Hatchback Prototype earlier this year
...[详细]Woman skips holiday decor, wants to use her neighbor's Christmas lights instead
Unwilling to compete with a neighboring home's impressive Christmas light display, Jami Kelly of Mic
...[详细]Fake news reports from the Newseum are infinitely better than actual news
The polar vortex is here, but it's competing with global warming
