If you’ve been reading EMR and HIPAA for a while, back in 2006 I came across a really cool company called Sensible Vision that does facial recognition software. You can read about my first experience setting up the facial recognition software and my love affair with facial recognition as the best biometric solution.

I admit that I still have a love affair with my facial recognition software. I use it every day when I sit down at my computer. I can’t imagine not having it. In fact, it’s almost time to replace my computer and I’ll be very sad if I can’t find a way to transfer the software to my new computer. It has its quirks, but I just love the added security that it gives me. I’m far too lazy to lock my computer screen myself and then log back in, but the facial recognition software does that for me. Not to mention the single sign on capabilities.

I was on a support call yesterday with my EMR vendor and when I opened the application my facial recognition single sign on kicked in and took care of the username and password typing for me. The EMR vendor told me that he was amazed at how fast I typed. I do type fast, but not that fast.

I should mention that we haven’t been able to implement this in our clinical environment. A mix of process issues and budget issues has prevented us from doing so. However, I think there are a number of places where facial recognition software could be great for security of your desktops.

I decided to go check on what’s happening with Sensible Vision since I hadn’t spoken to them in a while. Looks like they have a million devices installed and a deal with Dell to offer facial recognition with their computers. Very cool stuff. However, what I found most interesting was Sensible Vision’s reply to the Black Hat presentation about hacking facial recognition. It’s an interesting read for those looking at biometric authentication in health care. Now I just need to find the black hat presentation they’re talking about.