VolkerFitzpatrick is trialling a 100% non-contact facial recognition site access control system on a station job in north London.
The contractor has teamed up with innovation specialist innDex and tech company Touchbyte to trial the new product which has been backed by Innovate UK’s Covid-19 support fund. Because facial recognition is non-contact it is more covid compliant than traditional key card, pin number or fingerprint based access systems. Tim Jackson, VolkerFitzpatrick health and safety manager at Brent Cross west station said: “It’s great to be working with SMEs like innDex to develop innovative agile solutions which meet the needs of today whilst moving the industry forward and for the better.” InnDex is looking to roll the system out to the wider industry by the end of this year. Director George Smithies said: “We believe this is the first fully UK developed and manufactured 100% non contact facial recognition access control unit predominantly aimed at construction sites and facilities management. “We open our phones and travel between countries all with our face. Why shouldn’t we access our construction sites and provide proof of presence using our faces? “Why shouldn’t our industry have the latest and most advanced technology developed by UK SMEs? “We decided to pursue this project because of our frustrations with the lack of innovation on construction sites. “So we decided to support Touchbyte as part of the Innovate UK response to Covid-19. It’s also important to state that we don’t see facial recognition access control as a short term fad. “It’s a long term trend that is going to change our industry because the benefits and applications of facial recognition are vast.”
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