This Geneva-based biometrics company employs roughly forty engineers in Moscow. A company at the very height of modern technology, it allows banks and airports to provide maximum security through non-intrusive methods.
A quick glance at an identification screen and the door opens: A4Vision’s technology is replacing the lock and key. Founded in Geneva, this three dimension facial recognition company has seen its business double since introducing a “face reader” in November 2005. Thanks to its automatic identification system, based on the recognition of a certain number of points on the face, A4Vision is today at the very top of the biometrics industry.
A4A4Vision, Swiss security and Russian mathematicsision’s revolutionary concept came to fr uition in Moscow, as the Geneva-based company had chosen to install its research and development laboratories in the Russian capital. This choice was not made by chance: almost 80% of the 40 engineers employed in Moscow by A4Vision are graduates of the Baumann Institute, a Muscovite scientific mecca known for producing the world’s best optical and algorithm engineers.
Co-founder of A4Vision Kelly Richdale is happy to have found a formidable group of engineers in Russia. “We wouldn’t be able to find such a large quantity of optical and algorithm experts in Switzerland.
Russia has a very high level of education and training, especially in the fundamental sciences.” A fact which hasn’t gone unnoticed by companies such as Microsoft, Intel or Boeing, who have also built their own research laboratories in Russia.
“I couldn’t imagine a future without our Russian engineers, their research is so advanced and the development is so constant!” Ygor Lutz, head of business development and sales in Europe, is full of superlatives when speaking of the Russian component of the business. “There is such an important know-how over there which we could not live without.” Not to mention the fact that the price of labour is inversely proportionate to its quality. “For the price of fifteen Swiss engineers, we can have forty in Russia, which guarantees very rapid development.
It’s partly thanks to this rapid pace that A4Vision is currently at the forefront of facial recognition technology.” A4Vision has been comfortably installed at the head of this field for roughly the last two years.
Numerous prestigious awards testify to this fact, like the Biometrics Product of the Year from Frost & Sullivan in 2004 or the Best Biometric Product prize which the company received for its Face Reader at the Las Vegas International Security Conference in 2006. The company also counts many big names among its investors: MyQube and Logitech, which were its first investors, and also the Americans Tako Ventures and Motorola, the Japanese Docomo, Singapore Technology, as well as InQtel, the investment fund which supports projects for the Three dimension facial recognition technology has many advantages. “Contrary to other biometrics, like iris recognition or digital prints, where 1 to 3% of individuals can not be identified in the database because of prints damaged from manual labor, or an iris which has been altered after an operation, facial biometrics records every individual in a database, because everyone has a face”, explains Ygor Lutz. In addition, this technique is considered less intrusive than the other two, because it requires no contact. One must only show one’s face to the Face Reader.
Moreover, it is much more effective than its two dimensional cousin, which is very quickly limited by problems with luminosity, or when a face is at an angle of more than 10 degrees in relation to a vertical plane. 3D technology has no problems linked to luminosity, because it works even in obscurity and it can also handle an angle of the face of up to 40 degrees.
Founded in 2001, A4Vision was originally conceived for the reconstruction of three dimensional technical images on the internet. However, the attacks of September 11th marked a turning point in the history of the company. The new security market was suddenly wide open to them. Today A4Vision is active in three principal sectors of this field: Physical Access Control or PAC, Civil ID and Criminal ID.
Physical Access Control represents the major portion of A4Vision’s business profits. Banks and nuclear facilities are particularly interested by this type of product, as optimal access security is very important for them. A4Vision is currently preparing its first large shipments of the Face Reader. In the very near future, the seventy-odd doors of a prestigious private bank, as well as those of a large multinational company, both located in the Lake Geneva region, will open only after having “recognised” the employee.
In the medium term, Civil ID could represent a very large source of profits for A4Vision, assuming that the International Standardization Organization and the International Civil Aviation Organization approve of a standard for three dimensional facial biometrics.
A4Vision will have to show patience on this matter. “The standards and regulations don’t move as fast as the technology”, explains Ygor Lutz, who says he is nonetheless confident that states will adopt this form of biometrics sooner or later.
Criminal ID is also a field which has much to gain from three dimensional biometrics, which offers a much larger recognition spectrum than traditional face and profile photos coupled with digital prints.
While A4Vision is currently focusing exclusively on the security market, facial biometrics could easily be applied to fields as diverse as plastic surgery or video games. This technology would let one give a very precise image of the result of a planned operation, or personalize the hero in a video game by giving him the player’s facial characteristics.
A4Vision’s future looks very bright indeed.
INTERVIEW WITH KELLY RICHDALE, CO-FOUNDER OF A4VISION AND HEAD OF WORLDWIDE SALES. HOW DID THIS COLLABORATION WITH RUSSIA COME ABOUT? The first investor, MyQube, which is linked to the European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN), was looking for a partner with whom it could develop 3D technology. After some research, it turned out that the best 3D technology was being developed in Russia. I was therefore approached and asked if I would like to work on a high risk project for a company with no future…I said yes!
WHAT IS THE A4VISION WORKFORCE LIKE IN RUSSIA? They’re about forty engineers, mostly between 26 and 28 years old. 80% of them are from the Baumann Institute in Moscow, the others come from the universities in St-Petersburg or other Russian cities.
IS THE LANGUAGE BARRIER AN OBSTACLE? No. All of our managers speak English and all of our employees take English classes. I myself speak fluent Russian.
WHAT IS THE GREATEST DIFFICULTY LINKED TO THIS COLLABORATION? One has to overcome the stereotypes which exist as much in Switzerland as in Russia. From an administrative point of view, it’s often complicated to have one of our Russian collaborators come to Switzerland, even for a simple visit. Fortunately, we can count on the support of the Swiss embassy in Moscow, as well as that of the Centre for Economic Promotion in Geneva.
HOW FREQUENTLY DO YOU VISIT RUSSIA? At least once every two months; sometimes more.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO SWISS COMPANIES WHO WOULD LIKE TO DO BUSINESS IN RUSSIA? The most important thing is to find the right people.
It’s imperative to have the right managers on both sides. It’s mainly the project manager who is hard to find, because that person must know how to run a project, have management experience and also speak English. And, in our case, must understand the world of business and technology.
