I agree totally.  In fact I posted something similar advising others (in my opinion) to delete the software.  But in doing so, the administrator of this community advised I violated terms of my agreement and removed my post.

Bottom line, this software has not worked for me in good lighting conditions or bad.  And as like you, I am always asked to input my password to "update the database."  As I explained in my post before Admin removed it, that database has over 200 photos so certainly by now the software has "learned" my face.

Surely others have similar problems.  This cannot just be an isolated event.

I removed the software several weeks after posting my comment and have not missed the application in the least. 

Good morning. I work for Sensible Vision and would be happy to offer my help to get FastAccess working well for you. In my personal experience, the recognition is actually quite good in a large variety of situations. I believe this to also be the case with the vast majority of the clients that I work with so I'd like to help you explore your machine to figure out what's different.

If you're up for it, let's start by  checking a few basics and then go from there.

1. What OS are you running? Assuming Win7, are you using FastAccess 2.4.7? That's the version required for Win7 compatibility.
2. Do you see good video on the login screen? This is of course required as FastAccess can only act on what it can see.
3. In that video, do you see a good "detection square"? By this I mean the 4 green "corners" that track your face position. This face "detection" is absolutely critical as without it, the software can't see you which means that it both can't recognize you and - just as importantly - can't learn. Some common things to look at that could cause the detection square to go away might be looking so far down at your hands to type your password that your face goes out of view (without realizing it, of course, since you're looking at your hands) or certain very extreme lighting conditions such as very strong backlighting that puts your face into silloute.
4. Are you running FastAccess on a laptop? If so, then simply place your hands on the keyboard and look calmly at the monitor. Hopefully this alone might help quite a bit. Not suggesting that you do this, but obviously things like making faces at or talking to the camera present FastAccess with a moving target and will slow down recognition.
   
   1. If you're using FastAccess on a standard monitor, pay attention to how large your face is within the video frame. It needs to be large enough for there to be enough detail visible for a high accuracy match. If you're very far away from the monitor and/or have a very wide angle lens, it may be necessary to either move closer or to "zoom" the camera slightly. You're good to go when the green detection square is around your face consistently. 

Just FYI, the biometric database holds up to 100 versions of what you look like. It's continually updated as your appearance or your envionment change. If you're actually seeing 200 photos, that's likely the photo access log. The biometric database is encrypted (for security reasons) and therefore not viewable directly.

I sincerely hope that some of these suggestions/questions are helpful and look forward to working together with you further.

Well hello.  Good to hear a service representative is actively engaged in this community.  

I understand there is a limit to the number of biometric versions.  The "200" I alluded to earlier simply means I have a lot of versions in the database.  My concern is at what point does the software “learn” your face?  To answer your questions directly:

1.       The OS is Win 7 64 bit Professional.  Version of FastAccess is 2.4.7. 

2.       There is good video, yes.  In terms the video does not appear to have a lot of noise or interference.  The lighting, although not the same in every condition, in my opinion seems sufficient for face capture.

3.       The video does have “detection square.”  Initially entire photo box has a green border and within that box green borders or “corners” surround the face.  Afterwards the outer box turns red but there remains a green border surrounding the face.  At this point the software instructs to manually input the password to update the database to improve future recognition.  Herein lies the problem and is the crux of our frustration.  The corners never leave the face.

4.       For me, FastAccess is running on a laptop.  Each login I never move, more statue like.  People witnessing me think I am crazy, LOL.  But as I mentioned in a previous post, a sudden movement or posture change has actually aided recognition in previous cases.

About myself, I am generally not critical of most things.  However this case is rather peculiar.  My situation is I have a fair brown complexion.   I do not buy into the “software is racist” comments dominating the news late 2009.  But I have to wonder if this technology simply has problem recognizing darker skins. 

Maybe you can suggest camera settings for those similar?  The brightness setting, white balance, saturation, gamma, etc..?

Thanks

Thanks for the detailed information GE. I appreicate the discussion and will try to help further.

1.       The OS is Win 7 64 bit Professional.  Version of FastAccess is 2.4.7.  2.       There is good video, yes.  In terms the video does not appear to have a lot of noise or interference.  The lighting, although not the same in every condition, in my opinion seems sufficient for face capture. 3.       The video does have “detection square.”  Initially entire photo box has a green border and within that box green borders or “corners” surround the face.  Afterwards the outer box turns red but there remains a green border surrounding the face.  At this point the software instructs to manually input the password to update the database to improve future recognition.  Herein lies the problem and is the crux of our frustration.  The corners never leave the face.

This is very good information. Your version is updated and the video sounds fine. Your impression that the video is adquate for face detection is corroborated by the fact that you're seeing good, steady "green corners" around your face.This means that the software CAN see your face and therefore has the potential to both learn about and later recognize it.

4.       For me, FastAccess is running on a laptop.  Each login I never move, more statue like.  People witnessing me think I am crazy, LOL.  But as I mentioned in a previous post, a sudden movement or posture change has actually aided recognition in previous cases.

Actually, this is a imporant, key observation! A little natural body movement is helpful. If you sit perfectly still and aren't being matched against a stored biometric template, then continuing to present essentially the exact same pattern of facial detail to the software in frame after frame of video won't help. Of course you shouldn't make faces at or talk to the camera, but a little natural head and body movement is actually a good thing.

Also if you haven't tried it, definitely place your hands on the keyboard when you approach the computer. This is the position that the software learned you in first (while typing your password), so especially in the early going it's also the position that will be the most likely to cause a match quickly. It should learn you in additional positions over time.

If you look down at your hands to type your password, also be sure to look back up at the monitor before logging in. I've seen several people get good, solid "green corners", then look down to type. Depending on the position of the computer/camera they may look SO far down that the camera now sees the top of their head. Of course they might not realize this because they're looking at their hands...just something to be aware of.

About myself, I am generally not critical of most things.  However this case is rather peculiar.  My situation is I have a fair brown complexion.   I do not buy into the “software is racist” comments dominating the news late 2009.  But I have to wonder if this technology simply has problem recognizing darker skins.  Maybe you can suggest camera settings for those similar?  The brightness setting, white balance, saturation, gamma, etc..? Thanks

I can confirm definitively that FastAccess does not share the same weakness in this regard as the other software that made the news a while back. In your case it is absolutely not a problem specifically because you have good, solid "green corners" that track your face. If there was insufficient facial detail visible for good recognition (for any reason), then those green corners wouldn't be there.

Bear in mind that generally speaking recognition should be quite good and will get better with use, but will never be 100%. This is standard for any biometric that is also highly accurate with the matches that it does make. 

Let me know if some of the suggestions above help out.

I use Win 7 64 bit on an xps laptop and the latest version of FastAccess. good video and lighting and no problems with the detection square. I removed the software completely from the system and have not missed it. Some service rep......using a noreply email..........what's the deal?..........I worked as a computer tech for two years, for Dell and Symantec. If a program creates more problems than it solves, then get rid of it. In my professional opinion, FastAccess created more problems than it solved............actually what problem did it solve?

This is very good information. Your version is updated and the video sounds fine. Your impression that the video is adquate for face detection is corroborated by the fact that you're seeing good, steady "green corners" around your face.This means that the software CAN see your face and therefore has the potential to both learn about and later recognize

The green corners you mention are not necessarily "steady."  I am not sure if you meant that literally, but the green corners which surround the face are actually moving.  It is a movement more like "in and out" or "blinking" if you will.  I am assuming you are aware of this fact and is considered in your term "steady." 

Otherwise if the corners should be steady without movement then maybe this is a troubleshooting event.

I use Win 7 64 bit on an xps laptop and the latest version of FastAccess. good video and lighting and no problems with the detection square. I removed the software completely from the system and have not missed it. Some service rep......using a noreply email..........what's the deal?..........I worked as a computer tech for two years, for Dell and Symantec. If a program creates more problems than it solves, then get rid of it. In my professional opinion, FastAccess created more problems than it solved............actually what problem did it solve?

Sorry to hear that FastAccess was not valuable to you. As with any software, some users will certainly get more use out of it than others. If it was truly not useful to you then not using it is clearly a valid decision.

I'm not sure what you mean about a "no reply" email. Of course I don't provide any email addresses on forums, but I routinely have open email conversations with a variety of customers using the addresses provided on our website. This is true even despite the fact that Dell technically provides all tech support for FastAccess.

Although I obviously can't speak to what you might or might not value about FastAccess yourself, I can share what most people (including myself) who do use it regularly say. Here are some examples:

• More convenient login - especially with longer or more complex (i.e. more secure) passwords. Most people use passwords that are short and weak (or none at all!), specifically because they're difficult to use. FastAccess will typically recognize people faster than they can type which allows for longer, better passwords. Of course if you type really fast (as I do, actually) then this can be less valued.
• Added security through automatic desktop locking: In "Continuous Security" mode, FastAccess not only authenticates you to log IN, it also tracks when you LEAVE and can automatically lock the desktop behind you. Obviously most useful for people with valuable data, people who are in public areas or for parents who want to enforce parental controls.
• Convenient, secure login to websites: We all log into websites these days that are highly confidential (banking, healthcare, bill pay, etc.). FastAccess can automatically log you into them, but ONLY when your face is visible. Obviously other tools also do automatic login, but none are this secure while still being convenient.

There are other examples, of course, but these are the three that I personally like the most.

The green corners you mention are not necessarily "steady."  I am not sure if you meant that literally, but the green corners which surround the face are actually moving.  It is a movement more like "in and out" or "blinking" if you will.  I am assuming you are aware of this fact and is considered in your term "steady."  Otherwise if the corners should be steady without movement then maybe this is a troubleshooting event.

Sorry - I should have been more clear. The corners can absolutely move around the video frame as your face moves around and that's fine . If they blink on and off, however, then that's an issue. By "steady" I mean "always present somewhere".

If they are, in fact, blinking on and off then that would definitely explain your relatively poor recognition.

Question - how large is your face in the video frame? It should ideally occurpy about 1/3 of the total area. If you're too far away then the small size of your face can reduce available detail.

Do you have any backlighting in your area? Sometimes if there's a strong light source behind your head, it can cause you face to go into silloutte which also reduces detail.

If none of this helps, please write to me at the support address on our Sensible Vision website and we can exchange some screen shots. Often that's a very fast way for me to tell what's going on. I'd be happy to share our results on this forum so that others can benefit as well.

Thanks again for the good detail and reasonable conversation. I appreciate it.

I respect your opinion regarding these matters. I can see how some people would value the software. 

 I am also a touch typist so that the long password issue is not a problem for me. If the facial recognition had worked consistently, I would have appreciated the auto lockdown on the system when you leave the camera field. However, after two months, the facial recognition was working no better than it had been the first week. In fact, it seemed to have regressed and was recognizing  my face less! Also, if the lighting was not perfect, the software was unable to confirm my face. I had set it at the broadest sensitivity with no significant improvement. Get the program to work in the poor lighting and I would consider reinstalling it. 

I gave the software a real chance because the idea of it appealed to me. However, I was trained to be merciless when it came to removing unneeded software from a system. 

Question - how large is your face in the video frame? It should ideally occurpy about 1/3 of the total area. If you're too far away then the small size of your face can reduce available detail.

As far as total area, usually I would say 1/3 occupied space, but that measurement ranges depending on what it takes to match the database entries.  At time it takes a closer camera view, which is probably ½ or more total space.  Other times much, much less. 

Yes, the green borders are always there somewhere.  A more thorough representation the borders “flash” or “blink” initially then followed by an inward/outward movement, as if the box is “squeezing” the face.  I am not sure at that point if the software is going through a series of calculations.

Here are the current camera properties in FastAccess.  Advise any discrepancy where you may see an inappropriate setting.  Many of the values are grayed out.  I cannot control these values.    

I got to tell you the photo that appears in the properties dialogue area is much sharper, clearer, and detailed than what appears during the login screen.  

Yes, the green borders are always there somewhere.  A more thorough representation the borders “flash” or “blink” initially then followed by an inward/outward movement, as if the box is “squeezing” the face.  I am not sure at that point if the software is going through a series of calculations.

If the green corners are always present, it does not matter what they're actually doing. As long as they are simply present at all times, you're fine. By definition your camera settings are good as long as the green corners are visible.

It seems more work to make it work, you understand?  If the lighting is not perfect, my poise needs to be perfect, or at best a perfect replica of a previous database entry.

Actually I think that less work is probably what you need. Don't worry about having the perfect pose or lighting. All my questions about lighting, etc. were just for troubleshooting - not things that you even need to be aware of as long as the green corners as preset.

Just place your hands on the keyboard, make sure the green corners are there and don't feel the need to stand still like a statue. The software should take care of the rest for you. Try this out a few times and you should see very good results. If not, then please feel free to contact me directly via email and I'd be happy to help you use some internal diagnostic tools to do a deeper exploration of your system in order to help out further.

Thanks again for your assistance.

Hi,

Having read the above posts I'd like to request some assistance with Fast Access also.

Apart from having some of the difficulties as described above I find Fast Access to be a total resource hog.  When it's enabled it often chews over 50% of processor power and having used the "Disble FastAccess Temporarily" the drop in use of the CPU is distinct.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Mark

Thanks for the question - I'm happy to help. To start, let's make sure that you're using updated software - please provide FastAccess version, OS, and CPU details. 

Speaking more generally, Sensible Vision has endeavored to create an application that is not only beneficial to workflow and security, but one that is as efficient as possible with computer resources. Unlike most other security applications, FastAccess does continue to do work after login in order to provide real-time protection of your login to websites, a “virtual camera” that allows for simultaneous use of other video applications, and other real-time features (depending on your security mode) such as automatic user switching and automatic desktop locking. 

A few additional things to consider:

Measurement Factors

• Both Windows Task Manager and Resource Monitor measure CPU utilization based on the current CPU speed.  Typically Windows will reduce the speed of the CPU to save energy (often to just 33% of the rated speed of the CPU).  Thus - as an example - 15% utilization of the CPU would be about 5% of its real “capacity”. You can observe this difference by changing the Windows Power Plan (Control Panel/Hardware and Sound/Power Options) to “High Performance”.  This disables CPU throttling and provides an accurate measurement of total CPU use.
• Microsoft’s “Process Explorer” reads out the CPU utilization based on full CPU speed.  This provides an actual representation of how much of the total CPU resources are in actually used.

 FastAccess Factors

• Face Login Mode will have very low CPU use as FastAccess stops using the webcam about 45 seconds after OS  login or the last Web Login where a password was required. Very little CPU use related to FastAccess should be observed after this (though there should be some in order to provide the virtual camera).
• User Switching and Continuous Security Modes keep tracking the face after login which uses a minor amount of CPU.  In this case 3% - 5% average utilization of most CPUs is common. As with any Windows application, there may transient peaks where it reads much higher depending on the measurement window chosen. This is normal. 

If you feel that none of this is a sufficient explanation, please contact me directly at any of the publicly available email addresses for further support. CPU utilization that is truly around 50% should be nearly impossible unless something is really wrong with your installation. 

uninstall the program