Week 3: Swelling and Changing Faces

Week 3 now – almost a month already! Time’s been passing by really quick. 

This week has definitely been something. I unfortunately haven’t made much progress on my research due to an emergency wisdom tooth removal, which was quite the adventure in of itself. However, my face is currently somewhat swollen on one side from the trauma (I swear this is relevant), and it made me wonder: how does Face ID on my iPhone still recognize me? Are there specific facial features it looks for? Or does it make a scan of your entire face?



Above: Face ID infrared dot projectors of the iPhone X (2017) in action - a newer version of which is still in use by current iPhones and some Android phones. 
Source: iPhone X Review from The Verge and Nilay Patel

New immediate goal: do some tests with Face ID-equipped devices and figure out exactly what it’s looking for. Although there’s nothing particularly scientific about this just yet, I’ll be documenting my findings as extensively as I can. This is a good start!

I’ll be seeing you in week 4! Over and out.

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