Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island Theme Park Implements Facial Recognition

People visiting Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island can use facial recognition technology to access the resort’s theme parks — Ferrari World, Yas Waterworld and Warner Bros World — and make contactless payments, NFCW reported. The new FacePass service enables visitors to have their identity authenticated at turnstiles and point-of-sale (POS) readers by uploading a selfie to the Yas Island mobile app and linking their credit card to the resort’s ticketing system.

“The all-new technology will be rolled out across all Yas Theme Parks with contactless access to turnstiles available across the board and contactless payments in place at select retail and dining outlets,” Yas Island operator Miral told NFCW. “The long-term digital transformation for Yas Island will see FacePass technology integrated into all Yas Island assets, from access points for residential and communal areas to retail and food and beverage destinations.”

The new technology also offers wristbands to people staying at the Hilton Abu Dhabi, which can be used to unlock their hotel rooms and access the island’s theme parks.

The FacePass technology was developed by Anviz Global, a Chinese biometrics hardware and software maker, and doesn’t work through masks, according to Arab News (AN). Although the technology Yas Island is using doesn’t have this capacity, Miral told the news outlet that the initiative will help drive the resort’s goal of becoming a “fully contactless destination.”

“This kind of contactless technology is the future for all consumer-facing businesses. It largely enhances guest safety and well-being through touchless interaction, ensuring world-class safety measures and ease of social distancing,” Mohamed Abdalla Al-Zaabi, chief executive officer of Miral, told AN.

Another developer of the tech, the Japanese firm NEC, said it can reliably identify people wearing masks. 

IBM said in June 2020 that it was getting out of the facial recognition business because of racial profiling and abuse of the technology by law enforcement. Washington state was the first to introduce legislation specifically aimed at regulating the technology in order to safeguard basic civil liberties and institute transparency and accountability. The city of San Francisco outright banned facial recognition technology in 2019.