In leiu of 2020 Olympics Tokyo airports begin tests on facial recognition systems

Tests for a facial recognition system were launched at two international airports in the Tokyo area on Monday, as part of efforts to smooth immigration control procedures going into the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Japanese Justice Ministry’s Immigration Bureau plans to gather data from 25,000 people in the month-long tests at Narita International Airport near Tokyo and Tokyo International Airport at Haneda to examine the system’s capabilities.

The bureau is expected to make a conclusion as early as this year on whether the system could be introduced. The latest tests come after rapid progress in facial authentication technologies over the last two years.