While facial recognition isn’t exactly a new piece of technology, Apple is marketing the iPhone X with Face ID as the next-generation of facial recognition, where it combines the use of AI and various hardware sensors and components to scan a user’s face and also to help prevent potential spoofing.
With Apple’s solution being new, it’s not surprising to see many people try to push the limits of the system and to see what it can and cannot do. In fact just recently the folks at WIRED have stumbled across the video above which shows a 10-year successfully unlocking the iPhone X belonging to his mom using Face ID.
Now as you can see in the video, both mom and son do share some similarities in their facial features, and not only was the kid successful on the first try, but he managed to get in multiple times afterwards. Testing it on his father’s iPhone X saw him only get in once and failed subsequent times, with the father penning an article on LinkedIn with regards to the situation. So the question is, is this a “flaw” with Face ID and on Apple’s part?
According to Mashable, they were directed to an article on Apple’s support page on Face ID which reads, “The statistical probability is different for twins and siblings that look like you and among children under the age of 13, because their distinct facial features may not have fully developed. If you’re concerned about this, we recommend using a passcode to authenticate.”
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen people try to trick Face ID. Mashable themselves conducted an experiment using fraternal twins, and recently we’ve also seen siblings attempt to bypass Face ID by “tricking” the system into learning that the sibling’s face was the correct face. There has also been a video uploaded by a Vietnamese company who claims to have “hacked” Face ID using a mask.