Face recognition
Learn how face recognition works, how to set up a camera for it, and how to see who was recognized.
By the end you will know how to place and set up a camera for face recognition, what photos to send, and where to see the results.
What you need
- Face recognition approved for your account (contact Silarius to ask)
- A camera at a doorway or entrance where people face it
- Clear photos of each person you want recognized
Step by step
- Set up the camera
Place and set the camera as shown above. Turn on a camera event that fits the scene, like motion, line crossing or intrusion.
- Gather the photos
Put all photos in one folder. Name each photo with the person's name. You can zip the folder.
- Find your camera ID
Write down the ID of the camera you want to use.
- Send your request
Send the camera ID and the photos to Silarius support. Email us.
What it does
Face recognition spots known people in your video. It compares faces it sees with a list of photos you give. Each time it finds a match, it saves a record with:
- the date and time
- the person's name
- how sure it is (confidence)
- the camera
- links to the video
You can then jump right to that video.
Is it available for me?
Face recognition isn't open to every account. It's set up by request. Contact Silarius: request a quote or email us.
Where to see results
In the Silarius Cloud web app, open the Events menu. Click the Faces tab to see who was recognized and when.
Pick the right camera
Most modern cameras can work. The best ones let you set shutter speed, frame rate and bitrate yourself, or set a min and max range.
The face must be at least 80 pixels wide where people usually look at the camera. 150 pixels or more is better. A narrow lens on a basic camera can be enough. A wide fisheye camera far away is not.
Place it well
- Put the camera at an entrance or doorway people must walk through.
- Mount it at face level, or just a little above head height.
- Make sure people walk toward the camera for at least part of the way. They should look right at it, even for a moment.
- A sign or small blinking light above the camera can make people look up at it.
- Mounting it too high, where people pass side to side, won't work.
Get the light right
- Faces need even, steady light. Soft light is best.
- Avoid direct sun on faces, spots near big windows, long halls lit from one end, and lights that switch on and off.
- Avoid bright spotlights. They make sharp shadows.
- If there's bright light behind people (like sun behind a door), raise the camera's brightness above auto. The background gets too bright, but the face looks right.
- Features like WDR and backlight help can blur faces. A sharp face with some dark or bright spots beats an evenly lit blurry face.
Camera settings
- Frame rate (pictures per second): 8 to 15.
- Shutter: no slower than 1/60 of a second. 1/100 or faster is better. A darker sharp picture is better than a bright blurry one. Some cameras call this setting a max exposure or low-shutter limit.
- Too much sharpness adds grainy noise, which can set off false motion. Fix it with better light.
- Blurry "tails" behind moving people? Raise the bitrate and shorten the keyframe interval (how often the camera sends a full picture).
Photos to send
Good photos make good results. Best of all, take them with the same camera on a normal day, with people looking how they usually look.
Each photo should have:
- only one face
- a face over 150 pixels wide, with about 50 to 100 pixels of space around it (don't crop too tight)
- no blur
- good light
- both eyes showing
- the person's name
Send several photos of each person: some looking at the camera, and some turned a little left, right, up and down.
Still stuck? We'll do it with you, free.
Silarius customers can get free remote help: sign in, click one button, and a Silarius technician joins your computer.