Japan's NEC Corp. has launched a facial recognition system that identifies people even when they are wearing masks, adapting to a new normal in which face coverings have become a key form of protection against the spread of the coronavirus. The technology firm had already been working on a system to meet the needs of allergy sufferers who wear masks when the COVID-19 pandemic prompted it to accelerate development. "Needs grew even more due to the coronavirus situation as the state of emergency (last year) was continuing for a long time, and so we've now introduced this technology to the market," Shinya Takashima, assistant manager of NEC's digital platform division, said. The system determines when a person is wearing a mask and hones in on the parts that are not covered up, such as the eyes and surrounding areas, to verify the subject's identity. Users register a photo of their face in advance.

TIANJIN, CHINA – The award-winning film "Tree" offers a rare multisensory virtual reality experience of becoming a rainforest tree from a seedling in just 15 minutes. Reading a short speech into a microphone analyzes your voice and tells who you are -- your sex, height, skull type, personality and emotional state. A high-resolution video camera identifies you from 500 meters away. These computational imaging and artificial intelligence-driven technologies were all on display at the World Economic Forum's conference in Tianjin, China, last week. Some 2,500 leaders from politics, academia and a range of business sectors, including many startups, from around the world gathered in the city for the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2018 -- often dubbed the "Summer Davos" -- where they experienced these advanced technologies and discussed how those such as AI and blockchain will influence society in the coming years.

Fukuoka Mayor Soichiro Takashima hopes to make his city a living laboratory for such cutting-edge technology. About 70 percent of the city will be covered by the LoRaWAN network this fiscal year, setting a wide testing ground for future services. True, it's difficult to find a place to test these technologies in a real-life environment as it often requires social infrastructure and the removal of legal restrictions. The city of Fukuoka also carried out two drone tests last November and December between the city center and Nokonoshima Island in the middle of Hakata Bay, about 2.5 km offshore.