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SINGAPORE: The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) will roll out facial recognition to all automated motorcycle lanes at Singapore’s land checkpoints, following trials.<\/span><\/p>\n Facial images will replace fingerprints as the primary biometric identifier.<\/span><\/p>\n Since January, ICA has been conducting trials to use facial recognition for immigration clearance at some motorcycle lanes in the arrival zone of Woodlands Checkpoint.<\/p>\n From Mar 31, this will be rolled out to 18 automated motorcycle lanes in the arrival zone of Woodlands Checkpoint, before it is extended to all 70 automated motorcycle lanes there.<\/p>\n The initiative will start at Tuas Checkpoint in the third quarter of the year.<\/p>\n Singapore residents, long-term pass holders and foreign visitors who have previously entered Singapore will be able to use the facial recognition feature.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n First-time foreign visitors and those re-entering Singapore with a different passport from their previous trip will need to undergo manual immigration clearance, where their faces and fingerprints will be scanned and recorded.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n They will then be able to clear immigration through the automated motorcycle lanes using the QR code generated via the MyICA mobile app and facial recognition for subsequent trips.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n More than 150,000 motorcyclists and pillion riders took part in the trials, and their feedback was used to improve the clearance experience, ICA said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Based on the feedback and ground observations, ICA has enhanced the system\u2019s ability to detect when facial features are obstructed \u2013 for example, by face masks or sunglasses \u2013 and introduced on-screen prompts to guide motorcyclists and pillion riders to remove these obstructions to enable facial scanning,” said the authority.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n