Universal Parks and Resorts & Facial Technology

[TheCodeMan95]

I'm going to be honest - I've always assumed that they've had my face and voice for the entire 8 years I've been going.

 

[tielo]

Recognition software (in whatever form of AI integrated) for many years already in large cities, metro stations and airports.
One thing these systems have in common is they don't give a Sh!t about you. It tracks behavior (just like a trained security officer would do) to see if there are individuals that could become a threat. The thing AI does it that it can watch all sensors a million times a second and never drops a beat. It'll identify a possible problem quicker so a security officer can focus on that. It is fine.

 

[Rhian]

The behavioral pattern recognition I understand and yeah, I can see it as a necessary evil for lack of a better term. Some of this seems better suited for a government institution than a theme park is all I'm saying. For the record I don't believe Universal is approaching this tech in a nefarious manner.

But since they are going to be watching and recording your activity through the day I am interested to see how they cater unique things for guests in the system. If you're a passholder and the system sees you spend a lot of time at a particular land or ride through multiple visits, maybe you'll be given a random Express pass for 1 ride or 10% off a particular food item.

I can certainly see the system used for targeted marketing like never before. I do think there's some brilliant things which could be done with this and I hope they find the balance between feeling stalked by the system and something feels rewarding. Targeted ads come across more creepy than helpful to me so I hope this does it better than that.

This is somewhat on point. I was waiting to give one of ET's friends my name today when I realized how much more efficient it would be if they implemented facial cameras to scan you as you board.

I'm not ready for this.

 

[Jake S]

The behavioral pattern recognition I understand and yeah, I can see it as a necessary evil for lack of a better term. Some of this seems better suited for a government institution than a theme park is all I'm saying. For the record I don't believe Universal is approaching this tech in a nefarious manner.

I agree, though I don't think there's any actual security need for the United States Government to utilize this technology. And I don't trust them to keep people's data secure — I certainly don't trust a subdivision of Comcast to.

 

[GA-MBIT]

Yeeeeaah...To me this feels like an expanding breach of privacy by a private corporation with the stated goal of.. simple convenience? Face ID in the kiosk out front is one thing. But always on within queue lines and with AI actively tracking behavioral patterns? That feels like that can get Facebook-y pretty fast, and for no really good reason either. Line jumping has never actually been an issue for me in the 20 years I've been going to theme parks, it might be a bit annoying to see some guy shuffle awkwardly to their group at the front of the line, but it's not common or actually detrimental to the wait time enough for me to be interested in this "upgrade".

The names at E.T. are an even worse use case for this imo. I like talking to the team member! I like giving them a silly name and getting a physical Interplanetary Passport! Would it be more efficient to seamlessly scan my face when I walk in the building and automatically assign me my name then? Yeah probably. But what's the joy in that? We wouldn't have Tony Days or fun stuff like that anymore. I don't believe that theme parks have to be at max efficiency to be engaging and fun experiences, I actually think the opposite is often truer.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Yeeeeaah...To me this feels like an expanding breach of privacy by a private corporation with the stated goal of.. simple convenience? Face ID in the kiosk out front is one thing. But always on within queue lines and with AI actively tracking behavioral patterns? That feels like that can get Facebook-y pretty fast, and for no really good reason either. Line jumping has never actually been an issue for me in the 20 years I've been going to theme parks, it might be a bit annoying to see some guy shuffle awkwardly to their group at the front of the line, but it's not common or actually detrimental to the wait time enough for me to be interested in this "upgrade".

The names at E.T. are an even worse use case for this imo. I like talking to the team member! I like giving them a silly name and getting a physical Interplanetary Passport! Would it be more efficient to seamlessly scan my face when I walk in the building and automatically assign me my name then? Yeah probably. But what's the joy in that? We wouldn't have Tony Days or fun stuff like that anymore. I don't believe that theme parks have to be at max efficiency to be engaging and fun experiences, I actually think the opposite is often truer.

This is a weird overreaction to a patent. Universal has patented a lot of things.

 

[Jake S]

This is a weird overreaction to a patent. Universal has patented a lot of things.

I don’t really understand this argument. They’re patenting it because they plan to use it. I find that disturbing, whether they actually use it or not.

 

[GA-MBIT]

This is a weird overreaction to a patent. Universal has patented a lot of things.

I don't really see the "over" part. We were talking about it potentially coming to the parks, and if it does, those are my thoughts on that. It's a worrying trend in a lot of different fields, so I don't think it's totally out of the question. We'll see what happens. I hope it doesn't happen, and if it doesn't, all is well. :shrug:

We still bring up Boat-not-Boat ride pretty consistently, I guess I struggle to see the clear distinction.

 

[TylerG]

Ticketless facial recognition is testing at the AP entrance at islands today - just looked at the face scanner and got in without needing to scan my pass. The TM said they’re testing it today. Not sure if this is new or if they’ve been doing this regularly

 

[Alicia]

Ticketless facial recognition is testing at the AP entrance at islands today - just looked at the face scanner and got in without needing to scan my pass. The TM said they’re testing it w today. Not sure if this is new or if they’ve been doing this regularly

Oh wow! Wasn't sure if they were going to have time to test this before Epic opened.

 

[saint.piss]

 

[belloq87]

Does that work if you're wearing a hat and sunglasses?

 

[sonoma15]

Does that work if you're wearing a hat and sunglasses?

Most of the time, yes. There are a few cases in which it won't but the TM should be able to manually approve that you are the same person in that case.

 

[Jerroddragon]

Its both scary but.....at least getting into parks should be much quicker and the tech will only get better

 

[fryoj]

I'm assuming your first time in with a ticket you'll have to scan right?

 

[Jake S]

I'm assuming your first time in with a ticket you'll have to scan right?

I assume so, yes. It's possible they could add a functionality to the app that allows you to create a profile and scan your face in before going to the park. The new Clippers' arena in Inglewood has that.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

I was iffy about the facial recognition thing, but it was very quick and easy on our most recent trip.

 

[saint.piss]

 

[Mad Dog]

I was pleasantly surprised on how well this worked when we were there last year. Very seamless. Major steps ahead of what they used at the deluxes for the express passes facial a few years ago. That took forever.

 

[Brian G.]

Can confirm. Got there around 5pm and didn't need ticket.