Dell Facial Recognition

I've been playing around with this tool and noticed that EVERY TIME I shutdown or reboot, during the webcam initialization on startup I get a message that it is temporarily suspended because I manually did something and to wait 10 seconds. Am I doing something wrong logging off/shutting down?

 

Not at all. Any time you manually lock the desktop (whether it's by logging out and back in or by hitting "Windows + L"), FastAccess assumes that because you locked the desktop that you WANT it locked. It waits in order to give you time to get out of the way of the camera. If it didn't and it recognized you immediately, you could get into an infinite loop where it was impossible to lock the desktop or to switch users.

Also see FAQ #4 on page 22 of this FAQ.

http://www.sensiblevision.com/v/dell/faq.pdf

To be perfectly clear....are you seeing this message only with a Logout or manual lock, or also on a full reboot?

 

I'm seeing it anytime I restart my system, whether it is restart or shutdown. I haven't used the manual lock yet.

 

Actually it seems to work better when configured to use my ugly mug AND my password. More secure too.

 

Yes it is that's how I have been using it, but I now just login with out PW.
LordRasta as pointed out have a read up on the help files and/or FAQ back @ FA homepage.

 

I found it faster to just type in my password...and having it use like 20% of my processor constantly was annoying, so I keep it disabled (using the box at the login screen) unless I'm in a public place where someone might be able to see my keyboard.

 

The point is training FA once it learns your facial log within different light conduction it's quick and simple. Once this has been done all you need do is login (facially) and once in disable FA as you don't need it run & watching your every move. Also good to have your screen saver active with password logon this way FA can be used anytime your screen saver kick's in.

 

What is this, 1995? Nobody uses screens savers anymore.

 

Anyone use the continuous security option? Does it accidentally lock when I am looking at other direction?

 

I'm glad that you are finding the recognition to be good.

Actually we would not recommend using FastAccess with a screen saver. What you want to do if automatic screen locking is desired is "Continuous Security" mode which can be set quite easily from the main FastAccess Configuration screen. This automatically locks your deskt after a selectable amount of time with your face out of view.

 

As part of this feature there is a timer that allows you to select how long it takes to lock the desktop after your face is no longer in view. Picking the right time is crucial for balancing your security and workflow needs. The "correct" time may even be different for you in different situations. Try it.

The following FAQ also has a good question (#8 on page 16) that discussed the various security modes and why you might want to use each of them.

http://www.sensiblevision.com/v/dell/faq.pdf

 

I appreciate your thoughtfulness. Appropriate use of this or any other technology to meet your specific needs is certainly a good thing to consider! (And is something that most people do not think enough about).

I wanted to help, if I can, to address your concerns about CPU usage.

1. Depending on the power mode that you're in, Windows itself can vary the processor speed all over the place. Oddly enough, Windows reports usage by a given program as a percentage of the currently available CPU speed, not the maximum possible speed, so as the CPU is ramped down the reported percentage used by any program will shoot up (sometimes WAY up) even though the total "real" usage remains the same (and may not be causing any actual performance hits). Make sure you're in "Max Performance" power mode to keep the CPU throttled all the way up for an accurate measurement.

2. CPU usage on the Dell systems is largely a function of the camera. Typical usage in "Performance" power mode would be between 1%-4% with occasional transient spikes as Windows and FA do certain background tasks.

3. If shutting down FastAccess really does drop utilization by a lot, then something may be using the "Virtual Camera". This could be Dell Video Chat or other programs. In this case, processing the video between the various required resolutions is really what's taking up the cycles. Try shutting down anything that might use video to get an accurate measurement.

The final judgment, of course, is to weigh the benefits of the automatic login to Windows, the general security, and the web login feature for IE (which you should absolutely try if you haven't) against any CPU usage. IMO, the computer is meant to be used and if you like what a program is doing then it may be worth the cycles (as it obviously already is for you when you're out).

 

Follow-up question if you wouldn't mind. I'm still trying my best to fully understand this symptom since I've been unable to reproduce it myself on any of our test systems. What OS are you running? Because of a key difference in shut-down behavior between Vista and Win7, this may actually tell me something useful. Thanks!

 

Having recently clean installed Win 7 I have been unable to find the facail recog sw? As in "is it online, available via a disc etc. .."Would like the option back. I'd forgotten about it since I purchased my studio a month b4 the beta for 7 came out with Vista sp2 64X pre installed. I've been using every build of 7 since the beta, bought the preorder upgrade of 7 pro .
Apreciatte a link.
Regards-J23

 

I only know of 2 places you can get your original software.

Here you can download it a total of 3 times (down them once and make copys so you have a couple of downs for later

and here you can request 1 set of disks of all the software that came on your PC

hope this helps you.

 

Hey SVREP,
First off, i love this program works perfect for me.
Then, is there anything in the works to capture a picture of someones failed attempt to log in? or maybe a popup when you log in saying there was a "failed" log in? At least you would know who or if someone was screwing around with your laptop.

Thanks

 

Glad you like it! I do too. Thanks as well for providing the authorized download links to the Dell site.

Actually, we do have some nice photo audit logs in place already. Go to the management console > Advanced > "View or Delete Logs". When enabled it takes a photo during every recognition or manual login. Currently it does not take a photo during a failed login attempt, as you suggested, but IMO the time when you REALLY want to have a photo is when someone is successful at logging into your account. ;-)

I'll check to see if the photo capture for failed login is in the roadmap or not, but honestly if it is then I don't believe that it's a very high priority at this stage. Good suggestion, though...Thanks!

 

I currently run the Fast Access software and love it but there does seem to be an issue where I can't full screen webcam with someone on skype without my sent video turning into color bars. If my skype is in windowed mode using "FA virtual cam" things work great and stuff, but whenever i flip it to full screen (or any other media for that matter), my video output turns into color bars. Is this a known problem and is there a solution yet? (I run Windows 7 x64 with skype v4.1.0.179 and FastAccess v2.47 on a studio 1555

 

Please refer to question #9 on page #21 of the FAQ.

http://www.sensiblevision.com/v/dell/faq.pdf

 

much thanks!

future revision of faq edit: in the second sentence of the answer for question 9, running has 3 n's.