Cali Group Expands Use of Facial Recognition Tech
Cali Group is deploying new technology tools into CaliBurger restaurants to fight the spread of viruses like COVID-19 and improve the safety and health standards within restaurants. New facial recognition technology is among the innovations that will initially be implemented in a CaliBurger store in Pasadena, Calif., in the coming weeks and eventually chain wide.
“Cali Group is focusing its resources on new tools for the restaurant and retail industries to survive the current crisis,” said John Miller, Chairman of Cali Group. “Our portfolio of companies offer various solutions for food production, delivery, take out and drive thru.”
May I Take Your Temperature, Please?
The burger chain is adding Entry Screening. When the store is open for takeout and delivery, devices attached to the doors will measure the body temperatures of restaurant staff, delivery drivers and guests. All people seeking to enter the building must have their faces scanned by the devices. If the device sensor detects a person with a fever, the person will not be allowed into the restaurant.
The tech streamlines employee entry as well. During the hours when the store is not open for takeout and delivery, restaurant staff can also opt to use the facial recognition system built into the device at the same moment as the fever scan to unlock the door in a single step, instead of doing the fever scan and then also needing to use a key card as a second step.
While the initial use case will be for CaliBurger, the technology could be applied to other buildings such as retail stores, offices and homes to enhance health and safety.
Kitchen Automation. AI-driven robot made by Miso Robotics, known as Flippy, will be cooking in the kitchen. This will reduce the amount of human contact with the food being prepared. CaliBurger has demonstrated that Flippy can be used to reliably automate both the grill station and fry station, resulting in less employee turnover, increased productivity, and greater food consistency.
Contactless Ordering and Payment. The restaurant will not accept cash or credit cards as both forms of payment may enable transfer of pathogens. Guests who want to pay on site can register for PopPay, a face pay service, at popid.com. New payment terminals are being installed so that guests can use PopPay without any contact with a touch panel. Guests can also order and pay using PopPay on the CaliBurger website.
Last year at HT-Next, Yale Goldberg, vice president of Cali Group; shared perspective on the potential of facial recognition, predicting that facial recognition technology would become ubiquitous not only as a means of identification but also for payment technology.
“Facial recognition technology could eliminate the need for loyalty cards, credit cards, even wallets,” Goldberg said at HT-Next 2019.
As society adapts to social distancing and containing the spread of viruses, the time for face pay may be now.