GGRAsia – Konami, Xailient expand facial recognition tech to tables

Konami, Xailient expand facial recognition tech to tables

Sep 26, 2024 Newsdesk Latest News, Trends & Tech

United States-based casino games maker Konami Gaming Inc and information technology services provider Xailient Inc say they have expanded their “SYNK Vision” facial-recognition technology to table games.

In November last year, the two companies introduced the SYNK Vision product for electronic gaming machines (EGMs). The collaboration was said to combine Konami Gaming’s Synkros casino management system with “Xailient’s advanced artificial intelligence (AI) facial recognition edge device capabilities”.

In a Thursday press release, Konami Gaming and Xailient said they have introduced “new features” to SYNK Vision, expanding its scope “to provide instant recognition of casino players at table games”.

The announcement said SYNK Vision “revolutionised player tracking and harm minimisation” by offering “instant login capabilities for both carded (known) and optionally anonymous (unknown) players”.

It added: “With the addition of SYNK Vision table games support, casinos can benefit from seamless player tracking at table games … for a consistent player experience across the property.”

SYNK Vision for tables is said to use “smart cameras to detect players seated at the tables, integrating with the player ratings system to streamline operations and ensure accurate data entry”.

“AI helps the casino staff by automating the tasks of player identification and player identity verification, removing opportunity for human error and speeding up the player experience from sit-down to buy-in,” said the update.

The announcement quoted Tom Soukup, senior vice president and chief systems product officer at Konami Gaming, as saying: “Table games staffs’ jobs keep getting harder. SYNK Vision returns the staff to their core role in customer service and entertainment faster.”

The release observed that smart cameras “process AI inside the camera itself, instead of transmitting video for processing in servers or the cloud,” in a process known as “Edge AI”, making it easier to install into EGMs or on gaming tables.

Lars Oleson, chief executive of Xailient, said in prepared remarks, that Edge AI was “a game changer”, as casinos are able to “roll out this technology without major infrastructure upgrades, reducing cost, risk, and hassle”.

Gerard Crosby, senior vice president and chief games product officer at Konami Gaming, said in the release: “In the Asia-Pacific market, and Australia, under new regulatory constraints in particular, players’ secure and unique identity becomes key to good operational governance of casinos.”

“Whether to ensure identity linked to AML transactions or identity of players redeeming promotional activity, SYNK Vision exclusively provides casinos with best practice technological solutions,” Mr Crosby added.