Cornell Receives $1.9 Million from Meta to Innovate AR Facial Recognition Tech

Cornell Receives $1.9 Million from Meta to Innovate AR Facial Recognition Tech

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Researchers at Cornell’s Technology University and Ann S Bowers College of Computing and Information Science have received roughly USD 1.9 million as grants from Meta to enhance augmented reality facial recognition technology.

Reportedly, the company awarded USD 1.125 million to Cornell for its prestigious XR Collaboratory (XRC) arm. The rest USD 675k went to Cornell Ann S Bowers College.

The tech giant will provide support and capital to facilitate AR research over the next two years. Additionally, it will also offer diverse opportunities for students and staff at each university.

The immersive research and development (R&D) group led by Meta, Spark AR, aids in university projects wherein Meta Reality Labs engineers collaborate with student-led R&D initiatives.

Sue Young, Head of AR Glasses at Meta’s Reality Labs, said, “Support for pioneering efforts like Cornell’s is key to helping realize this vision fully and empowering the next generation of XR builders, creators, and researchers.”

Abe Davis, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Cornell Ann S Bowers College of Computing and Information Science, and Harald Haraldsson, Director of the XR Collaboratory (XRC) for Cornell Tech, will lead the research at the respective campuses.

The funding aims to enable the researchers to evaluate AR-powered facial recognition technology and enhance extended reality (XR) academia. The money will also support XRC in its primary focus categories, including instructional, project, and community activities.

Davis explained that the modern facial recognition software recognizes a limited range of colors. Therefore, Cornell R&D will work towards developing AR recognition for faces of color.

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