Diners at a new breed of KFC store in Hangzhou, eastern China, now only need smile to pay for their food.

 

The new “Smile to Pay” system utilizes facial recognition technology whereby customers simply smile at a screen and enter their phone number to checkout.

The Hangzhou fast food restaurant, called KPRO, is a KFC spin off aimed at tech savvy, health conscious youngsters.

The store is part of a drive by Yum China Holdings, the largest fast food chain in the China market, to connect with a new generation of customers.

Sales have been dented in recent years due to changing consumer tastes and a string of China food scares.

Instead of greasy fried chicken and chips, KPRO has a menu focused on made-to-order salads, seasonal produce, paninis, roasted chicken, fresh juice and craft beer.

The facial recognition technology is thanks to a tie up with Alibaba Group affiliate Ant Financial.

The use of the technology in a commercial settings is thought to be the first in the world.

The system uses a 3D camera and a “liveness detection algorithm” to weed out those trying to cheat the process by using photographers or videos of someone else.

Source:Reuters

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Keywords: Smile and Pay facial recognition KFC