Players of so-called fruit machines will now be required to take a selfie in order to prove they are at least 18 years of age as part of the UK Government and regulatory authorities crackdown on underage gambling.
The facial age-estimation technology is already being installed on thousands of betting machines in pubs, bars, and service stations across the UK. In the machine, there is a camera that will take a photo of each customer’s face before they are permitted to access the fruit machines. Within two seconds, a special algorithm will decide what the person’s age is to within 18 months and, eventually, prevent them from playing in case it decides they look too young.
According to research carried out by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), more than 25% of schoolchildren have confirmed that they have already bet on so-called fruit machines. Venues’ staff members failed to stop about two-thirds of these teenagers, although they are legally required to check if a player looks under 21 years of age.
The move to introduce such an age-estimation technology is considered a victory for some campaigners and media hubs that have been calling for reforms of the country’s gambling industry and stricter regulation of the sector.
New Age-Estimation Software to Analyse Fruit-Machine Gamblers’ Photos to Protect Underage Players
As revealed by Yoti, the British technology firm that stands behind the age-verification software, has revealed that its algorithm can analyse a photo to detect whether a player the age of 23 with 99.65% accuracy. Furthermore, the developer said that it can accurately estimate the age of a person between 13 and 19 years of age to within 18 months of their actual age.
Apart from that, Yoti explained that the new age-recognition technology is privacy-friendly because it does not cross-check people against a database of faces. Moreover, the image is instantly deleted once it has been checked. The CEO of the company, Robin Tombs, explained that the developer was committed to using its technology for good, as it was willing to help the authorities protect anyone underage from potentially accessing age-restricted online content or leisure activities, including gambling.
British gamblers are also given the chance to verify their age on a free Yoti mobile application and then use it every time they want to play on a fruit machine by scanning a special QR code with their smartphones.
The new age-recognition technology is being installed by Regal Gaming Technologies, which currently operates approximately 15,000 machines on the territory of the UK and supplies them to various chains, including Greene King and Wetherspoons. The age-estimation technology developed by Yoti has also been trialled by UK supermarkets at their self-checkout desks.
Recently, the photo and video-sharing social networking service Instagram revealed that it plans to introduce the aforementioned software by the end of 2022 in order to check if minor users in the UK were trying to alter their age on their app in order to appear as adult users.
- Author
Olivia Cole
