Face recognition at the counter
A counter tablet recognises a diner after a blink and serves the meal or takes the wallet payment, without a card. Only diners who consented are enrolled, a parent decides for a child, and no photo is kept.
PLANSScale only
Built and tested on our test systems; not yet run on a real tablet at a counter. Keep cards or the app QR as the usual way and try faces with a few diners first.
Why it matters
In a school or college mess, cards are forgotten, lost and lent, and the queue stops while the cashier looks for a name. A card lent to a friend means the meal is eaten on someone else's plan. With SmartMy Feast, the counter tablet you already use recognises a diner after a blink. The meal or payment follows as if the card was scanned. Consent comes first and is recorded: a parent decides for a child, and an adult agrees on the tablet or in the app. The tablet keeps a list of numbers, never a photo, and works on in a network outage.
The problem it solves
- Students forget their ID card and the queue waits while the cashier searches by name.
- A card lent to a friend means the meal is taken on someone else's plan or wallet.
- Parents worry about photos of their children being stored and shared.
- Buying a separate face terminal for each counter costs more than the counter itself.
How it works
- A food manager switches on Face Recognition at the Counter on the outlet. Each counter tablet of the outlet gets its face recognition at its next sync.
- Consent comes first. A parent gives it for a child in the SmartMy Feast app. An adult agrees in the app or reads the notice on the counter tablet, with the supervisor as witness. A signed paper form can be recorded in the back office.
- A supervisor opens the customer on the counter's Wallet tab and taps Enrol face. The customer blinks and the tablet takes three to five photos. Only the face template goes to the server; the photos are dropped.
- At the Serve tab the cashier taps the face button. The customer looks at the tablet and blinks.
- Recognised: the customer is filled in as if the card was scanned. With Serve on scan, the plan or token meal is served at once; on the Sell tab the wallet pays.
- Not recognised or Not sure: the cashier taps Scan the card, or picks the person from the list. Picking is logged as a Staff Override.
Everything it does
Consent
- Nobody is enrolled without consent for the purpose Meals at the Counter
- Three ways: in the SmartMy Feast app. On the counter tablet for adults, with the supervisor as witness. Or a signed paper form recorded under Face Recognition > Consents
- Feast keeps no birth date: customers of a type with the category Staff or Visitor are adults; students and others count as children
- For a child, the parents are the customer's menu contacts, and they decide
- States: Not given, Asked, Given and Withdrawn
- Saying no changes nothing else: the card and the app QR work as before
Enrolment
- By a supervisor on the counter tablet only, never in the browser, and only with the network
- Three to five checked photos; a photo is refused with the reason: too far, too dark, more than one face
- A face that looks like someone already enrolled is flagged
- A supervisor cannot enrol their own face
- Counters recognise the customer after their next sync
At the counter
- The customer must blink within 3 seconds; Not recognised and Not sure never pick a customer
- Each counter tablet holds the faces of the outlet's customers who consented, for the customer types the outlet serves
- Confirm on Screen, on the counter's face device, asks the cashier to confirm the name: off to start with
- Without the network the tablet still recognises the faces it holds (Growth and above for offline)
- Each meal and sale records how the customer was found: Card, App QR, Token or Face
- Face Match Threshold per outlet: empty to start with, which uses the model's own
What is kept
- The face template, a list of 128 numbers, on the server and in encrypted storage on the tablets; never a photo
- Nobody can see or download the template, not even the administrator
- The consent with who gave it, how, when and which notice; the Match Log of every recognition
- A tablet that has not synced for 7 days deletes its faces and says Sync needed
- Delete Unused Faces and the Match Log are kept for ever to start with (0); you can set months
- One face per person, shared with other SmartMy products the person consented to, such as the hostel gate
Withdrawing
- The customer or parent withdraws in the app, or asks the office. The face is deleted at once and counters drop it at their next sync
- Remove face on the counter's Wallet tab, or Remove Face Data in the back office, deletes the face and keeps the consent
- Archiving the customer ends the consent and deletes the face, unless another product still has a consent
- Switching the outlet's face recognition off empties its counters at their next sync
Who uses it
Diner (adult)Gives or withdraws consent in the app or at the counter, and is served by face.
ParentGives or withdraws consent for a child in the SmartMy Feast app or on paper.
CashierRecognises the customer on the Serve tab and serves or sells.
SupervisorRecords an adult's consent at the counter, enrols and removes faces, records paper consents.
AdministratorThe consent notice and the face settings under Face Recognition > Configuration.
Where you use it
- The SmartMy Feast Counter app: the face button on the Serve tab; Enrol face and Remove face on the Wallet tab for supervisors
- The SmartMy Feast app: Face in the Menu, with Give consent, Withdraw, History and Everything I agreed to
- Web: Face Recognition at the Counter on the outlet's Selling tab; Face Recognition > Consents, Devices and the Match Log
- Both apps are built and in testing, not in the app stores yet
- Not a face terminal to buy: the Android tablet of the counter, with its camera
What you control
Settings
- Face Recognition at the Counter: off; per outlet
- Face Match Threshold: empty (the model's own); per outlet
- Confirm on Screen: off; per counter face device
- Faces held by a device: 2,000 to start with
- Devices Wipe Faces After (Days Without Sync): 7; warn after 3 days; warn after 10 failed matches in an hour
- Delete Faces Not Seen for (Months) and Delete the Match Log After (Months): 0 (never)
Notifications
- Managers are told when a counter has not synced its faces for 3 days, and when one counter has many failed matches in an hour
Questions
Is a photo of my child stored?
No. Photos stay in the tablet's memory only while the template is made, then are dropped. The template is a list of 128 numbers that nobody can view or download.Who gives consent for a school student?
The parents listed as the student's menu contacts, in their SmartMy Feast app or on a paper form the office records. Feast treats every customer who is not staff or a visitor as a child.Can a printed photo fool the counter?
The customer must blink, which stops a printed or still photo. It does not stop a video on a phone. The cashier sees the customer, which is the main check; Confirm on Screen adds a name check.What if two brothers look alike?
The tablet says Not sure and does not choose. The cashier scans the card. Enrolling both again in good light often helps.Does it work when the internet is down?
Yes, in Growth and above the counter keeps working offline and recognises the faces it holds. Enrolling a face needs the network.Do we need special cameras?
No. The counter's Android tablet and its camera are enough, ideally at face height and out of direct sunlight.Related features
COUNTERCustomer found by card or QR at the counterThe cashier scans a card or the QR code in the diner's app. The counter shows the name, customer type, photo, wallet balance and the meal due. Lost, blocked and expired cards stop working at the next sync.COUNTEROne-tap serve of plan and token mealsScan the card and the meal a plan or token covers is served in one tap, or on the scan itself. The counter checks the session, the opt-out and a second helping, also without the network.PAYINGPrepaid walletEach customer has a food wallet. It is topped up at the counter or in the office, in Growth also online, and spent at every counter by scanning the card. Every change is an entry that is never edited, only reversed, and a low balance raises an alert.PORTAL AND APPSParents manage children's meals and limitsParents see each child's wallet, meals and bookings on the portal and in the SmartMy Feast app. They top up, book a meal, answer for the child, report allergies and set daily and weekly spending limits that the counter enforces.WITH OTHER SMARTMY PRODUCTSHostel mess plans with check-in and leaveWith SmartMy Hostel, a resident's mess plan starts at check-in and ends at check-out, from rules per hostel, room type and resident category. Approved leave switches the meals off with the plan's credit, and residents who are away are left out of the kitchen's headcount.PORTAL AND APPSCounter app for tabletsSmartMy Feast Counter turns a tablet into the canteen's counter. Cashiers log in with a PIN and serve plan and token meals by scanning a card or app QR. They sell items, top up wallets, void with a supervisor and close the shift with a cash count.
See it with your own menu.
Tell us how many outlets you run and how people pay today. We will show you a day in your mess or canteen on SmartMy Feast.