Vietnamese Smartphone Maker’s Devices Will Offer Mask Facial Recognition

Nguyen Xuan Quynh, Bloomberg News

Motorcyclists wearing protective mask ride through Ton That Thuyet market during a partial lockdown imposed due to the coronavirus in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam, on Wednesday, April 1, 2020. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc ordered a 15-day period of isolation nationwide beginning Wednesday, according to a statement on the government’s website. Residents must stay at home and can only go outside for "essential needs," such as food, medicines, urgent medical services or to go to work at companies permitted by the government to remain open, it said. Photographer: Maika Elan/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Vingroup’s device unit VinSmart will add facial recognition capabilities to its smartphones that can identify users wearing masks, the company said in an emailed statement.

The technology was developed by VinAI Research, a Vingroup-funded research laboratory, according to the statement. It did not say when the smartphones will be equipped with the new technology.

The laboratory will offer the technology to the community for free to assist in the prevention of the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic, according to the statement.