China is bound to intensify its already staggering facial recognition efforts now that researchers from two Chinese universities have developed a 500 megapixel facial recognition camera that can capture “thousands of faces at a stadium in perfect detail and generate their facial data for the cloud while locating a particular target in an instant.” Researchers say the camera can also be used to clearly capture human faces on panoramic photos.
The “super camera” was developed for national defense purposes, and researchers have suggested that it can “serve as a watchdog at military bases, satellite launch bases and national borders to prevent suspicious people and objects from entering or exiting.”
Under President Xi Jinping, China has become the prototypical modern surveillance state. In addition to spying on its own citizens, the Chinese government is exporting its model of state surveillance across the globe.
Read more: China’s new 500-megapixel ‘super camera’ can instantly recognize you in a crowd
