Israeli firm raises $5 million for tech to recognise mask-covered faces

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Israel's Corsight AI, which has developed technology to recognise faces concealed by masks, goggles and plastic shields, raised $5 million from Awz Ventures, a Canadian fund focused on intelligence and security technologies.

Corsight said on Sunday it will use the funds to market the platform and to continue development.

In March, China's Hanwang Technology Ltd said it has come up with technology that can recognise people when they are wearing masks, as many are today because of the coronavirus.

Corsight said it offers a facial recognition system able to process information captured on video cameras and can address difficulties resulting from the outbreak, where a large portion of the population is moving about with faces partially covered.

The technology can be used to issue alerts of people who are in violation of quarantine and have gone outside to public areas while covering their faces with masks, Corsight said.

If a person is found to have COVID-19 within an organisation the system can quickly produce a report of people who were near the sick individual, the company said.

Corsight said it has permanent systems installed in European airports and hospitals, Asian cities, South American police departments and border crossings, and African mines and banks.

Tel Aviv-based Corsight was founded in late 2019 and has 15 employees. It is a subsidiary of Cortica Group, which has raised over $70 million to develop artificial intelligence technology.

(Reporting by Tova Cohen; Editing by Steven Scheer)