A top Beijing university has introduced a face scanner to keep students staying in one of its all-female dormitories safe.
The face-recognition technology has controlled who goes in and out of the Beijing Normal University dormitory since it was introduced last month.
Before the system was installed, the school recorded images of all the residents, both with and without their glasses, news portal thepaper.cn reported Monday.
The school said that the system will not only make things easier for students who forget to take their student cards with them, which they had previously needed to scan to enter the dorm, but also reduce the workload of staff.
They say if the program is a success, more scanners will be installed around the campus.
A student surnamed Zhao told thepaper.cn that residents have to say their name, input their student number or swipe their student card before the machine scans their faces
"It is convenient and it gives me a sense of security because strangers can no longer get in and out of the building," Zhao said, adding that she prefers to input her student number as she finds it "awkward" to speak to a machine.
Beijing Normal University is not the first college to install such a scanner.
The Harbin University of Science and Technology in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province launched a face recognition system in its dormitories last year.
A university staff member said that the system recognizes people by scanning their facial structure, thus it can recognize them as long as their skulls do not change shape.
The system can also inform the university if a student doesn't return to their dorm for 24 hours.
