Facial-recognition technology being developed by Hong Kong academics has caught the eye of the city's police chiefs.
The force has expressed interest in a University of Hong Kong study intended to develop software that would identify people whose faces are partially covered or disguised in photographs or videos.
It comes days after the force's announcement that some officers would wear cameras clipped to their uniform lapels to record incidents, a move that has prompted privacy concerns.
Police have not given any details about how they would use the HKU software or placed an order for it, but it could potentially be used to check surveillance footage or images from the body-camera to identify people in a photographic database.
When the software was completed it would 'most likely be used by the police because they are the target audience, and also the Immigration Department,' said Kenneth Wong Kwan-yee, associate professor of computer science, who was leading the study. He added: 'We're not collaborating [with police]. If it works, then they may use it. They have expressed interest, but it's not like we have any commitments that we are going to sell it to them or they have to use it.'
Colleague Dr Dirk Schnieders added: 'We have received support from the police. They said 'Yeah, this is very useful for us'.'
A prototype of the software is due to be ready for the Immigration Department in April.