This paper provides an extensive review of facial recognition technology, tracing its historical evolution, exploring its functioning and applications, discussing the challenges it presents, and contemplating future prospects. The technology's inception and advancement are traced from its early stages to the current state, highlighting the key developments that have shaped its progression. An exploration of various types of facial recognition systems, including 2D, 3D, and thermal, underscores the diversity and complexity of this technology. A detailed explanation of how facial recognition works is provided, outlining the processes of data acquisition, face detection, feature extraction, and matching. We further delve into the broad array of its applications across multiple domains, such as security and surveillance, smartphone authentication, social media, healthcare, and retail. Despite the impressive benefits and applications of facial recognition technology, it also presents notable challenges. These include accuracy concerns, privacy and ethical implications, and the need for comprehensive regulatory frameworks. The paper concludes with a forward-looking discussion on the future of facial recognition technology, considering potential innovations and growth predictions. This review provides a comprehensive understanding of facial recognition technology, underscoring its relevance in our digitally driven world and the implications it holds for the future.

Li Qinjun, Cui Tianwei, Zhao Yan, Wu Yuying. Facial Recognition Technology: A Comprehensive Overview. Academic Journal of Computing & Information Science (2023), Vol. 6, Issue 7: 15-26. https://doi.org/10.25236/AJCIS.2023.060703.

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