Seattle-based RealNetworks has entered into a new licensing and distribution partnership with Net One Partners, an IT security solutions provider based in Tokyo. The latter will develop and market solutions based on RealNetworks’ SAFR facial recognition technology to its network of ICT infrastructure providers.

It would appear to be a good fit. RealNetworks’ SAFR solution is designed for integration into standard ICT infrastructure including IP cameras and servers, and is scalable to support camera networks reaching into the thousands.

Originally marketed as a solution to improve school safety by surveilling video feeds for individuals such as expelled students and drug dealers, SAFR could see a dramatic extension of its applications thanks to Net One Partners, whose President, Takuya Tanaka, commented in a statement, “We will contribute to the expansion of SAFR by application and vertical market with partner companies to drive social acceptance and demand for face authentication, which is expected to increase exponentially.”

SAFR demonstrated 99.8 percent accuracy in the University of Massachusetts’ Labeled Faces in the Wild (LFW) test, and was ranked by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as the most accurate “Faces in the Wild” facial recognition solution from any US company earlier this year. The solution is designed to operate across a range of IT platforms, including those based on Android, Windows, Linux, macOS, and iOS.