A Chinese School Is Using Facial Recognition To Make Sure Kids Are Paying Attention In Class

China has been going big with civilian surveillance recently, primarily using facial recognition in everything from traffic cameras, to smart glasses for police officers, and more. Now, there¡¯s a new target in Big Brother¡¯s crosshairs, and that¡¯s China¡¯s kids.

According to government run website Hangzhou.com, a school in the city has taken to facial recognition to keep students attentive in class. Three cameras have supposedly been installed above a blackboard at Hangzhou Number 11 High School in eastern China. The facial recognition system captures seven expressions, neutral, happy, sad, disappointed, angry, scared and surprised. It then uses these to determine whether each child is paying attention to the lesson, and feeds the data back to the teacher if they¡¯re not.

So far the system has been installed in just one classroom, but it¡¯s expected to be used by the entire school within a few months. ¡°Previously when I had classes that I didn't like very much, I would be lazy and maybe take a nap on the desk or flick through other textbooks,¡± one student told Hangzhou.com. ¡°But I don't dare be distracted since the cameras were installed in the classrooms. It's like a pair of mystery eyes are constantly watching me.¡±

Obviously, the system has met with criticism from some groups, but the school principal said he believes it¡¯ll improve the standard of education being provided. ¡°It's the same as teachers having an assistant, and it can improve the quality of teaching,¡± he said. "¡±Some have said it can infringe the privacy of students, but it only records students' movements, rather than filming activities in class.¡±

Worryingly though, he let on a rudimentary system of classification the system has, marking attentive students with an ¡®A¡¯ and others with a ¡®B¡¯. It¡¯s probably only a matter of time before that system is used to segregate students into attentive and distracted classes, with those unable to keep up likely being saddled with extra study hours and the like.