Facial Recognition to Prevent Chinese Children from Playing at Night

Have you experienced a problem with closing a mobile game in bed right before going to sleep? Many Chinese kids have too. But now it will probably be harder for them to stay late. Tencent, the most famous Chinese game publisher, implements the Midnight Patrol system that uses facial recognition to detect playing kids.

In theory, this system will detect minors playing video games between 10 PM and 8 AM and force them offline. It uses the device’s front camera to see the face of the player. Even if they play in the dark (most of them do), the light from the screen, changing and low as it is, is sufficient for face detection and analysis. Especially given that it’s not required to do anything but confirm the player’s age and prove they do not use an adult relative’s device.

On the one hand, Midnight Patrol connects to the China central security system, where data about phone users are stored. Instead of Google services, Android users in China mostly use their local analogs, and detection is easier. On the other hand, Midnight Patrol is integrated into many popular games, like Honor of Kings (the most profitable mobile game of 2021) and other ones published by Tencent.

Orwellian as it seems, the innovation is rather welcomed by people in China than not. Gaming addiction among children has grown into a serious issue during the recent decade, and the feature is approved by most parents. It is similar to the “digital curfew” that limited the number of in-game microtransactions earlier. Despite this, China remains the biggest mobile gaming market in the world.

Don’t underrate them, Chinese kids, though. Last year, they broke down DingTalk, an app for distance education, by giving it low rates and bad reviews, so it could be removed from the App Store. When it comes to gaming, they can be even more inventive.