You Can Now Order With Your Face At This SoCal-Based Burger Chain

Food tech has definitely come a long way in 2017, especially in the fast food world. Self-service kiosks and burger-flipping robots are beginning to make their mark. SoCal-based burger chain CaliBurger is adding to the innovation with an upgrade to those kiosks that allow you to order with your face.

CaliBurger, who’s already rolling out the aforementioned burger-flipping bots, hopes to use the super-extra tech to speed up ordering and to incorporate their loyalty program. You can register and save a facial scan to an account using their kiosk. By saving orders to that account, you can then easily call up meals you’ve purchased in the past and have them made again in record time.

Currently, the face-recognizing kiosks are only available in Pasadena, California as part of a pilot program. They will later be debuted at the NRF 2018 | Retail’s Big Show Expo in NYC in mid-January. CaliBurger plans to expand the tech to their global locations if trials prove to be successful, and will eventually incorporate the ability to pay with your face as well.

Facial recognition doesn’t have exactly the best rep right now, especially with the newest iPhone’s face scans that aren’t as selective as customers hoped they would be. However, CaliBurger is working with NEC Corporation of America, who has the most accurate face scans as rated by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, to make sure their readings are foolproof.

If CaliBurger’s tests and expansions are successful, facial recognition could be the ordering method of choice in the future. Seems a little weird and extra to order with your face right now, but the convenience it could provide is pretty nice.