Over the past several months, Universal has installed facial recognition cameras at some attraction Express lanes throughout Universal Studios Florida.
Express Lane Facial Recognition
The newest facial recognition camera has been installed at the E.T. Adventure entrance. It’s housed in a gray and white pillar. The camera is behind a domed transparent piece of plastic. There is a white ticket-sized rectangle below the camera.
In August, we saw a camera pop up in a themed pillar at the entrance to Revenge of the Mummy. The gray pillar features a yellow “Production” stamp.
We first noticed cameras in DreamWorks Land when the area opened this May. One is at the Express entrance to Trolls Trollercoaster.
The other is at the DreamWorks Imagination Celebration theater.
The cameras aren’t in use yet but it seems Universal is preparing to regularly use them for the Express Pass system to scan guests’ faces, either instead of their passes or in addition. So far, we’ve only seen the cameras at Universal Studios Florida attractions.
Universal switched to a facial recognition system for park entry last year. All Universal guests have their faces scanned instead of fingerprints to prove their identity. Facial recognition for Express Pass has been used in the past with portable machines on wheels instead of these newer, more permanent installations.
Express is Universal’s line-skip service. It’s available as a ticket add-on starting at $89.99.
How do you feel about Universal potentially introducing facial recognition to Express Pass? Let us know in the comments.
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