The prohibition of smiling in passport photos is for biometric identification. Smiling changes facial measurements, making accurate identification difficult for face recognition software. A calm face makes the system fast and reliable.
New Delhi: PaThere is no personal reason for banning smiling in the photo of the support document, rather there is a larger purpose behind it. According to a study published in ‘Forensic Science International’, facial expressions affect the accuracy of face recognition. Research has found that it is much easier and more accurate to recognize a calm face than a smiling face. The main reason for the requirement of not smiling in passport photo is biometric recognition. If you smile in a photo, many calculations related to it change. When smiling, the cheeks rise, the eyes become slightly smaller and the mouth opens wide. Even a slight smile can change your facial features so much that the machine gets confused for a moment. Biometric systems require a calm face rather than a smiling face.
Facial recognition software doesn’t care about your happiness or friendliness. This software cannot see human emotions, it only sees ‘numbers’ and ‘patterns’. Your face is just a mathematical model for the machine, and if you smile, this model changes. Research in computer vision has shown that changing facial expressions can reduce the accuracy of matching. Since thousands of people are scanned every day at airports, even a small mistake can happen.
Border control officers and automated systems alike need the same rules to function smoothly. In smiling photos, each person’s smile is different, which makes verification slow. The ‘cool faces’ keep the system fast and reliable.
If the photo is smiling then it will be rejected
While applying for passport, if you are smiling in the photo, your photo will be rejected. If your teeth are visible, your eyes have become smaller or your facial muscles are stretched, the officer may ask for a new photo. This may delay your passport application by a few days or weeks. Second, you may have to pay for the photos again.
This problem is not limited to passport applications only. If you are smiling in the photo, the ‘e-gates’ at the airport will not be able to recognize you. This does not mean that you will not be granted entry, but you may have to stand in long queues for manual checking and questioning.
This rule is due to technical reasons
Faces also change with time. Simply put, weight increases or decreases, hair changes and skin also changes. A smiling face changes more over time than a calm face. Smiling affects the structure of teeth and facial muscles. Therefore, a neutral face helps maintain your true identity in the long run. It is also important to understand that this rule is not personal, but technical.