Over the past 3 years Vix Vizion’s Responsible Gaming solution has been implemented in over 300 licensed venues to assist venue staff with managing self-excluded patrons that have requested to be excluded from gaming by registering themselves on self-exclusion registers. Essentially, the faces of all people who enter the gaming room are compared against the self-exclusion register and if there is match, a real time alert is sent electronically to the duty manager and staff.
Vix Vizion has worked very closely with venues and the SA Government to ensure the technology is easy to use, has a small footprint within the licensed venue and meets all of the regulatory requirements for privacy, cybersecurity and responsible gaming. This has also included supporting and monitoring performance of these solutions based on Vix Vizion’s locally developed facial recognition technology (FRT). While South Australia has led the way, other states on the eastern seaboard are starting to implement their own standalone solutions ahead of wider scale state-based programs which will likely include state-wide self-exclusion register of problem gamblers.
These experiences place Vix Vizion in a unique position to share 6 key learnings to ensure a successful implementation of facial recognition for self-exclusion management and monitoring.
Lesson 1 – The quality of the images is important.
A site survey will be required to assess the suitability of the existing cameras and locations.Because the existing camera setup was often acquired without facial recognition in mind, there is a possibility that existing camera locations will not work. Cameras need to capture people’s faces at eye level or at a small downward angle to give a reasonable accuracy result. Ceiling mounted cameras may not give the best camera view for accurate face detection. The higher the resolution of the camera the better result, and the camera must be able to operate in low light.
Lesson 2 – Data privacy is critical.
Because we are dealing with people’s images, the solution MUST comply with Australianprivacy principles and state regulation. You will need to ensure your FRT deletes facial images captured for those people who are not on self-excluded registers. Typically, the FRT must be able to automatically delete these images after an operator adjustable time period. Know where the image data is stored. Often this is on a secure server at the venue. Local data processing is the most secure and reliable option. If a cloud-based solution is installed it should be hosted securely within Australia. You’ll also need to ensure that a cloud-based solution continues to function if the internet goes down or loses contact with its cloud service. Make sure your agreement with your system supplier covers these privacy, reliabilityand data storage items.
Lesson 3 – 24-hour system uptime is critical.
Apart from the system operating during business hours, updates to the self-exclusion register happen around the clock and must be accessible to the system as soon the gaming room is open. If you typically don’t have available IT support at the venue, you may choose to use anFRT supplier who can provide a system health monitoring solution, so it is quickly identified if a camera or server has an issue. The venue operator cannot afford to have the system down with no one being aware of an issue.
Lesson 4 – Compliance reporting is essential.
The solution must be able to assist the venue with their compliance reporting obligations. This will include statistical summaries of the number of self-excluded problem gambler alerts for a given period, and at a granular level, automated reporting of the incidents and the action taken by the responsible gaming manager.
Lesson 5 – Selecting the right partners.
It is important that the partner and FRT vendor have credibility and experience in FRT and the licensed venue market. A useful benchmark to look for is an FRT vendor that has submitted their technology to the US NIST organisation and has been ranked for wild scenarios performance. This covers good facial recognition performance in low light, fast moving and face covering such as glasses or masks. If using a video management system, make sure you ask who the maker of the FRT they use. The FRT solution will likely need to integrate with a state-wide self-exclusion register, so make sure they have the local capability to do this.
Selecting a system integrator who is familiar with installing CCTV, VMS and network solutions in clubs and pubs environment is needed. They should have experience in selecting camera locations needed for good facial recognition accuracy. Ideally, they have implemented an FRT solution before or have access to a distributor with FRT experience and technical support. Make sure the FRT vendor offers local support to the system integrator and/or the distributor.
Lesson 6 – Ease of use and flexibility.
Operating Responsible Gaming solutions and managing self-exclusion should be easy. Understand how you wish to receive alerts if a problem gambler is identified. Screen alerts, text or email messages with the captured image and the enrolled image for problem gamblersis best, as this allows venue staff to do a final ‘human’ check when identifying and speaking with the patron. If selecting a cloud-based solution, make sure you understand how alerts work and if there are any additional costs.
While the purpose of the responsible gaming solution is to provide real time alerts if self-excluded problem gamblers return to a venue, the solution should also be able to be used for other use cases such as alerting if persons of interest (those who have been banned, violent or abusive) also return to a venue.
The implementation of a Responsible Gaming solution is a critical decision for pubs and clubs, and it should not be taken lightly. FRT is a powerful tool to assist venues with more easily and more effectively managing self-excluded patrons. Hopefully the above lessons will assist venue managers in making good decisions when implementing a responsible gaming solution.