China Police Start to use Smart Glasses to Tackle Crime

China's police have started using sunglasses with built-in face recognition technology to increase the chances of identifying and capturing criminals, the BBC reported.

Thanks to innovation, law enforcement has been able to capture seven suspects, local media reported. Smart glasses are linked to an internal database that stores information about criminals. Innovation enables police officers to real-time scan the faces of thousands of people in the crowd, and so easily catch fugitives. The new equipment was used on a busy train station in the central part of Zhengzhou city. The seven captured criminals are accused of various crimes - from petty thefts to human trafficking. With the use of glasses 26 people using fake identification numbers were caught. 

Critics, however, see the technology as a chance for the government to get even more power. Concerns are that technology can be used to persecute political dissidents and other citizens.

China is a world leader in the development of face recognition technologies, and the population is constantly reminded that such equipment means criminals can not escape the law.

The country is actually building something called "the world's largest surveillance camera." About 170 million devices have been installed so far and more than 400 million units are expected to be installed in the next three years, many of which use artificial intelligence , as well as face recognition technologies.