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SP4- Windows Hello

mva5580

Member
Hell I was just interested in using it to see how well it worked, not necessarily to even use that as the be-all-end-all way that I login.

I'm hoping that it's corrected when I turn it off, I guess we'll see when I'm actually able to get in and change settings.
 
You probably need good lighting conditions for the SP4 to see your image. It's not like a magic camera that can log you in a room with no lights on.

Surprisingly, no. I used Hello in a dimly lit basement. It worked. It doesn't seem to like hats or anything that changes your face. Glasses haven't bothered it on or off.
 

mva5580

Member
Well I finally got back in (again, had to remove the Type Cover to see the "Sign In Options not greyed out) and I removed the facial recognition. I was able to sign in just fine after that, no issues with not being connected to a network. So there is definitely something going on there.

Oh and as an aside; I went through about 25% of my battery life troubleshooting this.
 
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mva5580

Member
Wait, so for the facial recognition to work, you need internet access? How come it wasn't seeing your face?

Oh it was seeing my face, it would just constantly tell me that I wasn't connected to the internet and therefore I needed to sign in using an alternate way. So I guess since I have a Microsoft Account it's tied to that and in turn is in some way tied to internet access.

It was a pretty aggravating loop of not being able to do anything. Taking the Type Cover off finally got me to be able to use my password to login, but even that was painful. So it's turned off for now.
 

hughlle

Super Moderator
Staff member
Oh it was seeing my face, it would just constantly tell me that I wasn't connected to the internet and therefore I needed to sign in using an alternate way. So I guess since I have a Microsoft Account it's tied to that and in turn is in some way tied to internet access.

It was a pretty aggravating loop of not being able to do anything. Taking the Type Cover off finally got me to be able to use my password to login, but even that was painful. So it's turned off for now.

This is interesting. I've taken this straight off the MS website: During setup, Windows takes the data captured from the face or iris sensor or fingerprint reader and creates a representation that it encrypts and stores on your device. (This isn’t an image; it’s more like a graph.) The representation of you stays on your device. Windows never stores pictures or images of your face, iris, or fingerprint on your device or anywhere else.

So why is there a requirement for internet (it's not got cellular so how often will you instantly be connected to a network? And if everything is stored just on the device then what is the internet connection used for? I've no time but it would be nice to get onto livechat and find out just what is up. If an internet connection is a requisite, then this makes hello worthless to a whoooooole lot of people.
 

chuckk9032

New Member
You probably need good lighting conditions for the SP4 to see your image. It's not like a magic camera that can log you in a room with no lights on.

I have the RealSense camera mounted on a PC and because it uses infrared, room lighting can be nil and it still does facial recognition perfectly.
 

johnj2803

Member
I have the RealSense camera mounted on a PC and because it uses infrared, room lighting can be nil and it still does facial recognition perfectly.

i can attest to this. as a matter of fact super bright sunlight makes it even harder to sign in. Just an observation :D
 
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