Dubai International Airport plans to introduce a new aquarium equipped with facial recognition technology to its terminals from next year.

The virtual fish aquarium will feature 80 in-built cameras that scan a visitor’s face and verify their identity,.

Foreign affairs chief Major Gen Obaid Al Hameeri  told The National: “The fish is a sort of entertainment and something new for the traveller but, at the end of the day, it attracts the vision of travellers to different corners in the tunnel for the cameras to capture his / her face print.”

This new feature will be launched in terminal 3 by the end of next year, and in other terminals by 2020.

“This new feature will be launched in terminal 3 by the end of next year, and in other terminals by 2020.”

Visitors will be required to pre-register at 3D face scanning kiosks before visiting the biometric tunnel.

As passengers walk through the aquarium, their biometric scan will be compared to their digital profile.

When the system matches both profiles, visitors will be given a message of ‘Have a nice trip’.

In case of issues, visitors will have to go through further security checks.