facial image

The Future Of Biometric Technology

The future of biometric technology Biometric security such as fingerprint, face and voice recognition is set to hit the mainstream as global technology companies market the systems as convenient and easy to use, according to a prominent information security systems expert. ECU Adjunct Professor Steven Furnell says the use of biometrics is on the rise with the introduction of biometric technologies as standard in mainstream mobile phones. He says people are also more willing to submit their biometric data to personal devices such as mobiles and tablets than to desktops PCs and printers. Prof Furnell last month published an article in the journal Biometric Technology Today , which details new fingerprint recognition technology available on the home button of iPhones and Face Unlock for Android. He says both technologies can work very well—under the right conditions. "With the facial unlock, if you’re in a dark environment and the front-facing camera can’t pick up your facial image correctly then you can’t use the facial unlock to unlock the phone," Prof Furnell says. "With the fingerprint recognition, if it’s wet … then you’re not going to be able to get that phone to unlock particularly easily without drying everything off. "Similarly, if you’re wearing gloves, then again it won’t be able to detect your fingerprint and won’t unlock for you." Prof Furnell says both techniques also have security issues. "[The facial unlock] can be fooled, for example in earlier implementations, by just holding up a static photo of the legitimate user […]

Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police, 4 Other Prefectures Deploy Facial Recognition Systems

Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police, 4 other prefectures deploy facial recognition systems Mar 03, 2014 John Hofilena National , Tech & Science 1 Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police, 4 other prefectures deploy facial recognition systems The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) of Tokyo and police forces from four other prefectures have now deployed a facial recognition system where a high-definition video camera can instantly recognize any particular person in a crowd, this according to media reports. In the age of high-definition video, it is admittedly easier to spot faces in a crowd, and this particular system has been adopted for use in anti-organized crime investigations. The main problem is that there is no clear-cut mechanism for monitoring the new system’s use, and the Japanese public fear that it can be used by the police to infringe on private citizens’ privacy. The new equipment for the police is called a mobile facial image detection and verification system, and it uses a notebook computer loaded with a database of faces. Pictures taken by the high-definition video camera are cross-checked by the software with images in the database. The system is programmed to alert the operator if a face matches a database image. According to the specifications of the system that was made public through a freedom-of-information request, the software is capable of simultaneously processing the faces of more than 10 people, detecting even those with dark eyewear or masks. The software is able to crosscheck at least 100,000 cases in a second. Most of all, the […]

Law Enforcement Can Identify Suspects From Reflections In Your Eye

Identifying suspects from reflections in the eye is not just fodder for police drama. It’s reality, says a new study led by researchers from the University of York and University of Glasgow. The report, “Identifiable Images of Bystanders Extracted from Corneal Reflections,” reveals how investigators can glean recognizable reflections from witness’ eyes.  The scientists positioned a group of eight people in front of “bystanders” and, using a 30 megapixel digital camera,  photographed the latter’s faces in high resolution.  By zooming in on the eyes, they managed to extract facial images that—though fuzzy or highly pixelated—were still identifiable.  Although the experiment was conducted in a controlled setting, corneal reflections can have a major impact for law enforcement  out in the field , particularly since  mobile devices are quickly becoming high-quality cameras .  During criminal investigations, smartphones and cameras are often seized as evidence. After the bombing of the Boston Marathon in April, footage from bystanders and security cameras played a key role in identifying the suspects.  Image courtesy of research article “ Identifiable Images of Bystanders Extracted from Corneal Reflections.”  Other Articles:

Japan Pushes Next-Generation Surveillance Techniques

TOKYO — Projects are under way at Japanese universities to develop new personal authentication technologies using individuals’ habits and unconscious behaviors that are hard to be imitated, hoping to turn them into commercial use by 2020.       Conventional methods use fingerprints, irides and facial images to prevent personal fraud. Experts warn these security methods are still vulnerable to identity theft.      A research team led by Yuji Watanabe, an associate professor at Nagoya City University, is working on software designed to discern people’s identities from movements and the speed at which their fingers operate smartphones. The software also aims to capture particular habits when users touch handsets for the first time. The system is said to verify identification with an accuracy of more than 93%. The university hopes to start joint development of the system with companies within a few years.      A team led by Mutsumi Watanabe, a professor at Kagoshima University, is developing a system to recognize people’s identities through handwriting done in the air with fingers. This handwriting is said to be distinct from person to person. The technology is expected to be used at security gates in schools and offices.      A team led by professor Yoshinobu Kajikawa of Kansai University is studying a biometric authentication method that focuses on people’s lip motion. It can verify identities with 94% accuracy.      A gait recognition system, developed by professor Yasushi Yagi of Osaka University, will soon be put into practical use […]

‘Soft’ Biometric Cameras Are Watching: Govt. Intelligence Hopes To Use Cameras To Recognize People By The Shape Of Their Ears

Facial Recognition Research Intensifies Research on facial recognition technology is being stepped up to include ‘soft’ biometrics, such as using ears as a unique element of identificaiton. (Photo: Igor Stevanovic / Rhonda J. Miller) Facial recognition has become an increasingly common element in security surveillance, enabling identification of faces in images taken from a distance and in a crowd. But facial recognition is just a step along the way to more and better identification techniques being sought by the U.S. government’s Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA).  The agency has challenged top research teams to revolutionize how machines recognize people with a competition announced Nov. 8, according to New Scientist magazine.  Like Us on Facebook The announcement on the IARPA website, dated Nov. 8 said, “Intelligence analysts often rely on facial images to assist in establishing the identity of an individual, but the sheer volume of possibly relevant video and photographs can be daunting.  While automated face recognition tools can assist analysts in this task, current tools perform best on well-posed, frontal facial photos taken for identification purposes…IARPA seeks dramatic improvements in unconstrained face recognition by funding rigorous, high-quality research drawing on a variety of fields to develop novel representations to encode the shape, texture, and dynamics of a face and new ways to use these techniques for faster and more accurate search and retrieval.” The typical approach requires sorting through frame after frame of camera footage to find ones that offer a good chance for identification, then to […]

NEC Participates In ISAF Security 2013

NEC Corporation today announced its participation in ISAF Security 2013, one of the most comprehensive security exhibitions in Turkey and the Middle East region, from 19 to 22 September 2013 at Istanbul Expo Centre, Turkey. NEC will showcase a range of Public Safety Solutions at stand A850, Hall 9, including: 1.Facial Recognition Technology NEC’s facial […]