3D Face Imaging in 40 Milliseconds 170
Roland Piquepaille writes "Computer scientists at Sheffield Hallam University, UK, have developed a new face recognition software which can produce an exact 3D image of a face within 40 milliseconds. A pattern of light is projected on your face, creating a 2D image, from which an accurate 3D representation is generated. This technology should speed airport check-ins, but it could also be used in banks or for checking ID cards as it allows full identification in less than one second."
database? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:database? (Score:3, Insightful)
I think the article is implying that the real utility will be in matching the physical face with the biometric data stored on the identity card. Whatever advances are made there are independent of the verification of the card to the government registry.
Re:database? (Score:2, Insightful)
Surely they could update the card each time it was verified. This way the changes would be extremely small and it should still pass.
There would still be the problem if someone didn't use their card in a long time, and gained/lost a lot of weight (for example), but I am assuming that the ID cards would be used for almost everything eventually (payments, keycards, etc), so the chance of not having y
Re:database? (Score:2)
For everyday purposes, just have a full verification done every n times the card is used.
Re:database? (Score:3, Insightful)
If you can recognize your brother after he has gained weight, I'm sure the biometrics can recognize him, too. This is why the algorithms are programmed to have a margin of error. Like "it's 80% probable that this picture belongs to the person in question".
Re:database? (Score:4, Insightful)
If you can recognize your brother after he has gained weight, I'm sure the biometrics can recognize him, too.
Sure, as long as the matching algorithm is as sophisticated and accurate as the one in your brain, the one developed over millions of years of evolution of a social animal, and then fine-tuned by years and decades of personal feedback training.
The fact that you can recognize your brother after he has gained weight is evidence that it's possible to perform such recognition. It, however, in no way means that any matching algrothm we can create will match the feat.
In this particular case (weight gain), most facial recognition matchers probably won't be fooled, as long as the gain isn't too great. Not because the matching algorithms are anywhere near as good as the human brain, but because the matchers focus primarily on bone structure, which doesn't change with weight -- unless the change is so great that it hides previously visible structure under a smooth, round layer of fat.
In general, though, facial recognition technology is lousy. It's improving, but it's not remotely as good as what people can do.
Re:database? (Score:2)
Uh, yeah, because facial recognition software is so accurate.
I think you've watched a few too many hollywood movies.
Re:database? (Score:2)
Or studied Neural Networks in college
Re:database? (Score:2)
Re:database? (Score:2)
Exactly, this is why having a 3D representation of a face is going to help a lot.
Re:database? (Score:3, Informative)
Actually, I've worked on 3D facial recognition algorithms and they can be incredibly accurate. You are correct that 2D facial recognition algos have limited accuracy, but that's largely because 2D cameras merely measure the amount of light reflected into each pixel, so any real-world dimensional measurement is an interpretation of feature locations and extrapolated into 3D. Perspective views is big problem as are lighting conditions, clutter
Re:database? (Score:2)
Facial hair? I doubt this light can penetrate hair.
Re:database? (Score:2)
Good idea
How are they going to deal with people who gain or loose a lot of weight since the biometrics were taken
Or grow a beard, or get cosmetic surgery, or have a face that swells due to medication, etc, etc.
As someone who works on validation of computer target recognition, I recommend being very skeptical. Error rates will be very high.
Re:database? (Score:4, Insightful)
As someone who has written, studied, tested, validated, and worked with 3D target recognition and facial recognition algorithms, I agree to a point. I only agree because it's always good to be skeptical of these things until the (unbiased) evidence has been presented.
That being said, the jump from 2D to 3D recognition is nothing but revolutionary in terms of recognition and verification accuracy. Beards, cosmetic surgery, and even swelling are not major impediments. They do reduce the match, but less than you'd think. There are areas of the face that don't change much even in such cases. 3D face recognition is more about measuring the shape of the skull. The skin generally follows the shape of the skull except where there are heavy fat deposits, or of course if you grow a beard. Unless you're changes were to the extent of a normal face to something like the Elephant Man or Eric Stoltz in "Mask" (no, not the Jim Carry movie), it's still going to do quite well.
And even then, the application here is verification. If the changes were enough to make it fail, that would just mean you'd have to go through either a secondary manual security check and/or update the biometrics. It's not like you could, say, pretend to be Tom Cruise and say your face changed. If you don't look like Tom Cruise with a beard or fatter face, and have the same shaped skull, and have the other security info to back you up, you're going to get your biometrics updated.
As a general comment (not specific to the parent post), I know /. likes to pick apart these things, but /. readers are not of so superior intelligence that they can come up with flaws in 2 minutes that experts in the area of research have not addressed, studied, or solved in years of research.
Re:database? (Score:1)
Gather data fast, mine it later (Score:2)
That's less important to them than to record images of everyone who flies. Gather the data first, worry about mining that data to find a patsy^Wsuspect later.
Consider this scanner at the gates of a sporting event. You have all these people de^H^Hcontained for long enough to run them all through as many databases you want. Its doubtful their faces will change greatly during the course
Re:database? (Score:2)
Re:database? (Score:2)
Re:database? (Score:2)
Re:database? (Score:3, Insightful)
I think you need ot shove that statistic right back up your ass where you got it from. Like I said in the post, that was a number for that State, but even still, the US population is less than 300 million. So I guess like everyone between the ages of 18-60 has a warrant for their arrest.
Re:database? (Score:2)
2D versus 3D, my friend. 2D cameras measure reflected intensities from a given perspective, and therefore are prone to problems with (a) reflectivity/lighting, (b) the viewing perspective, and (c) other things in the image (occlusions, clutter). 3D directly measures the shape of the face, which is harder to change than you think. (Really, it's the shape of the skull that primarily dictates the shape. Only certain areas of the face can change much
Hrm. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Hrm. (Score:1)
Re:Hrm. (Score:2)
Re:Hrm. (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Hrm. (Score:5, Funny)
It is okay, Osama, you were passed up by two presidents, hundreds of Preditor flights, and thousands of US soldiers. I doubt some geek toy will do you in.
Re:Hrm. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Hrm. (Score:2)
The UAV used by the US Air Force is called Predator [airforce-technology.com] .
And if the technology is Russian, you don't shave, the technology shaves you: A4 Vision [a4vision.com]
Even worse... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Even worse... (Score:2)
Even if the "known criminals" have been previously arrested and had the procedure carried out (along with "mug shots", finger prints, DNA samples, etc) the article says nothing about the effectivness against people intentionally
Re:Even worse... (Score:2)
Great (Score:5, Funny)
Great-Lights out. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Great (Score:1)
Then stop mooning the football team in your sister's chearleader custome.
Re:Great (Score:2)
Re:Great (Score:3)
Re:Great (Score:2)
exact? (Score:1)
Re:exact? (Score:2)
Re:exact? (Score:2)
Except that a faster form of energy will make actual depth readings less accurate, for obvious reasons. Slower is better in this case, as long as its not so slow to accumulate motion blur. Anyhow, FTFS it sounds like this thing works using computer vision techniques, rather than fancy laser range-finding.
Airport check ins??? (Score:5, Insightful)
Airport checkins take time because they are a security procedure. The "recognition" part of it takes seconds as it is - just swipe the passport or other form of ID. What takes the time is confirming that the traveller's luggage hasn't been modified, finding a decent seat on the plane, and labelling up the luggage they drop. I've never been held up because they couldn't figure out who I was. Ever.
Re:Airport check ins??? (Score:1)
Street Tracking (Score:2)
The real use of this is to identify you in locations where you are not presenting your ID ; in the street, in shops, on public transport.
We already have a reliable biometric system for passports and other photo-ID. It's called a "photograph". Making a machine do the work only makes sense if you want to do a lot more of it.
Zit! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Zit! (Score:1)
Oh shit... (Score:1)
So much for us fuglies living in relative anonymity.
Re:Oh shit... (Score:1)
Re:Oh shit... (Score:2)
Modifiable (Score:3, Interesting)
The error tolerances that would have to be built into an automated face scanner would have to be large. I would rather have a human check my ID in a few milliseconds more than have an inaccurate system for verification. Show me a 40 millisecond thumbprint scanner with an international database and we'll talk.
Re:Modifiable (Score:2, Interesting)
Re: Modifiable (Score:2)
Re:Modifiable (Score:2)
Camera (Score:3, Funny)
at best, incremental (Score:3, Informative)
Great! (Score:1)
Re:Great! (Score:2)
Wow. (Score:2)
Goodnight, privacy. (Score:3, Interesting)
I wonder how long until people start using diluted steroids and such to temporarily alter their face's shape (as mentioned in the book, of course) to get around the rapidly advancing face recognition technology, for good or evil motives?
Re:Goodnight, privacy. (Score:2)
It is a good thing I took my kids to this theatre installation today:
De Hoofdenfabriek (The Head Factory ) Anneke de Lind van Wijngaarden / Aart Jan van der Linden / Dr. Hackmesch
Perhaps you've also grown a bit tired of your own head and are ready for a new model? Then simply go quickly to the Head Factory and have your head remodelled! Just figure out who you would rather be, and tell it to the doctor! The world-famous specialist Dr. Hackmesch has come over from Germany especially for the Tweetakt f
works in the dark (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:works in the dark (Score:1)
Re:works in the dark (Score:2)
another reason not to fly (Score:1)
Just one more reason for me to continue to not fly. When are people going to realise that catalogue and tracking every movement of every person is not only an extreme invasion of privacy but a pathologically insane thing to do?
Pffffttttt..... (Score:2, Funny)
but it could also be used in banks (Score:4, Insightful)
I believe the biggest problem banks have is ordinary robberies. I can't say I've heard of any situation of someone using someone else's identity to wipe out their bank account.
Even in countries that do not have identification cards (and, after all, the english speaking world fell into this category until only fairly recently) I haven't heard anything to suggest banks are having/have had troubles identifying customer's correctly. (The identification collected when opening an account now is for Patriot Act purposes.) The lowly ATM with 4 digit pin is used successfully without identification (phishing is its main weakness.) Thanks to debit/credit cards, identification is now even less relevant to banking.
Why's this crap always being pushed on banks?
Re:but it could also be used in banks (Score:2)
Ever heard of "identity theft"!?
Re:but it could also be used in banks (Score:2)
Identity theft usually refers to the procuring of one's credit history identity. That doesn't affect the victim's bank account.
Re:but it could also be used in banks (Score:2)
That would be something like "phantom" ATM withdrawls. Which are most likely to be the result of criminals working for the bank...
40 miliseconds (Score:2)
And you are recognised within 40 miliseconds.
So I guess this pattern of light would appear like nothing more then a brief flash to a person.
Really, someone's been watching Minority Report too many times.
And it can be used (Score:2)
Re:And it can be used (Score:2)
Re:And it can be used (Score:2)
Just because your actions are 'innocent' and 'I dont have anything to hide' doesnt give anyone the right to investigate you. Its none of their business.
Oh, and remember i paid my part of that sidewalk too. And we are not talking about a 'dumb' security camera stuck on a wall here.
glasses and/or beards? (Score:2)
existing face biometrics systems break down with simple alterations like those iirc...
Re:glasses and/or beards? (Score:2)
"Please take your glasses off, sir. Thank you."
Actually, dealing with beards is probably easier than you can imagine. If the person has a fixed beard style it won't change much between scans, plus, the beard doesn't cover ALL your face. Only the surroundings.
Re:glasses and/or beards? (Score:2)
if one wear a full beard, everything from the cheekbones down is coverd. to me that sounds like very little data to provide a accurate biometric profile from...
still, this will mostly be used to look for islamist terrorists right? so who cares as they are the only ones wearing full beards these days...
basicly there is to much fluff and to little substance in all this...
Are the shapes of our faces truly individual? (Score:2)
Wait a second!! (Score:5, Funny)
Foolproof Security? (Score:5, Insightful)
FTA: giving a digital mapping of a face that would form part of a fool-proof security system.
I have yet to hear of a "fool-proof" security system of any sort. I've heard many security schemes touted over the years as being "unbreakable" or "fool-proof", and yet somehow someone manages to break them or fool them. This is what happens when PR hype takes over instead of substantive information.
This is an interesting technology that may have applications down the line, but it's still new, hasn't been given a wide range of testing, and appears to be something that can be spoofed by facial changes. The PR hack at the university needs to switch to decaf.
Foiling face recognition software.... (Score:2)
The sacrifice is too high (Score:2)
Biometrics used to mean a robber would want my finger for the ATM. Now they want my head?
Security? (Score:2, Funny)
Obligatory (Score:2)
Imaging != Identification (Score:4, Insightful)
Excuse my whilst I almost jump up and down with glee. I mean it's not as if a typical high res photograph can be taken in 1/300th of a second (given decent light) and a bunch of them can't be taken simultaneously with a bank of cameras - leaving almost all of the remainder of 1/25th of a second to quickly calculate a 3D model using the same digital photogrametry that's been around for years on a powerful enough system.
To put it in context, there have been camera systems that can film an actor "in 3D" - and then use that co-ordinate data to manipulate a 3D character - for TV use for the last half decade or so. By definition, at 25 frames per second, it too builds a 3D model within 1/25 of a second (40ms). The only difference is higher accuracy.
So, OK, they've come up with a new technique for projecting a dot pattern that makes it even easier to record a set of points than the old annoying stick on black dots method. Even so, quickly capturing a 3D image isn't radically new - a bank of cameras can capture it in far less time than 40ms and you can do the processing in a staggering 2-3 whole seconds as the person steps away before the next person steps up.
The slow bit has always been comparing a complex 3D model against a huge database and identifying matches when people move their facial muscles between each image.
Of note is the simple fact: This talks about how "fast" 3D imaging is now available (although it has been by years but we'll ignore that) which is a totally different concept to actually comparing that information against several million, if not hundreds of millions, of other entries.
OK, so fair enough, the article talks about comparing someone to a specific record to see if they're who they claim to be. Again, nothing that couldn't already be done with a bank of decent CMOS based cameras. They imply that this is "more" accurate (which I still dispute is any more accurate than a bank of 10MP CMOS cameras and traditional photogrametry) but make absolutely no reference to cracking the real problem of people's 3D facial structure changing as their muscles move, as they gain weight, etc.
So - they have a quick method of creating a 3D snapshot, which could be done already, and haven't solved any of the real problems that make a simple 3D snapshot useless (comparing against large numbers of possibilities, parameterizing 3D points that move as faces do). So absolutely nothing then? Sweet.
I wonder if I could come up with a new, different, but absolutely no better technology for something people also still can't do very well. If so, I wonder how much a breathy press release and vapid article would net me in grants for my research?
Re:Imaging != Identification (Score:2)
But then again, you know better than anoyone else. Of course. You post to
3D Faces - The Movie (Score:2, Informative)
If this interests you, MERI has additional information in the form of a movie [shu.ac.uk] about it.
You wanna something foolproof ? (Score:3, Informative)
Combine together two of those :
* iris recon
* 3d face recon
* fingerprint
with one of those
* a pin code
and one of those
* a secure card with a chip and a recent encryption technology
As it is always said here on
Re:You wanna something foolproof ? (Score:2)
Step 2) Remove head to use with iris recon and 3d face recon.
Step 3) ???
Step 4) Profit!!!
Deceptive News Article (Score:2, Informative)
NOT a breakthrough (Score:2)
videos (Score:2)
Lower resolution WMV movie for Windows users: (320 x 240, WMV file) , 4.7 MB [shu.ac.uk]
Lower resolution QuickTime movie for Mac OSX users: (320 x 240, MOV file) , 3.8 MB [shu.ac.uk]
Patented!!! and eyeQ by mobileye (Score:2)
80,000 superbowl fans in an hour (Score:2)
This is assuming you can even isolate each face from all the others (and that the camera doesn't linger on Janet Jackson's torso during the half-time show...)
Re:This Is A Good Thing (Score:2, Insightful)
Congratulations. You've invented precrime.
Re:This Is A Good Thing (Score:2)
Or when someone who hasn't been caught has knocked off a liquor store, you can alert the police the next time they walk past a sensor.
Having worked as a consultant to the NYPD, I can see how municipalities could find this very useful for controlling local crime.
Re:This Is A Good Thing (Score:2)
After the first thousand false alarms, will the police still think this is a good idea? And then when he REALLY wants to rob a liquor store, he wears a Groucho mask.
Re:This Is A Good Thing (Score:2)
Re:This Is A Good Thing (Score:2)
Oh good, total surveillance. Track everybody all the time. And if you're not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to complain about.
Actual crimes are ALREADY reported. People buying liquor at 1AM are not committing a crime.
Re:This Is A Good Thing (Score:2)
We can diminish this argument on the premise that facial recognition isn't identification, but probability matching. not 'john smith' but someone who 'looks like john smith'.
"if your not doing anything wrong you have nothing to worry about"
That's a strawman if I've ever seen one. I never suggested anything of the sort.
Yes, actual crimes ARE already reported. What if I could have told you someone that matches his description went into the same liquor store three nights in a
Re:This Is A Good Thing (Score:2)
Of course you could solve crimes with total surveillance (which term I repeat, as I think it is appropriate; or "Big Brotther Police State" would also fit the bill). However, you ignore the other foreseeable consequences of allowing a government to track you (by "you" I do mean everyone) so minutely. The "neighbour looking out the
Re:This Is A Good Thing (Score:2, Informative)
Face Recognition at Florida Superbowl [howstuffworks.com]
A ticket to Super Bowl XXXV in Tampa Bay, Florida, didn't just get you a seat at the biggest professional football game of the year. Those who attended the January 2000 event were also part of the largest police lineup ever conducted, although they may not have been aware of it at the time. The Tampa Police Department was testing out a new technology, called FaceIt, that allows snapshots of faces from the crowd to be compared to a data