Recognition By Face Of Human Improved By New Software

By Author: Jacob Michael
Total Articles: 12
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The first semi-automated facial recognition programs were created by Woody Bledsoe, Helen Chan Wolf, and Charles Bisson. Their programs required the administrator to locate features such as the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth on the photograph. It then calculated distances and ratios to a common reference point which was then compared to reference data. Identix®, a company based in Minnesota, is one of many developers of facial recognition technology. Its software, FaceIt®, can pick someone's face out of a crowd, extract the face from the rest of the scene and compare it to a database of stored images. In order for this software to work, it has to know how to differentiate between a basic face and the rest of the background. Facial recognition software is based on the ability to recognize a face and then measure the various features of the face.


Every face has numerous, distinguishable landmarks, the different peaks and valleys that make up facial features. FaceIt defines these landmarks as nodal points. Each human face has approximately 80 nodal points. Some of these measured by the software are:

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... br /> • Distance between the eyes

• Width of the nose

• Depth of the eye sockets

• The shape of the cheekbones

• The length of the jaw line


These nodal points are measured creating a numerical code, called a face print, representing the face in the database.


In the past, facial recognition software has relied on a 2D image to compare or identify another 2D image from the database. To be effective and accurate, the image captured needed to be of a face that was looking almost directly at the camera, with little variance of light or facial expression from the image in the database. This created quite a problem. Using depth and an axis of measurement that is not affected by lighting, 3D facial recognition can even be used in darkness and has the ability to recognize a subject at different view angles with the potential to recognize up to 90 degrees.


The image may not always be verified or identified in facial recognition alone. Identix® has created a new product to help with precision. The development of FaceIt®Argus uses skin biometrics, the uniqueness of skin texture, to yield even more accurate results.


The process, called Surface Texture Analysis, works much the same way facial recognition does. A picture is taken of a patch of skin, called a skin print. That patch is then broken up into smaller blocks. Using algorithms to turn the patch into a mathematical, measurable space, the system will then distinguish any lines, pores and the actual skin texture. It can identify differences between identical twins, which is not yet possible using facial recognition software alone. According to Identix, by combining facial recognition with surface texture analysis, accurate identification can increase by 20 to 25 percent.


The face recognition software that uses the facial recognition technology is undeniably a future technology where the world will use this technology for security in future. Because of the nature of the problem, not only computer science researchers are interested in it, but neuroscientists and psychologists also.


Bio:

Jacob Michael is the expert professional in using facial recognition software which is beneficial in face recognition technology.