3D Face Recognition
Automatic Face Recognitions Systems have advanced considerably over the past decade and a half, but the goal of a fool-proof system is still beyond the current state-of-the-art. The important applications of automated face recognition systems are for personal identity verification, e.g. as a biometric in an identity card or passport, and for crime detection, such as recognising criminals from CCTV footage. However, current systems are not accurate enough requiring specialist hardware and a controlled environment in which to operate.
Face recognition systems work by comparing an image of an "unknown" face against a set of template images that is acquired during a training phase when the system is learning the faces it has to recognise. The assumption is that the new face is known to the system and that its "template" is sufficiently flexible so as to capture the relevant discriminating features (whether modelled or learnt), while ignoring obvious variations due to the way the face is presented to the camera, such as whether it is turned slightly to one side, and variation caused by poor lighting. Also, any automated system has to be able to build an image template from quite a limited "gallery" of images during the training phase. A particular problem of most automated recognition systems is that lighting can create shadows and confound any feature description used by the system. For practical reasons, only about a dozen poses variations are used and, often, lighting conditions are not varied at all. Another confounding factor can be the facial expression: the same face with a smile may not be recognised if all the data capture is performed with neutral expressions.
Warwick Warp Automated Face Recognition System WarpFaceTM uses standard image capturing device with the latest techniques from 3D face modelling, feature extraction and robust pattern-matching to build a system of high-speed and high-accuracy. It will use commodity hardware and novel software for making face recognition unaffected by poor lighting conditions and when the face image is not presented front-on.
WarpFaceTM is current at its commercial prototyping stage. The technology development is partially funded by Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851.