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3D Face Cameras

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the i-always-knew-they-were-going-to-steal-my-face dept.

newsblaze writes "Now there is a fast, inexpensive device for simultaneous acquisition of accurate three-dimensional and two-dimensional human faces. It will allow law enforcement and security agencies to capture both types of mug shots in seconds as a single snapshot and provides incredible accuracy in correctly mapping the individual being booked in 3D."

3 of 189 comments (clear)

  1. Thats all well and good by mfloy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The real problem with this type of work is when software is used to match mugshots to actual pictures and video. Even leading researchers are still having a very difficult time doing this. I think the government should be focusing more on advancing the work of these researchers than on gathering more data.

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  2. Or Just Skip the Hardware by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 3, Interesting

    There's at least one company with a product that makes a good 3D image from a 2D image. There are applications in security for matching two images taken from different angles - you want to match in 3D, not 2D.

    Sure, it's making up information, but the human head isn't an unknown amorphous blob, there is a certain regularity to it.

    If you have the conditions to use special hardware and photography techniques you might get better 3D, but if this is being aimed at security, that's not a luxury you usually have.

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  3. Re:Next time I'm arrested... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Your comment is more insightful than you may realize. 3D face technologies were originally intended to overcome some of the issues of lighting, pose, and shadow that ruined traditional 2D recognition methods. But *everything* has sensitivities and 3D was impaired by facial expression in ways that were arguably even worse. Some folks also investigated thermal methods, but ever see a face scan of someone who just drank hot coffee?

    We want face recognition (and all biometrics in general) to be invariant to environmental factors and subject variations. But in practice, we just trade one issue (light, pose, motion, cost, speed, etc) for another.

    Oh, and how quickly can you take a 2D picture? Fast. 3D isn't so cheap and timely. Watch for the Face Recognition Vendor Test 2005 (later this year or early next) to see how 3D really stacks up.