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NIST Workshop Explores Automated Tattoo Identification

Posted by Soulskill on from the database-of-regret dept.

chicksdaddy writes: Security Ledger reports on a recent NIST workshop dedicated to improving the art of automated tattoo identification. It used to be that the only place you'd commonly see tattoos was at your local VA hospital. No more. In the last 30 years, body art has gone mainstream. One in five adults in the U.S. has one. For law enforcement and forensics experts, this is a good thing; tattoos are a great way to identify both perpetrators and their victims. Given the number and variety of tattoos, though, how to describe and catalog them? Clearly this is an area where technology can help, but it's also one of those "fuzzy" problems that challenges the limits of artificial intelligence.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Tattoo Recognition Technology Challenge Workshop challenged industry and academia to work towards developing an automated image-based tattoo matching technology. Participating organizations in the challenge used a FBI -supplied dataset of thousands of images of tattoos from government databases. They were challenged to develop methods for identifying a tattoo in an image, identifying visually similar or related tattoos from different subjects; identifying the same tattoo image from the same subject over time; identifying a small region of interest that is contained in a larger image; and identifying a tattoo from a visually similar image like a sketch or scanned print.

71 comments

  1. Coming to a neck near you ... by amalcolm · · Score: 2

    Barcodes :)

    --
    Time for bed, said Zebedee - boing
    1. Re:Coming to a neck near you ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So mooning a traffic camera will become legal...

    2. Re:Coming to a neck near you ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Barcodes :)

      For kids too. Maybe a second copy on the wrist as well.

      Won't somebody think of protecting the children!?!

    3. Re:Coming to a neck near you ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      New Proposal: Encase children in giant eggs until the age of 25, at which point hatch them and then demand to know why they aren't yet employed

    4. Re:Coming to a neck near you ... by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 2

      Only if you also sport a tramp stamp (or "reetgewei" = "arse antlers" as they are known in my country)

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    5. Re:Coming to a neck near you ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought that was the current practice.

    6. Re:Coming to a neck near you ... by will_die · · Score: 1

      Not that good of a location, hard to see and easy to be covered.
      A better place would be the forehead, would probably be those that are really going with the whole thing. Another good location the top of the hand which is most commonly used by the majority of the population. That way as you reach for stuff you can be verified. Does cause problems for those that don't use that hand so the forehead for them.

    7. Re:Coming to a neck near you ... by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      No, NIST is working toward a test for the presence of intelligent life in the teenage population.

    8. Re:Coming to a neck near you ... by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 1

      Just put a QR code on your arm that looks like Jesus.

    9. Re:Coming to a neck near you ... by techno-vampire · · Score: 1

      Not that good of a location, hard to see and easy to be covered.

      Whoosh! That's a reference to the TV show Dark Angel. All of the gene-engineered "soldiers" from Manticore had barcodes on the back of their neck and it wasn't a tattoo, either; if you removed that section of skin, the barcode would still be there when it grew back.

      --
      Good, inexpensive web hosting
    10. Re:Coming to a neck near you ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Surely the more obvious reference is the Hitman series? Though it's hardly an original trope

  2. This is going to take a lot of testing by Minwee · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now, as a competent, dedicated law enforcement professional who is committed to making this project work for the good of society, you're going to need to test it. Thoroughly.

    You need a lot of pictures of people with tattoos, preferably not covered by too much clothing. And you're going to need to double check that the image recognition is correct for every match.

    Once you've done that, you'll need to start applying the same algorithm to video sources. Again, with careful checking to verify that the system is working correctly.

    Where on the Internet are you going to find a huge volume of images and video featuring people with exposed tattoos? And how, exactly, did you just convince the government that it was your job to spend all day watching them while calling it science?

    1. Re:This is going to take a lot of testing by jabuzz · · Score: 1

      Depends what you target for identification is. That is if you are looking for something that will give you reasonable grounds to get a search warrant, bring someone in for questioning etc. then it does not need to be perfect.

    2. Re:This is going to take a lot of testing by Nidi62 · · Score: 2

      Now, as a competent, dedicated law enforcement professional who is committed to making this project work for the good of society, you're going to need to test it. Thoroughly.

      You need a lot of pictures of people with tattoos, preferably not covered by too much clothing. And you're going to need to double check that the image recognition is correct for every match.

      Once you've done that, you'll need to start applying the same algorithm to video sources. Again, with careful checking to verify that the system is working correctly.

      Where on the Internet are you going to find a huge volume of images and video featuring people with exposed tattoos? And how, exactly, did you just convince the government that it was your job to spend all day watching them while calling it science?

      Probably the best way to roll this out would be to target and identify repeat offenders. If you have someone currently incarcerated, you can take good clear pictures of them revealing their tattoos which could then be matched to images of tattoos from crimes committed after they are released/before they were incarcerated.

      MY one concern is this:how good would it be at recognizing altered tattoos or ones that have had additional tattoos added to or applied over the original tattoo? Want to help get away with murder? Every time you kill someone just add a tattoo to your sleeve, incorporating a previous tattoo so that it is altered enough to render this method ineffective. Plus you get the added benefit of having a souvenir/reminder of each criminal act. Think the Johnny-23 character from the movie Con Air.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    3. Re:This is going to take a lot of testing by pr0fessor · · Score: 2

      really? My issue with it would be how do you tell who it's on when there are places tracing and pumping out the same tattoo stencils on thousands of people.

    4. Re:This is going to take a lot of testing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And you're going to need to double check that the image recognition is correct for every match.

      How would an accurate match allow us to pull in large numbers of Undesirables for questioning and investigation?

    5. Re:This is going to take a lot of testing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good point. Skin with ink on it is thoroughly undesirable.

    6. Re:This is going to take a lot of testing by shaitand · · Score: 2

      "give you reasonable grounds to get a search warrant"

      Bringing someone in for questioning is one thing. Raiding a private home and ripping the funiture, walls, and floors apart leaving the resident with all financial responsibility and cleanup duty... that should be a MUCH higher bar and should require positive identification to count as reasonable.

    7. Re:This is going to take a lot of testing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Beyond looking at Suicide Girls...

      See Numerical Recipes, Chapter 16 Classification and Inference (http://www.nr.com/).

      I suspect that the k-means clustering would be a good fit for this. It would probably work well if used on different aspects of the tattoo. For example, there are only so many places where people can generally get tattoos. I have never seen a human with a tattoo on their antennae, for example. You may need to be more specific about some areas than others. For example, "arm" may be too general. You could probably get an anatomical drawing with common locations numbered and some differentiation between coverage patterns (e.g. "outside" vs. "inside" vs. "encircle").

      After that, you could probably translate the tattoo itself with keywords (symbol, words, eagle, butterfly, mermaid, skull, dragon, plant, gun, barbed wire, shark, dolphin, Japanese, hummingbird, diamond, feather). All of that can be handled via meta-data without having to analyze the image itself. With that level of information, it would get you most of the way to an identification for unique tattoos. Common tattoos, will need more differentiation. For example, "tramp stamp butterfly" and "barbed wire bicep" are probably both too common to be identification by themselves.

    8. Re: This is going to take a lot of testing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Are you John?"
      "Yes"
      (Proceed to rip house apart.)

    9. Re: This is going to take a lot of testing by shaitand · · Score: 1

      Some how I doubt the tattoo in the photo or video is going to reply "yes" in response to the question.

    10. Re:This is going to take a lot of testing by hambone142 · · Score: 1

      I can send you to a place where there are many uncovered tattoos for testing.

      The local water slide park at Cal Expo in Sacramento.

      I've never seen so many bad tattoos in my life there. It's as if someone gave a 4 year old child a tattoo machine and a line of people a mile long.

      It's quite comical.

    11. Re:This is going to take a lot of testing by amber_of_luxor · · Score: 1

      >My issue with it would be how do you tell who it's on when there are places tracing and pumping out the same tattoo stencils on thousands of people.

      Some of us can go look at the same tattoo stencil on 100 different people, and tell you which of those people went to the same artist for their tattoo. Given 100 random photographs of the same tattoo stencil, determining which photos are from the same person is trivial.

      --
      Wind Beneath Thy Wings
    12. Re:This is going to take a lot of testing by amber_of_luxor · · Score: 1

      > I have never seen a human with a tattoo on their antennae, for example.

      You don't get out much, do you.

      If a needle can be placed on the skin, ink has been placed on that piece of skin.

      --
      Wind Beneath Thy Wings
    13. Re:This is going to take a lot of testing by pr0fessor · · Score: 1

      Trivial right up until that common stenciled out tattoo a few thousand people have is the damning evidence at your murder trial in a state you've never been to until they extradited you.

  3. FUCK BETA! Re:THE FUCK???? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Yeah, it's back. FUCK BETA! FUCK DICE! FUCK BETA!

    Filter error: Don't use so many caps. It's like YELLING.

    No, it's not an error. I was yelling.

    1. Re:FUCK BETA! Re:THE FUCK???? by arkane1234 · · Score: 3, Funny

      "No, honest officer, I wasn't yelling. I'm an ex-COBOL programmer."

      --
      -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
  4. I can see it now... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Police are looking for a couple on the run. The male has a barbed wire and feather tattoo on his right bicep, and the female has a tribal sun on her lower back"

    Narrows it down from 15/15 to 13/15 suspects.

    1. Re:I can see it now... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Police are looking for a couple on the run. The male has a barbed wire and feather tattoo on his right bicep, and the female has a tribal sun on her lower back"

      Narrows it down from 15/15 to 13/15 suspects.

      Perfect. We can search and question all of them.
      And if it mistakes a little dirt on black skin for a tatoo and gets another match... even better. "Your honor, we pulled the Minority Suspect over because the tatoo reader indicated with GREATER than a 1% probability that it matched a known, dangerous felon. When he appeared to reach for a gun, we had to shoot him in self-defence."

  5. Re:666 - you know this had to be posted by Chrisq · · Score: 4, Funny

    Reminds me of this

    :

    Tattoo of Leviticus 18:22 forbidding homosexuality: £200.

    Not knowing that Leviticus 19:28 forbids tattoos: Priceless

  6. Tattoos - "only" 1 in 5? by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

    >> One in five adults in the U.S. has a tattoo

    That seems low in my neighborhood. It seems like most people under 30 have one. It also seems to be a requirement to work in food service or graphic design.

    >> the only place you'd commonly see tattoos was at your local VA hospital

    I don't get this at all. Is this because military men used to be the group that mainly had tattoos? If so, is the author telling us that he/she never knew that many people who served?

    1. Re:Tattoos - "only" 1 in 5? by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      I don't get this at all. Is this because military men used to be the group that mainly had tattoos?

      Yes, especially Navy enlistees I imagine.

    2. Re:Tattoos - "only" 1 in 5? by amber_of_luxor · · Score: 1

      >It also seems to be a requirement to work in food service or graphic design.

      In a recent interview with the press, a local pizza owner said that there were some people he hadn't hired, because they had too many tattoos, visible body rings, and the like. The interviewer said that she didn't believe that was possible, given the average number of visible tattoos on the employees of that pizza parlor -- four ear rings, a nose ring, and at least one arm covered with tattoos. The pizza owner responded that it was, unfortunately, true. He felt sorry for those people he couldn't hire due to their appearance, because his business was usually their last chance of getting a job anywhere.

      --
      Wind Beneath Thy Wings
    3. Re:Tattoos - "only" 1 in 5? by Bite+The+Pillow · · Score: 1

      That seems low in my neighborhood. It seems like most people under 30 have one. It also seems to be a requirement to work in food service or graphic design.

      I guess you are a representative sample, and the people charged with acquiring such data are wrong.

      I don't get this at all. Is this because military men used to be the group that mainly had tattoos? If so, is the author telling us that he/she never knew that many people who served?

      Have I ever seen my uncle's tattoos? No, because he covered up his arms because he was in the minority and didn't want to explain his tattoos to family. Knowing people who served, and seeing tattoos, are not mutually exclusive.

      You sound particularly ignorant, and I'm only observing this because it is a fact, not to emasculate you in a public forum. Please, consider that you are not the only person who has ever lived, and the people you know are not analogous to the people that other people know.

    4. Re:Tattoos - "only" 1 in 5? by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      That seems low in my neighborhood. It seems like most people under 30 have one. It also seems to be a requirement to work in food service or graphic design.

      Depends where you live I guess. I'm lucky enough to live in a rich area by a beach, 20% is high here (going to the beach is a giveaway if you have one or not). When I go inland to the working class areas, it seems like every second person has one. The stupid thing about them is that as they are associated with poor and dumb people (have you noticed that in prison the number climbs to nearly 100%), so while getting a tattoo when you're 20 might sound cool at the time, all you are doing is advertising to everyone else that you're probably on the dumb/poor side of the bell curve.

      Is this because military men used to be the group that mainly had tattoos? If so, is the author telling us that he/she never knew that many people who served?

      I come from a military family, the only Tattoos I saw as a kid we're either at my dad's work, or on loser, bad guy types. So I agree with that. These days it seems to be the compulsory uniform for retail and bar staff.

  7. NOT, SURE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    whether it'll work.

    1. Re:NOT, SURE by hambone142 · · Score: 1

      Bwando!

      I also like the Chinese character tattoos on white folk. Often, I wonder if the "ink artist" isn't pranking them and actually tattooing "broccoli beef" on them.

  8. So good to see our former 'enemies' vindicated by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

    Yes sir!

    And soon a Facebook account will be also required to get a work permit, one room apartment, and exit visa.

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    1. Re:So good to see our former 'enemies' vindicated by Bite+The+Pillow · · Score: 1

      Just for the record, I gave you the benefit, and no results. You sound like a crazy person, and should stop posting content-free comments on public sites.

      I assume you had a point, but given that you are a crazy person, it must have been as valid as Nick Cage's hair.

  9. Not "1 in 5" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    That was from an survey of 1500 people in the age range of 18 to 25, who are the group most likely to have a tattoo. It in no way reflects on American society as whole.

    It's like polling people in the age range of 80+ about gay marriage, and saying "1 in 5 Americans don't support gay marriage".

    As somebody who crunches numbers all day, trying to pass off results from extremely narrow polls as defining "the face of America" drives me nuts.

    1. Re:Not "1 in 5" by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

      "As somebody who crunches numbers all day, trying to pass off results from extremely narrow polls as defining "the face of America" drives me nuts."

      Well, consider yourself to have arrived at your destination then!

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    2. Re:Not "1 in 5" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "As somebody who crunches numbers all day, trying to pass off results from extremely narrow polls as defining "the face of America" drives me nuts."

      Well, consider yourself to have arrived at your destination then!

      It's the same sort of polling that keeps stating that as a millenial I'm supposed to shun homeownership for a tiny apartment in a hipster part of a crowded city and ride a fixed-gear bicycle to work at a silicon valley start-up instead of driving my luxury sports sedan to an established engineering firm in mid-western suburb.

  10. Privacy Backdoor by Shaitan · · Score: 1

    That 1 in 5 is very heavily weighted toward people under 40 and almost everyone under 35 has a tattoo. This should raise the same privacy flags as facial recognition imho and should be illegal everywhere it's illegal to use facial recognition without explicit consent.

    1. Re:Privacy Backdoor by koan · · Score: 0

      Naw.. if you were stupid enough to get a tattoo you should be watched.

      --
      "If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
    2. Re:Privacy Backdoor by techno-vampire · · Score: 1

      Not everybody who has a tattoo is stupid. I have three, but not by choice. They're 50 cm "up," and it takes two days of prep and the help of a proctologist to see them.

      --
      Good, inexpensive web hosting
  11. You know... by koan · · Score: 1

    Most tattoos are terrible, if you put them on paper and framed them you would be embarrassed to hang it in your bathroom.

    I would wager 3 quatloos you could graph the decline of intelligence with the rise of tattoos.

    --
    "If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
    1. Re:You know... by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

      eh, it depends. It's an avenue of art, so you could compare it to graffiti or charcoal drawings.
      Sure, there are at least 70% of them that are basically warpaint in another form, 20% that resemble something more than warpaint but are forgettable, then there are the 10% that are basically the persons inner being personified as art outside.

      --
      -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
    2. Re:You know... by war4peace · · Score: 2

      Your point is valid for clothing too.

      --
      ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
    3. Re:You know... by koan · · Score: 1

      Clothing can be removed easily, tattoos not so much.

      --
      "If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
    4. Re:You know... by koan · · Score: 1

      I've seen some Yakuza tattoos that are OK, but most of the tats I see on the street are just terrible.
      It's amusing how few people understand that symmetry is beautiful.

      --
      "If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
    5. Re: You know... by LoRdTAW · · Score: 1

      Shhhhhhh! Now the hipsters will switch to monotone prison tats as that is way more ironic.

  12. Re:666 - you know this had to be posted by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Reminds me of this

    :

    Tattoo of Leviticus 18:22 forbidding homosexuality: £200.

    Not knowing that Leviticus 19:28 forbids tattoos: Priceless

    I like this scene in "The West Wing" where President Bartlet (a Catholic) starts quoting scripture to an radio talk show host:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYaewOBGybw

  13. Old technology by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    tatoo is old technology

    http://o.canada.com/news/auschwitz-metal-stamps-used-by-the-ss-to-tattoo-prisoners-found

  14. Something you will never heard spoken.... by zawarski · · Score: 1

    "That person must be smart, he/she has a tattoo."

    1. Re: Something you will never heard spoken.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hopefully I never hear it spoken, since it is a pretty stupid thing to equate the presence (or lack of) subdermal ink with intelligence.

    2. Re: Something you will never heard spoken.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Citation?

  15. So where ... by Anomalyst · · Score: 1

    ... does one get an automated tattoo? How is it powered, spilled beer?

    --
    There is no right to feel safe thru security vaudeville at the expense of everyone's freedom, privacy and tax money.
  16. Too bad the trend is already reversing by TheCastro1689 · · Score: 1

    Many younger people are rebelling against their parents now by not getting tattoos. So many adults have tattoos that it's the norm, and that's "not cool."

    1. Re:Too bad the trend is already reversing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Many younger people are rebelling against their parents now by not getting tattoos. So many adults have tattoos that it's the norm, and that's "not cool."

      I second that. Not getting a tattoo was one of the best decisions in my life. No people w/o tats stand out as unique and cool :-)

    2. Re: Too bad the trend is already reversing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hmm.... ever read the star-bellied sneeches? I think it was intended as allegory, but these days it works better as literal truth.

    3. Re:Too bad the trend is already reversing by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      Tattoos were never a very clever fashion statement. At least with bad jeans or a silly haircut you can change it with the trends. All those idiots will have 2010 printed on them for the rest of their lives. Tattoo removal is going to be a huge business in a few years.

  17. Would be hard in Silicon Valley by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Where every brah has a Koi fish sleeve.

    1. Re:Would be hard in Silicon Valley by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bras with sleeves? Now I've heard everything.

  18. speaking as an American... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Clothing can be removed easily,

    HUUUUURRRGGHH, have you seen most people?

  19. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  20. Re:666 - you know this had to be posted by Bite+The+Pillow · · Score: 1

    1) Be inspired by Bible
    2) Get tattoo
    3) Read the rest of the chapter
    4) Feel bad for having said tattoo
    5) Get mocked by everyone, ever
    6) Butthurt
    7) Like the butthurt
    8) Go over to the dark side

    Wait, what were you intending to insinuate? Or inseminate? Whichever is the right word?

    Order Of Operations matters, that's my point, in case you were going to ask.

    OOO.

    Pronounce it like this: "A secretly gay but outwardly homophobic recipient of anal intercourse."