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NIST Workshop Explores Automated Tattoo Identification
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.
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.
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?
Reminds me of this
:
Tattoo of Leviticus 18:22 forbidding homosexuality: £200.
Not knowing that Leviticus 19:28 forbids tattoos: Priceless