Face Recognition Makes Advancements

More facial recognition news from around the web, this time featuring a new system called CheckPoint.S. The program, made by OmniPerception, was recently reported on by the Homeland Security Newswire.

CheckPoint.S is a system that uses infrared security cameras that can recognize faces within seconds. With this new program, individuals scanned don’t necessarily have to stop at a machine, lean into the camera and stand still to have their faces read. This technology is a giant leap forward in facial recognition and iris scanning, and an improvement over older technology that has hindered efforts since the 1960s. Oftentimes poor lighting, long hair, a pair of sunglasses or, as the original article puts it, even a toothy smile could disrupt a scanner and render it ineffective. In the past, if a face was off by 20 degrees and not facing straight into the camera, it might trip up a system as well.

CheckPoint.S is apparently able to recognize and capture faces in any lighting situation – even in total darkness – before entering them into a database for comparison with a series of face images already scanned. Even still, face scanning can have problems, as OmniPerception CEO Steward Hefferman acknowledges, “We may not recognize someone with one hundred percent confidence and that’s why we always pass the final call to a more intelligent being – a human – and we choose the applications and markets on that basis.”

As for the markets, most face recognition and iris scanning companies are targeting the security industry, but that doesn’t mean all efforts are concentrated there. CheckPoint.S sees their product and others involved in the mass transit sector in addition to environments that require a high enrollment of individual verification: exhibitions and sporting and entertainment events. Applications could recognize and verify individuals with special privileges for example, like personnel with higher security clearance or VIP’s at a club.

It appears that most applications are moving into the field with the ability and technology for mass identification. The US Department of Homeland Security has plans to test iris scanners at the Mexican-American border this month.

Facial recognition: Identifying faces in a crowd in real-time

Related articles:

1. How Does Facial Recognition Occur in the Brain?
2. New Infrared Facial Recognition
3. Face Recognition Goes 3D
4. Is Apple Getting Into Face Recognition Too?
5. A Deeper Understanding of Face Recognition
6. Facial Recognition That Detects Your Younger Self
7. Is It Too Early to Worry About Facial Recognition?
8. The All-In-One AOptix Face and Iris Recognition System
9. Facial Recognition Detects Your Friends in Facebook Photos
10. Iris Scanning Goes Big