The
information age is quickly revolutionizing the way transactions are completed.
Everyday actions are increasingly being handled electronically, instead of with
pencil and paper or face to face. This growth in electronic transactions has
resulted in a greater demand for fast and accurate user identification and
authentication. Access codes for buildings, banks accounts and computer systems
often use PIN's for identification and security clearances.
Using the proper PIN gains access, but the user of the PIN is
not verified. When credit and ATM cards are lost or stolen, an unauthorized
user can often come up with the correct personal codes. Despite warning, many
people continue to choose easily guessed PIN's
and passwords: birthdays, phone numbers and social security numbers.
Recent cases of identity theft have heightened the nee for methods to prove that
someone is truly who he/she claims to be.
Face recognition technology may solve this problem since a face
is undeniably connected to its owner expect in the case of identical twins. Its
nontransferable. The system can then compare scans to records stored in a
central or local database or even on a smart card.
What are bio metrics?
A bio-metric is a unique,
measurable characteristic of a human being that can be used to automatically
recognize an individual or verify an individual’s identity. Bio metrics can
measure both physiological and behavioral characteristics. Physiological bio metrics (based on measurements and data derived from direct measurement of a
part of the human body) include:
·
Finger-scan
·
Facial Recognition
·
Iris-scan
·
Retina-scan
·
Hand-scan
Behavioral bio-metrics (based on measurements
and data derived from an action) include:
·
Voice-scan
·
Signature-scan
·
Keystroke-scan
A “ bio-metric system” refers to the integrated
hardware and software used to conduct bio-metric identification or verification.
Why we
choose face recognition over other bio-metric?
There are a number reasons
to choose face recognition. This includes the following
1. It requires no physical interaction on behalf of the user.
2. It is accurate and allows for high enrollment and verification rates.
3. It does not require an expert to
interpret the comparison result.
4. It can use your existing hardware infrastructure,
existing cameras and image capture devices will work with no problems.
5. It is the only bio-metric that allow
you to perform passive identification in a one to many environment (eg:
identifying a terrorist in a busy Airport terminal.
FACE RECOGNITION
THE
FACE:
The face is an important
part of who you are and how people identify you. Except in the case of identical twins, the
face is arguably a person's most unique physical characteristics. While humans
have the innate ability to recognize and distinguish different faces for
millions of years , computers are just now catching up.
For face recognition there
are two types of comparisons .the first is verification. This is where the
system compares the given individual with who that individual says they are and
gives a yes or no decision. The second is identification. This is where the
system compares the given individual to all the
other individuals in the database and gives a ranked list of matches. All identification or authentication technologies operate using the following four stages:
other individuals in the database and gives a ranked list of matches. All identification or authentication technologies operate using the following four stages:
·
capture: a physical or behavioral sample is
captured by the system during enrollment and also in identification or
verification process.
·
Extraction: unique data is extracted from the
sample and a template is created.
·
Comparison: the template is then compared with
a new sample.
·
Match/non match : the system decides if the
features extracted from the new sample are a match or a non match.
Face recognition
technology analyze the unique shape ,pattern and positioning of the facial
features. Face recognition is very complex technology and is largely software
based. This Bio-metric Methodology establishes the analysis framework with tailored algorithms for each type of bio-metric device. Face recognition starts with a
picture, attempting to find a person in the image. This can be accomplished
using several methods including movement, skin tones, or blurred human shapes.
The face recognition system locates the
head and finally the eyes of the individual. A matrix is then developed based on the
characteristics of the individual’s face. The method of defining the matrix varies
according to the algorithm (the mathematical process used by the computer to
perform the comparison). This matrix is then compared to matrices that are in a
database and a similarity score is generated for each comparison.
Artificial intelligence is
used to simulate human interpretation of faces. In order to increase the
accuracy and adaptability , some kind of machine learning has to be
implemented.
There are essentially two
methods of capture. One is video imaging and the other is thermal imaging.
Video imaging is more common as standard video cameras can be used. The precise
position and the angle of the head and the surrounding lighting conditions may
affect the system performance. The complete facial image is usually captured
and a number of points on the face can then be mapped, position of the eyes, mouth
and the nostrils as a example. More advanced technologies make 3-D map of the
face which multiplies the possible measurements that can be made. Thermal
imaging has better accuracy as it uses facial temperature variations caused by
vein structure as the distinguishing traits. As the heat pattern is emitted
from the face itself without source of external radiation these systems can
capture images despite the lighting condition, even in the dark. The drawback
is high cost. They are more expensive
than standard video cameras.
