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IP: [FP] Scanner picks out criminals
From: "ScanThisNews" <[email protected]>
Subject: IP: [FP] Scanner picks out criminals
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 19:33:38 -0600
To: [email protected]
SCAN THIS NEWS
11/11/98
Some people will argue -- after reading the following article -- that
systems designed to electronically "recognize" a face in a crowd will never
be reliable. They will contend: such systems will never be 100% accurate.
Unfortunately, "accuracy" is a very subjective term, and, if the
administrators of these systems,(i.e. the ones who can forcibly apprehend
the "identified" subjects), deem their system accurate, then the burden of
"proving innocence" suddenly becomes that of the accused. At that moment, it
no longer matters whether the system was or was not "accurate" -- you're
under investigation.
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, November 11, 1998 3:09 PM
--------------------------
>From the 11/1/98 Sunday London Times www.sunday-times.co.uk
- you must register at the site and then search by date.
--------------------------
Scanner picks out criminals
TRIALS of a computer system that can recognise criminals and terrorists
begin this week.
The equipment is to be hidden in an unnamed British airport to see if it
can pick out criminals even if they have grown a beard or are wearing
glasses to hide their identity.
The system is the first that can produce three-dimensional scans of a face
instantly and then search a database of suspects for a match.
It has been devised by Cambridge Neurodynamics, which already produces
software that analyses fingerprints and then searches a database for a
match. Police in South Yorkshire use its software.
Cambridge Neurodynamics says its facial-recognition project will enable
security officers at Britain's ports and airports to concentrate on people
the computer indicates bear a good likeness to known criminals and
terrorists. The alternative is to rely on trained officers to remember faces
of people on the wanted list.
George Harpur, a Cambridge Neurodynamics systems consultant working on the
project, says a computer will be able to store thousands of pictures of
wanted people.
"It should be like having an extra security officer with the most
incredible memory," he says. "We're not intending to replace immigration
officers but rather give them a tool that can point them towards the people
they are mostly likely to be interested in."
The system works by taking pictures of a person as he approaches a video
camera. The resulting handful of frames give several two-dimensional
pictures. To add depth to the face, two low-power lasers scan its contours
from either side.
A computer combines the contour information with the images it has of the
front of the face. It can then build a virtual model of each traveller's
face, which is checked against the database of wanted people.
"The airport involved in the trial is particularly interested in the
possibility of using the technology to track people who bring in groups of
illegal immigrants," says Harpur. "The computer could be alerted to their
presence and take a 3D scan of their faces when they pass through passport
control. Then the system could track them every time they enter the country
and build up evidence against them."
The system can also be used to store 3D Photofits of terrorists. Again, it
is most likely to be used to take a 3D scan of suspects when they pass
through its lasers for the first time. The scan would be stored and the
computer would log the suspect's movements.
Cambridge Neurodynamics says it can build 3D Photofits from ordinary
photographs or video stills but says the system is far more accurate if the
suspects are photographed by the system.
The team believes 3D scans are necessary because 2D technology can be
fooled. It generally measures the distance between facial features but these
can change with the angle of the head to the camera.
The new computer system can be fooled only if a suspect has surgery to
change the shape of his face. Criminals who realise they are about to be
scanned and look away or pull a funny face will not trick the computer. It
is geared towards seeking similarities around the eyes, which humans use to
pick out one another and that do not change with expression and age as much
as the rest of the face.
The airport trial will last six weeks. If the equipment works, the company
will load the software on a powerful workstation computer, rather than a PC,
so searches can be speeded up.
Cambridge Neurodynamics also plans to approach banks to set up a trial in
which the computer would allow only designated staff into security-sensitive
areas. Eventually, the technology could be used to verify a customer's
identity before he is given money.
++++++++++++++
Nancy Martin
[email protected]
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