Mar 15 2010
Animetrics Inc., a face recognition biometric solution provider, has been granted patents from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), entitled “Facial Recognition System and Method,” “Generation of Image Database for Multifeatured Objects,” and “Viewpoint-Invariant Image Matching and Generation of 3D Models from 2D Imagery,” all breakthrough technologies that are already revolutionizing the use of face biometrics in security, surveillance and computer vision.
“For the face biometric use in border control, in-the-field identification and military operations, our patents are ‘game changers’ and we have several more on the way,” said Paul Schuepp, president and CEO of Animetrics. “U.S. government tests by DARPA and NIST have shown that the face biometric for matching in non-studio conditions, where the face is not controlled and its appearance is compromised by pose and illumination, show unacceptable performance. These new patents cover Animetrics 2D-3D Facengine™, which enables biometric matching of a face in these types of difficult conditions. This opens up a wealth of opportunities and applications for Animetrics, according to Dr. Michael Miller, chairman and founder of Animetrics.
The technology covered by these new patents specifically provides methods for: the generation of 3D models from arbitrary numbers of uncalibrated photographs at any orientation and scale; generating databases from 3D models for use in biometric systems for training or for recognition; and face recognition systems based on normalization using 3D models.
Animetrics has been a leader in facial biometric technologies since 2003. The company is well known for its 2D-3D face creation and Animetrics90™ face recognition products and is in the process of implementing a facial surveillance system for U.S. Army. The 2D-3D facial creation technology is also available in Animetrics Forensica™ product line, which is now being used by the U.S. government intelligence community and for forensics in law enforcement.
“It is impressive to see Animetrics 2D to 3D algorithms extract accurate 3D facial geometries from common 2D images,” said Udo Woermann, law enforcement forensic and biometric expert and president of UNIDAS. “UNIDAS will implement this powerful technology into its I.S.I.S. Law Enforcement Application Suite to open the 3D world for the facial identification process in anti-terror and police investigations,” Woerman said.