3D Faces, And Fast

“Computer scientists at Sheffield Hallam University, UK, have developed a new face recognition software which can produce an exact 3D image of a face within 40 milliseconds. A pattern of light is projected on your face, creating a 2D image, from which an accurate 3D representation is generated. This technology should speed airport check-ins, but it could also be used in banks or for checking ID cards as it allows full identification in less than one second.

This technology was developed at Sheffield Hallam University by the Geometric Modelling and Pattern Recognition Research Group of the Materials and Engineering Research Institute (MERI). [...]

Other 3-D systems, requiring 16 shots of the face, have proved unworkable because of the time it takes to construct a picture. The chance of movement during such a multishot process is extremely high, and if the face moves even a fraction then the 2-D to 3-D image is unworkable. [...]

Besides airports and banks, this technology could be used for industrial applications. ”Objects can go on a conveyor belt, and, instead of using a flat image, a 3-D image can help locate defects in them. Although we are focusing on security applications now, there is great potential in the future,“ said Rodrigues.” [Roland Piquepaille]