Face Biometric Technologies

Face biometrics are used by everybody every day. The face is the first important feature that we use to identify someone. It is the face that is recalled when trying to keep in mind what someone looks like. We use it, and eventually come to depend on it, for gratitude. We carry photo IDs that we show as proofs of individuality. On the cards are pictures of our face.

Our trust in our capability to judge if we know someone by his/her face can also fool us as well. We have all at one time or another thought we predictable someone's face, only to have it not be the person we thought. For many people, including parents, twins present a unique problem. Some twins can be so comparable that even the parents may need to identify them by some other means. The human brain is complex and, some would argue, the most powerful computer in the world. It has particular functions for senses, but even it can be fooled. Not unexpectedly, the use of face biometrics for recognition is often questioned. Can it deliver the same level of correctness as other biometrics, and can it be deployed for use in network security surroundings?

General Description of Face Biometrics

The face is made up of many separate micro and macro elements. The macro elements include the mouth, nose, eyes, cheekbones, chin, lips, forehead, and ears. The micro features include the distances stuck between the macro features, or a reference characteristic and the size of the feature itself. Also, unseen to the human eye is the fact that our bodies and faces radiate heat, which can be considered by using infrared cameras. All these features can be used by face biometric systems to help identify and authenticate someone. The use of these traits is described in greater detail in the section concerning algorithms.

How Is the Face Imaged?

Facial images can be captured either through a live scan or through the use of photographs or video. Some algorithms will not support the use of a photograph or video image, as depth and other types of capacity are required. If a photograph is imaged, then a high-quality scanner is used and the photo is processed into a facial template. While infrared cameras are used for facial imaging, they are not measured here since they are not appropriate for use as network security biometric devices. Their price point and size make them at present impractical to use and deploy.

Cameras that are currently usable for network security access are generally the same ones used for desktop video conferencing. They are low in cost since they use popular CCD and CMOS image technologies. They are also small enough to be deployed on a desktop. Also, they do not require any special imaging boards and they support standard connections like USB.