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Home > How biometric technology is used in video surveillance
August 17, 2005
By: Alice Osborn
As the recent July 7th London bombings would reveal,
biometric technology images from over 200,000 video
surveillance cameras are key weapons against the terrorists.
What makes these biometric cameras so extraordinary is that
these cameras have a 360-spherical lens, called a fisheye,
to follow someone’s movements and the camera’s computers can
be programmed to identify particular faces from a database.
The fisheye and other security solutions are manufactured
by Ipix
Corporation, which provides governments and large firms
with the latest video surveillance technologies. Says Ipix
president, Clara Conti, “These cameras don’t have any blind
spots. Fixed cameras have blind spots.” These cameras
capture the biometric facial recognition data needed to
identify suspects and solve crimes.
What is biometrics?
Biometrics is a field of technology that uses automated
methods for identifying or verifying a subject based on a
physiological or behavioral characteristic. Among the
features measured are the face, fingerprints, hand geometry,
handwriting, iris, retinal, and voice. The individual’s
characteristics are then compared to other individuals
stored on biometric templates within a database. If there is
correlation between the template and the subject, a high
score would be generated and the authorities alerted. Using
biometric technologies to identify the bombers’ faces is an
accurate and cutting-edge solution.
A4Vision Inc, a 3-D facial imaging products and
technology manufacturer, transfers barely-visible infrared
light onto a subject’s face to determine its facial contours
from the light pattern. Another manufacturer,
Geometrix, combines two or more cameras to build a 3-D
shape via triangulation. Its ActiveFusion surveillance
technology blends 3-D face, 2-D face, and fingerprint
biometrics to claim submillimeter accuracy.
Both of these companies’ systems need high resolution
cameras to achieve the results expected and they work best
when the subject is a few feet away from the video cameras.
Although a poor image can reduce the effectiveness of the
camera’s work, a great deal is being done in this
technological field to standardize image quality, and
improve the quality and size of the biometric template
database.
How to evaluate these biometric solutions
Although evaluation techniques for biometric solutions
are not standardized, research enterprises and commercial
firms are encouraged to take the Face Recognition Vendor
Tests (FRVT). The FRVT will perform tests on all of the
databases in order to achieve an objective and fair
comparison among the vendors. These evaluations will provide
the U.S. Government and law enforcement agencies with
information to determining where and how facial
identification technology can best be deployed. In addition,
FRVT results will help identify future research directions
for professionals in the video surveillance and biometric
field. Biometric technologies are the foundation of a new
identification solution for video surveillance. As terrorism
threat increases, more businesses and governments are
turning to biometrics to quickly resolve security issues to
make their employees and citizens safer.
About the Author
Alice Osborn is a successful freelance writer and
contributor to Video-Surveillance-Guide.com. Your
definitive guide to video surveillance equipment, CCTV
cameras and wireless security systems for home and business.
Also See:
[ Glossary of Video Surveillance Terms & Definitions ]
[ How Network Based Video Surveillance Works ]
[ History of Public Video Surveillance ]
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