28-02-2011, 03:50 PM
BIOMETRIC FACE RECOGNITION
Abstract:
As one of the most successful applications of image analysis and understanding, face recognition has recently received significant attention, and has an important advantage over other biometric technologies as it is a non -intrusive and easy to use method.
One of the fastest growing areas of advanced security involves biometric face recognition technologies. The art of picking a face out of a crowd is a time honored skill. Applying technology to such a pursuit has to date proven both fruitful and frustrating. Biometric face recognition technology offers great promise in its ability to identify a single face, from multiple lookout points,
from a sea of hundreds of thousands of other faces. In addition to serving as a information access control tool, biometric face recognition technologies are being used to safeguard international borders, financial ATM transactions, prevent benefits and identity fraud, and help combat terrorism.
The ain idea and the driver of further research in this area are security applications and human-computer interaction. Face recognition represents an intuitive and method of recognizing people and this is why it became one of three identification methods used in e-passports and a biometric of choice for many other security applications. However, until the problems (illumination, pose, aging , occlusions) are solved, it is unrealistic to expect that the full deployment potential of face recognition systems will be realized. There are also many technological issues to be solved, some of which have been addressed in recent ANSI and ISO standards.
Face recognition is one of the few biometric methods that possess the merits of both high accuracy and low intrusiveness. It has the accuracy of a physiological approach without being intrusive.
In the general framework of face recognition, a probe still-image is first detected, analysed and then matched against a collection of images -- the database of the people known by the system. As a result, most of the work carried out in face recognition by computer is limited to the comparison between face images. In these approaches, the overall face detection, facial feature localization, and face comparison is carried out in a single step.
The paper states the generic framework for the face recognition system, and the variants that are frequently encountered by the face recognizer. Several face recognition algorithms, will also be explained. It also throws some light on its important applications areas .It concludes with the current state of the art and some backdrops.