More and more biometric systems are being used for security in public places, buildings such as airports, or security-related areas like data centers. The greater the proliferation of such systems, the greater the probability of methods designed to circumvent or outwit them. This, in turn, requires the development of even more reliable security systems.
Unfortunately, conventional imaging systems can be deceived with the aid of masks or other facial reproductions. The camera can’t tell the difference between the falsified image and the reference image. How then can a security system recognize whether an actual face is being scanned or not? A project team at the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, under the direction of Professor Norbert Jung, found an answer. The solution consists of multispectral signatures and infrared cameras.
Because of the highly sensitive nature of security in the marketplace, UKA will ensure that your lens will be manufactured to the highest level of precision for your implementation.
Skin can’t be reliably identified at visible wavelengths due to the vast and nuanced variation of people’s skin types and colors. Poor lighting conditions can also make identification more difficult. Even albedo — a surface’s reflection coefficient — cannot be relied upon to clearly recognize skin in the visible range, as the values of skin types vary so much, and other materials such as meat, leather or wood can produce very similar albedos.
But the shortwave-infrared (SWIR) wavelength range (780 to 1400 nm) offers an opportunity. Above 900 nm, the researchers found, skin pigments have no relevant influence on albedo, thus absorption by the water contained in the skin increasingly gains in influence.
The investigation was implemented with a SWIR camera mounted in the middle of a ring of LEDs. Three rows of LEDs transmitted light in different wavelengths within the defined range onto the face to be analyzed. The camera recorded the reflected SWIR light, and the data was made available on a connected computer using the Vimba software development kit from Allied Vision Technologies GmbH.
When facial recognition systems are equipped with these camera systems, they only authenticate users if facial characteristics are correct and recognized as skin. In so doing, the security of the results is substantially increased. Use of LEDs allows the system to be used largely independently of environmental lighting. Since infrared light is invisible for the user, he/she notices nothing of the scan. The spectral signature thus enables rapid and reliable security surveillance with no discomfort.
Another research project at Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences deals with the use of skin detection methods in workplaces with a high level of work process automation. Often, machines and robots are in use. Safeguards are absolutely necessary to avoid accidents. Here, person recognition based on image capture can serve to differentiate between objects and skin, to identify materials, and to determine danger zones. When a human penetrates the danger zone with his/her hands, the robot or machine will be decelerated or halted.
It should also be noted that the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) in Dayton, Ohio, researchers are using near-infrared (NIR) imaging to overcome a challenge in aerial search and rescue missions: telling human skin apart from objects of similar color that cause false alarms.
The AFIT researchers developed an imaging system keyed to the presence in skin of water and melanin, manifested at two NIR wavelengths. Limiting the imaging system’s scope cuts the overall cost of such hyperspectral-based search and rescue systems by a factor of seven, the researchers said.
As security measures continue to evolve, the use of Infra-red skin detection will also increase. Being on the cutting edge of development will keep you in front of your competitors.
Universe Kogaku designs and manufactures optical lenses for Face Recognition IR Systems, security, high tech and electronic applications. We stock 1000’s of standard lens assemblies and can custom design a solution for scanners, CCTV, CCD/CMOS, medical imaging, surveillance systems, machine vision and night vision systems.