Biometric Facial Identification: Spotting Faces in Crowd Made Easy

Use of biometrics is increasing day-by-day in the security industry. Biometric facial identification has especially become a sought after technology. It is useful in any area that demands identity verification. It can also be combined with the respective software and used in human resource management. You may easily come across a facial identification system in government offices, corporate offices, schools, hospitals, and other places, nowadays. It is no longer restricted to high profile military areas or science fiction movies.

Modern facial identification system is most commonly used for identity verification. The application is installed in the terminal unit and is expected to process enrollment and identification of faces. Database is kept in the same server or separate. A new individual is supposed to enroll his facial details into the system foremost. The facial details get stored in the database. Next time, the individual glances at the camera, he will be recognized by the system. His identity will be marked.

With the advancement in technology, the application is getting better. Researchers and scientists are trying their level best to use this system in crime fighting. Deterring crime is the main function it performs, as for now! It only identifies live faces of legitimate people. Appropriate actions can be taken against intruders or people who are not recognized by the system. This can prevent any misfortune in the premise. However, researchers are trying to build a facial identification system that can recognize a particular live face from a crowd to detect criminals from a crowd.

For example, take the case of anti social elements setting fire to a building. They do not escape after performing the felony. They stay around to watch their work in progress. Police officials coming to the crime scene can carry a facial identification system to the place. While the fire fighters do their job, the system may identify the faces of established criminals from a crowd of people if their facial details are stored in its database. Criminals who are trying to hide behind the crowd may be recognized and arrested.

This technology may greatly benefit police officials. They may easily be able to spot faces of hard core criminals from a pack. It may be particularly required at processions or events of national importance where a huge crowd gathers. There is always a possibility of terrorist or mafia attacks at such places. Airports, railways stations, and other government sectors may be able to cut their security expenses to half with the installation of a facial identification system.

Making use of biometric facial identification technology for this purpose is a bit difficult. The entire process involves comparing faces in various videos. Live facial details of established criminals may be hard to avail to keep in the database. This makes accurate recognition all the more difficult! Quality of the image in the videos also acts as a deterrent to its success. External factors like low lighting conditions, climatic changes, and other issues affect the quality of the images, which directly affects the recognition capability of the device.

However, biometric facial identification can be effectively used in other fields. It is the most utilized in corporate sectors. It can be combined with time attendance software and used to record the time keeping habits of employees. It can be combined with access control software and used to restrict unauthorized access to the premise. It can also be combined with visitor management software and used to manage the large number of visitants to a premise. Its use is increasing every day and in a very less time, it may also be used widely for crime fighting.