3D facial recognition project gets funding boost

Developed by the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) in conjunction with biometrics company Customer Clever, the high-resolution 3D system is claimed to be significantly more accurate than the 2D face mapping currently available. According to Lyndon Smith, professor of computer simulation and machine vision at UWE Bristol, the technology has a range of uses, from security and retail to hospitality and live events.

“Facial recognition technology is a powerful technique with many security applications,” said Smith, who operates out of Bristol Robotics Laboratory’s Centre for Machine Vision.

“Potential uses are increasing all the time but first we have to iron out problems with how the technology performs. Things which are easy for the human eye to deal with, like changes in background light and people looking in different directions, are big problems for this technology. There’s a difference between making the system work in the laboratory and doing so in a busy supermarket, where there are changes in lighting conditions and people walking around in the background.”