Invasion of the Body Bombers

Just caught this BBC clip on HotAir:



In late August, an Al-Qaeda fugitive pretending to surrender himself to the head of counterterrorism passed through several levels of security inside one of Saudi Arabia’s palaces, and blew himself up via a bomb triggered by mobile phone. How did he get past security? Well, investigators believe he hid the explosives inside his own body. No details on how that came to be.

As terrorism expert, Dr. Peter Neumann acknowledged in the segment, this incident could have tremendous implications on airport security both in the USA and internationally. It's believed that the suicide bomber passed through metal detectors to get into the palace -- and who is to say that someone wouldn't try that at an airport in the near future? While Ed from HotAir points out that triggering a bomb via a mobile phone mid-flight would be difficult due to interference, it wouldn't take long for Al-Queda or similar terrorist group to find a way around this snag.

Just as the TSA has updated its efforts to increase security measures at airports nationwide, it's not surprising to see that terrorists have stepped up their tactics as well. And if we don't step it up, metal detectors could find themselves obsolete if they are unable to notify personnel of the presence of 'body bombers.'

We need to recognize these changing technologies and adapt security procedures and equipment to continue to stay one step ahead and continue to make the safety and security of travelers our first priority.

SFO Receives $5 Million in New Funding for CCTV Equipment

SFO travelers may see some additional surveillance equipment as they make their ways from curbside to board their flights this holiday season.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), last week announced SFO will receive $5 million in additional funding to enhance its existing closed circuit television (CCTV) system to help in 'providing a high level of threat detection and enhancing emergency response and risk mitigation.'

SFO is only one of many airports to receive funding from a $241 million TSA program, which is based on airports' 'critical need to increase operational efficiency, their readiness to begin and complete the project, and the airport's ability to cost share, to use their own funds along with what we provide,' according to TSA spokeswoman Suzanne Trevino.

In addition to SFO, John Wayne Airport, in Orange County will receive $8.8 million for a new baggage system and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) is in line to get $6 million to fund a similar system to that planned at SFO.

As I've written before, with political obstacles and the budgetary limitations that frequently deter airport security initiatives, it's great to see these projects taking shape.

Not sure how long roll-out will take, but something to watch out for with the holiday travel season fast approaching. Santa Claus won't be the only one with his eye out.

Sitting Down with Rob Jenkins

I recently connected with Rob Jenkins, a lecturer at the University at Glasgow and leading authority of facial recognition technology in the UK, to pick his brain about different topics in facial recognition, namely airport security, the future of biometric technology and privacy/related concerns.

Rob had some very insightful, innovative answers to my questions, and I'm excited to share them with the growing IHF readership. Going forward, I'm hoping to have other thought leaders and readers contribute content and commentary to this blog, as I'd like to make this more of a forum for biometric, facial recognition and other technology discussions rather than a one-sided conversation. Feel free to make comments on any of the responses or questions, and I will be sure to address them!

Also, check out Rob's departmental Web site for selected publications on gaze perception and other facial identification topics. Very interesting stuff.

In response to Manchester Airport lowering their matching thresholds, The Telegraph quoted you saying that lowering the passport match level to 30 percent would make the system almost worthless. Another perspective is that the previous levels were causing horrendous queues and customer dissatisfaction. Is there a middle ground here?

There is certainly a middle ground in the sense that we can choose where to strike a balance between rejecting genuine matches and accepting false matches. But reducing either type of error generally increases the other, so it’s a trade-off. There is no ‘sweet spot’ where both types of error are reined in.

Despite the advanced nature of this technology, do you believe that there should still be a human element involved in security checks? If so, do you believe we will ever reach a point where this will no longer be necessary?

The main problem with referring the difficult cases to humans is that humans cannot do the task reliably either - even if we’re trained and experienced. Humans are fantastic at matching familiar faces, but our performance with unfamiliar faces is very poor. If we can somehow incorporate the benefits of familiarity into the technology, then it could be transformed.

Facial recognition technologies are popping up all over -- club entrances, bathroom faucets, online photo services, using cameras in lieu of passwords to access computers -- have they hit the tipping point? Is it only time before we use the technology to unlock our front doors and open our car trunks? What trajectory do you see it taking? Staying in security-based deployments, infiltrating everyday life or a balance between the two?

To some extent I think a tipping point is being ushered in, mostly by people who have something to sell. And it is an idea that some sectors are keen to buy into. So in that sense there is a lot of good will wishing the technology to work. I don’t find the gadget market especially troubling, provided that errors are of relatively little consequence. The real danger is in rushing to large-scale security deployments. For applications such as passport control or forensic face recognition the stakes can be much higher, and we know that the available technology is not yet up to the task.

In the same vein, has facial recognition reached a point where accuracy and reliability now line up with the media's expectations?

In my experience, identification errors tend not to go down well with the public. I often ask audiences how often they would be prepared to be the subject of a misidentification. The answers are in the order of once a decade, even when the imagined consequences are minor. That’s a tall order, given the number of identity checks that some proposals entail. It comes as something of a shock when these demands are compared against current capability. As far as media expectations are concerned, I think there has been a change in tone. Traditionally, the emphasis has been on the implications face recognition for privacy, with the unspoken assumption that it is reliable. These days there is more of an awareness that the technology simply is being phased in, whether it works or not. That changes the focus of the debate.

The "Big Brother" argument -- that citizens are losing their individual privacy rights due to increased public security efforts -- is always present in a discussion about surveillance. Is there a point at which facial recognition and biometric technology infringe on personal freedoms and the right to privacy? Is blurring faces enough? Are there places where surveillance should not be allowed?

I don’t think facial recognition and biometric technology necessarily infringe on privacy. It is certainly possible to imagine applications where privacy concerns don’t arise. However, for the security and surveillance applications that have been at the forefront of public discussion, the tension with privacy is fundamental. The whole purpose of identifying someone is to connect them with some other information, and the nature of that information is a major issue. We can think of face recognition as a key to identity. But focusing on the key tends to distract us from other questions, like What’s behind the lock? As more and more information is stored behind the lock, the reliability of the key becomes increasingly important. As does the question of who has access to the key.

The practice of blurring or pixellating faces to protect identity (as in Google Streetview) is often poorly informed. Although such manipulations can make it more difficult for observers to identify people, this is only the case when the observer is unfamiliar with the faces concerned. When the observer is familiar with the face, blurring or pixellating the image does surprisingly little to impede identification.

People have very different ideas about where surveillance should be allowed, and which places should be out of bounds. I don’t really foresee any wide agreement on the extent of coverage that is desirable or acceptable. The general trend is for rapid expansion, especially in the US and the UK, but my impression is that this trend is not driven by public demand.

The UK has over 4 million cameras -- that's one for every 14 people in the country and 200,000 in London alone. Chicago is working to improve its 'Virtual Shield' and include the entire metropolitan area in its surveillance grid to cut down crime. Yet, criminals still often get away with murder -- literally. Are expectations set too high? Are surveillance grids more of a scare tactic in preventing crime from happening rather than proactive in catching criminals in the act?

It has been known for some time that the unprecedented CCTV coverage in the UK has had little or no effect on crime rates. A recent Home Office report revealed that only 3% of crimes were solved using CCTV footage, and suggests that simple improvements to street lighting would be more effective. Part of the problem is that it is unrealistic for police to monitor CCTV footage on the scale that it is produced. But more importantly, little thought has gone into the use of CCTV evidence in court. It has only recently become clear how poor humans are at matching unfamiliar faces, even when the images are far higher quality than could be obtained from CCTV. We’ve already looked at machine performance in this context. Establishing a match that will stand up in court is very difficult indeed.

The deterrent argument is interesting because the figures imply little or no deterrent value in CCTV. The standard explanation for this is that people assume the cameras are not working, which is a reasonable inference to make if they are not reducing crime. However, I wonder if there is also a paradoxical effect of increasing coverage. After all, the more cameras there are, the less likely it is that any particular camera is being monitored.

US/Canada Radio Frequency IDs Set to Go Live

A lot of outlets are covering this piece of news, Homeland Security to scan fingerprints of travelers exiting the US, but I think a far more interesting tidbit is buried deep in the story:

The DHS is also set to go-live with a trial of RF-enabled biometric identity cards on June 1, aimed at securing the border between the United States and Canada.

[...]

As of June 1, travelers crossing the border will be asked to carry an RF-enabled card which transmits a passport photo image and information about the traveler to border control staff systems, who can then check that photograph against the physical appearance of the traveler or their vehicle.

I think this is a sign of what's to come at the border. For now, these kinds of trials will likely remain limited. Also, given recent problems with more automated verification programs, like in Manchester, these trials will almost certainly require a good deal of manual monitoring and human review for the foreseeable future.

Daily Headers: May 13, 2009

Facial recognition gates trialled at Stansted Airport
Saffron Walder Reporter

• Facial recognition gates are being trialed at Stansted Airport in a bid to cut queues and improve border security. The facial recognition gates work by using scanners to compare the faces of passengers to their biometric passports.
• The gates can be used by any British or European passenger who has a new e-passport with an electronic chip.
• The system measures points on a person's face and compares them with the digital passport photograph. People who have changed their appearance since their passport pictures were taken will not pose problems, because the system will still be able to compare them accurately.
• Let's hope Stansted gets it right and isn't forced to downgrade matching thresholds like Manchester Airport allegedly did.

Robot teacher conducts first class in Tokyo school
Telegraph UK
Danielle Demetriou

• Saya, the female humanoid robot that I mentioned about a month ago, taught a science and technology lesson to a class of 10-year-old pupils at Kudan Elementary School in Tokyo.
• While Saya's creator Professor Hiroshi Kobayashi said the robot's main purpose was to highlight the joys of technology to children, he also said it would benefit schools suffering from a shortage of human teachers.

Brain scanning may be used in security checks
Guardian UK
Owen Bowcott

• Distinctive brain patterns could become the latest subject of biometric scanning after EU researchers successfully tested technology to verify ­identities for security checks.
• The experiments, which also examined the potential of heart rhythms to authenticate individuals, were conducted under an EU-funded inquiry into biometric systems that could be deployed at airports, borders and in sensitive locations to screen out terrorist suspects.
• The Foreign Office plans to spend up to £15M on fixed and mobile security devices that use methods including "facial recognition (two and/or three dimensional), fingerprint recognition, iris recognition and vein imaging palm recognition".

US Airports Looking Toward Standardization

Whether it's for tracking baggage, boarding the planes themselves or eliminating homeland security hiccups, researchers continue to develop innovative techniques to eliminate inefficiencies and increase reliability at airports.

However, in installing such complex (and often costly) equipment, many airports are running into difficulties -- often budgetary limitations, political snags or just the hesitation to upgrade from traditional systems -- and the need for a standard only continues to grow.

While some sort of security standard across all national airports can be expected down the road, with the economy as it is and a new administration at the reigns, it remains to be seen how far off this is.

The TSA is currently in the process of creating and requiring standards for a unified airport access control system (involving biometrics and smart card personnel credentials) that could be read at airports nationwide. However, this initiative to issue credentials to more than 1.5 million airport workers and hundreds of thousands of airline employees has received mixed reviews. The infrastructure to exchange such biometric data and allow common identity vetting through the aviation community is nonexistent, and the nature of airport design is not conducive to such a communal system.

Many are quick to note the unique nature of individual airports and that the 'one-size-fits-all' mentality does not apply. In addition, other airport executives fear they'll have to start from scratch and tear out existing assets if a standard is put in place. I liked the quote from Mark Crosby, chief of public safety and security at the Portland International Airport and the Port of Portland who said: “Each airport is different and needs something that works...if you’ve seen one airport, you’ve seen one airport.”

Despite the difficulties, some airports are deploying individual systems aligned with their specific needs and budgetary concerns, such as the fingerprint and iris access control systems in cargo areas (and also operate vehicles) tested by the Port Authority of New York (and even our own 3VR system installed at Evansville Regional Airport). On the other hand, some are holding off in anticipation of government-prescribed standards being announced. Should we be holding our breath?

Jeanne Olivier, general manager of aviation security and technology at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, seems to think so:

“We’re about 80% of the way there for biometrics as a security solutions for airports,” Olivier said. But it’s probably still a couple of years before wide scale deployments begin. “We’re very close and there will be significant advances in the next two years.”

She's much more optimistic than others who note three to five years before a widespread deployment make their public debut.

While I don't know how quick the battle will be won -- we very well may be a few years off from concrete results -- the wheels are in motion to allow standardization in airport security, at least on the personnel level -- and that's progress in itself.

With these strides behind the scenes, as well as new technologies for passenger security (such as new surveillance mats that measure gait and may do away with frisking episodes), I'm impressed with the progress being made. Baby steps are just fine as long as we're going in the right direction.

IHF Roundup: Airports Ponder Universal Access Control, Researchers Design 'Wearable' Robots & Other Top Headlines This Week

Here's a quick rundown of the headlines that caught my eye this week (click on the links to check out the articles in full):

Airport credentials: What's going to happen?
SecureIDNews
Zack Martin

• How airports identify employees has been a concern since 9/11 and other incidents have shown that there are potential security vulnerabilities. The Transportation Security Administration is working on a specification for airport access control systems that would use biometrics and smart cards. The specification calls for an interoperable credential that could be read at airports throughout the country.
• The incident pointed to most often when it comes to better securing credentials at airports is an incident at O’Hare International Airport in 2007. In that case, 23 employees from a staff-outsourcing firm were using ID cards from employees who had quit.
  
• There are already a number of different projects running -- The TSA has the Airport Credential Interoperability Specification (ACIS) and the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) created the Biometric Airport Security Identification Consortium (BASIC). The AAAE is working with the TSA on its efforts. Too many acronyms if you ask me.

Wearable bot said to make you stronger
CNET (Crave Blog)
Leslie Katz

• Through a sensor attached to the skin, "HAL" (Hybrid Assistive Limb) captures faint biosignals on the skin's surface that result from messages sent from the brain to muscles when a person attempts to move. A computer analyzes how much power the wearer intends to generate, then calculates the amount of torque needed to put limbs into action.
• Especially noteworthy here is that the suit responds to intended motion, rather than actual motion.
• "HAL" is currently being used by people in Japan with weakened muscles and disabilities related to strokes and/or spinal cord injuries. It's also expected to report for heavy-labor duty support at factories, as well as rescue support at disaster sites.
• Do they come in different colors and/or patterns?

Noise from our ears a basis for biometrics
ZDNet
Chris Jablonski

• The concept is based on otoacoustic emissions (OAE), which are sounds emitted by the mammalian inner ear in response to an audio stimulation.
• According to the researchers, OAEs offer some unique opportunities when applied as a biometric system. For one, it can be embodied as a telephone handset or headphones, which is something everyone is familiar with. And secondly, it can be employed in a challenge-response dialogue.
• However, watch out for waxy build-up and BAC level after a night out on the town -- with both, emissions are deadened. Also, different drugs alter the amplitude of OAEs.
  

How Kiva Robots Help Zappos and Walgreens
BusinessWeek
Jessie Scanlon

• Robots have been around a long time, but what's interesting about Kiva, which has four patents, with another 14 pending, is the way in which Kiva Founder and CEO Mick Mountz's team has integrated three technologies: WiFi, digital cameras, and low-cost servers capable of parallel processing.
  
• The servers work in real-time, receiving orders, immediately dispatching robots to bring the required pods to the worker fulfilling the order, and then returning the pods to their storage locations. The robots receive their orders wirelessly, while using cameras to read navigational barcode stickers on the warehouse floor.
• Roughly 20% of the 8,000 commercial U.S. warehouses are automated, including Walgreens and Zappos, meaning that after workers pull goods off of the shelves, they are put on conveyer belts, carousels, and/or other automatic sorting systems that move the products through the warehouse more efficiently.

Alaska introduces bill protecting citizens’ biometric data
ThirdFactor

• Alaskan state senator, Bill Wielechowski, has introduced a bill to the state congress that intends to protect Alaskan citizens from having their biometric information collected or used without their knowing and consent.
• The congressman’s hope is that the bill will assuage fears over the misuse of biometric information such as potential employers using DNA samples to determine one’s tendency towards certain ailments or the tracking of citizens via facial recognition and video surveillance.

Cameras, sensors spark government surveillance debate
Democrat & Chronicle
Brian Sharp

• The Rochester (NY) Police Department's reliance on data-crunching computers and license-plate reading scanners triggered a backlash this week from a citizens group called Activists Against Racism Movement.
• In a statement to the media, the group labeled the targeted enforcement a "dragnet" and "absolutely racist in nature," predicting that it will predominately snare minorities for minor offenses.
• Doubt remains about whether the technology actually prevents crime, or just relocates it. People do tend to feel safer, experts say. Witnesses are more likely to cooperate with police if they think a camera also caught the action, and so property crime declines, but research has yet to document a corresponding drop in violent crime.

Plus, don't forget to scroll down and check out 3VR's anouncement around our technology's performance in recent South Korea NPA/SK Networks facial recognition technology testing. More details coming soon.

IHF Roundup: Robots Hitting the Crop Fields, Airport Facial Scanners Slowing Security Lines & Other Top Headlines This Week

Phewf! Finally catching my breath after the whirlwind of ISC West and sitting down to read all the headlines that hit this week.

Lots in the research fields -- literally, fields -- in the news this week. I actually wrote about this robotic work a few weeks back, but the AP reported more on MIT's work with robots that can water, harvest and pollinate cherry tomato plants. According to the article, each plant is connected to both a robot and computer network to enable sensors that know when it is time to water the plant, pick the ripe fruit, or need fertilizer. This is the first big initiative I've heard about using robots for agricultural purposes, and while its currently exclusive to tomatoes, I'm curious if the technology will be adapted to other fruits and vegetables moving forward.

Biologists are hitting the books and looking at old laws of flying to further understand how birds, insects and other winged-animals keep themselves in flight in order to apply to future biomimeric-flying robots. Using high-speed video to see the asymmetrical flapping that hummingbirds and others are capable of to make turns mid-air, they hope to apply these locomotive maneuvers to future robotic developments.

And from wildlife and agriculture to babies -- Japanese scientists have created a child robot with Biomimetic Body (CB2 for short) capable of developing social skills from continuous human interaction. The robot can watch and record facial expressions using embedded eye-cameras and match them to corresponding physical movements to understand emotion, mirroring a developing mother-baby relationship. Wow.

In the surveillance realm, some feathers being ruffled this week, particularly in the UK.

According to a leaked memo, Manchester Airport allegedly re-calibrated its facial scanner machines from alerting security personnel if the passenger had less than a 80% likeness to their passport photograph to only calling out matches at less than 30% due to an overwhelmingly high number of "false positives" and particularly long queues at checkpoints. However, the UK Border Agency responded, saying that "neither the software nor the machines have been recalibrated or changed since the trial began in August 2008." Either way, lines are apparently out the door and there are rumors that 30% thresholds aren't high enough to tell Winona Ryder from Osama Bin Laden. If that's the case, I'll have no problem getting through as Colin Firth (if I had his passport, that is).

As noted by Leischen Stelter of Security Director News, biometric technologies, like facial scanners, address challenges airports face in providing the utmost security to its passengers, and more and more airports are adopting various technologies to do so. Whether its access control, iris and fingerprint readers or facial scanners, biometrics are enabling greater confidence in airport security efforts. In fact, the Biometric Airport Security Identification Consortium (BASIC) was initiated last year to test many different biometric technologies at airports nationwide and has grown from six initial participants to 32 airports. BASIC will move this one step further and present its findings to the TSA, which has promised to provide an approved vendor lists going forward. Exciting stuff.

Standardization in video surveillance has been an ongoing issue, but camera regulation is another rising matter, particularly down under. The Victorian Law Reform Commission in Australia proposed that an independent regulator oversee all public surveillance to ensure no footage is recorded without authorization. With tens of thousands of surveillance devices across the state, it is vital that no video falls through the cracks and into the wrong hands. Great to see.

So many headlines to summarize every week that it's almost getting overwhelming! I'm going to aim to summarize important headers a few times next week and moving forward -- hopefully this will keep everything timely and ensure I don't miss anything. Wouldn't want to let the readers down.

Manchester Airport Downgrades Matching Threshold on Facial Scanners

Those customer complaints about excessive wait times and congestion going through security in the UK must be piling up these days -- in a leaked memo, Manchester Airport allegedly re-calibrated its facial scanner machines from alerting security personnel if the passenger had less than a 80% likeness to their passport photograph to only calling out matches at less than 30%.

Deemed an "unacceptable" security risk by some, this change was prompted by an increased number of "false positives" not recognizing law-abiding passengers as the person pictured in their passport.

There has been no official explanation as to why the change occurred, and some facial recognition experts are up in arms, claiming that using a 30% match threshold is essentially useless. A memo noted, "[The fact that] the machines do not operate at 100% is unacceptable. In addition it would be interesting to know why the acceptance level has been allowed to decrease."

As another article also describes, with such low calibration levels, Kevin Spacey and Winona Ryder would easily pass through holding Osama Bin Laden's passport. With these odds, I bet could pass through security as Colin Firth, no problem.

I'll be interested to see if an official response to this "leaked memo" is released that explains the drastic drop in standards and their reason for the large number of false-positives. It could be the result of their technology choice, or just the result of poor, old, and varied photos common to passports. Likely both.

IHF Roundup: Female Robot Struts Her Stuff, Robotic Fish Invades Foreign Waters and Other Top Headlines This Week

Some ongoing trends I've been seeing for a few months are all relating back to technological innovation in industries traditionally uninterested in the stuff. Whether it's biometric systems, robotic deployments or surveillance initiatives, they're popping up everywhere. In particular, a couple robotics headlines caught my eye this week as they have been making their way into unfamiliar waters -- and runways.

British scientists are developing robotic fish to detect pollution. Coming in around $29,000 apiece, these wireless robots, five feet in length, are enabled with sensors to smell out hazardous chemicals leaking from marine vessels and underwater pipelines. They're being tested in the northern Spanish port of Gijon, and if successful, could potentially be used worldwide. Price point might need to drop a bit to ensure large-scale deployment, but very exciting potential here to sniff out and eliminate leaks polluting our waters.

Almost on the other end of the robotics spectrum, Japanese robotics teams have created a female robot that walk and talks -- down fashion runways, that is. Making her debut at a Tokyo fashion show next week, the five-foot two-inch black-haired HRP-4C robot will ultimately be used to "perform simulations of human movement" in amusement parks, exercise clubs and other such crowded environments. Perhaps, a long lost relative of this robotic performer...

Happy to say that Frost & Sullivan released validation for the growth in biometrics technologies this week. According to Matia Grossi, Frost & Sullivan's industry analyst, "The market for biometrics products is going to almost triple by 2012 from its 2008 value." Exciting stuff, but not entirely surprising considering check and retail fraud rates are skyrocketing and security breaches are causing chaos everywhere. Obviously, the demand for appropriate security initiatives is there and technologies will increase accordingly.

While traditional biometrics have primarily rooted themselves in government agencies, financial institutions and airports, educational outlets, hospitals and even airlines themselves are now implementing these systems. While the current statistics show governments to occupy 44.5% of the market, it's evident from headlines this week growing initiatives in other sectors may soon shift that majority elsewhere.

We've seen biometric security systems implemented all over airports, from the security checkpoints to customs. But biometrics to board planes? That's new.

Air France announced this week the beginning of trials of its new fingerprint-based boarding system -- "smartboarding" -- on the Paris-Amsterdam route. With this new procedure, passengers book their flights online normally and check in at airport kiosks where they receive their thermal-inked boarding pass. Once at the gate, their fingerprints are scanned prior to boarding the airplane. If it saves me from taking my driver's license in and out of my wallet five times before sitting down in my seat, I'm all for it.

Continuing this biometrics growth, schools nationwide, specifically Wyoming and Florida, are installing biometrics keypads in cafeterias to improve accounting systems and provide speedier service. One article even states lunch sales at one school improved 17 percent after using the devices. If not only to get kids into their seats more quickly, bringing in more revenues from those lunches can't hurt struggling schools. Gives new meaning to the term 'fast food.'

IHF Roundup: No More Lost Luggage in Lisbon and Milan, Biometric System Deployments Abound and Other Top Headlines This Week

Looks like customer complaints over lost baggage have sparked change -- at least in Europe. Both the Lisbon Airport and Milan’s Malpensa Airport have switched to RFID-enabled baggage tracking systems, eliminating unreliable bar-coded tagging from transfer baggage procedures. Many Americans will be thrilled at the thought of this initiative making its way overseas, particularly this guy.

Robots may be next on the scene to rescue injured soldiers -- or protect the coast and waters from pirates! Researchers hope that the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital will be replaced by a robotic "Trauma Pod" within ten years -- think M*A*S*H but with robotic surgeons and nurses instead. In due time, the robots will be able to insert intravenous lines and even deliver drugs to patients. Wow.

The Pentagon is also looking to utilize robotics in another field of Homeland Security to prevent piracy and terrorism in waterways. Unmanned "bot boats" can be deployed from the shores, helicopter and parachutes, can chase and ram vessels, and even utilize weapons like water cannons and sound-blast devices to scare off predatory ships. From the looks of other robotics technology on the rise, seeing robots on the water might not be so strange -- particularly if they're feeding you at the dinner table or performing surgery at the hospital. Great pictorial feature from the Boston Globe to check out here.

With the International Biometrics Group reporting expected growth of the global biometrics market to jump from $3.4 billion to $9.4 billion between 2009 and 2014, it's no surprise that fingerprint authentication, iris scans and facial recognition systems have started to pop up in areas like hospitals and even schools (more around this to come next week). While airports have long utilized biometrics in customs and security checkpoints, biometric-enabled access control is another feature on the rise, and standards for the technology's deployment are finally starting to be put in place.

Looks like South Korea is itching to get a jumpstart in that growing market. As a pioneering country in the security systems and equipment industry with a rich history as a technological innovator, it hopes that this experience will propel it into the manufacturing of the four key biometric authentication technologies: fingerprint, iris, face and vein recognition.

Sooner or later, biometric and surveillance technologies, previously isolated to law enforcement and government agencies, will find themselves in every mundane aspect of life. You might even find evidence of them in your own body -- or a friend's.

More British Airports to get Face Rec

In a proclaimed effort to “put British workers first,” ten more airports will be getting the same facial recognition system currently in use at Heathrow. The technology is aimed to crack down on individuals attempting to enter the country using fake passports. Though controlling the use of forged or false documents has obvious national security implications, it seems odd to me that the case for the systems would be made with such an immigration labor focus.

Said Home Secretary Jacqui Smith:

"Even in a downturn, we still need migrants - but we should be more selective about their skills levels, and we should do more to put British workers first."

Well, whatever the rationale, at least they will avoid Japan’s recent problems with their own airport passport checks.

Fool Me Once, Shame on You...

As reported last month, a South Korean woman fooled a fingerprint scanner at a Japanese airport to gain entry into the country. How did she do it? No need for an elaborate scheme -- instead, she used a special kind of tape purchased from a broker to easily bypass the state-of-the-art biometric system.

The 51-year-old woman used "special tape" to alter her fingerprints to trick the technology, which in November 2007 was installed at 30 airports around the country at a cost of around $45 million dollars. Designed to prevent entry by "international terrorists and other undesirables," reports say it is possible that a large number of South Koreans may have illegally entered the country using similar methods.

While the woman was eventually arrested in South Korea after attempting to purchase a fake passport, this incident raises a red flag about how effective border security really is and if expensive installments are worth the cost. In fact, last month, the DHS announced an update to its biometric technology in the US-VISIT program, which records biographic information to conduct security checks and verify the identities of international visitors to the United States.

However, why spend millions of tax dollars deploying systems that don't perform?

While biometric systems certainly complicate methods traditionally used by criminals to bypass the law, these tools will always exist -- ultimately, what customs and airport security checkpoints need is the deployment of an all-encompassing solution to stop those "special tape" users and repeat offenders in their tracks.

Integrating access control and facial recognition systems are two critical deployments needed to transform border security infrastructure and ensure a comprehensive solution to deter criminal acts. Designed to improve access control, passenger screening and liability protection, our deployments in airports (including Evansville Regional) monitor for criminal suspects and support both passenger and general airport visitor screening procedures with facial recognition technology, which stores profile pictures regardless of angle, shadow or lighting.

What does that mean in terms of catching criminals? We'll let's just say that no amount of "special tape" will get a person past an access control gate that requires an ID varified using facial recognition.

As the age-old proverb goes, "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me." Multiple levels of security technology ensure the validity of this saying, and are ultimately crucial components of a successful surveillance program in the public places that need it most.

Biometrics Finding Its Way into Customs Checkpoints

It's already been an active new year for customs checkpoints.

Earlier this week, European Parliament approved the use of biometric data in EU passports, and yesterday the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that upgraded biometric technology has been installed at every major port of entry, and that most visitors should expect to use the new technology upon entering the country.

The European Parliament will amend a 2004 regulation to include fingerprints and facial patterns in passports issued in the EU, thus making it more difficult for criminals to forge identification documents and/or travel under stolen passports. Additionally, the new EU regulations will set the minimum age to take fingerprints at twelve, as fingerprints change as children grow. Instead of being included in their parent's passports, all children will be required to carry their own in an effort to make child trafficking more difficult.

Back in the U.S., the DHS announced that it has updated biometric technology in its US-VISIT program, which records biographic information to conduct security checks and verify identities of international visitors to the United States. The program is also expanding the categories of non-U.S. citizens required to provide digital fingerprints and a photograph upon entry to the U.S. in December, and requiring 10 fingerprint collections rather than two. Many experts agree that collecting a full set increases matching accuracy and also reduces the chance of misidentification.

With increased wait times expected and obstacles associated with integrating the various Extended Access Control (EAC) systems now in use across the globe, it will take years for travelers and customs officials to get acclimated to the new procedures and documents. In the meantime, bring a magazine for that next trip through customs.

Why So Serious?

New biometric technology research out of Concordia University may prove useful in recognizing mood via facial features in public and highly-trafficked areas, such as airports and train stations. The system may also have implications on homeland security technology used to observe suspicious behaviors and characters.

Prabir Bhattacharya, a professor at Concordia's Institute for Information Systems Engineering, "has developed a computer image processing system capable of classifying human facial expressions and identifying what emotion a person is conveying."

"Whether certain points like the eyebrows or the lips are expanding or contracting, you can know what sort of emotion they are conveying," Bhattacharya said. In fact, his system is capable of identifying all ten expressions below. While 18 facial features exist to determine mood, his system only requires seven.


As the ITBusiness article states, "The system analyzes a facial expression by first measuring the distance between the eyes. Based on that, it is able to map out other regions of the face and set a template. Then, it can process different markers that give away a person's mood. By focusing on specific groups of muscles near the eyes, nose and mouth, the system determines mood without requiring a full facial profile. That means less data is needed to determine a profile than other types of facial recognition systems."


The big question remains -- what is the value of mood recognition technology in identifying suspicious individuals? While some critics maintain that surveillance is more focused on recognizing one individual versus another and continue to discount the value of identifying a person's mood, others point to its many applications in the security field. According to ITBusiness, the concept has already been utilized by Israeli security forces trained in psychological methods to evaluate mood in order to maintain order in large crowds of people.

Whether deployed at crowded train stations, endless airport security lines, or local banks across the country, mood recognition technology certainly has the potential to supplement current facial recognition technology and make surveillance systems all the more comprehensive.

However, it may be some time before this technology makes it out of the lab and into a video camera near you. Frankly, there just aren't many surveillance cameras that create the kinds of straight-on talking-head-style videos required for this kind of algorithm. Maybe we will first see mood detection in something like the self-check-in kiosks at airports so the airlines can know how we are feeling when we travel. Just remember to smile.

Evansville Airport Gets Face Rec

From the Evansville Courier & Press:

Security is the paramount issue among air travelers these days, but Evansville Regional Airport — like other commercial airports throughout the world — rely on videocassette recorder security systems whose nonspecific tapes can take hours, days and sometimes weeks to decipher when suspicious concerns arise.

That, however, is about to change at the local airport.

The Evansville airport is the first in the nation to get a new technological security system, known as a 3VR (Third-Generation Video Recorder), said Bob Working, the airport manager. The searchable surveillance system uses a Google-like analytical search engine for spewing out valuable information instantly. For example, it displays in an instant on a computer monitor clear images of thousands of faces for identification purposes.

Eric Moss, vice president/director of data services for Gaither Technologies/STC, demonstrates a 3VR security system as company President Steve Rudolph is recorded on video, in the screen at left. The unit features searchable facial recognition and motion-changing events.

Face Rec Speeds Airport Lines

Adding to the existent iris and fingerprint "trusted traveler" enrollment scheme, now face rec is being added to the package at U.S. and U.K. airports to both improve security and speed frequent international travelers through security lanes. The British and American governments have launched a partnership to allow enrolled "trusted travelers" who fly frequently between their respective countries, to bypass security lines after a quick face scan. The "new" program basically just adds face rec to the existing iris enrollment program for trusted travelers, which to me says that 1)face rec is working a helluva lot better than it did ten years ago and 2) iris and fingerprint recognition might not be working well enough if officials feel the need to add face rec technology to the existing program.

UK Tests Face Rec at Airports

The UK government is set to be the latest to test facial recognition technology on a large scale. British border officials plan to test a new facial recognition system at airports this summer to see if it can boost security and reduce overcrowding.

American and French airports were the first to test face rec and both are now testing second generation technologies. Similarly the London Olympics committee and the Nashville School District are both testing face recognition software, but the most ambitious project to date seems to be the nationwide deployment of face recognition in South Korea.

Mass Iris Scanning May Replace Airport Queues

From GCN Insider:

“Envision a future in which large-scale portal screening such as at airports is no longer a matter of forming long, snaking lines for serial processing, but more nearly resembles Grand Central Station, with individual travelers moving in a Brownian way,” — that is, any way they want to, William Gravel, a Defense Department consultant, said to the audience at a recent biometrics conference in Baltimore. “It is a vision,” he said, but “it is not a fantasy.”