No More Smiling: Indiana Cracks Down on Happy Driver's License Photos

Latest news out of Indiana is that the state's Bureau of Motor Vehicles is instituting several new and somewhat interesting requirements for driver's license photos.

In an effort to aid facial recognition software and technology in its attempt to accurately identify residents, people will now be restricted from wearing scarves, hats and glasses, among other accessories.

Furthermore, drivers will need to refrain from smiling.

According to BMV spokesperson Dennis Rosebrough, it has been determined that smiles can inhibit the technology from accurate identifications and that the recognition software functions far better when given more standard images.

While this development may be a step in the right direction in terms of working to effectively leverage the technology at hand, a better approach would to to film a short video of the person, rather than take one single photo to rely upon for all identification purposes. While a single image is what always ends up on your license, there is actually no real reason that should be the only image the DMV can use when conducting a fraud search.

What we've found at 3VR is that comparing a collection of images of a person to other collection is always more accurate than working with a single passport-style photo-- regardless of facial expression, dress or accessories.

Multiple photos or even video would be a far more effective alternative, in our opinion, and what more, would even allow Hoosiers to resume their smiling at the DMV-- everybody wins.

Face Rec Hacked! Needs "Liveness" Test

Very interesting article in CNet that highlighted an exciting new trend, but also pointed out that it may not be ready for prime time. Many new laptops, including new models from Lenovo, Asus and Toshiba, have started using facial recognition scans as the primary security mechanism for accessing their devices, rather than fingerprints or passwords. Definitely a cool use of new technologies, but as CNet points out, companies need to be sure they get it right before they introduce it to consumers, who would have no way to know their security was compromised.

In this test, security firm Vietnamese Internetwork Security Center (VISC) demonstrated vulnerabilities in laptops' face recognition-based authentication mechanisms that let anyone log in to a computer easily with a "special" photo of the legit owner, even at the highest authentication level. VISC was able to almost instantly produce a photo of CNet Editor Dong Ngo, taken over the laptop's webcam during a Skype chat, that fooled the computer's facial recognition software and successfully logged into a computer registered to Ngo.

Here's how Ngo described the offending photo:

About five minutes later, the technician produced a rather unflattering picture of me on a piece of letter-size paper. I could hardly agree that it was my mug on the photo. Nonetheless, when used in front of the laptop's camera, the Y430's authentication software was happy enough with the photo and logged in within a second. Pretty scary.

This type of hack is going to be very difficult for taditional facial recognition vendors to overcome. Early algorithms in this biometric field all focus exclusively on comparing one single image to another single image. Even if that image is being extracted from a laptop web camera. There is zero concept of context or "liveness" in this approach, and so it is easily spoofed. 3VR Security, is the only company I know of with a facial recognition platform built from the ground up to analyze streams of faces, like those in a video feed, rather than just single images. With this type of approach, subtle changes in motion, expression, pose, and other varialbles unique to a "live" 3D person can be analyzed at the same time a biomtric match is taking place and the kind of spoofing demonstrated here simply would not work. Maybe it's time for laptop vedors to upgrade their algorithms.

CyberExtruder Gets 2D to 3D Face Patent

At the end of November, CyberExtruder announced that the company had been granted a new patent on their process for creating reliable 3D models of a person’s face from a single or series of 2D images.




Though the enforceability of this patent has yet to be tested, CyberExtruder’s 2D-to-3D conversion is certainly an important innovation to the security and biometrics technology industries. Why? It enables better matching between offline photographs and surveillance video. While the matching of "watch list" images against surveillance video has traditionally achieved mixed results as a result of inadequate lighting, angle, expression, etc., this patent could signify a leap forward in terms of the quality and value of 3D facial images.

In June of 2007, I wrote on how XID was using a similar technology in the “world’s largest” facial recognition access control project. In that instance, XID literally generated hundreds of thousands of variants of an enrolled employee’s face rather than using just a single 2D photo converted to a 3D model. Each day when an employee arrived for work, his or her photo would be taken and compared to the database of generated images rather than a single original. Interestingly, this approach generated huge improvements in the performance and accuracy of the Thailand access control system.



We’ll see if these two companies come into conflict over the new patent, but I don’t think they will. XID’s approach to 2D-to-3D is very different than CyberExtruder's-- almost quick and dirty by comparison. CyberExtruder, on the other hand, has become famous for its hyper-realistic…if sometimes creepy…generated floating 3D heads that lend themselves to applications well beyond security including gaming and movies, and even boast a fan in Phillip Rosedale of SecondLife.

Hondo on IPVideoMarket.info

John "Hondo" Honovich, the creator and publisher of IPVideoMarket.info recently wrote me to share some more information on his new site, why he created it, and what we can expect in the future:

Good information in video surveillance can be especially hard to get. On the one hand, you have the Hollywood effect that makes most people believe all types of incredible but unrealistic technologies. On the other, you have trade magazines that mostly recycle press releases or vendor marketing materials. The outcome is a domain that is not only misunderstood but severely distorted. A great example is your recent post debunking a facial recognition system that could somehow tell
the difference between a 17 and 18 year old.

Recently, I launched a site, IPVideoMarket.Info, dedicated to making quality information on video surveillance easy to find and share. The site scans the web finding the best security content from not only traditional magazines but also sites like InHardFocus that bring direct communication from the executives who are making and leading changes in the industry.

As I conduct original research on the industry, I am sharing that research for free at IPVideo Market.Info. One of the most important lessons of the Web is the value of sharing information and contributing to the community. Video surveillance and physical security, in general, have been for far too long dominated by a small pool of analysts that charge thousands of dollars for their reports. Information is controlled in the hands of the few at the expense of the community and our security. With open, public and free research, my hope is that we can all learn more and make better decisions in improving security.

Great New Site Launches

3VR alum, adviser and security industry expert John "Hondo" Honovich launched his new site recently. With constant updates from various security companies and news sources, IP Video Market Info promises to be one of, if not the, most powerful news aggregation and editorial sites in the security business. I'm sure I'll be linking to it regularly.