3D Face Imaging in 40 Milliseconds

Roland Piquepaille writes "Computer scientists at Sheffield Hallam University, UK, have developed a new face recognition software which can produce an exact 3D image of a face within 40 milliseconds. A pattern of light is projected on your face, creating a 2D image, from which an accurate 3D representation is generated. This technology should speed airport check-ins, but it could also be used in banks or for checking ID cards as it allows full identification in less than one second."

database?

[switchfutguy]

what about the time it takes the image to be looked up in the database? i'm sure that would take it more time to verify...

Hrm.

[Limburgher]

Impressive, but what if I shave?

Re:Hrm.

[Watson Ladd]

Or put dots on your face with a magic marker. Subgraph Isomorphisim is in a class by itself in complexity theory.

Modifiable

[TheStonepedo]

This is a very modifiable "biometric." I lost a little piece of my nose in a nasty bicycle accident. Some people get facelifts, nosejobs, and botox injections. Many men have differing amounts of facial hair on a day-to-day basis. People who fly infrequently could gain or lose a good deal of weight between flights and have different facial dimensions.
The error tolerances that would have to be built into an automated face scanner would have to be large. I would rather have a human check my ID in a few milliseconds more than have an inaccurate system for verification. Show me a 40 millisecond thumbprint scanner with an international database and we'll talk.

Re:Modifiable

[radiotyler]

Speaking of that, I'd love to see some folks in the special effects industry play around with these biometrics systems to see how easy it is to spoof someones face, or invalidate their entry in the database with make-up or whatever magic they use these days. Why are there never any MythBusters around when I need them?

Goodnight, privacy.

[TheNoxx]

You know, the similarities between the growth of technology and the "fictional" world in the book "The Traveler" [amazon.com] are getting a little too eerie for me.

I wonder how long until people start using diluted steroids and such to temporarily alter their face's shape (as mentioned in the book, of course) to get around the rapidly advancing face recognition technology, for good or evil motives?

works in the dark

[twitter]

I wonder if an infrared pattern would work. You would not even know you had been scanned.