Application Brief: Identification Technologies International, Inc.
One of the most exciting applications involving <%=company%>'s products is about to hit the streets: machine vision systems for facial identification, developed and manufactured by Identification Technologies International, Inc. The market is already exploding in Europe. With security a growing concern—at airports, offices, residences and ATMs everywhere—success on these shores also seems assured. Just a single application like ATMs would make this the largest machine vision application ever!
Here's how it works. The image is processed to detect certain facial features. The features list is compressed to typically 90-100 bytes of information, which is stored on a chip embedded in a credit card type ID card. The card can be used to cash checks, unlock doors, and prove identity. When it is used, a card reader extracts the facial features list while the card holder has his or her picture taken at a window. The new image data is compared to the stored features list, and if they match, permission is granted. The match accuracy can be controlled by varying the amount of feature information stored. Imagenationty devices based on facial recognition features are more reliable than those that read fingerprints, and more convenient than machine vision systems that scan the iris of the eye. The latter type of system is accurate but uncomfortable for the user because light must be directed into the eye. With facial recognition, one need only look at a one-way mirror. A camera behind the mirror simply snaps the image, and the system grants permission ... all in just a matter
of seconds.
Identification Technologies International chose <%=company%>'s CX100 frame grabber for the application because it offers high quality image capture and ease of integration at reasonable cost, according to Kedu Han, chief scientist. "We were able to get our application ported over quickly and were particularly pleased with the software libraries which were well documented and easy to use," he said. "The PC architecture will allow us to leverage software rapidly with minimal economic impact."
He added, "<%=company%> can be a key player as we target a significantly reduced-cost system for high volume applications in the not-too-distant future."