FaceR API will accelerate development of facial recognition applications for commercial and enterprise markets

Conway, N.H. (March 25, 2014) - Animetrics, a developer of advanced 3D facial recognition and identity management solutions for law enforcement and the military, announced today that it has released its first API for commercial licensing, called FaceR.

FaceR makes it possible for software developers to write programs based on Animetrics’ leading edge technology, which is used today in law enforcement agencies worldwide and within the US Department of Defense. The FaceR API will yield advanced facial recognition applications in the commercial and enterprise market, and represents Animetrics’ first foray into the commercial space.

The API is available now at www.facerapp.com, and API infrastructure provider Mashape (www.mashape.com).

Animetrics has joined the API economy, which is growing at an exponential rate with over 800 APIs worldwide ranging from the Fortune 100 to small startups. Gartner estimates that the market for API management tools alone will grow 40 percent this year, driven by cloud computing and smart mobile devices.

“Our goal is to extend the reach of our facial recognition capability beyond our core markets, enabling partners to leverage our assets to build innovative products while at the same time making our core technology more pervasive in the marketplace,” said Paul Schuepp, Animetrics President and CEO. Schuepp continued, “There is an unmet need in the marketplace for accurate, powerful face recognition APIs. We will give developers access to our facial biometric technology to drive development of creative applications worldwide.”

One company using Animetrics’ FaceR API is Kairos, a new API provider offering facial recognition core capabilities as well as innovative applications such as workplace time tracking.

“Animetrics is one of the top facial recognition firms in the world,” said Brian Brackeen, Kairos CEO. “They are the engine that makes facial recognition work. And they own the 2D to 3D space, which some of our customers are highly interested in.”

The 2D to 3D technology, a cornerstone of Animetrics’ ForensicaGPS™ product for law enforcement, takes a flat 2D image and converts it to a 3D model. Animetrics 2D to 3D patented technology uses computational anatomy mathematical algorithms to create 3D facial biometric information of the facial geometry. This 3D information in turn is used within Animetrics proprietary face recognition matching algorithms.

One commercial use under consideration is superimposing eyeglasses onto a 3D face, so prospective buyers can virtually shop for frames. Other commercial uses include targeted marketing, authentication, security, games and mobile apps.

The FaceR API provides the critical functions for face detection, facial features detection (up to 24) and 2D to 3D pose correction, which converts an angulated facial image to a perfectly normalized frontal image. Animetrics has the patents on 2D to 3D pose correction and 3D model creation. This may be used to improve matching performance in any face recognition system, facial enrollment into galleries, face recognition capability and gallery management. Future releases of FaceR will offer additional 3D facial capabilities including access to the actual 3D model.

Today the FaceR API operates in the Animetrics cloud and is offered as a service. The barrier to entry for a developer to create an FR solution has now been dramatically reduced to just pennies per day. The first 1,000 transactions per month are free, after which tiered pricing levels are activated. Detailed pricing information is available here.

Open APIs are quickly becoming mainstream and now Animetrics’ FaceR API provides capabilities for face recognition that are limited only by developer’s imagination.

Animetrics’ will continue to focus on developing finished applications for the law enforcement and government markets, and will run FaceR API software as a service (SaaS) business in parallel.

About Animetrics 

Headquartered in Conway, N.H., Animetrics is a leading developer of advanced face recognition applications and face identity management solutions, which are driving market acceptance of next generation facial biometrics in government, homeland security and law enforcement. Animetrics’ patented technology features FACEngine®, the advanced facial recognition engine behind all of Animetrics’ facial biometric solutions. FACEngine dynamically renders accurate and useful 3D avatars from 2D images and video, even if the facial images are not “static” or “straight on.” Animetrics’ technology also features FIMS™ Cloud, the first come-to-market, cloud-based web facial identity management solution for fast accurate search, retrieval, analysis and storage of facial images enabling the fast and precise facial recognition across a broad range of operating conditions and deployment environments. Animetrics products include face recognition and identity management applications called FaceR™ - FaceR MobileID, FaceR CredentialME and its FaceR Identity Management Solution; an investigative facial identity comparison application, ForensicaGPS™: and a face recognition SDK for application developers.

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