By Paul Schuepp

Click on the image to view the full slideshow

I recently came across this lengthy article and slideshow from the Washington Post about the use of facial recognition in law enforcement.

I wanted to share it because it nicely illustrates how some law enforcement agencies are using facial recognition technology to positively identify suspects in criminal investigations. While the article itself doesn’t mention Animetrics specifically, we were happy to see our technology being used in slides #3 and #6 in which an analyst creates a 3D model from a 2D image, which will eventually be searched against a database.

The article notes that, “the increasingly widespread deployment of  [facial recognition] technology in the United States has helped police find murderers, bank robbers and drug dealers, many of whom leave behind images on surveillance videos or social-media sites that can be compared against official photo databases.”

Indeed, that is precisely our goal with ForensicaGPS. The technology enables officers to identity people from low-resolution photos or video, and increases the speed and accuracy of criminal investigations. One of the keys is its ability to convert flat 2D images to 3D avatars that can be rotated and viewed from any angle.

The Post article says that 26 states have facial recognition systems allowing police departments to search databases or request searches. Eleven other states have facial recognition systems in place but do not allow law enforcement searches.

We are always working to improve the accuracy, speed and ease of use of our facial recognition technology. We fully expect more law enforcement agencies across the country to adopt the technology. Simply put, facial recognition is long past the “stuff of science fiction” phase and is on the precipice of going mainstream.