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CHATSWORTH, Calif., May 25, 2004. IRIS International, Inc. today announced that its Advanced Digital Imaging Research, LLC (ADIR) subsidiary has been awarded a $2 million grant from the U.S. government for the development of biometric "3D Face Recognition for Security Screening."
The Advanced Technology Program grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) calls for the development and testing of an experimental automated personal identification system for airports, ports of entry, defense installations, laboratories, corporations and other sites where security requires screening of individuals.
"We are very excited about the opportunity to apply ADIR's expertise in sophisticated imaging, the underlying technology of IRIS International's core business, to resolve one of the most challenging problems in the security field," stated IRIS president and CEO Cesar M. Garcia. "Automatic face recognition is a very difficult problem that has evaded a solution for a long time. Many attempts have failed using traditional two-dimensional approaches. A successful highly advanced three-dimensional face recognition device could play a vital role in the area of Homeland Security. While we cannot guarantee success, we believe that ADIR and its highly qualified group of collaborators have assembled one of the most qualified teams to resolve this difficult problem."
This is the second time that ADIR has been called upon to apply its expertise to a major U.S. government undertaking, he said. In May 2003, ADIR was awarded a contract from Lockheed-Martin to assist in the analysis of video images of the launch of the Space Shuttle Columbia. ADIR's state-of-the art image analysis techniques were used to analyze the causes of the orbiter's breakup during reentry into the earth's atmosphere.
"This is an exciting new technological direction for ADIR with a significant project in the area of biometric identification technology and the long-term commercial possibilities of this undertaking are very significant," stated Dr. Kenneth Castleman, president of ADIR, who will lead the research and development effort. "We plan a two-stage approach to maximize our chances of success either by delivering on our ultimate goal of airport screening or by achieving significant improvements to the state-of-the-art in commercial security screening."
The first stage of the project will be to develop and test, within one year, a real-time, three-dimensional face recognition prototype for use at commercial security checkpoints where employee identity records are already on file, Castleman said. The second phase would involve developing a broader, more far-reaching system that could tap into law enforcement databases, and be used for applications such as passenger check-in at airports.
ADIR's mission is to combine the advantages of both 3D and 2D imaging for facial recognition. The technical challenges involve primarily the selection and/or development of the system components (image acquisition hardware, 2D and 3D databases, and face recognition software) and the integration of these elements with a convenient, easy-to-use graphical interface. The system must be able to achieve high accuracy in real time, and do so with low false alarm rates. The grant provides for a three-year study to be carried out in collaboration with Dr. Ioannis Kakadiaris of the University of Houston, who will join forces with ADIR in the development of face recognition algorithms.
Mr. Garcia said that a successful three-dimensional facial recognition product could create a significant commercial opportunity and could lead to a host of new partnerships and revenue opportunities for IRIS. "At the same time, we are very pleased to be involved in a project that has the potential for making a significant contribution to the Homeland Security effort," he added.
For more information, see www.proiris.com.
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