Face Recognition Report Released

In a National Institute of Standards and Technology report released earlier this year, researchers suggested that face recognition technology has improved drastically since Sept. 11, 2001. According to Kevin W. Bowyer, the Schubmehl-Prein Chair of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, and Patrick J. Flynn, professor of computer science and engineering, participants in the studies upon which the report was based, false recognition rates in such systems have dropped by 90 percent. Accuracy rates are also now near 99 percent, with the performance of iris recognition systems similar to that of face recognition systems.

Bowyer and Flynn have been researching the feasibility of image-based biometrics and multi-biometrics for several years. With the assistance of students in the department, they have amassed one of the largest databases of faces in the world.

Other organizations participating in the study included the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences in Richardson, Texas; Schaefer Corporation in Arlington, Va.; and Science Applications International Corporation, headquartered in San Diego, Calif.