Method and apparatus for performing iris recognition from an image

• US 20050084179A1
• Filed: 09/07/2004
• Published: 04/21/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Sarnoff Corporation (SRI International, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Sarnoff Corporation (SRI International, Inc.)
• Inventors: Tan, Yi, Hanna, Keith, Zhao, Wenyi
• Application Number:
  US10/939,943
• Publication Number:
  US 20050084179A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/294
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/19 Sensors therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

A method and apparatus for performing iris recognition from at least one image is disclosed. A plurality of cameras is used to capture a plurality of images where at least one of the images contains a region having at least a portion of an iris. At least one of the plurality of images is then processed to perform iris recognition.

Claims

1. A method of performing iris recognition from at least one image, comprising:

using a plurality of cameras to capture a plurality of images of a subject where at least one of said images contains a region having at least a portion of an iris; and

processing at least one of said plurality of images to perform iris recognition.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of cameras comprise at least one wide field of view camera for detecting a region of interest.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said region of interest is mapped into a local coordinate system of a camera array.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of said plurality of cameras covers a spatial range that is different from at least one other camera of said plurality of cameras.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of said plurality of cameras covers a focus depth that is different from at least one other camera of said plurality of cameras.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein each image captured by the at least one camera is augmented with depth information.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein depth information is obtained using stereo cameras.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein depth information is obtained using at least one time-of-flight device.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein depth information is obtained using at least one infrared sensor.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein depth information is obtained using at least one ultrasonic sensor.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising using an illuminator for illuminating said subject.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the illuminator comprises infrared lighting.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein processing at least one of said plurality of images comprises:

aligning the plurality of images over time;

selecting a subset of said plurality of images without artifacts; and

combining the selected subset of images to produce a single image of the iris.

14. An apparatus for performing iris recognition from at least one image, comprising:

a plurality of cameras used to capture a plurality of images of a subject where at least one of said images contains a region having at least a portion of an iris; and

a processor for processing at least one of said plurality of images to perform iris recognition.

15. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions, the plurality of instructions including instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps of a method of performing iris recognition from at least one image, comprising:

using a plurality of cameras to capture a plurality of images of a subject where at least one of said images contains a region having at least a portion of an iris; and

processing at least one of said plurality of images to perform iris recognition.

16. A method of forming a single image containing an iris from a plurality of images containing at least a portion of said iris, comprising:

aligning the plurality of images over time;

selecting a subset of said plurality of images without artifacts; and

combining the selected subset of images to produce a single image of the iris.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein said single image is selected from said plurality of images in accordance with a quality measure.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein said single image of the iris is formed using a mosaic of the plurality of images.

19. An apparatus for forming a single image containing an iris from a plurality of images containing at least a portion of said iris, comprising:

means for aligning the plurality of images over time;

means for selecting a subset of said plurality of images without artifacts; and

means for combining the selected subset of images to produce a single image of the iris.

20. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions, the plurality of instructions including instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps of a method of forming a single image containing an iris from a plurality of images containing at least a portion of said iris, comprising:

aligning the plurality of images over time;

selecting a subset of said plurality of images without artifacts; and

combining the selected subset of images to produce a single image of the iris.