System for iris detection tracking and recognition at a distance
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system for iris detection at a distance of non-cooperative or cooperative subjects, comprising:
- a multi-band imaging camera for detecting skin of a subject, the multi-band imaging camera including a visible band and at least one infrared band;
a first mechanism for determining with specific algorithms whether the skin is of a region containing at least a part of a face of the subject containing at least one eye, by locating several facial features such as eyes, eyebrows, nose or mouth and their positions relative to each other;
an adjustable zoom camera, connected to a processor, for obtaining initial close-up high resolution images of the region that contains at least one eye, the eye not necessarily looking directly at the camera; and
a second mechanism, connected to the camera, for determining, with eye tracking algorithms, whether the initial images contain a best iris position; and
wherein;
the best iris position is when the iris has the best orientation towards the zoom camera, and is determined with the algorithms by maximizing a function that depends on key features of the iris to provide a point of maximization;
wherein the processor is configured to send a reacquisition request to the zoom camera to obtain additional close-up high resolution images of the region that contains at least one eye if the initial images do not contain a best iris position;
wherein if the initial images do contain a best iris position, the zoom camera takes several secondary close-up images of each iris region at the point of maximization; and
wherein the secondary images are passed on to be processed by an iris recognition device.
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Abstract
A stand-off range or at-a-distance iris detection and tracking for iris recognition having a head/face/eye locator, a zoom-in iris capture mechanism and an iris recognition module. The system may obtain iris information of a subject with or without his or her knowledge or cooperation. This information may be sufficient for identification of the subject, verification of identity and/or storage in a database.
458 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A system for iris detection at a distance of non-cooperative or cooperative subjects, comprising:
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a multi-band imaging camera for detecting skin of a subject, the multi-band imaging camera including a visible band and at least one infrared band; a first mechanism for determining with specific algorithms whether the skin is of a region containing at least a part of a face of the subject containing at least one eye, by locating several facial features such as eyes, eyebrows, nose or mouth and their positions relative to each other; an adjustable zoom camera, connected to a processor, for obtaining initial close-up high resolution images of the region that contains at least one eye, the eye not necessarily looking directly at the camera; and a second mechanism, connected to the camera, for determining, with eye tracking algorithms, whether the initial images contain a best iris position; and wherein; the best iris position is when the iris has the best orientation towards the zoom camera, and is determined with the algorithms by maximizing a function that depends on key features of the iris to provide a point of maximization; wherein the processor is configured to send a reacquisition request to the zoom camera to obtain additional close-up high resolution images of the region that contains at least one eye if the initial images do not contain a best iris position; wherein if the initial images do contain a best iris position, the zoom camera takes several secondary close-up images of each iris region at the point of maximization; and wherein the secondary images are passed on to be processed by an iris recognition device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A system for iris detection, tracking and recognition of a non-cooperative or cooperative subject at a distance, comprising:
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an acquisition module comprising; a multi-band imaging camera for skin detection of a subject, the multi-band imaging camera including a visible band and at least one infrared band; a face detection and tracking system for determining if detected skin is part of a face of the subject by locating several facial features, such as eyes, and extracting the facial features; and wherein; from one or more facial features, information containing face orientation with respect to line of sight and eye location is sent to a juncture for determining whether the information provides a sufficiently good view; and metrics for a good view comprise face symmetry and orientation toward the camera based on the facial features; wherein the acquisition module includes metrics that signals the face detection and tracking system to re-initiate the facial features extraction when there is not a good view, the acquisition module repeating the facial feature extraction until a good view is achieved; when there is a good view, the information containing face orientation and eye location is sent to a zoom-in iris capture mechanism; the zoom-in iris capture mechanism comprises; a zoom-in and framing mechanism for zooming in and framing an eye region containing an iris; an iris segmentation mechanism connected to the zoom-in and framing mechanism; and wherein the iris segmentation mechanism is for extracting features of the iris by approximating inner and outer borders of the iris by ellipses and performing one-dimensional segmentation of the iris in a polar domain. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for detecting an iris at a distance of a non-cooperative or cooperative subject, comprising:
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providing a system for iris detection, the system including an acquisition module, a processor, and at least one multi-band camera having a visible band and at least one infrared band, the method including using the system to perform the following steps; scanning for a subject; detecting skin of the subject using the multi-band camera; determining whether the skin is of a region containing a face of the subject by locating one or more facial features such as eyes; obtaining a plurality detailed images of the region containing the face and having at least one eye; determining if one of the plurality of images includes an image of an iris of the at least one eye that shows a best position or view of the iris based on a maximizing a function that depends on features of the iris, wherein the best position of view of the iris is when the iris has a best orientation towards the camera; if no image shows a best position or view of the iris, the system sends a reacquisition signal to the acquisition module and the method steps are repeated until a successful image of the iris showing a best position of view of the iris is achieved; and when a successful image of the iris is achieved, extracting features of the iris by determining the inner and outer borders of the iris and doing a one dimensional segmentation of the iris in a polar domain. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification