Compact biometric acquisition system and method

• US 8,965,063 B2
• Filed: 09/21/2007
• Issued: 02/24/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: EyeLock LLC (VOXX International Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Eyelock Corporation (VOXX International Corporation)
• Inventors: Hanna, Keith J., Hoyos, Hector T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Rush, Eric
• Application Number:
  US12/441,881
• Publication Number:
  US 20090274345A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,713 Days
• Field of Search: 382/100, 382/103, 382/107, 382115-118
• US Class Current: 382/117
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/16 Human faces, e.g. facial parts, sketches or expressions
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/18 Eye characteristics, e.g. of the iris
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/19 Sensors therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/197 Matching; Classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/40 Spoof detection, e.g. liveness detection
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/45 Detection of the body part being alive
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/70 Multimodal biometrics, e.g. combining information from different biometric modalities
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/37 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voice recognition

Abstract

A method of determining the identity of a subject while the subject is walking or being transported in an essentially straight direction is disclosed, the two dimensional profile of the subject walking or being transported along forming a three dimensional swept volume, without requiring the subject to change direction to avoid any part of the system, comprising acquiring data related to one or more biometrics of the subject with the camera(s), processing the acquired biometrics data, and determining if the acquired biometric data match corresponding biometric data stored in the system, positioning camera(s) and strobed or scanned infrared illuminator(s) above, next to, or below the swept volume. A system for carrying out the method is also disclosed.

Claims

1. A system for acquiring one or more biometrics of a subject, the system comprising:

a sensor to detect a biometric feature of the subject and to acquire two or more images of a corresponding iris of the subject, and

one or more infrared illuminators to provide;

infrared radiation at a first infrared radiation level sufficient for the sensor to detect a biometric feature of the subject, and

responsive to detection of the biometric feature by the sensor, a predetermined sequence of pulses of infrared radiation at a second infrared radiation level greater than the first infrared radiation level, the second infrared radiation level being sufficient for the sensor to acquire the two or more images of the corresponding iris of the subject for biometric matching.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the one or more infrared illuminators are strobed in synchronization with image acquisition.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the sensor is adapted to acquire iris imagery at least 25 pixels in diameter.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the one or more infrared illuminators is located less than about 3 meters from a point along a swept volume comprising the subject'"'"'s profile where the one or more biometrics are acquired.

5. The system of claim 1 further including means for causing the subject to look toward the sensor while walking or being transported.

6. The system of claim 1 further including at least one of an attention light or a TV screen to cause the subject to look toward the sensor and at least one of the one or more infrared illuminators while walking or being transported.

7. The system of claim 1 further including a loudspeaker.

8. The system of claim 1 further comprising means for optimizing acquisition of wide spectrum data with single spectrum data.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the one or more infrared illuminators are scanned.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein light emitted from the one or more infrared illuminators is scanned over an area of biometric acquisition using one or more mirrors.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein the sensor is positioned above, next to, or below a doorway or portal and the system is adapted to acquire biometric data when a horizontal distance between the subject and the sensor is between 97.28 cm and 201.93 cm.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein the sensor is positioned in a counter in a point of sale identity verification application and a horizontal distance between the sensor and an area of biometric acquisition on the subject is about 0.15 meters to 1.2 meters.

13. The system of claim 1 comprising a plurality of illuminators wherein the illuminators provide low-level illumination and higher-level illumination that can be emitted from the same illuminators.

14. The system of claim 1 comprising a plurality of illuminators wherein a first subset of the plurality of illuminators provide low-level illumination and a second subset of the plurality of illuminators provide higher-level illumination.

15. The system of claim 1 wherein the sensor triggers an illumination pattern to be projected on a surface to guide the subject along a direction of movement.

16. The system of claim 1 wherein the one or more infrared illuminators maintain the second infrared radiation level for a duration enabling a sufficient number of images to be acquired for liveness verification and biometric matching of the subject.

17. The system of claim 1 wherein the one or more infrared illuminators provide the first infrared radiation level sufficient for the sensor to detect the feature of the subject, wherein the feature is different from the iris.

18. The system of claim 1 wherein the one or more infrared illuminators reduce the infrared radiation to the first infrared radiation level upon acquiring the two or more images.

19. The system of claim 1 wherein the sensor acquires the two or more images comprising one image of the iris irradiated with infrared radiation of a first wavelength, and another image of the iris irradiated with infrared radiation comprising at least one wavelength different from the first wavelength.

20. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

a detector that detects proximity of the subject and turns on the one or more infrared illuminators to provide the infrared radiation at the first infrared radiation level sufficient for the sensor to detect a biometric feature of the subject.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein the second infrared radiation level is sufficient for reliable biometric matching.

22. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more illuminators is configured to provide the predetermined sequence of pulses of infrared radiation at the second infrared radiation level for only a number of frames required to acquire the two or more images of the corresponding iris of the subject.

23. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more illuminators is configured to provide the predetermined sequence of pulses of infrared radiation at the second infrared radiation level for a duration to reduce irradiation of nearby personnel.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the system is further configured to acquire one or more biometrics of the subject with a stream of additional subjects behind the subject.

25. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more illuminators is configured to provide the predetermined sequence of pulses of infrared radiation at the second infrared radiation level for a duration to increase a lifespan of the one or more infrared illuminators.

26. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more illuminators is configured to provide the predetermined sequence of pulses of infrared radiation at the second infrared radiation level for acquisition of at least two frames by the sensor.

27. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more illuminators is configured to irradiate an immediate area of the system at the second infrared radiation level at a minimum illumination required for biometric acquisition.

28. A method for acquiring one or more biometrics of a subject, comprising:

providing, by one or more infrared illuminators, infrared radiation at a first infrared radiation level sufficient for a sensor to detect a biometric feature of the subject; and

providing, by the one or more infrared illuminators responsive to detection of the biometric feature by the sensor, a predetermined sequence of pulses of infrared illumination at a second infrared radiation level greater than the first infrared radiation level, the second infrared radiation level sufficient for the sensor to acquire two or more images of a corresponding iris of the subject for biometric matching.

29. The method of claim 28 further including:

detecting the presence of a subject walking or being transported, and

providing the infrared radiation at the first infrared radiation level in response to detection of the motion of the subject.

30. The method of claim 28, further comprising scanning an area of biometric acquisition of the subject with the one or more infrared illuminators.

31. The method of claim 28, further comprising increasing, by the one or more infrared illuminators, the first infrared radiation level to a level sufficient to acquire biometric data with an improved signal to noise ratio.