Face-to-Face Video Superimposition Using Three Dimensional Physiognomic Analysis

Abstract

This face-to-face video superimposition system consists of two main pieces of equipment, namely a 3D physiognomic measurement apparatus for obtaining 3D image data of face, and a 3D analysis apparatus for comparing the 3D facial image with facial photographs video superimposition. The 3D physiognomic measurement apparatus is composed of a detector comprised of two laser scanner devices and two CCD cameras, an image encoder interfaced to a computer, and two TV monitors. The 3D analysis apparatuis comprises of the following five parts : a host computer, an image processing unit, a CCD camera for inputting facial photographs of a perpetrator, a video image mixing unit and a TV monitor. The 3D surface morphology of a suspect face is measured with the detector using three representative parameters of the facial surface, that is, the illumination, brightness and depth data. The parameters are measured and then stored on the floppy disk. The 3D facial image of the suspect is superimposed on the facial photograph of the perpetrator on the monitor using the 3D analysis apparatus. In order to assess the reliability of the facial photographic identification with this system, the face-to-face superimposition was experimentally investigated. An oblique facial photograph of a target person was compared to the 3D facial image of the target person and other 19 examinees. The 2D facial photograph of the target person revealed a good match with the 3D facial image of one of the subjects, giving a positive identification. This system will be a useful tool for forensic photographic comparison and will prove very effective in court because the video superimposition of two faces can be performed under the same facial orientation.