Face Swapping Still Not Pretty

Not since John Travolta and Nicolas Cage swapped mugs in the 1997 non-hit Face/Off, have I been so intrigued/disturbed by the prospect of changing faces. Researchers at Columbia University have developed a system capable of quickly replacing and/or obscuring faces in photographs with new composite or synthetically generated images. Unlike our technology at 3VR and that at Google, which only blurs faces, this technology actually changes them...with mixed results.

Here is an example:

The authors see several applications to this technology from protecting privacy in public images to Hollywood special effects. But, as you can see above, the researchers' favorite application seems to focus on making famous faces less attractive.

Penguins Under Surveillance

Yet another new and creative use of surveillance and biometric technologies. At the University of Bristol, scientists have designed an unobtrusive surveillance system that can be subtly integrated into the environment of various endangered species. The systems will help scientists observe and track endangered animals, starting with the African penguin, of which there are only 170,000 remaining. Though the project was initially designed with penguins in mind (it's called the Penguin Recognition Project), the scientists are confident it could have wide-ranging benefits for the conservation of other species.

Biometrics Are Breaking Through

We're starting to see some pretty powerful and simple uses of biometrics in the security industry. In this case, government agencies were able to access fingerprint info through a shared database, which led to keeping 365 suspected terrorists out of the country. Now granted, there has been a LOT revealed about what constitutes a terrorist suspect these days, but my point here is on the technology. It works, it's easily shared, and it's effective at connecting the dots. Of course, I believe that facial biometrics hold even more promise as mug shots and surveillance images are often much more readily available than finger print dossiers. 3VR CrimeDex is the best example of next generation biometric infrastructure that makes this kind of sharing possible. Mug shots are uploaded to a shared database that all members can access; plus, if a member has a 3VR system, they can even set alerts associated with a CrimeDex mugshot. So far the system has been used to catch hundreds of fraudsters at banks; we're pretty confident it will have similar success in other realms.

FBI Revealed

First the CIA starts letting journalists into its museum, then the FBI tells NPR how it goes about following people. Hey guys? Aren't you supposed to be, you know, discreet? Oh sure, you gave NPR fake names and asked them not to describe you, but explaining how a group might follow a person gives all of us some pretty good clues as to what to look for if we're ever worried we're being followed (hint: if someone in an FBI jacket is rifling through your trunk, you're probably being investigated). Are they just banking on terrorists not liking NPR?

The Coolest Museum You'll Never See

Am I the only one who thinks it's sort of hilarious that the CIA has a museum? It's true, they do. Not that you can visit it next time you're in D.C. or anything. The public only has access to limited online video tours of the 11,000 sq. ft. gallery. Apparently, it's mostly CIA guys that use the museum, looking for inspiration, I suppose. No one knows how much it costs to keep the museum going. That's classified.

Face-Rec Continues to Go Mainstream - Can DVRs Keep Up?

Five years ago no one had ever heard of facial surveillance, or if they had it was mostly in a negative light. Now it’s a must-have feature and one of many must have new video analysis algorithms. The jury is still out, however, on whether DVR and security companies in general can adapt to this quickly evolving software-dominated surveillance market.

New Book Open-Sources Surveillance Strategies

3VR alum John Honovich is well on his way to becoming a new J.P. Freeman for the digital age. For the uninitiated, J.P. Freeman is a security consultant who conducts research in the industry and produces extremely expensive reports that everyone in the industry feels compelled to buy. Hondo's approach? Let them use surveillance. His new 132-page "Security Manager's Guide to Video Surveillance" is 100% free and available as a download from his site, IPVideoMarket.info. In addition to information about all the various products available related video surveillance, the book includes easy-to-follow tutorials on everything from megapixel cameras to license plate recognition and network video.

"Quality information on video surveillance for security managers is limited and expensive," Honovich told Security Info Watch. "Making this book free and open is essential to giving back to the security community and allowing anyone to learn without restrictions."

Right on! The book joins several other original reports available for free on the IPVideoMarket site.

Face Rec Speeds Airport Lines

Adding to the existent iris and fingerprint "trusted traveler" enrollment scheme, now face rec is being added to the package at U.S. and U.K. airports to both improve security and speed frequent international travelers through security lanes. The British and American governments have launched a partnership to allow enrolled "trusted travelers" who fly frequently between their respective countries, to bypass security lines after a quick face scan. The "new" program basically just adds face rec to the existing iris enrollment program for trusted travelers, which to me says that 1)face rec is working a helluva lot better than it did ten years ago and 2) iris and fingerprint recognition might not be working well enough if officials feel the need to add face rec technology to the existing program.

Hacking Face Rec

This is why we are constantly evolving our technology and developing new video algorithms. Granted, some people viewing this will follow the creator's advice, "Don't go out and rob a bank!" but there are probably a few who will attempt exactly that.



Invisible Mask - video powered by Metacafe

Spybots and Drones

Gizmodo uncovered a neat little project cooked up at my alma mater:

Newark Uses Cameras to Deter Crime

Amidst reports of cameras not doing anything at all to deter crime, Newark opened its new Surveillance Operations Center last week, and released a report claiming that murders and rapes had declined since the installation of cameras in its high violence areas in 2007. The city's mayor also talked about a recent armed robbery that was thwarted thanks to the cameras. As I've said before, just having cameras doesn't do anything, but having usable footage helps close cases and deliver arrests, which typically helps to deter crime in the long run.

Video Evidence Doesn't Discriminate

Here's one for people who worry that surveillance video puts too much power in the hands of police. In this case, video helped a defendant (Guillermo Alarcon, Jr., pictured left) prove that police had planted evidence on him, or, at the very least had lied under oath about his arrest, which was enough to get charges against him dropped. We've all seen the movies, this is being painted as one of those cases where good cops go bad because the rules of their job keep them from doing a good enough job keeping bad guys off the street. Here, they planted cocaine on a gang member to make the charges stick. Some would argue that if you break the law to send a gang member to prison, the end justifies the means, but I think laws are laws and if your job is to enforce them you probably shouldn't be breaking them. Moreover, as an executive in the security surveillance industry, I think it would be just plain wrong if surveillance video were only used as evidence against certain wrongdoers and not others.

Face Expression Rec Gets Us One Step Closer to Robot Teachers

Here's an interesting new use of face rec technology. Jacob Whitehill, a PhD student at UC San Diego is essentially turning faces into remote controls in the hopes that some day robot teachers will automatically assess when students are puzzled or confused and slow the class down accordingly. I know what you're thinking and yes, it's true, this could help build the perfect robot girlfriend some day, too.