We’ve certainly been hearing a lot about facial recognition as a means of identification, although the technology could – conceivably – be thwarted by someone wearing a mask. Now, however, scientists at India’s Jadavpur University are taking a different approach to facial ID. They’ve developed a system that can identify a person based not on the composition of their face, but on the blood vessels within it.
The system starts with an infrared scan being performed on the person’s face, using a thermal imaging camera. The image that is obtained is then processed by a computer, using a specially-designed algorithm. As a result, virtually all of the veins and arteries beneath the skin (including the tiniest capillaries) can be seen in that image.
The accuracy of the system is said to be over 97 percent. Given the complexity that would be involved in first imaging the layout of the blood vessels within a person’s face, and then constructing a mask that convincingly replicated that layout, the scientists believe that their system would be very difficult to foil.
Additionally, they suggest that it could be used alongside other forms of identification verification, such as photo ID.
