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Animetrics launches new 3-D crime-fighting product
Published Date Written by Tom Eastman
CONWAY — Animetrics — the locally-based developer of advanced 3D facial recognition and identity management solutions for military, intelligence and law enforcement — has made another software breakthrough that will help law enforcement agencies battle crime and fight the global war on terror.Based at the Mount Washington Valley Technology Center, the 11-employee local software company on May 30 launched ForensicaGPS, a new facial biometric tool for local, state and federal law enforcement.
“ForensicaGPS empowers law enforcement to swiftly and accurately identify criminal suspects, even from a low-resolution photo or video surveillance. Its advanced facial forensic tools enable law enforcement to analyze and compare multiple images for faster, more precise identification of suspects,” notes Animetrics president and CEO Paul Schuepp.
Animetrics is partnering with law enforcement technology solutions providers DataworksPlus and BI2 Technologies to deliver ForensicaGPS to police and sheriff’s departments in the U.S.. according to Schuepp.
Internationally, he said, Animetrics is teaming with European law enforcement technology distributors UNIDAS Germany and UMC Forensics GmBH Switzerland.
“The pinpoint accuracy of Animetrics’ facial identification and forensic analysis application has made it the law enforcement solution of choice for the Zurich Forensic Police Department in Switzerland. ForensicaGPS is also being installed in police departments in the Middle East including Qatar, UAE and Saudi Arabia,” said Schuepp, who founded the company in Jefferson with a staff of two and moved to the MWV Tech Village in 2006 with a staff of six.
He said the new product was developed over a three-year period, building on its 3-D technology that it developed in 2004 and 2005.
“In law enforcement,” he said, “there’s a crucial need to compare multiple facial images to determine if the images are of the same or different individuals."
“ForensicaGPS,” he said, “enables law enforcement professionals to quickly, efficiently and accurately compare, analyze and ultimately verify digital facial images from grainy surveillance photos or videos where a suspect’s face is often shielded or distorted.”
Animetrics’ ForensicaGPS translates low-resolution 2D facial images from a digital photo or video frame into a 3D image using Animetrics’ patented face recognition technology.
ForensicaGPS’s unique facial creation and image quality enhancement tool converts photos and video frames of a person’s face into “ID ready” images including facial pose correction. This makes it easier for victims to identify suspects or for law enforcement to compare the images against mug shots within Animetrics FaceR™ Identity Management Solution (FIMS), correction facilities and criminal databases or third-party facial recognition systems.
“Video and photo surveillance is only effective for solving crimes if law enforcement can interpret this visual data and match it against their own criminal databases. Often law enforcement only has a blurry or obstructed image to go on when identifying suspects which are very challenging to interpret,” said Udo Woermann, president of UNIDAS Germany. “With ForensicaGPS, for the first time police have a tool that can overcome this challenge — helping to identify more suspects with more speed and accuracy and improve public safety.”
For more accurate identity matching, ForensicaGPS can analyze and compare up to five images of a suspect. Its special forensic tools allow metric analysis of face similarity scoring, as well as 2D or 3D visualization of facial structure, geometry and texture.
The software’s precise comparative analysis includes identifying features such as scars, moles, tattoos and distance measurements between facial features.
Animetrics’ FACEngine® technology is the advanced algorithm engine behind all of Animetrics’ facial recognition and face creation systems. The company says this integrated facial recognition technology renders accurate and useful 3D avatars from 2D images and video, even if the facial image is not “straight on.”
About Animetrics
Animetrics is a leading developer of advanced face recognition applications and face identity management solutions, which are driving market acceptance of next generation facial biometrics in government, homeland security and law enforcement.
Schuepp is not allowed to say whether his firm's technology was involved in the hunt and capture of Osama bin Laden.
He did say, however, that as a business, it is his hope that he and his employees are helping to combat global terrorism.
“The landscape is changing as boots on the ground are withdrawing out of the theater, and that's money being cut way back with soldiers — but what's not being cut back is the enforemcent of security and systems that help solve crime and find the bad guys,” Schuepp told The Conway Daily Sun June 14.
Animetrics’ patented technology features FACEngine®, the advanced facial recognition engine behind all of Animetrics’ facial biometric solutions. FACEngine dynamically renders accurate and useful 3D avatars from 2D images and video, even if the facial images are not “static” or “straight on.” Animetrics’ technology also features FIMS™ Cloud, the first come-to-market, cloud-based web facial identity management solution for fast accurate search, retrieval, analysis and storage of facial images enabling the fast and precise facial recognition across a broad range of operating conditions and deployment environments.
Animetrics products include face recognition and identity management applications called FaceR™ — FaceR MobileID, FaceR CredentialME and its FaceR Identity Management Solution; an investigative facial identity comparison application, ForensicaGPS™: and a face recognition SDK for application developers.
For more information, visit Animetrics.com.
