Face recognition at a distance system for surveillance applications

Face recognition at a distance is concerned with the automatic recognition of non-cooperative subjects over a wide area. This remote biométrie collection and identification problem can be addressed with an active vision system where people are detected and tracked with wide-field-of-view cameras and near-field-of-view pan-tilt-zoom cameras are automatically controlled to collect high-resolution facial images. We have developed a prototype active-vision face recognition at a distance system that we call the Biometrie Surveillance System. In this paper we review related prior work, describe the design and operation of this system, and provide experimental performance results. The system features predictive subject targeting and an adaptive target selection mechanism based on the current actions and history of each tracked subject to help ensure that facial images are captured for all subjects in view. Experimental tests designed to simulate operation in large transportation hubs show that the system can track subjects and capture facial images at distances of 25–50 m and can recognize them using a commercial face recognition system at a distance of 15–20 m.