Usability Testing of Face Image Capture for US Ports of Entry

Published

September 10, 2008

Author(s)

Mary F. Theofanos, Brian C. Stanton, Charles L. Sheppard, Ross J. Micheals

Abstract

Abstract The requirements necessary for taking a successful face picture are arguably the least constrained of any biometric. The camera must be operational, and the subject must be illuminated sufficiently & facing the camera. Yet, a significant portion of the faces taken at US ports of entry are unusable for the purposes of automatic face recognition. In this paper, we consider the usability components of the face image capture process that contribute to the relatively high ratio of unusable images collected by US-VISIT. In addition, we introduce a general evaluation methodology including the use of a simple image overlay to quantify various characteristics of face imagery. The experimental context mimicked the point-of-entry environment, but with specific usability enhancements. The collected data suggests that these usability enhancements may be used to improve face image capture with equipment that is capable of capturing faces with a near-zero failure-to-enroll (FTE) rate.

Conference Dates

September 29-October 1, 2008

Conference Location

Crystal City, VA

Conference Title

IEEE Second International Conference on Biometrics: Theory, Applications and Systems (BTAS 08)

Pub Type

Conferences

Keywords

biometrics, face quality, image quality, usability

Citation

Theofanos, M. , Stanton, B. , Sheppard, C. and Micheals, R. (2008), Usability Testing of Face Image Capture for US Ports of Entry, IEEE Second International Conference on Biometrics: Theory, Applications and Systems (BTAS 08), Crystal City, VA (Accessed January 23, 2025)