Fussion of novel biometrics for human tracking and identification

QinetiQ and Southampton University are engaged in a programme on fusion of novel biometrics for real-world secure environments. The main objective is to develop a camera system for measuring and fusing two key biometrics: gait and hyperspectral signature; for use outdoors, at a distance and in real world scenarios. It will provide a capability to automatically track and identify key individuals remotely and covertly by 3-D analysis of their gait and their spectral signature. This offers a significant tactical advantage over current biometrics systems which either require a cooperative subject or are unreliable in real world scenarios. The programme to date has concentrated upon the core technologies prior to incorporation into a single biometric system and fusion of the respective characteristics. Achievements so far include verification of techniques for 3D gait reconstruction from a single camera, trials of a 16 band IRIS (image replicating imaging spectrometer) camera sub-system, to obtain simultaneous hyperspectral and positional imagery at 30Hz frame rate, and application of spectral segmentation techniques to isolate and track the human subject in a cluttered urban scene.